124 lines
5.8 KiB
Markdown
124 lines
5.8 KiB
Markdown
# My Novel — the starting point for your own visual novel
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My Novel is the smallest complete visual novel in the game: an evening town, a bar and a home, connected by choices. It has no characters, items or battles — only scenes, short scenario files and their translations. It is meant to be copied: rename it, then grow your own story from these three places.
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Play it from **Play → My Novel → New game**. It is the content of the **My Novel** game (collection `novel_template`).
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## What it contains
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```filestree
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my_novel_game/
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├── manifest.json
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├── scenes/
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│ ├── my_novel_town.json town entrance, the game starts here
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│ ├── my_novel_bar.json bar with its ambient sound
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│ └── my_novel_home.json home vestibule
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├── scenarios/
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│ ├── my_novel_town.scenario
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│ ├── my_novel_bar.scenario
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│ └── my_novel_home.scenario
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└── locale/
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├── en.properties mod name and description
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└── scenarios_<lang>.properties translations of the scenario lines
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```
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The pictures and the bar sound are not in this mod: they come from **Town Pack**, so the template stays small and shows how a game reuses shared content. The music comes from **Music Pack**; the engine mods are the 2D Shell, Dialog Engine and Audio Engine.
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## How the story flows
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The town is the hub. Every visit shows the same choice; the bar and the home each lead back.
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```text
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┌────────────────────┐
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│ my_novel_town │ (start)
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│ "Where to go?" │
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└──┬──────────────┬──┘
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Go into the bar Go back home
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▼ ▼
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┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
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│ my_novel_bar │ │ my_novel_home│
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└──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘
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└─ Back to the town ─┘
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```
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A scene file names the background and the ambient sound:
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```json
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{
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"name": "my_novel_bar",
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"defaultBackground": "bar/bar",
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"defaultAmbient": "bar/bar_ambient"
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}
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```
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The scenario with the same scene name runs when the scene is entered:
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```scenario
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scene: my_novel_town
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priority: 10
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---
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# The town is the hub: every visit shows the same choice.
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text "Evening town. The street lamps are already lit and a cool draught runs along the cobbles." key=my_novel/town/intro
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select "Where to go?" key=my_novel/town/prompt
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option "Go into the bar" key=my_novel/town/opt_bar -> :bar
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option "Go back home" key=my_novel/town/opt_home -> :home
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:bar
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switch_scene my_novel_bar
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end
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:home
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switch_scene my_novel_home
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end
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```
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The English text is written directly in the scenario. Each `key=` names the line's translation in `locale/scenarios_<lang>.properties`, for example the Spanish one:
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```properties
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my_novel/town/intro = La ciudad al anochecer. Las farolas ya están encendidas y una corriente fresca recorre los adoquines.
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```
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## Make it your own
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1. **Copy and rename the mod.** Name it after your game with the `_game` suffix, for example `harbor_game`. Change the folder name and `id` in `manifest.json` to the same value, and rename the `mod_my_novel_game_name` / `_desc` keys in `locale/*.properties` to `mod_harbor_game_name` / `_desc`.
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2. **Make a game for it.** In **Mods & Collections → Collections**, open My Novel's scheme and press **Duplicate**, then replace `my_novel_game` with your mod in the **Story** block. The entry scene is set in the collection (`"entry": { "scene": "my_novel_town" }`).
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3. **Rename the scenes** if you like: the scene's `name`, its file, the `scene:` header of its scenario and every `switch_scene` that leads to it must match.
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4. **Keep or replace the art.** Leave `town_pack` in `depends` to keep the town, or add your own `backgrounds/` and `sounds/` and point `defaultBackground` / `defaultAmbient` at them.
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## A first change: add a place
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This is a real session in the editors, run inside My Novel with the Editor Tools mod added. The scene editor created a `my_novel_park` scene, and one option plus one label were typed into the town's scenario:
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```scenario
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option "Go to the park" -> :park
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:park
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switch_scene my_novel_park
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end
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```
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After saving, the town immediately offers the new way, and choosing it opens the new scene:
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To get the editors in your own game, add the **Editor Tools** mod to it in the scheme, or launch the game for one session with them:
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```text
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godot --path . -- --game=novel_template --new --with-mods=editor_tools
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```
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A new line without `key=` shows its literal text in every language; add a key and translations when the story is ready to be translated.
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## If something does not work
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1. **A choice leads nowhere.** The `switch_scene` name must equal the target scene's `name`, including case.
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2. **A scene has no text.** Its scenario's `scene:` header must name that scene.
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3. **The text is English in another language.** The line has no `key=`, or the key is missing in that language's `scenarios_<lang>.properties`.
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4. **A black background.** The background name is misspelt, or the mod that has the picture is not in `depends`.
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