(Inspired by this conversation thread)

Any and all thoughts on visual novels are welcome. Some potential questions for jumping off points:

What are your thoughts on the VN genre/format?

What are some of the best VNs you’ve played/read?

What would you recommend to someone who’s new to VNs and wants to try one out?

How do you think VNs compare to games, literature, and other interactive fiction?

1917 editor Lee Smith reveals the truth about Sam Mendes' one-shot film

This is my favourite passage from this article:

He asked [a journalist] how long the film shoot was; she looked at her notes, said four months. How many days a week? Five.

Do you think they never turned the camera off, he said; just do the maths. "And she went, 'Oh, right'."

Not sure if this the right place to post this but here goes... I'm writing a story and I'm trying to figure out the best medium to tell it. I'm strongly leaning toward visual novels. I like anime and I want the story to have a similar look and feel. Maybe someday it will even become an anime. Who knows?

That said, does anyone here have any thoughts on the pros/cons of taking the visual novel approach as opposed to a traditional novel or light novel?

This is a general, "what books have themes or content that would make for great movies" question. Graphic novels are included here.

Could have posted in ~talk or ~movies, but I'm seeking the opinions of dedicated readers, who've had the thought in considering a story, "I'd really like to see the visuals for this", or "a movie/series adaptation could expand on these themes".

Also, what were your biggest disappointments in the rendering of a book into a movie/TV series?

My picks:
Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed. Can't say that it's likely to get the nuanced treatment it deserves, but an even-handed visualization of socialist vs. capitalist societies is overdue, and it's got spaceflight and FTL information transfer.
Warren Ellis, Transmetropolitan. Not that he's ever going to grant the rights, but this one's a no-brainer for American cinema - brash, loud, splashy, violent, with bigger-than-life characters and themes.
James Tiptree, Jr. (a/k/a Alice Sheldon), Her Smoke Rose Up Forever. I'd love to see a short series based on this collection.
China Mieville - anything from the New Crobuzon books. The baroque ruin backgrounding the scenes, and the panoply of characters, should make for amazing cinema; a little judicious editing will be needed to make the stories work for the screen.
[Obscure] Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron, subject to timely and relevant updates for 21st Century media. There's a great theme about how selective presentation of video clips and the editor's viewpoint influences the story being told.
K.W. Jeter, Farewell Horizontal, this one's gonna have great visuals, trust me.
John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, remade as a story about border migration.
Joe Haldeman, The Forever War - man, is it ever time for this one in the U.S.
Dan Simmons, Hyperion - the World Tree, the Shrike, and plenty of other opportunities for fine visuals.
Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Another candidate for an anthology series; perfect for animation.
Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang - it's a heist story, but also a comedy and a satire. Kind of amazed no one has made it into a movie before.

Biggest recent disappointment - The adaptation of Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon. Edited to completely discard the political messaging and amplify the sex/violence. Turgid, poor special effects, and gruesome acting.

Anyone else play visual novels? If you don't know what they are, it's like an interactive story with pictures and sometimes player choice. People called Bandersnatch a kind of visual novel!

I got into them by playing Katawa Shoujo, which is astonishingly well-written and empathetic and funny. Recently I played Don't Forget Our Esports Dream, about two Starcraft pro gamers trying to chase their dreams while facing the realities of their lives. I love how it talks about the soul of esports, and if you ever played Starcraft, this game will bring back all the memories. What visual novels do other people recommend?

hey all!

i'm a fan of keeping an idea journal. little snippets of poems or hastily written descriptions of d.i.y. projects that you can go back and pick up once you get some free time.

how do you keep an idea journal for visual projects? like if i have this visualisation in my head of a bit of video, or a sculpture, or a painting i want to create, what's the best way to write that down and still be able to come back to it later?

cheers,

bishop