• Add Review
  • Subscribe
  • Nominate
  • Submit Media
  • RSS
This page is for discussion of the technical side of content creation. If you have a technical issue or question with regards to a character or story you are creating, talk about it here.
(The old Custom Content thread can be found here)


Helpful things:

--> Medium build girl, the .psd that was used to create the built-in characters, is available with layer names in English.

--> Kudos to SparkleFox for finding us a male tachie generator, authored by "彩 雅介" (Aya Mayabaikai?)! This one is put together as a program, but has PSD files with layer-names in Japanese. No "fan-translation" available at this time.

--> You can use any of these images for making new custom characters.

--> Notepad++ with syntax highlighting for Heartache 101 can be a big help with story creation. To set it up, go to the View menu and set User Defined Language to HeartAche. Then close View, go to the Language menu and select HeartAche. (If you already have Notepad++, here's userDefineLang.xml by itself)

--> Mr. Help File has, regrettably, forgotten to mention certain locations! They are as follows:
Beach (sunset), Grounds (sunset), Roof (sunset), Bedroom (Morning), Downtown, Studio Room.
Note that these locations must be specified via a PLACE command. To the best of my (ie: Marrend's) knowledge, they cannot be obtained via the generic "School" or "City" code.

--> If you are writing story content that includes the appearance of existing characters (built-in or custom), the following list may be of reference:

ID 0 = The Player
ID 1 = Nakajima Miki {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 2 = Ikeda Keika {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 3 = Onishi Tsubasa {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 4 = Kaneshiro Shihoko {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 5 = Kaneshiro Riho {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 6 = Sato Akari {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 7 = Hiraoka Hinami {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 8 = (Secret character) {flowerthief, Built-in content}
ID 9 = Watanabe Junko {Nekochi, "Junko"}
ALSO = Tsukino Emi {Silent Pheonix, "Tsukino Emi", in progress}
ID 10 = Mitsuya Masako {Marrend, "Masako"}
ID 11 = Monotami Ruri {Marrend, "Uchioniko"}
ID 12 = Nemoto Mayu {Marrend, "Uchioniko"}
ID 13 = Terakado Shoko {Marrend, "Uchioniko}
ID 14 = Shirazu Izumi {Marrend, "Uchioniko"}
ID 15 = Watanabe Aoi {Nekochi, "Junko"}
ALSO = Lambaria Yuu {KimotoDragoon, "Yuu", in progress, Caretaker: Marrend}
ID 16 = Ran Fujioka {Neckochi, unpublished}
ID 17 = Torako Koizumi {Neckochi, unpublished}
ID 18 = Yumemi Tanno {Neckochi, unpublished}
ID 19 = Umehara Joruri {Marrend, "Joruri"}
ID 20 = Sakuragawa Fuyuki {Fuyuki, "Fuyuki", cancelled}
ID 21 = 21 Ways {dude797, "21"; Caretaker: Dozen}
ID 22 = Ikari Kyouki {Dozen, unpublished}
ID 23 = (Reserved for Nekochi)
ID 24 = (Reserved for Nekochi)
ID 25 = Kuwabara Emiko {Marrend, "Emiko"}
ID 26 = Tanaka Yoko {triad2/Noone42, in progress}
ID 27 = Katanashi Seira {triad2/Noone42, in progress}
ID 28 = (Reserved for KimotoDragoon)
ID 29 = Shitazawa Arika {Dozen, unpublished}

ID 31 = Maeda Eriko {triad2, "Meada"}
ID 32 = ? Genji {triad2, "Meada"}
ID 33 = ? Ryoko {Dozen, unpublished}
ID 34 = (Reserved for Tthedragon)
ID 35 = (Reserved for Tthedragon)
ID 36 = Murakami Megumi {Render, unpublished}
ID 37 = Kawano Fujiko {Render, unpublished}
ID 38 = Matsuhara Akane {Render, unpublished}
ID 39 = Momohana Nami {GloopMaster, Unknown, in progress}
ID 40 = Konohana Midori {LordNight, "Midori", RMN only, in progress}
ID 41 = Natsume Rika {LordNight, "Midori", RMN only, in progress}
ID 42 = (Reserved for LorSquirrel)
ID 43 = Hasegawa Kanon {LordNight, "Midori", RMN only, in progress}
ID 44 = Kirihara Kana {LordNight, "Midori", RMN only, in progress}
ID 45 = (Reserved for LordNight)
ID 46 = (Reserved for LordNight)
ID 47 = (Reserved for LordNight)
ID 48 = (Reserved for LorSquirrel)
ID 49 = (Reserved for LorSquirrel)
ID 50 = (Reserved for LorSquirrel)
ID 51 = Shiromiya Kagami {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 52 = Tsuchitsuru Airi {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 53 = Kimura Shizuka {Mute, unpublished}
ID 54 = Columban Kuri {?, unpublished}
ID 55 = Shikimori Asuka {Render, "Clique", unpublished}
ID 56 = Shikimori Sanako {Render, "Clique", unpublished}
ID 57 = Nakao Yasuko {Render, "Clique", unpublished}
ID 58 = Sakaki Usagi {Render, "Clique", unpublished}
ID 59 = Waifu Mai {pegaso, "Mai", unpublished} (temporary reserve?)
ID 60 = Makoda Yuuki {Ilan14, unpublished}
ID 61 = Hisatsuki Seiryuu {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 62 = Torahashi Mio {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 63 = Eienji Rie {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 64 = Hamaguchi Takako {dewelar, unpublished}
ID 65 = Yoshimura Noriko {dewelar, "Noriko"}
ID 66 = Ichini Sanshi {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 67 = Kimura Sachiko {Mute, unpublished}
ID 68 = Hitsuragi Yuureiko {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 69 = Hanata Haruka {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 70 = Shiraki Kotone {BasedMG, "Kotone", in progress}
ID 71 = Kurokawa Sarako {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 72 = Kurokawa Mikari {BDFalcon, unpublished}
ID 73 = (Reserved for LorSquirrel)
ID 74 = Yamisaki Eliza {Kevincalanor, Wolfpack}
ID 75 = Yamisaki Alessa {Kevincalanor, Wolfpack}
ID 76 = Nakamura Yuriko {Kevincalanor, Wolfpack}
ID 77 = Harada Himeko {Garage, "Winggirl"}
ID 78 = Fujikawa Sayumi {Garage, "Winggirl"}
ID 79 = Fujikawa Mayumi {Garage, "Winggirl"}
ID 80 = Hashimoto Midori {Ertad, unpublished}
ID 81 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 82 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 83 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 84 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 85 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 86 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 87 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 88 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 89 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 90 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 91 = (reserved for Ertad)
ID 92 = Itawa Miyuki {RukasuWYZ, "Ijona on'nanoko", probably canceled}
ID 93 = Shogowa Yuka {RukasuWYZ, "Ijona on'nanoko", probably canceled}
ID 94 = Fujita Suki {RukasuWYZ, "Ijona on'nanoko", probably canceled}
ID 95 = Chihiro Sato {RukasuWYZ, "Ijona on'nanoko", probably canceled}
ID 96 = Shingoza Ayumi {RukasuWYZ, "Ijona on'nanoko", probably canceled}

ID 97 = Sawada Merika {Garage, "Winggirl - Pathways"}
ID 98 = Nagai Shika {Garage, "Winggirl - Pathways"}
ID 99 = Harada Hibiko {Garage, "Winggirl - Pathways"}
ID 100 = Robin Clark {Wowzer_, "Robin"}
ALSO = ? Takuya {Kevincalanor, "Built-off", tachie/profile only}
ID 101 = Miyazaki Kiyoka {Nedras, "First Years", unpublished}
ID 102 = Matsumoto Atsumi {Nedras, "First Years", unpublished}
ID 103 = Kagawa Yasuna {Nedras, "First Years", unpublished}
ID 104 = Azuka Ishikawa {Nedras, "First Years", unpublished}
ID 105 = Hayashito Kaede {ShinigamisApples/KiyokoKaia, unpublished}
ID 106 = Hayashi Kitsune {Garage, "Kitsune"}
ID 107 = Sasaki Riku {Garage, "Nadeshiko"}
ID 108 = Yamaguchi Ayame {Garage, "Nadeshiko"}
ID 109 = Kimura Nanashi {Garage, "Nadeshiko"}
ID 110 = Takahashi Karen {Garage, "Rivalries"}
ID 111 = Inoue Azami {Garage, "Rivalries"}
ID 112 = Yamamoto Hina {Garage, "Crossover", unpublished}
ID 113 = Kojima Daishi {Garage, "Crossover", unpublished}
ID 114 = Hashimoto Chiyo {Garage, "Crossover", unpublished}

ID 121 = Furuya Reika {ScarbucksCoffee, "Reika", unpublished}
ID 122 = Furuya Shunpei {ScarbucksCoffee, "Reika", unpublished}
ID 123 = Shimada Tsukasa {ScarbucksCoffee, "Reika", unpublished}
ID 124 = Shimada Tomo {ScarbucksCoffee, "Reika", unpublished}

ID 130 = Tanaka Grace {mysteriousone3, "Grace"}

(Note: You don't need to care about this list if your story events will not include existing characters, as ID numbers for characters in separate files don't have to be unique)

--> Finally, I've listed the game cheats here. You can use these during story events to test your content:
SHIFT + F5 -- Adds 10 to Looks
SHIFT + F6 -- Adds 10 to Athletics
SHIFT + F7 -- Adds 10 to Personality
SHIFT + F8 -- Adds 10 to Mind
SHIFT + F9 -- Adds 10 to Soul
ALT + F5 -- Adds 1000 to yen
ALT + F6 -- Active speaker's affection decreases by 100
ALT + F7 -- Active speaker's affection increases by 100
ALT + F8 -- Advances the calendar by 1 day
ALT + F9 -- Advances the calendar by 7 days

Posts

Greetings, all.

I discovered this site and this game a couple of weeks ago, and have been enjoying it immensely. I just started working on some custom content, and have encountered an odd problem with the Character Customizer. I noticed that the program opens two separate windows, but when I exit, only the main program window closes, leaving the other one open. This didn't happen the first couple times I used the program, but has been happening ever since.

Also, as a side comment, I didn't see anywhere in the help file that you need to save your profiles as a .txt file -- I tried to save it without an extension, and it wouldn't let me reopen it, and figured out the problem (although not after deleting the work I'd already done by saving over my file - feh!).
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
I believe flowerthief is (was?) working on making only one window open for the character customizer program. As for the "black screen" not closing, I'm mostly sure you can close it if the main window is closed. Mostly sure, mind you.

As for the comment on the help file not specifically saying anything about saving as TXT, I suppose you have a point about that. On the other hand, there is not one story file, custom or built-in, that isn't TXT (That I know of, anyway!), so one might wonder if it's possible to save as something else.

On a lighter note, welcome to RMN, and Heartache 101!
Thanks for the info, Marrend. I've been manually closing that window, but wasn't sure having it still running in the background might be a problem in some other way.

I wasn't even sure if this was the right place to post any more, as I noted there hadn't been any posts in several months, and was concerned about the status of the game. I have been trying to get the 3eeweb site to open since I first DLed the game, but all I ever get is connection reset errors (or random other errors). I was able to pull pieces of it up from the Internet Archive, but none of it was anything that wasn't already on this site.

This is such a fun game, and I especially enjoy the random elements. I'm a fairly recent entrant into the bishoujo/ren'ai/dating sim style of game, and am especially interested in games with limited graphics as I am visually impaired.

I'm looking at using the "27" tachie set for my character, but might play around with some of the graphics programs mentioned in the thread (e.g. GIMP) and see if they're usable for me. I've never been good at drawing for obvious reasons :-/ . Also, are we still needing to request IDs for our characters? If so, I'd like to use 65.

Edit: Drat, just discovered that someone else is using 27. Posts about the game are in a lot of different places, apparently. Not friendly.

Re-Edit: Is anyone using tachie set 26? If not, I'll use that one. Not ideal by any means, but it'll do.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
The 3eeweb site was down for a while, but we got it back up fairly recently. As for there being very little activity here of late, I prefer to attribute that to real life getting in the way rather than a loss of interest.

Though, for my own part, I've had thoughts out outright cancelling Kuwabara Emiko, and the fate of Yume Francesca isn't looking very positive either.
dewelar:
Sorry about those little problems you've had and about the site being down for awhile. You don't need to request IDs for your character. It has been awhile since anyone has completed a character (that I know of) so if there is any ID or any tachie that you want to use, I say go for it!

Real life has kinda gotten in my way, too, and the "unreal life" I do have is mostly being devoted to my upcoming project (which will be a limited graphics sim by the way), so to be honest I can't promise ongoing support for Heartache 101. But hopefully the game is stable enough not to need it now? Or maybe that depends on whether or not it becomes somewhat popular again, which I can't predict.
@Marrend: I still can't get the 3eeweb site to load. I've tried it in both Firefox and Chrome.

Also, I've got some ideas about a possible connection between my new character (who will be named Yoshimura Noriko) and your Masako character, as I was intending for Noriko to be a member of the debate club, and since I've now started looking at some of the custom characters I see that Masako is part of it also. Perhaps I should take this to the Artistic Content thread, though...

@flowerthief: Well, I'm going to try and do my own tachie, because the character I'm starting doesn't really fit any of the existing ones. If it proves too difficult, I'll just claim 26 and be done. I know Marrend offered to create tachie for people a while back, but I don't know if that offer is still open.

One overall comment I'll make is that, for my tastes, the direction of the game and custom content has gone a little too far into the realm of the supernatural. I know it's a staple of the genre, but I wonder if the fact that those types of characters were the only ones that seemed to be completed or in development might be a factor in the decline in interest in this game.

For the record, Noriko is going to be quite grounded in reality :-D . Hopefully she won't be boring to you all on that account.
Odd. The website is loading fine for me. If you can get it in archives you're not missing much, really, as there have been no major updates since January. I'm thinking of taking down the upload section because I suspect it got exploited by hackers a short while back.
Yep, I just tried it again in both Firefox and Chrome. Firefox gives me the message "The connection was reset. The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.", while Chrome says "This webpage is not available. The connection to heartache101.3eeweb.com was interrupted."

Going to the Internet Archive, I can see the main page, the FAQ, and a couple other things. It also says it's drawing some of the pages from what it calls the "live web", such as the comments page, but I can't actually access them via their normal URLs. Playing with it a bit, it looks like I can get to the other pages if I use the "web.archive.org/liveweb/(URL)" structure, so at least I can use the site with that temporary kludge. However, there's no way for me to post comments.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
Don't mess with Mitsuya. She can, literally, read minds.

On a more serious note, I'd like to make a note on the comment about the custom content, and declining interest. For my own part, I've lately been thinking that the real reason behind my characters is that I want to somehow promote my own games through them. Thus, Fran's development is stifled because I don't really want to promote the game where she's from. As for Emiko, I don't know if I have the heart to even make the game she's from. I'm not sure what possessed me to create anything attributable to her at all.
@Marrend: I definitely can understand that feeling. I've done something similar in my pen-and-paper gaming groups. However, I wasn't referring to you specifically, more to the RMN world in general. From what I've read, you've done a tremendous amount of work on this game, so don't worry about not doing even more :) . Besides, Emiko was worth it just for the meme she became, no?

As for Masako...I was just intending to have Noriko mention her name in one or two of her stories and have her be doing something offscreen. Hopefully we won't have any Scanners reenactments over it!

OK, one actual technical question to make this post on-topic: is there a way to change a character's attribute proclivities within the game? I was thinking of having an event that would cause my character to change her feelings about the kind of boy she likes, but couldn't find anything in the help file that indicated this was possible.
Found a bug in one of the existing files. In Story 1 of game_stories_file_13, it looks like the branching to BRANCH A is being done backwards. BRANCH A should be done if 9-26 has been done, not if it hasn't. This happened on my first playing of the game a few weeks ago and couldn't figure out why I knew something I hadn't learned - now I know why!

Update on my custom character: Got three stories written and pieces of a few more. Downloaded GIMP and...well, let's just say I will try it again when I'm more awake tomorrow :-/ . Still, coming along quicker than I expected - Dozen wasn't kidding about that help file!
There isn't a way to change proclivities.

Nice bug catch, thanks :)
Glad I could help.

After I submitted this, I encountered something else odd. This may be my error, but I was working on a story that would only occur if another character (in this case, Shihoko) wasn't already in LOVE with <player>. I coded the condition as:

  • CONDITION = 4 NOT LOVE


But when I opened the game to test it, I got this message:

  • Error: Unable to find a character with ID=4 in the included profile files for file "Noriko/noriko_story.txt"


What am I doing wrong? If nothing else, my plan B would be to put the condition as having not executed the story that makes Shihoko's ending available, which I was able to successfully code.

General update on Noriko: Five stories done, including intro, and parts of a few more. Still not ready to tackle GIMP, but will try again soon. No predictions on when it will be ready, but if anyone wants to have a look at what I've got so far I'd be happy to post it. I live on feedback :-D .
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
The only thing I can think of off-hand is if "game_profiles.txt" isn't in the first line of your story file. Doing so "includes" the built-in characters.

*Edit: For example, the first lines of your story file would probably look like

game_profiles.txt, noriko_profile.txt

STORY 1
# Whatever happens here that's supposed to happen.

Darigaaz, it's been a while, hasn't it?
Got it in one, Marrend, thanks! I was using Masako as a guideline when I first set up the file, so I just put the one file name in the header, but never went back and added the second file name. It was right there in the help file, too :-/ .

Edit: Darigaaz? Had to Google that one...haven't played M:tG in about 15 years. Still not clear on the usage, though.

Gads, between this and my Scanners reference earlier, I'm really dating myself now...
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
Darigaaz? Had to Google that one...haven't played M:tG in about 15 years. Still not clear on the usage, though.

I've been using it as a play on the phrase "Dear God", actually. I've tried to get my local M:TG group saying it but the results are mixed.

On topic:
The help file is helpful! Good to know that I can still help people, even after a huge hiatus from this project.
author=Marrend
Darigaaz? Had to Google that one...haven't played M:tG in about 15 years. Still not clear on the usage, though.
I've been using it as a play on the phrase "Dear God", actually. I've tried to get my local M:TG group saying it but the results are mixed.

Ahhhh...gotcha.

OK, so, I hate to be a pest, but I have another technical question. Am I correct in assuming that if I want a scene to change to a different location, I need to start a new story to get there? That's how I read it, but it would be cool if I'm wrong :) .

Edit: Well, after looking a bit through the story files, it looks like I can also change locations via a branch, which works well enough, I suppose.

Since I'm here, I am curious about something else. I'm thinking that I want Noriko's "ending available" story to occur on a date for which she asks the player out (e.g. via interrupting another call / texting the player during the day). Any ideas on how I can do that, code-wise?
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
Sounds like you want to set up a STORY with a "PHONE = <character ID>" line as a precondition to a STORY with a "DATING = <character id>" line. However, doing it this way would have the event call whenever there is a phone conversation with the character. There is no way to check the specific situation of a phone call that I know of.

Anyway, code-example:

STORY 1
# CONDITION lines here
PLACE = Bedroom
# Seems appropriate?
PHONE = <character id>
# Etc

STORY 2
CONDITION = 1 DONE
# Insert whatever other CONDITION lines might apply here.
# Oh yeah, PLACE too.
DATING = <character id>
# Etc
Yeah, that's not going to do what I want it to do, unfortunately. I guess I'm just going to have to set it up like one of those "Hi, <player>, I'm going to be at PLACE if you want to meet me!" random events (e.g. Keika's swimming lesson), and if <player> never shows up, he never gets Noriko's ending. I kind of wanted more of a sense of immediacy to it, but I guess that will have to do.

NORIKO UPDATE: Eight stories now complete -- looking to do at least three more to complete her primary route, with at least one side-story in the works -- including the ending story. No phone/city stories yet, but a few ideas are rattling around. Still need music, and (hopefully) real tachie. Learning GIMP still on my plate :-/ .
OK, so just call me pesty...

Is there any way to suppress the screen wipe between stories? I had a story/branch chain (i.e., too many checks/choices for just four branches, so it leaked over into a new story) that all took place in a classroom, and it just looked odd to have the screen wipe to the same image.

(Edit: n/m, I answered my own question again. I just removed the PLACE command from the header. I actually thought I'd already tried that. Need caffeine.)

I think Noriko is almost in testable form now. I've got almost all of her main route, a couple additional scenes, and most of her profile (still need to make a few more custom responses) done. Music/non-generic tachie will come eventually. The only major scene I've yet to write is the one that actually unlocks her ending, but I know what I have planned for that. The thing I'm finding difficult to create are PHONE stories. I want to have at least a couple, but for now I'm drawing a blank. Ah, well, I guess those will come, too :) .

Edit again: Yoshimura Noriko playable version available, for anyone not watching the other threads :-/ .