iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

The fun thing about running the same course more than once is that you get to see how differently the same ideas turn out based on questions asked, how quickly people work, delays from technical issues, skills growing... So now we have multiple orcs and […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

A screenshot of a visual novel with an orc standing in a corridor, a torch lit corridor behind him.

Also a screenshot of a visual novel with an orc standing in a corridor; the corridor is less detailed but the orc has a bit more expression, and better shading

062 6

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

New term, new Bob the orc! He's a little surprised a human has come into his cafe, but that's not going to stop him offering a professional service. First lesson of our #gamedev courses for teenagers (regardless of which skillset they focus on): start with […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

Bob the whacked together orc asks the player what they want to order.

054 5

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2026

Teaching early teens how to create their own game assets for #VisualNovels (and #GameDev in general) and today we were talking about using layers to speed up art creation (alpha locking, filters on layer groups), to give characters different expressions, or […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

071 7

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 09/06/2026

* Physics based game play? Check * Stack programming based magic system? Check * Ink plugged in for narrative? Check * ... * Profit? Probably not. Fun though! #GameDev #godot #inkle #ConcatenativeProgramming

031 3

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 20/05/2026

For our next trick from the course: create a character by quickly learning how to trace a reference image in #Krita . Take some selfies with the facial expressions you want, and go to town. Bonus tip: Wikimedia Commons has lots of great art that is no […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

152 5

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 14/05/2026

Fixing bugs by adding errors: previously VisualInk was hiding some of the runtime errors in your #visualnovel. Although Ink checks a lot of things as you're writing (and VisualInk prevents you running a broken script), some errors only occur when you're […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

001 1

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 14/05/2026

So, what kind of things will be covered in our new "Making 2D Game Assets" course for 11-16 year olds? Example 1: Use layers and a simple art style (pixel art is great for this) to quickly create expressive characters in #krita. Is this just a prototype? Or […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

100 1

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 30/04/2026

Ideas for the new course starting to solidify, with the plan being a five week knee intro to creating #visualnovel assets of your own for under 18s with no budget (above and beyond having a computer) using tech you probably have around the house and open […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

Hand doodle of a course outline as described above

041 4

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 17/04/2026

Rapid fire character with multiple emotes practice. #krita is looking a great tool for this kind of work, although its huge power and flexibility might make it hard to introduce to some of our younger #visualnovel authors.

Scribbled cartoony sketches of the same face with different mouths for different emotions

010 1

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 20/03/2026

One of the **most** frustrating things when learning text based coding for the first time is just knowing whether you have typed what the computer expects. Should that be a `{` or a `[`? Do I need a new line here, or must I put this on the same line? To […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

An Ink script file with narrative control syntax highlighted in bright colours, logic and variable names in inbetween colours, and story text in the standard text colour.

101 1

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 23/02/2026

Even great stories start from humble beginnings. In the first session of a new round of Coding Games with a Story, some of our authors (9-11 year olds) successfully got a story up and running with a scene, background music, images of the person speaking […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

VAR speaker = "Narrator"
VAR scene = "Cafe"
VAR music = "Piano"

-> start

=== start

~speaker = "Elly"

What would you like to drink?

+ [Coffee] -> coffee
+ [Tea] -> tea

-> END

=== coffee
~speaker = "Eddy"

I'd love a coffee!

-> END

=== tea
~speaker = "Eddy"

A tea, please!

-> END

001 1

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 20/02/2026

VisualInk now lets you swap seemlessly between cinematic and our new illustrated screenplay format while you're playing your #visualnovels . This allows readers to quickly check the history of the story so far, and authors to view parts of the story with […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

Part of a playthrough of a visual novel, but formatted roughly like a movie script. Cuts between scenes some a 'letterbox' view of the scene image being moved to, while lines of dialogue show thumbnail headshots of the current speaker.

100 1

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Prototyping a new view for allowing readers to view their history, and authors to quickly got an overview of the script. It's not quite ready for release yet, but it is starting to get there. Just needs a bit more love to get it formatted more like an […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

Part of a visual novel playthrough, but displayed as a series of 'posts' in a history with thumbnails of the characters beside rather than with a full screen view of the current step.

001 1

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 12/01/2026

And we're off! First class of 2026 saw three pre-teens starting their first #visualnovel with its first choice point, visuals for the speakers and scene backgrounds, and background music. Not bad for one hour!

Screen shot of a visual novel showing a cafe and somebody asking what drink is wanted. One of the possible response choices is "Give me all your money!"

021 2

VisualInk @visualink.bonfire.mavnn.eu.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

Coding is a lot more fun when you don't have to keep jumping around to check you've used _exactly_ the right names for things. Which means we're constantly trying to up our game with the VisualInk editor to make the suggestions it gives as fast, context […] [Original post on bonfire.mavnn.eu]

Recording of a text editor with context aware suggestions

011 1