AVG Maker DS

AVG Maker DS
General
Author	Hewenxie
Type	Game Engine
Version	1.6
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2010/08/08
Links
Download
Website

AVG MAKER DS (AMDS) is a visual novel game engine for the NDS developed by Hewenxie.

It allows you to create text-based adventure games that can be played on the NDS.

Features

• Character and avatar display.
• Basic character animation.
• Background rendering.
• Custom text box.
• GBK support.
• Background music.
• Sound effects.
• Customizable button selection.
• File saving support.
• Support the use of packaged resources for assets.
• Basic scripting with conditions, branching, and jumps.
• Variable support.
• Gallery mode.

Installation

Folder structure

root
 |-AVGMAKER.nds (DS execution file)
 |-avgFiles\
 | |-data\
 | | |-main.spt (script file)
 | |-chara\
 | | |-img.res (sprite resource file)
 | |-bg\
 | | |-bg.res (background resource file)
 | |-sound\
 | | |-sound.res (se resource file)
 | |-bgm\
 | | |-bgm0.mp3 (background music)
 | | |-...
 | |-font\ (font files location)
 | | |-arial_12.asc 
 | | |-simsun_12.hzk
 | |-component\ (custom text box location)

Supported formats

You must prepare the game files in compatible formats before converting them.

Image:

• Sprite - PNG format, 128x192 or 256x192 px, 16-bit. (e.g. chara1.png, chara2.png...)
• Avatar - PNG format, 32x32 px, 16-bit. (e.g. chara1.png, chara2.png...)
• BG - PNG format, 256x192 px, 256-color. (e.g. bg0.png, bg1.png...)
• Text box - PNG format. 256x256 px, 256-color. (textbox.png)

Audio:

• Voice - RAW format, 8-bit signed, 11025 Hz, Mono. (e.g. se1.raw, se2.raw...)
• BGM - MP3 format, 11025 Hz, 96 kbps or lower. Ideally under 1.6 MB. (e.g. bgm1.mp3, bgm2.mp3...)

Others:

• Script - TXT format.
• Font - arial_12.asc, simsun_12.hzk.

Conversion guide

Conversion tools:

• img_conv.exe - Image conversion tool.
• res_packer.exe - Resource packing tool.
• spt_gen.exe - Script conversion tool.

Convert the image files:

• Run image_conversion.exe, click on Open Files (打开文件) and select the image files.
  • The first tab is for sprites, the second tab is for backgrounds and custom text box.
• Click Start the Conversion Process (开始转换) and the converted files will be saved in bin/.
• A background image named bg0.png will generate the following files: bg0_Info.bin, bg0_Map.bin, bg0_Pal.bin, and bg0_Tiles.bin.
• A character sprite named chara1.png will produce chara1_Pal.bin and chara1_Sprite.bin.

Create resource files (.*res) from the game files:

• Run res_packer.exe, click Open (打开) and choose the files you want to pack into a resource file:
  • For img.res, select all the converted character sprites (e.g. charaxx.bin).
  • For bg.res, select all the converted background files (e.g bgxx.bin).
  • For sound.res, select all the .raw files.
• Click Generate (生成), enter the desired name for the output file (e.g., img.res, bg.res, sound.res), and click Save.

Convert your script file:

• Open spt_gen_win.exe, click Open (打开), select your .txt script file, and then click Convert (转换).
• The file will be saved as a .spt under spt/.

You can now place the converted files along with AVGMAKERDS1.6.nds on the SD card (refer to folder structure), or run it on an emulator.

Optionally, you can create a packed ROM with the tools provided (does not work on emulator).

Screenshots

Changelog

v1.6 2010/08/08

• Fixed numerous bugs related to @call.
• Added font outline effect.
• Added @txt_select(var, number, bcolor, fcolor, text1|text2|text3|text4) for text selection.
• Added @SetGameName(name) to set the save file name.
• Global variables now usable in scripts.
• Included packing tool.

v1.5 2010/03/13

• Fixed issues with bg gray-out effects.
• Resolved a crash bug in Gallery Mode.
• Redesigned the MENU system.
• Added volume control for SE and BGM.
• Added a return to title screen feature.
• Added MENU system skin loading commands: @setMenuBg, @setMenuBtn.
• Fixed flickering effects.
• Fixed an offset bug in boxText in non-word-by-word display mode.
• Added font color definition feature: @SetFontColor().
• Fixed issue where characters did not shake during jitter.
• Added font shadow effect.
• Added gray-out effect to bg entrance/exit animations.

v1.4 2009/12/22

• Fixed a screen corruption bug when quickly switching character images.
• Increased the speed of sprite transitions.
• Fixed offset bug in boxText.
• Fixed resource reading issues for 256×192 images.
• All chara series display commands now support 256×192 images, allowing 2 characters side-by-side display.
• Fixed various flickering issues with left/right character displays.
• Corrected text color issues, consolidating validity to a single command.
• Added image button selection:
  • @LoadImageButton(id, resource, image, x, y);
  • @ImageSelect(var, number);
• Expanded capacity for BGM section.
• Updated image conversion tool, version 1.4 required; not compatible with previous versions.

External links

• Author's website - https://sites.google.com/site/hewenxie/
• GitHub (yayabo) - https://github.com/yayabo-handheldev
• Supported flashcards - http://www.yayabo.cn/thread-3057-1-1.html (archived)