LVNAuth Tutorials - The Basics of LVNAuth

The Basics of LVNAuth

LVNAuth uses simple commands to cause things to happen in a visual novel.

For example: to show a background, you would use the command: <background_show: background name here>

There is no need to memorize the commands - LVNAuth has a wizard window that will guide you through the use of commands each time you want to use a new command. You can type the commands in yourself or use the wizard window's help.

No programming experience is required. LVNAuth has been made for story writers, not programmers.

LVNAuth consists of various things that make up a visual novel. This page explains the primary elements of a visual novel in LVNAuth.

A visual novel in LVNAuth consists of the following:

Scripts

• Chapters

  • Chapter scripts are read and executed by LVNAuth for every scene in the chapter.
  • For example, let's say you have:
    • Chapter 1
      • Scene 1
      • Scene 2

  If Scene 1 is played, then the script in Chapter 1 will run then Scene 1's script. If Scene 2 is played, then the script in Chapter 1 will run, then Scene 2's script.

  Any commands that are common amongst the scenes in the chapter should be put into the chapter's script. For example, if Scene 1 and Scene 2 show the same characters, then the command for loading the characters should be put in Chapter 1's script (ie: commands such as: <load_character>).

  Commands such as <load_character> or <load_object> or <load_dialog_sprite> should always be put in chapter scripts, not scene scripts.

  Using the same script in multiple chapters.

  If multiple chapters need to contain the same <load..> scripts, then there is no need to copy and paste the same script into multiple chapters. Instead, you can create one reusable script that contains the <load...> commands that you need, and then use the <call> command to call that reusable script in each chapter's script.

  Note: Nested calls to reusable scripts will not have their <load...> commands executed. In other words, if you have a reusable script that calls another reusable script (and the second reusable script contains the <load...> commands), then the <load...> commands won't be read when your project is being compiled. Only the top-level reusable script(s) will have <load...> commands evaluated when compiling a visual novel.

• Scenes

  • Scenes are part of chapters
  • Each scene is part of one chapter
  • When a visual novel opens for playing, the viewers of the visual novel will have a choice on which scene to start watching
  • Scenes should contain character dialogue text
  • Any command can be used in a scene
  • As a rule of thumb, commands that start with <load_> should not be used in scenes. Although you can use those commands in scenes, it's usually better to put <load_...> commands into chapter scripts. When a scene plays, the chapter's script automatically runs first, so it would make sense to put, for example: <load_character: some name here> in a chapter script.
  • One instance where you would likely not want to use commands like <load_character> in a chapter's script is if the character will only be used in one scene and no where else in the entire visual novel. The reason is: the sprite will be prepared in memory for each scene that is played if it's put in the chapter's script, but if it's only needed for one scene, it makes more sense to put that command into just that one scene.
• Reusable scripts
  • Reusable scripts are not tied to any specific chapters or scenes
  • Reusable scripts cannot contain character dialogue text. If they do, the dialogue text will be ignored.
  • Useful for running a series of commands that are used frequently throughout the visual novel.
    • For example: you can make a reusable script named show main character, and then call that reusable script every time you want to show the main character. To call a reusable script, you can use the <call> command. For example: <call: show main character>
  • Reusable scripts can be called from chapter scripts and scene scripts
  • Reusable scripts can call other reusable scripts. This can be useful for creating back and forth animations.

Images (Sprites)

• Background
  • The background of your visual novel is the first graphic that is drawn on the screen. All other graphics come on top of the background.
• Objects
  • Objects can be any type of sprite. For example, a windmill, a moving cloud, water, buildings, etc. Objects are drawn on top of the backgroud, but behind character sprites and dialog sprites.
• Characters
  • Character sprites are the images of your characters in your visual novel. You can have multiple emotions for the same character - for example: happy, sad, normal, etc. Each of those emotions will be a character sprite. You can use an alias for all the character sprites that are for the same character. That way, when you want to change the emotion of the character that's on the screen, the current sprite on the screen will get replaced by the image, because the aliases of the two sprites match.
  • Example:

    <load_character: rave_happy, rave>
    <load_character: rave_sad, rave>
    <load_character: rave_normal, rave>
    
    <character_show: rave_normal>
    The character is normal.
    <halt>
    
    <character_show: rave_sad>
    Now the character is sad.
    <halt>
    

With the example script above: first, it showed rave_normal, and then it was replaced with rave_sad.

Dialog rectangle images (sprites)

• Dialog sprites are sprites that are only shown when the dialog rectangle is visible on the screen. In other words, only when characters are speaking with text.

• The purpose of dialog sprites is to show graphics in the dialog rectangle.

  • For example: if character says 'I'm looking for a purple diamond', then you can show a sprite of a purple diamond beside the text.

  • Another example: while waiting for the viewer to read more character dialog text, you can show a simple animation (such as a moving arrow) to show that there is more text to read.

Last updated: Tue 23 April 2024