Visual Novel ScriptVisual Novel Script, short for VNS, is a universal scripting language created with the goal of creating a language that allows visual novel developers to write once and compile everywhere, across different platforms, game libraries, and programming languages. VNS provides a number of features that make it easy to create visual novels, such as:
Unlike Ren'py, writing visual novel script is more like writing a story instead of a program, and the developers also have the choice to create their own implementation. How it started:The development of the VNS can be traced all the way back to the initial stages of Linpg's development. During this period, the team faced the challenge of finding an efficient method to store the dialogue. Each conversation required the storage of multiple variables, including the narrator, the actual dialogue content, associated character images, ambient background music, and various other components: Ultimately, the team opted for a design inspired by doubly linked list, but implemented using dictionary (HashMap for Java forks). This approach not only facilitated easier access to the data but also streamlined the saving process, enabling compatibility with formats like JSON or YAML. This method preserved readability while efficiently managing the dialogue. Today, the current system closely resembles our initial design, with only a few subtle refinements:
Although the overall data is easy to read, it is somewhat inconvenient to write. We came up with a dedicated dialogue editor to resolve the issue, but it's still a bit of a hassle. That is the reason why we begin to inquire about the possibility of simplifying the process. Would it be possible to make it feel like we're writing the dialogue in a Microsoft Word document? Thus, VNS is born. Tutorials:VNS are written in a plain text file with the Tags with value
The ID:
Specifies a (unique) ID for the current dialogue file. Every script file must have an ID. Language:
Specifies the language of the current dialogue. Every script file must specifies a language. Section:
Specifies the section of all the following dialogues. Background image:
Specifies the background image for the current and following dialogues. Background music:
Specifies the background music for the current and following dialogues. Display character(s)
Displays the character(s) for the current and following dialogues. Hide character(s)
Hides the character(s) for the current and following dialogues. New scene
Enters a new scene and displays the specified background image. Option(s)
Adding option(s) to current dialogues, and branch to the specified label according to the option chosen by the player. Label
Creates a label for the branch command. The value will be used as the key for the subsequent conversation. Tags without valueEnd
Marks the end of the script. Block
The player can't go back to the previous conversation. Comments:
Commenting the script to make it easier to understand. Notes:
Notes are very similar to comments. It's used to make a note for a specific conversation and is saved to the file that is compiled. Dialogue:Conversations are written in the form of this:
The character name is followed by a colon and then one or more lines of dialogue text. Each line of dialogue text must start with a hyphen and a space. Example:Here is a simple example of a VNS script:
This script would display the background image |