NScripter
Encyclopedia
NScripter is a software engine
that is used for the creation of visual novel
s, written by Naoki Takahashi. Due to its simplicity and its liberal license (while it is not open source
, royalty-free commercial use is permitted), it quickly became popular in Japan, and was used for a number of high-profile commercial and dōjin
titles, such as HaniHani
and Tsukihime
.
. A number of cross-platform clones have been written.
implementation, ONScripter. Its popularity among the visual novel localisation
community is attributed to the ease of modifying the engine to support languages other than Japanese. It strives to maintain compatibility with visual novels designed for NScripter.
ONScripter is based on the Simple Directmedia Layer
(SDL) library, and can thus be used to run NScripter games on platforms supported by SDL, such as Mac OS X
, Linux
, Dreamcast, PlayStation Portable
and the Apple iPod.
of ONScripter that is maintained separately by the English-language community, for convenience and for ease of introducing enhancements that are suited to the community. For example, ONScripter-EN supports switching between English and Japanese in-game, whilst language support in ONScripter must be determined at compile-time
. Also, to better manage the build system
which was deemed cumbersome, build requirements have been tightened, limiting out-of-the-box building to POSIX
-conformant platforms only.
This engine has been used in a number of translations, such as the English versions of Narcissu
and Tsukihime
.
of ONScripter-EN. Its stated goal is to provide an easy porting target for translation projects, with emphasis on Western languages. PONScripter has made heavy modifications to the ONScripter-EN base code, and is deliberately backwards-incompatible.
PONScripter was originally maintained by Peter "Haeleth" Jolly. Since September 2009, it is maintained by Mion of Sonozaki Futago-tachi, the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
translation group.
Unlike ONScripter, PONScripter natively supports UTF-8
encoded script files, as well as a larger set of font
types (such as proportional fonts, non-TrueType
fonts, and non-Latin
fonts), which makes it possible to translate most NScripter-based visual novel
s into any language other than English (for example, Cyrillic text is improperly displayed in ONScripter, and may crash the game).
Another feature introduced by PONScripter is text formatting, such as bolding, italicising , underlining, striking out, colouring, size changing, and kerning.
WinKiller Studio, a Russia
n visual novel translation group released Tokoyo no Hoshizora and Natsu no Hi no Resonance translations powered by PONScripter, and the unofficial Saya no Uta
port from its original Nitro+ Engine.
Known English-translated visual novels that use PONScripter are:
Outdated / inactive:
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
that is used for the creation of visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
s, written by Naoki Takahashi. Due to its simplicity and its liberal license (while it is not open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
, royalty-free commercial use is permitted), it quickly became popular in Japan, and was used for a number of high-profile commercial and dōjin
Dojinshi
is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...
titles, such as HaniHani
Tsuki wa Higashi ni, Hi wa Nishi ni -Operation Sanctuary-
is a Japanese eroge by August released in 2003 for Windows. It is known in short as . The Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 versions were released by Alchemist in 2004. An anime adaptation was shown in Japan during summer 2004...
and Tsukihime
Tsukihime
is a Japanese eroge dōjin visual novel game created by Type-Moon, who first released it at the Winter Comiket in December 2000. It was adapted in 2003 into an anime series, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, produced by J.C.Staff and Geneon, and a manga series, which has been serialized since 2004 in...
.
Clones and forks
The original NScripter is closed-source and only available for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. A number of cross-platform clones have been written.
ONScripter
The best-known NScripter clone is the free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
implementation, ONScripter. Its popularity among the visual novel localisation
Language localisation
Language localisationThe spelling "localization", a variant of "localisation", is the preferred spelling in the US and Canada. is the second phase of a larger process of product translation and cultural adaptation to account for...
community is attributed to the ease of modifying the engine to support languages other than Japanese. It strives to maintain compatibility with visual novels designed for NScripter.
ONScripter is based on the Simple Directmedia Layer
Simple DirectMedia Layer
Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform, free and open source multimedia library written in C that presents a simple interface to various platforms' graphics, sound, and input devices....
(SDL) library, and can thus be used to run NScripter games on platforms supported by SDL, such as Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Dreamcast, PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and the Apple iPod.
ONScripter-EN
ONScripter-EN is a branchBranching (software)
Branching, in revision control and software configuration management, is the duplication of an object under revision control so that modifications can happen in parallel along both branches....
of ONScripter that is maintained separately by the English-language community, for convenience and for ease of introducing enhancements that are suited to the community. For example, ONScripter-EN supports switching between English and Japanese in-game, whilst language support in ONScripter must be determined at compile-time
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
. Also, to better manage the build system
Software build
In the field of computer software, the term software build refers either to the process of converting source code files into standalone software artifact that can be run on a computer, or the result of doing so...
which was deemed cumbersome, build requirements have been tightened, limiting out-of-the-box building to POSIX
POSIX
POSIX , an acronym for "Portable Operating System Interface", is a family of standards specified by the IEEE for maintaining compatibility between operating systems...
-conformant platforms only.
This engine has been used in a number of translations, such as the English versions of Narcissu
Narcissu
- Print adaptations :On 25 July 2008, MF Bunko J released a light novel adaptation of Narcissu and Narcissu -side 2nd-, which was written by Tomo Kataoka himself and illustrated by GotoP...
and Tsukihime
Tsukihime
is a Japanese eroge dōjin visual novel game created by Type-Moon, who first released it at the Winter Comiket in December 2000. It was adapted in 2003 into an anime series, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, produced by J.C.Staff and Geneon, and a manga series, which has been serialized since 2004 in...
.
Proportional ONScripter
PONScripter (abbreviation for "Proportional-OnScripter") is a forkFork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
of ONScripter-EN. Its stated goal is to provide an easy porting target for translation projects, with emphasis on Western languages. PONScripter has made heavy modifications to the ONScripter-EN base code, and is deliberately backwards-incompatible.
PONScripter was originally maintained by Peter "Haeleth" Jolly. Since September 2009, it is maintained by Mion of Sonozaki Futago-tachi, the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
, known simply as When They Cry for the North American release of the anime adaptation, is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft sound novel series produced by 07th Expansion. The games are built on the NScripter game engine and are playable on Microsoft Windows PCs...
translation group.
Unlike ONScripter, PONScripter natively supports UTF-8
UTF-8
UTF-8 is a multibyte character encoding for Unicode. Like UTF-16 and UTF-32, UTF-8 can represent every character in the Unicode character set. Unlike them, it is backward-compatible with ASCII and avoids the complications of endianness and byte order marks...
encoded script files, as well as a larger set of font
Font
In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
types (such as proportional fonts, non-TrueType
TrueType
TrueType is an outline font standard originally developed by Apple Computer in the late 1980s as a competitor to Adobe's Type 1 fonts used in PostScript...
fonts, and non-Latin
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
fonts), which makes it possible to translate most NScripter-based visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
s into any language other than English (for example, Cyrillic text is improperly displayed in ONScripter, and may crash the game).
Another feature introduced by PONScripter is text formatting, such as bolding, italicising , underlining, striking out, colouring, size changing, and kerning.
WinKiller Studio, a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n visual novel translation group released Tokoyo no Hoshizora and Natsu no Hi no Resonance translations powered by PONScripter, and the unofficial Saya no Uta
Saya no Uta
is a visual novel by Nitroplus with horror elements. The original plot is written by Gen Urobuchi.Like Nitroplus' heavily Mythos-inspired Demonbane series, Saya no Uta's plot is somewhat Lovecraftian...
port from its original Nitro+ Engine.
Known English-translated visual novels that use PONScripter are:
- Narcissu: Side 2nd
- Ballad of an Evening Butterfly
- Saya no UtaSaya no Utais a visual novel by Nitroplus with horror elements. The original plot is written by Gen Urobuchi.Like Nitroplus' heavily Mythos-inspired Demonbane series, Saya no Uta's plot is somewhat Lovecraftian...
External links
- Takahashi's Web: Official NScripter website
- The ONScripter Page: New Ogapee's website at SourceForge
- Uncle Mion's ONScripter Corner: Current active developer for ONScripter-EN and PONScripter
- Сustom PONScriper & ONScripter-ANSI builds by WKS
Outdated / inactive: