Join us on Saturday, May 16, 2026 for a full day of talks by experts in visual novel development, game design, voice acting, and more. You’ll learn practical techniques, explore new ideas and concepts, and learn about cutting-edge developments in the visual novel space.
Wow your audience
This year’s theme is “wow your audience”! We want to celebrate and share the art of creating unique, impactful games that stay with your audience long after the credits roll, and show ways you, as developers, can elevate your skills and games even further.
Schedule
The event will be held on May 16, 2026, in a private stage within the DevTalk Discord server.
| Time (EDT) | Event | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 a.m. | Welcome & Opening Remarks | – |
| 10:10 a.m. | 5 Steps for the Perfect Screenshot | Vimi |
| 11:20 a.m. | Choose to be funny: Comedy Writing for Narrative Games | Conway Sutton |
| 12:20 p.m. | How to Script 1 Million Words in Ren’Py | Justinn |
| 12:40 p.m. | Storytelling Through UI | Pepper |
| 1:00 p.m. | Lunch Break | – |
| 2:00 p.m. | Adding FlaVOr: A Deep-Dive on Planning and Implementing Voice Acting | Jett Barker |
| 3:10 p.m. | The Z-Axis is Your Friend: 3D Environments for Visual Novels | Terrier |
| 4:10 p.m. | The Eccentricities of Naninovel & Unity | Campbell & Jordan Brown |
| 4:30 p.m. | Using Sound as a Storytelling Mechanism | James Krasner |
| 5:00 p.m. | Tactile Storytelling: Incorporating Physical Media Techniques Into VNs | FeatherBoy |
| 5:20 p.m. | Don’t Build Groverhaus: Narrative Design & Teamwork in VN Development | Runa |
| 5:40 p.m. | Making the Most of Your Music | Jeff Penny |
| 6:50 p.m. | Staging and Movement in Visual Novels | Floramisu |
| 7:50 p.m. | Closing Remarks | – |
Speakers & Talk Descriptions
Talk descriptions will be announced over time as the event approaches! View announced descriptions here.
Vimi
Veteran Game Developer, Designer from the Visual Novel Design Channel
5 Steps for the Perfect Screenshot (click for details)
You don’t even need all five steps! Steps 1-3 are enough to make your Visual Novel’s UI, sprites and background look great! Step 4 is just if you want your visual novel to FEEL good. And step 5? For Pros ONLY.
Conway Sutton
Monster Prom 4 Writer
Choose to be Funny: Comedy Writing for Narrative Games (click for details)
Players love a good comedy, but bad jokes will test their patience. From one of the Monster Prom 4 writers, discover how to make key comedic choices, common pitfalls to avoid, and tips for being funny even when you don’t feel like it.
Jett Barker
Voice of Ronin in “Killer Chat!”, Voice Director, co-creator of the SAG-AFTRA Game Jam Waiver
Adding FlaVOr: A Deep-Dive on Planning & Implementing Voice Acting (click for details)
Let’s explore voiceover production through a phase-based approach – from initial scope determination to final QA. With additional focus on outreach, casting, directing, and implementing Voice Acting to help bring your stories to life.
Terrier
Artist from Nth Circle, creators of “of the Devil”
The Z Axis is Your Friend: 3D Environments for Visual Novels (click for details)
Come and learn about how 3D environments help make your game pop from the 3D artist for nth circle! From concept to final render, I’ll show you the ropes on how to use every axis to their full potential!
Floramisu
Developer of “Demeter: The Harvest Dies With You”, and “The Show Must Go Out!“
Staging and Movement in Visual Novels (click for details)
An analysis of different ways for your visual novel to go from static, to a much more dynamic and visually attractive experience!
Jeff Penny
Game Audio Specialist with credits for Arknights and Heart Fragment
Making the Most of Your Music (click for details)
Creating a musical experience that resonates with your audience is more than just picking good songs. Let’s discover the tricks that can transform a good soundtrack into unforgettable storytelling.
Lightning Talks
Justinn
Developer of UnderHolo and Tokidoki Tactical Squad
How to Script 1 Million Words in Ren’Py
Minimise the effort in scripting your game so you can spend more time on the scenes that matter the most.
Pepper
Developer of ‘Cindy’s Flip Flop’ and ‘Moon Cats’
Storytelling through UI
Let’s analyze how UI can immerse your players, why visual novels in particular love a maximalist UI, and techniques to create such a UI.
FeatherBoy (Benjamin Feinstein)
Developer of Midnight Oil and A Witch is Getting Married
Tactile Storytelling: Incorporating Physical Media Techniques into VNs
Learn best practices for combining physical and digital art workflows for 2D asset creation, and explore the ways it can be used to add an additional layer of storytelling to visual novels (and other games)!
Campbell & Jordan Brown
3D Artist & Game Dev / Developer of Witch Switched
The Eccentricities of Naninovel & Unity
Learn about the weird, wonderful and unique features that Naninovel gives developers! Join Cam and Jordan as they show you all of the crazy things Naninovel can do – presented in Naninovel!
Runa Winters
Developer of ’77 Oleander Avenue’
Don’t Build Groverhaus – Narrative Design and Teamwork in VN Dev
Making a game is already hard enough, but managing a whole project team? That’s so difficult! Runa Winters, a Project Manager and VN dev, offers advice that’ll make your next project less of a nightmare and more than a daydream
James Krasner
Sound Designer for Märchen Line
Using sound as a storytelling mechanism
The Sound Designer/Music Composer for Nth Circle’s Märchen Line reveals how sound can be used to catch the player off guard and enhance the emotion of a scene.
Purchase tickets
The event will be held in a private stage within the DevTalk Discord server. Attendees will receive a Discord role allowing them to view the stage automatically after purchasing a ticket.
Tickets are $15 USD, and can be purchased on Ticket Tailor or in the “server shop” within the DevTalk Discord server.
Recordings of all talks are included with every ticket!
(Recordings will be provided after the event)
About VNDN
The Visual Novel Developer Network (VNDN) is a combination of community owned and operated websites, chats and services with the goal of helping people make their art, write their stories, speak their truth, and earn their livelihood through their passions.
VNDN is best known for DevTalk, the narrative game development Discord server. It also operates the VNDev Wiki and many visual novel jams.