Welcome to the world of Suika2!
This document explains how to make a basic visual novel using the engine, don't worry, it's really easy!
Okay, Ready? Let's get started!
We'll be using Windows for this tutorial, but the process is similar on MacOS. For usage on other platforms, see usage.
Firstly, download the Suika2 binary.
Extract the downloaded ZIP file. Within the extracted ZIP file, you'll see the following:
suika2/
bg/ A folder to store background image files.bgm/ A folder to store background music files.cg/ A folder to store system image files such as for message boxes.ch/ A folder to store character image files.conf/ A folder to store setting file.cv/ A folder to store voice files.font/ A folder to store font files.gui/ A folder to store GUI files. For me information on GUI files, see the documentation.rule/ A folder to store rule files.se/ A folder to store sound effect files.txt/ A folder to store script files.suika.exe Executable application file for Windows.suika-pro.exe Executable application file for Windows. (Suika2 Visual Debugger)suika.exe is the Suika2 executable file. The other folders contain assets and information needed for the included demo game.
When you run suika.exe, a sav/ folder will be automatically created, this will contain save-data.
At the moment, we're just going to use demo-game chunks to play around with Suika2's various features. This tutorial is by no means exhaustive, so please refer to the reference for more commands and updated information. This document will be updated in the future to better align with Suika2's current version and documentation.
Within the txt folder we can find init.txt.
When Suika2 starts, this will be the first script file that runs.
The great thing about script files is that they're regular .txt files,
so you don't need any special software to open them!
**NOTE:** whenever you see Insert the following into init.txt:, make sure you clear your script. (Highlight and delete the text)
This will let you watch each example without interruption or distraction.
You can, of course, mix these examples and your own work to see what you can create!
Before we get into things, it's important to note that Suika2 scripts support comments.
You can use these to make notes and 'sections' of the document.
Comments won't appear anywhere in your game, and will only be viewable in the file itself.
To use a comment, insert a # at the beginning of the line. Suika2 comments don't need a closing tag.
For our first real step, we'll change the background image. This is the most basic command.
Insert the following into init.txt:
@bg roof.png 1.0
@click@bg is the command to show a background image.
roof.png is a file inside the bg folder.
1.0 is the fade-in time counted in seconds.
@click is the command to wait for the user to click.
After saving it, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will show a roof terrace, wait for a click and then exit.
Showing character images is pretty similar to the @bg command.
Insert the following into init.txt, between the @bg and @click commands:
@ch center 001-fun.png 1.0@ch is the command to show a character.
center is the horizontal position to show a character.
001-fun.png is a file inside the ch folder.
1.0 is the fade-in time counted in seconds.
After saving it, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will show a roof terrace, a character, wait for a click and then exit.
Showing dialogue is fundamental to visual novels.
Messages are printed as text inside message boxes.
Insert the following into init.txt, benearth the @ch command:
Hi, my name is Midori.After saving it, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will show a roof terrace, a character, one message and then exit.
Any script lines which don't start with @, : or \* are recognized as messages.
In most cases, it's important to know whose speaking,
this is achieved by enclosing the character's name in *.
Insert the following into init.txt:
*Midori*Now that you know my name, you can use it in your script!Sometimes, you will have voice files that match the dialogue of your story, luckily, this is simple to implement with Suika2 scripts!
Using voice follows a similar structure to names, however, an extra *
is inserted between the name and voice file.
Insert the following into init.txt:
*Midori*025.ogg*Messages can even be shown with voice lines!025.ogg is a file inside the cv folder.
Note: The English distribution only contains the cv/025.ogg and se/suika.ogg voice lines.
025.ogg doesn't reflect the written message above, and is just an example.
You can play background music (BGM) using the @bgm command.
Insert the following into init.txt:
@bgm 01.ogg
Playing BGM.@bgm is the command to play BGM.
01.ogg is a file inside the bgm folder.
After saving it, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will now play the selected music file and display a message.
Note: Suika2 can only play sound files encoded using Ogg Vorbis 44.1kHz stereo or monaural format.
A game may have options for multiple endings.
Insert the following into init.txt:
Ok, I'm gonna go to school.
@choose label1 "By foot." label2 "On my bicycle." label3 "I decided not to."
:label1
I'm gonna go to school by foot.
@goto end
:label2
I'm gonna go to school on my bicycle.
@goto end
:label3
I'm home sick from school.
:endAfter saving it, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will show three options.
@choose is the command to show options. (You can create up to eight options with this command.)
label1, label2 and label3 are jump destinations.
Option messages follow labels.
:label1 is a label to specify a jump destination.
Label lines are ignored when they are executed.
Next, we set a flag and create a branch.
Insert the following into init.txt:
@bg roof.png 1.0
@ch center 001-fun.png 1.0
Ok, I'm gonna go to school.
@choose label1 "By foot." label2 "By bicycle." label3 "I decided not to."
:label1
I'm gonna go to school by foot.
@set $1 = 1
@goto next
:label2
I'm gonna go to school by bicycle.
@goto next
:label3
I'm home sick from school.
:next
@if $1 == 0 end
I found money on the ground.
:endAfter saving it, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will show three options.
If you choose "By foot.", the message "I found money on the ground." is shown.
Here, we use a combination of @set and @if.
@set is the command to set variables.
$1 on the LHS means we store to variable at number 1.
= means simple assignment.
Lastly, 1 means integer 1.
All variables are initially zero.
$1 is set to 1 only when "By foot." is selected.
@if is the command to jump by condition.
$1 == 0 means when variable at number 1 is 0.
end is the jump destination label.
You can make a menu screen using Suika2 scripts.
@menu menu.png menu_selected.png START 2 495 314 192 LOAD 316 494 322 203 CONFIG 640 492 317 204 QUIT 960 497 317 201
:START
:LOAD
:CONFIG
:QUITAfter saving it, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will show the title screen of the sample game.
Let's look at this in more detail:
@menu is the command to show the menu screen. It uses two images.
@menu menu.png menu_selected.png means we use menu.png and menu_selected.png in the bg folder.
Compare these images.
menu.png is an image for when a button isn't being pointed at by the mouse.
menu_selected.png is an image for when the button is being pointed at by the mouse.
START 2 495 314 192 creates a button.
START is the jump destination label.
2 495 314 192 means creating a button with 314x192 size at position (2, 495).
When script files start becoming to combresome to organise and undestand efficeintly, it may be a good idea to split the file. Thankfully, Suika2 supports this functionality by default.
Insert the following into init.txt:
@bg roof.png 1.0
@ch center 001-fun.png 1.0
inside init.txt
@load second.txtCreate second.txt in the txt folder as follows.
moved to second.txtAfter saving these files, run suika.exe.
Suika2 will show "moved to second.txt" after "inside init.txt".
@load is the command to jump to a specified script file.
We can create a single package file that contains scripts, images, sounds and so
on with Suika2 sister application suika-pro.exe.
To do so, follow these steps:
suika-pro.exe. Suika2 Pro for Creators will open.File in the menu, then click Export package. It will create a file, data01.arc.suika.exe and data01.arc.When we have both the package and a normal file, Suika2 uses the normal file.
Please don't hesitate to reach out via Discord or E-Mail if you need any support, we'd love to hear from you!
We express our sincere thanks to Brayden for supervising this document in 2022.