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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ID 16 = Ran Fujioka {Neckochi, unpublished}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

Out of curiosity, is it possible to have an event skip straight to the end of the day? The idea is that the girl accidentally injures the player character, and is forced to stay with him at the hospital until he's healed. Being an event that happens during the school day, I'd need a way for it skip to the end of the day.

(It'd have to cancel any dates, too. Ya' know, without penalty, as if you got a bug.)

I don't think it's possible, but it's definitely an idea. Any help, guys?
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
To my knowledge, there is no way to skip the remainder of school phase, much less skip any other phase. On that point, isn't this, like, the third time somebody wanted to skip to the end of the day? Hrm...
Page update: I went ahead and added Kotone to the list at #70. Hopefully we'll see some updates from BasedMG, as she's a promising character.
I'd like to say something grand like "The entire time I was gone I was able to finish all of Kotone's route and then some! \o/"

...But, sadly, that isn't the case. Truth be told I kind of lost interest for a while, as these things are bound to happen now and then when you're not on a strict deadline. But now that I'm feeling it again, I'll have another update within the week, and I'll try to make it a good one.
I would like to reserve 73 if that is possible.
Greetings.

This is my first time visiting this forum. A pleasure to meet you all. I am Shi, if it interests you. I am currently in the process of writing a story for a character that I have created using a set of flowertheif's tachies listed above. I am, however, having a bit of an issue with said character. The music theme that I have set for her refuses to play. I have tried various themes, though none will comply. If you could offer your help to me, that would be rather splendid. The error displayed is this:

Unable to find file Section118:69:in 'NR_Kready_bgm_play'Music/ai_theme.mp3

Many thanks.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
Does the song at least play in the customizer application? Do you get this error when you test-play the character? What's with that directory structure?

I'm also kinda thinking that you could try uploading that song into your locker, and have one of us (probably me) see if it works on our end.
Marrend, you are the creator of Masako, I believe? An excellent job on her, by the way. I quite enjoyed playing through her story.

Anyway, the song plays just fine in the customizer. The error occurs whenever I attempt to encounter her in-game. I will upload all her files into my locker immediately. Thanks for the swift reply.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
Thanks for playing Masako! She's my favorite character, like, ever. She gets around. A lot. No, not like that! Geeze!

Anyway, I technically only wanted the song, but this works too! Though, it occurs to me that it might have been better if you uploaded the entire ZIP/RAR/whatever file, but, this is okay too.


*Edit: Huh. Playing that song doesn't cause any errors on my end. I wonder what's happening on your end to cause that error? Then again, if that directory structure is any indication...

Nah, you said that it plays in the customizer. Forget that idea.


*Edit2: You know, that error message is making me think that there is something amiss with a script flowertheif is using. I'm fairly sure I recall a name similar to "Kread" in the credits portion of the help file. In any event, if what I'm thinking is happening is even remotely true, why would I not get that error message?

I'm just thinking out loud at this point.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
Huh. Maybe I should, you know, actually play this character. Since she seems to work for me, and all that. Not that I completely understand why she isn't working for you, but, still...
*pops up on one of Marrends shoulders with a devil tail, and a pitch fork and begins*

Do it! You know you want to! It'll be fun!
Sorry for being away so long. Suddenly, I got another strange error. Though I'm not entirely sure what it meant, it was a large jumble of assorted numbers, though consisted of mostly zeros. After that, my entire computer crashed. Whenever I turned it back on and resumed the game, the song began to work. I am not quite sure what happened, but I suppose it's alright if it is working now. The story is not completed yet, but I'm pleased that you show interest in her!
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
ShinigamisApples: My post on Nakamura Ai. Also, that is a weird story. Yet, if the song now works okay, and everything else works okay (I'm hoping!), I guess... we're okay?
It's kinda funny on the girl you are dating wears her school uniform to the date. OTHER tachies help slightly, but during the phase where you give the girl a gift and walk her home, she instantly switches back to her normal clothes.

TBH, this is just a hypothetical situation. I'm a terribad drawer so my girls are gonna have to wear school uniforms eternally. :'(
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
If you want to have a date where the character uses only OTHER slots (for a different set of clothing, and appropriate emotion-poses with said clothing), coding a DATING story with those OTHER slots is pretty much the only way to go. Oh, and forgo, um, whatever command that is that allows the generic processing of the scene to occur. I think it's CONTIUNE, but I could be wrong.

As an aside, doesn't Masako wear alternate clothing (and a slew of emotion poses for said clothing) for her ending-unlocked story? There's also a the concert scene in Uchioniko, but Masako came to mind first because she generally does things first.
Mr. Dozen, could you please do me a grand favor by reserving ID 36 for my character Ai Nakamura? Many thanks.
Some command ideas:

"SHOW CLOSER"
Increases the size of the currently shown tachie to give off the impression of it being closer.

"SHOW FURTHER"
Decreases the size of the currently shown tachie to give off the impression of it being further away.

"SHOW DOWN"
Moves most of the currently shown tachie below the window's boundaries to give off the impression of it being on the ground.

"SKIP TO (Afternoon, Evening)"
At the end of the scene this is called in, the game will skip right to the City phase (if you put afternoon) or the phone call screen (if you choose evening).

"SKIP X DAYS"
Once called, X amount of days will be added. Like, if it's the 70th day, and "SKIP 3 DAYS" is called, it will become the 73rd day.

"BEFORE SCHOOL"
Instead of events in the school morning being restricted to the Front A location, any event with this command will start before school.

"AFTER SCHOOL"
Instead of events right after school being restricted to the Front B location, any event with this command will start after school.

"TIME PASS"
Upon being called, the transition animation is used. Currently, you're able to just use a JUMP X command, keep the location the same and get the same effect, but this would be a lot more convenient.

"ERASE TEXTBOX X"
Upon being called, the textbox is removed for X seconds. To give off a dramatic effect and show the background without anything in the way.

"FREEZE TEXTBOX X"
Once called, the textbox can't be advanced for X seconds. Forces a player to absorb the image, tachie, music or text they're reading. Dramatic effect n' all. BasedMG wanted something like this.

"CLOSE/OPEN EYES"
Once called, the screen slowly goes black. Opening eyes will slowly return the screen to normal. Right now, JUMPing to a story or branch with PLACE = None works, but that has a weird animation for what is happening and makes it seem like your player goes to the void when he closes his eyes.

"ADD (Gift name, bonus orb or token)"
At the end of the scene in which this is called, the player gets X gift, X amount of bonus orbs and X amount of tokens. Yes, this is a weird one, but definitely possible.

"TEXT COLOR = (Color name or RGB value, maybe)"
Changes text color of current speaker to whatever color is specified.

"FOCUS = (Attribute)"
Changes the current speaker's focus attribute during the game. dewelar wanted something like this.

I actually do want to use quite a lot of these, as weird as that might seem.
author=ShinigamisApples
Mr. Dozen, could you please do me a grand favor by reserving ID 36 for my character Ai Nakamura? Many thanks.
IIRC, you need to show a little bit of your work in some way before an ID is reserved. Something like a scene, one of the tachies, a screenshot, profile, whatever. It's possible that was just an idea thrown around, though.

Let me dig into the old Custom thread to find it.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
Commentary on Mute's command suggestions:

I may get behind the "SHOW CLOSER ("SHOW NEAR"?) and/or "SHOW FURTHER" ("SHOW FAR"?) ideas, with the proviso that character graphics wouldn't get any bigger than their original dimensions. As for "SHOW DOWN", I'm not particularly enthused with that idea.

The only way I see "SKIP X DAYS" working is if <player> gets hospitalized. Technically, we have characters that might do this. Mayu and Yoko come to the forefront of my mind. Gameplay wise, it would probably function in a similar fashion to the build-in cheat code that advances the day. So, no loss of affection, no heartache meters go up, whatever other bad stuff would happen if players fail to land on "girl" spaces during a normal day.

The "SKIP TO (phase)" has been a thing that has come up from time-to-time. I don't have particular strong feelings about it, and I forget what flowerthief has said about it in the past.

So, I take it BEFORE SCHOOL and AFTER SCHOOL would be an alteration to the PLACE command? Such as, PLACE = Station AFTER SCHOOL or PLACE = Children's Park BEFORE SCHOOL? I could see them as a CONDITION lines, but it makes more sense the other way.

I can see uses for TIME PASS, certainly.

The "ERASE TEXTBOX X" sounds like our "Wait" command that's inherent in RPG Maker XP. I'm not sure if "FREEZE TEXTBOX X" is a necessarily a good idea. If it's just one window of text, well, maybe. It text spills over two windows because there's that much text to display, that's a definite no-no.

At first, I was thinking we could just emulate "OPEN/CLOSE EYES" with a TIME PASS X, but that's not necessarily what these lines intend. TIME PASS would not allow any text to be displayed until the screen comes back like Awwky!, whereas this combo would allow <player>, or whoever, to have a line (or two) about... whatever.

"ADD (item)" seems really, really strong to me. I mean, I like the idea of being able to hard-code Chocolate Lady sequences in places she doesn't normally show up. Still, this seems potentially game-breaking in all the wrong ways. Though, there is the point that are publicly posted built-in cheat codes, so, um, I dunno.

I can see TEXT COLOR (R,G,B)" useful for when there are multiple characters that have speaking lines for the purposes of differentiating who's talking (outside of the name window).

"FOCUS =" just seems weird. I dunno. I'll have to think about it more even if, ultimately, I can't do much about it.
author=Marrend
Commentary on Mute's command suggestions:

I may get behind the "SHOW CLOSER ("SHOW NEAR"?) and/or "SHOW FURTHER" ("SHOW FAR"?) ideas, with the proviso that character graphics wouldn't get any bigger than their original dimensions. As for "SHOW DOWN", I'm not particularly enthused with that idea.
This would require that the tachie file is the largest possible and is shrunken when normal or far commands are used. Oh, yeah, forgot to include "SHOW..", SHOW.. normal? Near? Not too far? D:

The only way I see "SKIP X DAYS" working is if <player> gets hospitalized. Technically, we have characters that might do this. Mayu and Yoko come to the forefront of my mind. Gameplay wise, it would probably function in a similar fashion to the build-in cheat code that advances the day. So, no loss of affection, no heartache meters go up, whatever other bad stuff would happen if players fail to land on "girl" spaces during a normal day.
That's one idea, but alternatively, there could be something like a school vacation. I dunno.

The "SKIP TO (phase)" has been a thing that has come up from time-to-time. I don't have particular strong feelings about it, and I forget what flowerthief has said about it in the past.
Okay.

So, I take it BEFORE SCHOOL and AFTER SCHOOL would be an alteration to the PLACE command? Such as, PLACE = Station AFTER SCHOOL or PLACE = Children's Park BEFORE SCHOOL? I could see them as a CONDITION lines, but it makes more sense the other way.
Either way could work.

I can see uses for TIME PASS, certainly.

The "ERASE TEXTBOX X" sounds like our "Wait" command that's inherent in RPG Maker XP. I'm not sure if "FREEZE TEXTBOX X" is a necessarily a good idea. If it's just one window of text, well, maybe. If* text spills over two windows because there's that much text to display, that's a definite no-no.
Good point. One would have to be careful with the use of the command, and make sure what they need to stop the screen for is short enough to fit in one window.

At first, I was thinking we could just emulate "OPEN/CLOSE EYES" with a TIME PASS X, but that's not necessarily what these lines intend. TIME PASS would not allow any text to be displayed until the screen comes back like Awwky!, whereas this combo would allow <player>, or whoever, to have a line (or two) about... whatever.
You understand. :>

"ADD (item)" seems really, really strong to me. I mean, I like the idea of being able to hard-code Chocolate Lady sequences in places she doesn't normally show up. Still, this seems potentially game-breaking in all the wrong ways. Though, there is the point that are publicly posted built-in cheat codes, so, um, I dunno.
There was a similar dispute over the (Attribute) UP/DOWN X commands. Perhaps bonus orbs and tokens could be removed. But for items, it'd make sense. The girl can have a gift, too.

I can see TEXT COLOR (R,G,B)" useful for when there are multiple characters that have speaking lines for the purposes of differentiating who's talking (outside of the name window).

"FOCUS =" just seems weird. I dunno. I'll have to think about it more even if, ultimately, I can't do much about it.
In Noriko's route, she slowly shifts from enjoying debating to enjoying poetry. Accordingly, MIND to SOUL. People's interests can change over time. Perhaps make it a "(Attribute) PROC. = (A-D) command. Changing proclivity ranks, you know.
Answers in bold.