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Date, create, and share!

Assuming the role of a male high school student in Japan, the player will meet, interact with, and date a number of female characters with the goal of winding up with one of them at the end of a 101-day calendar. Yeah, you've seen this all before...or have you?

In other romance sims, there's little reason to replay the game again once you've pursued all the characters you're interested in. But Heartache 101 allows for a variable female cast. The number of characters in the game is completely open-ended!

You can create new characters and add them to the game, share them with other users, and add characters created by other users. You can create the images for custom characters from a template, or use images you created yourself, or images from any source. (only "standing" images of characters can be imported; there is no event CG in the game) A simple scripting language is provided for writing story events. You can also customize some of the music.

The game system itself is in part a visual novel interface with gameplay that include conversational decision-making, board game-like mechanics, stat management, financial management, and more.

Latest Blog

New game forthcoming, some might like to know



Since I've been asked many times if I would ever make a sequel to Heartache....

Well this is not a sequel. In very many ways it's radically different. But some might find that it partially retains a bit of the same feel?

So I'm posting the first public screenshot here, and whoever is interested, look for a game page up in the next week or two with the title "Where One Citizen". Game is not complete yet, but after 10 years of development it's about time to start showing it!

Posts

Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
If you managed to land on a "bug" on Day 101, that would certainly skip the rest of the day. Which would, thereby, skip the end-game event. Anyway, I'm not sure how the code works (I seriously have no clue here), but I'm thinking it might be easier to check if the "day" variable is greater than or equal to 101 rather than cause the end-game event to occur whenever the player moves out of school-phase on Day 101.

I highly doubt this helps at all, but, on a personal note, I try to set aside a "Free Move" for the express purposes of skipping to the end of Day 101's school phase.
If you landed on a bug on the 101st day, or even saw a bug on the 101st day, that itself is a glitch. I was pretty sure I made it so that bugs don't appear on the 101st day, but I'll have to double-check.

Now that I think about it, it's conceivable that you could have hatched a bug from an egg, since eggs can appear on the 101st day. Whether or not that was what actually happened, it's something I had better fix.
I know this is probably a question asked over and over again, but how do I create a story or event? (?) to put in the story for my custom built character or another character. Also, what do I use? Sorry I'm so clueless but I downloaded the material_m zip and didn't find anything I could read. It was just a bunch of weird letters ( not Japanese ) and numbers and weird shapes.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
I know this is probably a question asked over and over again, but how do I create a story or event?


Story creation is usually done via any old text editor. There are certain keywords, mentioned in the Help file, that cause certain things to occur. Since what you want to do can vary greatly, I highly suggest referring to the Help file as you write your event. Even so, it can't hurt to test your event anyway! But that's a different matter, isn't it?

How do you put in the story for my custom built character or another character?


A character's files cannot be read by Heartache unless they are in the proper directories. As a quick example, graphics should be in the "Heartache 101/Tachie" directory, music would be in the "Heartache 101/Music" directory, and so forth.

Also, what do I use? Sorry I'm so clueless but I downloaded the material_m zip and didn't find anything I could read. It was just a bunch of weird letters ( not Japanese ) and numbers and weird shapes.


I know what you mean. I was making guesses at what was what 'till dude797 did a partial translation for me back when I was doing Masako. Saying that, you don't need to use material_m.psd to make a character's graphics. It's just the most widely used, as that was what was used for the built-in characters. For an example of a character that does not use material_m.psd (and I can't believe I'm doing this), check out this character.
author=Marrend
I know this is probably a question asked over and over again, but how do I create a story or event?
Story creation is usually done via any old text editor. There are certain keywords, mentioned in the Help file, that cause certain things to occur. Since what you want to do can vary greatly, I highly suggest referring to the Help file as you write your event. Even so, it can't hurt to test your event anyway! But that's a different matter, isn't it?

How do you put in the story for my custom built character or another character?


A character's files cannot be read by Heartache unless they are in the proper directories. As a quick example, graphics should be in the "Heartache 101/Tachie" directory, music would be in the "Heartache 101/Music" directory, and so forth.

Also, what do I use? Sorry I'm so clueless but I downloaded the material_m zip and didn't find anything I could read. It was just a bunch of weird letters ( not Japanese ) and numbers and weird shapes.


I know what you mean. I was making guesses at what was what 'till dude797 did a partial translation for me back when I was doing Masako. Saying that, you don't need to use material_m.psd to make a character's graphics. It's just the most widely used, as that was what was used for the built-in characters. For an example of a character that does not use material_m.psd (and I can't believe I'm doing this), check out this character.


There's a help file? Where is it? Sorry because I've been fooling around with the game for awhile. I looked on the main website too, but didn't see it. Though I think I get the material_m.psd file now. I think I shall try to use that to create a character in the near future. Because the character I'm using doesn't use material_m.psd .
Emiko looks...hentai-ish. I was just testing out the game before I read your post and I'm afraid I nearly broke the game, ( but I think I fixed it ) because I was trying to get the story txt file to work but this error came up.

Error: Unable to find a character with ID=9 in the included profile for file 'Built-in/game_stories_15.txt' The game then ends.

I've been dealing with this for awhile now, and I took your advice to put the character in the Profiles/Built-in folder in txt form and still get this error.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
There's a help file? Where is it?


The help file, "help.html", should be in the main directory for Heartache 101. If it's somehow not there, for whatever reason, I guess download the game again?

I was just testing out the game before I read your post and I'm afraid I nearly broke the game, ( but I think I fixed it ) because I was trying to get the story txt file to work but this error came up.

Error: Unable to find a character with ID=9 in the included profile for file 'Built-in/game_stories_15.txt' The game then ends.


What profile(s) does this story file refer to? If my guess is right, it's probably not making any references at all! To clarify, the first line of any story file should include the profile(s) of any characters that the story deals with. If it deals with just the default characters, then what you put in is "game_profiles.txt". If it deals with 21 Ways and Emiko, it would be "21_profile.txt, emiko_profile.txt". If it deals with all known content (which could be a nightmare and a half to get any kind of "good" ending with outside of 151 mode), it would be "game_profiles.txt, masako_profile.txt, 21_profile.txt, uchioniko_profile.txt, jun_and_aoi.txt, emiko_profile.txt".

Saying that, if you messed with the built-in content (And what you've written suggests just that!), then yes, you could have broken the game by messing with the built-in content. If this is the case, keep in mind that all the current, publicly available custom content are contained in their own sub-directories. Indeed, they don't usually even "see" the built-in content! The exception to that general rule is Junko. If you want your character to have interactions with built-in characters, I would suggest looking at Junko's files.
author=Marrend
There's a help file? Where is it?
The help file, "help.html", should be in the main directory for Heartache 101. If it's somehow not there, for whatever reason, I guess download the game again?

I was just testing out the game before I read your post and I'm afraid I nearly broke the game, ( but I think I fixed it ) because I was trying to get the story txt file to work but this error came up.

Error: Unable to find a character with ID=9 in the included profile for file 'Built-in/game_stories_15.txt' The game then ends.


What profile(s) does this story file refer to? If my guess is right, it's probably not making any references at all! To clarify, the first line of any story file should include the profile(s) of any characters that the story deals with. If it deals with just the default characters, then what you put in is "game_profiles.txt". If it deals with 21 Ways and Emiko, it would be "21_profile.txt, emiko_profile.txt". If it deals with all known content (which could be a nightmare and a half to get any kind of "good" ending with outside of 151 mode), it would be "game_profiles.txt, masako_profile.txt, 21_profile.txt, uchioniko_profile.txt, jun_and_aoi.txt, emiko_profile.txt".

Saying that, if you messed with the built-in content (And what you've written suggests just that!), then yes, you could have broken the game by messing with the built-in content. If this is the case, keep in mind that all the current, publicly available custom content are contained in their own sub-directories. Indeed, they don't usually even "see" the built-in content! The exception to that general rule is Junko. If you want your character to have interactions with built-in characters, I would suggest looking at Junko's files.


So I renamed the character to the first name and the last name, then with the first name, then with the last name, and these three ways didn't work to stop this error and I corrected the file name. I also changed the character's id and in the character's story. I don't get how to get rid of this error especially with the rename and I did this as a little test to the event here is what I wrote beginning to end ( nothing big ):

STORY 111
PLACE= CLASSROOM A
INTRODUCE = 9
ID = 9
Mr.<player>, your grades are down.
ID = 0
What? But I worked so hard!

Funny thing is, I've only looked and read it to see how I could script and surprisingly, it messed up the game but somehow it said it had never had the scenes before and was putting them in the records and the game returned to normal. My luck rocks.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
So wait, are we good now? I'm having a bit of trouble understanding your last post.
author=Marrend
So wait, are we good now? I'm having a bit of trouble understanding your last post.

I still keep getting the error. Like I said in the last post, I renamed the file to the character's first name and still got an error and that's his ID. So I tried first and last name and still got an error. I tried last name and got an error. I'm frustrated at what to do to make the error stop.

Also, the script I wrote I posted up in the last post, is what I wrote in the txt file and get an error.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
I think I've a better understanding, now. If the contents of your story file looks exactly like it does in your post, then you didn't include the profile. For a quick example, let's just say that you named your profile "terada_junko.txt". The contents of your story file should look like:


terada_junko.txt

STORY 111
PLACE = CLASSROOM A
INTRODUCE = 9
ID = 9
Mr. <player>, your grades are down.
ID = 0
What? But I worked so hard!

If you have included a profile as above, then the profile does not exist (I highly doubt this), or does not have a character with an ID of 9. Either way, you might want to also check the profile to see if the missing ID number is there.

On an unrelated note, where's flowertheif? As the game developer, he might have different ideas, or have a better insight, as to what the problem is.
author=Marrend
I think I've a better understanding, now. If the contents of your story file looks exactly like it does in your post, then you didn't include the profile. For a quick example, let's just say that you named your profile "terada_junko.txt". The contents of your story file should look like:


terada_junko.txt

STORY 111
PLACE = CLASSROOM A
INTRODUCE = 9
ID = 9
Mr. <player>, your grades are down.
ID = 0
What? But I worked so hard!


If you have included a profile as above, then the profile does not exist (I highly doubt this), or does not have a character with an ID of 9. Either way, you might want to also check the profile to see if the missing ID number is there.

On an unrelated note, where's flowertheif? As the game developer, he might have different ideas, or have a better insight, as to what the problem is.


If you mean by the character profile, I did put in there as txt file as Miyahara Kaii his last-first name. But not in the game profile and I checked the character's ID and it is 9. When I take out the character's stories txt file the game works and I can see the character in the game though.

I just tested to see if ANOTHER Id would work, so I put in 1 instead of 9. It still got the same error just with 1. I think this may be a glitch, because this error won't stop no matter what I do.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Wait, so the character shows up without the story file? Oh, right. Duh. The game has default scenarios for a character that doesn't have story files attached to it. So that's why the character works without the story file.

I'm 99.999% positive that the problem lies with the interaction with the story and profile files. At this point, I would need to see the exact contents of both profile and story file, to decipher what's happening. I'm not sure how much information you want public about this character, so sending me a private message, or the use of hide-tags, are options.
author=Marrend
Wait, so the character shows up without the story file? Oh, right. Duh. The game has default scenarios for a character that doesn't have story files attached to it. So that's why the character works without the story file.

I'm 99.999% positive that the problem lies with the interaction with the story and profile files. At this point, I would need to see the exact contents of both profile and story file, to decipher what's happening. I'm not sure how much information you want public about this character, so sending me a private message, or the use of hide-tags, are options.

Also the character does show up properly without the story file.


Okay here is the character's story file. I was mostly using this character as a test to make stories and create some drama in the game, but...

Name of Character Profile: Miyahara Kaii.txt
Character Profile:


#
ID = 9
DISLIKE = Built-in/-1.png
UNFRIENDLY = Built-in/-1.png
NEUTRAL = Built-in/-1.png
FRIENDLY = Built-in/-1.png
LIKE = Built-in/-1.png
LOVE = Built-in/-1.png
LOVESICK = Built-in/-1.png
OTHER1 = Built-in/-1.png
FACE X = 118
FACE Y = 88
THEME = Built-in/happy.mp3
GENDER = Male
FIRST NAME = Kaii
LAST NAME = Miyahara
YEAR = Teacher
RELATION ID =
NAME KNOWN = No
YEAR KNOWN = Yes
SIGN KNOWN = No
PHONE KNOWN = No
RELATION KNOWN = No
STATE = Unfriendly
TYPE = 1
ENCOUNTERS = Yes
LOOKS = C
ATHLETICS = C
PERSONALITY = C
MIND = B
SOUL = B
HOME = House
GOOD LOCATIONS = Library, Shrine, Children's Park, Internet Cafe, Fashion Mall, Station, Greenhouse, Beach, Stadium, Pool, Karaoke, Hot Springs, Club, Coffee Shop, Hawaiian, Chinese, Diner, Family Restaurant
BAD LOCATIONS = Convenience Store, Gym, Fishing
GOOD GIFTS = Top, Chime, Flowers, Cake, Beads, Kitten, Chocolates
BAD GIFTS = Bear, Dolls, Fish
CUSTOM 1 = ......
CUSTOM 2 = It's you.
CUSTOM 3 = Hello.
CUSTOM 4 = Hello, <player>.
CUSTOM 5 = Hello, <player>.
CUSTOM 6 = <player>, your here early.
CUSTOM 7 = <player>, I..nevermind.
CUSTOM 8 = ......
CUSTOM 9 = Goodbye.
CUSTOM 10 = Bye.
CUSTOM 11 = See you, <player>.
CUSTOM 12 = Goodbye, <player>.
CUSTOM 13 = Hm.
CUSTOM 14 = Hm.
CUSTOM 15 = I don't need to tell you.
CUSTOM 16 = It's <first>.
CUSTOM 17 = Why do you need it?
CUSTOM 18 = Okay. Have you got a pen?
CUSTOM 19 = I don't think you need to know that.
CUSTOM 20 = What is it? I have business to attend to.
CUSTOM 21 = Oh, hello.
CUSTOM 22 = Hello, <player>.
CUSTOM 23 = Hello, <player>!
CUSTOM 24 = Hm.
CUSTOM 25 = Is that you, <player>? I've been waiting for your call.
CUSTOM 26 = Goodbye.
CUSTOM 27 = Bye then.
CUSTOM 28 = Bye, <player>.
CUSTOM 29 = Goodbye, <player>.
CUSTOM 30 = I...nevermind, goodbye.
CUSTOM 31 = Bye, <player>.
CUSTOM 32 = No thanks.
CUSTOM 33 = I'm afraid I can't. I have work as a teacher, you know.
CUSTOM 34 = I'd like to but there are things I need to get done. Ask me again next time.
CUSTOM 35 = Sure, I've got can be there for some time.
CUSTOM 36 = Fine, but show up on time.
CUSTOM 37 = I'll make some time.
CUSTOM 38 = I'll go, just don't act stupid, <player>.
CUSTOM 39 = Mistakes happen, I suppose. Let's forget about it.
CUSTOM 40 = Hello <player>, you're late.
CUSTOM 41 = Hello, <player>. Shall we start this date?
CUSTOM 42 = <player>! You're late, again. I'll excuse it this time.
CUSTOM 43 = <player>! I'm only going to have things like one time, don't be late again.
CUSTOM 44 = Well, see you at school.
CUSTOM 45 = I had fun. Thanks, <player>.
CUSTOM 46 = I had fun, <player>. At least you know how to entertain a person.
CUSTOM 47 = Hmm.
CUSTOM 48 = Thank you. Unexpected, but thank you.
CUSTOM 49 = Thank you.
CUSTOM 50 = Oh, this.
CUSTOM 51 = I'm kind of hungry. Would you mind if we stopped by somewhere?
CUSTOM 52 = Thanks, but I can get home myself. I'm a legal adult, you know.
CUSTOM 53 = Okay. It's nice to have company.
CUSTOM 54 = Well, company is good.
CUSTOM 55 = Hey, what are you doing?
CUSTOM 56 = I'll allow it this time.
CUSTOM 57 = Your hand feels...nevermind.
CUSTOM 58 = Thank you for walking me home.
CUSTOM 59 = I'm glad I could have nice evening with you.
CUSTOM 60 = Bye, <player>.
CUSTOM 61 = What do you think you're doing?
CUSTOM 62 = <player>, your body..we shouldn't be doing this.
CUSTOM 63 = Hey! I'm your teacher not your boyfriend.
CUSTOM 64 = I hope no one saw us.
CUSTOM 65 = You came. You even showed up one time, good job.
CUSTOM 66 = It's something simple I made this morning. Please try it. What do you think?
CUSTOM 67 = I hope she's only a good friend to you.
CUSTOM 68 = I didn't know you and my <relation> were getting along so well.
CUSTOM 69 = I didn't know you were getting along so well with my <relation>.
CUSTOM 70 = What's that got to do with anything?
CUSTOM 71 = Sure, if you must know.
CUSTOM 72 = Don't bother me <player>, unless you have questions about class.
CUSTOM 73 = <player>, are you there? I just wanted to talk about your classes.
CUSTOM 74 = Who were you talking to?
CUSTOM 75 = I didn't expect to see you here.
CUSTOM 76 = Have fun.
CUSTOM 77 = <player>, I've got a question to ask you.
CUSTOM 78 = Which of the the two outfits in this magazine should I buy for my brother? He's getting married next week so..
CUSTOM 79 = Yeah, that's great. Thanks.
CUSTOM 80 = I don't about that one. It doesn't really match him.
CUSTOM 81 = I need to do stretches for my little niece. Any ideas, <player>?
CUSTOM 82 = That's a good idea.
CUSTOM 83 = My niece might not like that.
CUSTOM 84 = Is there any way to get the students to study more?
CUSTOM 85 = I think you're right. I'll try that and see how that goes.
CUSTOM 86 = I don't about that. The students are more..experienced than that idea.
CUSTOM 87 = I'm stuck on how to seat the students. Would you know how?
CUSTOM 88 = I see. Thank you.
CUSTOM 89 = That's still not right. I guess I better ask another student.
CUSTOM 90 = What do you think of this piece from Shakespeare? Is it good?
CUSTOM 91 = Thanks for your feedback. I'll choose a better one.
CUSTOM 92 = Really? But I know it could be better....
CUSTOM 93 = It's okay. Maybe you were the wrong person to ask.
CUSTOM 94 = Of course. Did you forget?
CUSTOM 95 = Don't forget our date.
CUSTOM 96 = I go there on some of my strolls. It's perfect.
CUSTOM 97 = Hn. I don't really like that place.
CUSTOM 98 = That place is fine.
CUSTOM 99 = Well, I don't prefer boys but I would like a smart, artistic man.



Stories File Name : Kaii_stories. txt ( I hope you don't get confused I just mean the txt part as in the file. I didn't put it as the name. )

Stories File:
STORY 111
PLACE= CLASSROOM A
INTRODUCE = 9
ID = 9
Mr.<player>, your grades are down.
ID = 0
What? But I worked so hard!


Is there a material rar file for boys to put them in the game? I want to make a character that will prevent the main character and may end with him or somebody else.

Woops, I forgot to put the the 1 back to 9. But I still get the error..
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Okay, the problem isn't in the profile. It's in the story file. First off, is the name of the story file literally "Kaii_stories. txt"? If so, removing the space between the period and the file extension would help greatly. The second problem I'm seeing can be handled two ways. One way is to have the text "Miyahara Kaii.txt" as the first line in the story file (I spoke of this earlier, as a matter of fact). The other way is to remove the INTRODUCE line in the story file. I suspect the first option is what you want to do.


As far as I know, there's no resource akin to material_m for male characters. I forget what dude797 used for Bacon, put I figure he mentioned it somewhere in the many posts in this thread or this thread
author=Marrend
Okay, the problem isn't in the profile. It's in the story file. First off, is the name of the story file literally "Kaii_stories. txt"? If so, removing the space between the period and the file extension would help greatly. The second problem I'm seeing can be handled two ways. One way is to have the text "Miyahara Kaii.txt" as the first line in the story file (I spoke of this earlier, as a matter of fact). The other way is to remove the INTRODUCE line in the story file. I suspect the first option is what you want to do.


As far as I know, there's no resource akin to material_m for male characters. I forget what dude797 used for Bacon, put I figure he mentioned it somewhere in the many posts in this thread or this thread

Problem has been fixed! I put Miyahara Kaii.txt as the first line in the character's story file and it worked. Though the Kaii_stories is just Kaii_stories not Kaii_stories.txt litteraly.Sorry for the confusion, and thank you for helping me with this error. It really confused me.

Thank you though. The game is now running with the story.

Odd, there is relation error.

Warning: Unable to find file 'built-in\moriguchi namie' refereed to in Relation ID field for character ID= 9 in profiles file ' Miyahara Kaii'. This Relation will be ignored.

At least I can write stories though.
I'm back to my house so I'll be putting out an update after I fix a few things.

@ClownedJoker
What is the RELATION ID field for the character? Does the file 'moriguchi namie' exist or is that just a character's name?
author=flowerthief
I'm back to my house so I'll be putting out an update after I fix a few things.

@ClownedJoker
What is the RELATION ID field for the character? Does the file 'moriguchi namie' exist or is that just a character's name?

I'm not sure what you mean by Relation ID field, but the moriguchi namie does exist and has an ID of 21. Miyahara Kaii's ID is 9.

RELATION ID = 9 IN Built-in\Miyahara Kaii.txt
RELATION TYPE = teacher

Though it says this in Moriguchi Namie file and Miyhara Kaii's says..

RELATION ID =

Weird... I put into the Relation ID = 21 IN Built-in\Miyhara Kaii
then under it I put
RELATION TYPE = student

and got this error along with the error I listed up there. I think I also posted the Relation ID field too in this post, somewhere and this is AFTER I saw the blank Relation ID = .

Warning: Unable to find file 'built-in/moriguchi namie' refereed to in Relation ID
field for character ID = 9 in profiles file ' Miyahara Kaii'. This Relation will be ignored.
Is Moriguchi Namie's profile contained within a separate file or is it contained within the same file as Miyahara Kaii's profile?
author=flowerthief
Is Moriguchi Namie's profile contained within a separate file or is it contained within the same file as Miyahara Kaii's profile?
author=flowerthief
Is Moriguchi Namie's profile contained within a separate file or is it contained within the same file as Miyahara Kaii's profile?


Moriguchi Namie's profile is contained in a separate file from Miyahara Kaii's profile.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
The way I'm figuring it, if I've been listening properly, Kaii's profile would have:


RELATION ID = 21 IN Moriguchi Namie.txt
RELATION TYPE = Student


Whereas Namie's profile would have:

RELATION ID = 9 IN Miyahara Kaii.txt
RELATION TYPE = Teacher


Or something along these lines. I'm not sure if putting it through the profile-maker program would be easier. But one can always try!