Android Visual Novel [Let's play visual novel on the go!]

[xmbx]

instead using dosbox to running windows, there are better way to emulate windows on android device : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1459153

[Rin Tohsaka]

AFAIK QEMU does not support DirectX and supposedly DosBox Turbo is faster than Bochs.

 

Nevertheless they should technically work.  Again, running Topbench and comparing the performance between the three would probably be a good idea.

[theonyxphoenix]

I have a 1.3 quad core tegra 3 device and Dosbox Turbo.  I actually hadn't thought about using it to run Ever17 or F/SN.  Now I'm not to well versed with the app but I can at least give it a go.

[Rin Tohsaka]

I just got myself a cheap used Android device, and while it doesn't have the hardware necessary for emulating things smoothly it should at the very least allow me to test out software compatibility.

[Nosebleed]

I plan on buying a Tablet soon with Android and i'll give this a go

It'd be lovely to be able to play my favorite VNs without having to be sitting on my chair on a laptop where my back hurts after a while.

Just want to ask one thing, the VNs available for tablets are only the ones listed on the VNDS website or are there ways to convert more? I just got a bit confused on that part.

[theonyxphoenix]

The problem that I am running in to is that it supports an hdd image up to 2GB but the two I have tried so far...F/SN and R11 are both a larger size.  If I can figure out how to make a 3GB hdd image to dump the files in to it might work.  Until then...

 

EDIT: I am able to run Tsukihime but it is a bit slow and choppy even with cpu set to performance 1.3.  Maybe with some tweaking it can run better.  I just dumped it into the 2gb hdd even though it is much smaller.  maybe that might help.

[Rin Tohsaka]

Then perhaps we'll need something faster like Tegra 4 in order to achieve smooth performance?  Anyone got an Nvidia Shield?

 

theonyxphoenix, do you think you could run TOPBENCH so that we can get a better reference of your CPU performance?

[theonyxphoenix]

I ran topbench in the dosbox 98 shell with governor set to performance at 1.3 and memory manager set to "hard gaming"...usually to keep as much RAM available. 

 

Cycles Auto/ Frameskip 0 = 16-50mhz (score 25-45) to 66-75 mhz (score 189) at 20000 cycles,  all the way up to a score of 1541 with  55000 Cycles and 1000mhz.  The problem is really with the sound. Any increase in the cycles causes havoc on the sound quality.

 

I've never used this program before so let me know if you are looking for particular settings or data.

 

EDIT: I increase the available RAM for DOSBOX in the config from 256 to 512 and am able to run Tsukihime at good speed, but without sound. I'll keep trying to see what I come up with.  

[theonyxphoenix]

I tried to ask the creator of the video for help here:

 

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2410203&page=6

 

but that didn't turn out so well.

[theonyxphoenix]

I haven't downloaded the app yet (too busy), but has anyone tried Ever17 on DosBox Turbo?

 

The problem with DosBox Turbo is that you can only create a hdd of 2GB.  I tried looking at R11, Ever17, Fate/Stay Night...but they are all too big.  I was able to run Tsukihime at a decent speed without sound but turning on sound made it slow and choppy. I have a Tegra 3 device with some test run with TOPBENCH.  The results weren't too promising.  We may need a more powerful device. 

 

If anyone knows how to create an hdd.img greater than 2GB then we can try some of these others.  I tried to ask for help from the creator of that video and (comments now deleted by the mods there) he had some choice hostile words for me. *shrug*

[theonyxphoenix]

Then I guess it's out of the question to run such a game on my 1 GHz dual-core processor device. I'll just have to hope that the translation patch for the Ever 17 game is successful.

 Yeah, it looks like...at least through this method, we need devices to progress a little more.  I'm really keeping my fingers crossed for the patch for Ever17 on Android and also the program you mentioned that could convert to Android.

 

I really love VNDS.  I like how all of the text is at the bottom of the screen and most of all I like that it is portable and I can read it at work, when I have the most time to do so.  When working on the DB Turbo I started running them on my PC and let's just say I didn't know what I was missing.

[Chaos]

Guys, I have a problem running Tsukihime. when I use onscripter to run it, it runs but stays in the title screen "type moon" and then everything goes black, but the novel still have it sounds, as if It were running normally.. and when I change it and download the Vnds version of tsukihime and try to run it with vnds interpreter, the interpreter says there's no VN found on storage, no matter how much I change the route of the files, or I change the routes of search of the interpreter..

[theonyxphoenix]

Guys, I have a problem running Tsukihime. when I use onscripter to run it, it runs but stays in the title screen "type moon" and then everything goes black, but the novel still have it sounds, as if It were running normally.. and when I change it and download the Vnds version of tsukihime and try to run it with vnds interpreter, the interpreter says there's no VN found on storage, no matter how much I change the route of the files, or I change the routes of search of the interpreter..

What kind of device are you running with onscripter.  I found that, with sound, that Tsukihime ran slow and choppy.  If you increase the cycles through the quick menu does it progress after that?   

 

As for the VNDS, Tay would probably be able to help you out moreso.  I can try to install it tomorrow and see if I have any issues.  I know when I first started using VNDS I would always extract everything in to an extra folder and couldn't figure out why it wasn't appearing in the app.  After realizing my foible regarding the path I haven't had a problem since.

[Chaos]

What kind of device are you running with onscripter.  I found that, with sound, that Tsukihime ran slow and choppy.  If you increase the cycles through the quick menu does it progress after that?   

 

As for the VNDS, Tay would probably be able to help you out moreso.  I can try to install it tomorrow and see if I have any issues.  I know when I first started using VNDS I would always extract everything in to an extra folder and couldn't figure out why it wasn't appearing in the app.  After realizing my foible regarding the path I haven't had a problem since.

Im running it on an alcatel one touch idol ultra, OS android 4.1.1 (I think, If not, its 4.2, ... most likely the 4.1, so take that) the sound what? increase what? how do I increase cycles? there's no option for that in the quick menu...

 

and for the vnds... So what should I do, because I don't know, in the case of the vnds, what i am doing wrong.. 

[theonyxphoenix]

Im running it on an alcatel one touch idol ultra, OS android 4.1.1 (I think, If not, its 4.2, ... most likely the 4.1, so take that) the sound what? increase what? how do I increase cycles? there's no option for that in the quick menu...

 

and for the vnds... So what should I do, because I don't know, in the case of the vnds, what i am doing wrong.. 

 Alcatel One Touch idol Ultra runs a dual core 1.2ghz cortex a9 processor with 1gb ram.  I'm running a 1.3ghz device with 1gb ram so and mine runs slowly so, unfortunately, don't expect much (at least for now) out of the dosbox turbo option.  If you swipe from the left of the screen you should have the option to increase frameskip, cycle speed, as well as other options.  If you edit the dosbox.ini file and increase ram from 256 to 512 you can get a bit more speed.  Trying to push mine to peak performance I still couldn't get good speed out of it with sound.

 

With the VNDS my only recommendation would be to start fresh with the downloads.  Have you had any success with other VNs on the VNDS or is it just this one in particular.  Like I said...tomorrow I should be able to follow the steps myself but until then I cannot be of much help on that specific game.  I've only loaded Ever17, F/SN, and Never7 thusfar.

[Chaos]

 Alcatel One Touch idol Ultra runs a dual core 1.2ghz cortex a9 processor with 1gb ram.  I'm running a 1.3ghz device with 1gb ram so and mine runs slowly so, unfortunately, don't expect much (at least for now) out of the dosbox turbo option.  If you swipe from the left of the screen you should have the option to increase frameskip, cycle speed, as well as other options.  If you edit the dosbox.ini file and increase ram from 256 to 512 you can get a bit more speed.  Trying to push mine to peak performance I still couldn't get good speed out of it with sound.

 

With the VNDS my only recommendation would be to start fresh with the downloads.  Have you had any success with other VNs on the VNDS or is it just this one in particular.  Like I said...tomorrow I should be able to follow the steps myself but until then I cannot be of much help on that specific game.  I've only loaded Ever17, F/SN, and Never7 thusfar.

Well, I did know about the specs of my cellph, but didn't think it was going to be a problem since I cant play Key novels here.. that aside, I cannot swipe from the left of the screen, neither the right.. nowhere actually, I tried.. there are no options about it, it does nothing...

 

about vnds, yeah, i have just tried with tsukihime so far.. because I've never used vnds, I just used it as an alternal option to try and run tsukihime, But, .. of course I can try with another, tomorrow I will and tell you what's up with it

 

EDIT> holding onto the buttom of app change, I made the menu came out, but the only options there are 'automode,skip,change speed, setting quit'

 

when tried to change speed, nothing happened, the screen is still in black, the only think I am able to see is the tittle at the begining which says 'type moon' after that, everything goes black.. skipping doesn't work neither, automode neither..

[theonyxphoenix]

@ Chaos

 

I followed the instructions to install Tsukihime for VNDS here:

 

http://visualnovelaer.fuwanovel.net/category/android/

 

and it booted right up.

 

I downloaded the files and then created a Tsukihime folder on my desktop.  I extracted all of the files here, making sure to do the hi-res one last.  Then I deleted the tsukihime-other.zip, tsukihime-ogg.zip, and tsukihime_hi-res.zip...making sure to keep the 11 files specified in the link.  I then transfered the Tsukihime folder to my vnds/novels folder and it worked fine.

 

I would try starting over with new downloads.  If you haven't done much else with VNDS, maybe try to uninstall and reinstall.

 

I'll give any help I can.  Good luck.

[Rin Tohsaka]

So I just found out that the just-released Nexus 5 has a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU; think that would be enough for VNs in Dos Box Turbo?

 

(for anyone wondering I'm working on rooting and installing a custom rom to my Android device right now, hence why I haven't tried anything yet)

 

Also I saw a post on XDA-linked topic saying something about deleting "porn talk"...I really hope that wasn't an almost stereotypical case of "western hardcore PC gamers perceiving any and all VNs as porn".

[theonyxphoenix]

So I just found out that the just-released Nexus 5 has a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU; think that would be enough for VNs in Dos Box Turbo?

 

(for anyone wondering I'm working on rooting and installing a custom rom to my Android device right now, hence why I haven't tried anything yet)

 

Also I saw a post on XDA-linked topic saying something about deleting "porn talk"...I really hope that wasn't an almost stereotypical case of "western hardcore PC gamers perceiving any and all VNs as porn".

Yeah...that is exactly what happened.  The conversation went something like this....

 

Me: I'm trying to play Ever17 on Dosbox Turbo but the file is too big.

TC: Links to Ever17 on google play. "Does no one google anymore?"

Me:  I am aware of that but I don't speak Japanese and this and others have english patches for PC.

TC: (and I'm not exaggerating his reply)  I blocked you on youtube and I don't want to help you with your porn so stop posting.

Me: I like the supernatural and mystery games so unless you consider games like 999 and corpse party "porn" (in which case I have severe concerns for your love life). But don't worry I will not post further since, despite your knowledge of android programming, your ignorance of other things is apparent

TC: Stop posting you pervert.  You like to look at little boys and girls.  Go away and get a life, although I know you never will.

 

at that point I reported him to the mod and things were deleted and I just walked away.

[Rin Tohsaka]

Considering that there's still a post on page 4 of that thread that mentions Ever17, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the "porn talk" that the moderator mentioned was more targeted at the other guy and not you.

 

Nevertheless your posts were also nuked most likely because they were direct replies and possibly even quoted his posts.  I know this happens on other forums when posts are deleted - mods will typically also delete any other directly associated posts in order to keep any new posts from drifting back towards the discussion that caused said moderating to happen in the first place.

 

If that makes any sense.

 

Anyway, perhaps one could try the larger-than 2GB discussion again but by using a completely different game as a "guinea pig" that's actually kind of relevent to VNs like Riven or Exile?

[Chaos]

@ Chaos

 

I followed the instructions to install Tsukihime for VNDS here:

 

http://visualnovelaer.fuwanovel.net/category/android/

 

and it booted right up.

 

I downloaded the files and then created a Tsukihime folder on my desktop.  I extracted all of the files here, making sure to do the hi-res one last.  Then I deleted the tsukihime-other.zip, tsukihime-ogg.zip, and tsukihime_hi-res.zip...making sure to keep the 11 files specified in the link.  I then transfered the Tsukihime folder to my vnds/novels folder and it worked fine.

 

I would try starting over with new downloads.  If you haven't done much else with VNDS, maybe try to uninstall and reinstall.

 

I'll give any help I can.  Good luck.

that's exactly what I did, N' the .img file I used was the hi-res.rar one.. the problem it's not whether the novel runs or not, it's just that no matter where I put the novel, how many folders to specificate the path I create, no matter How specific I may be putting the path on the vnds.. the searcher will just say "no visual novels found on the following paths:

 

- blah blah, t

 

that's all

 

By the way, I already have tried unistalling and installing again the vnds apk, wouldn't do neither... what I do think it's that, whether my cellphone just won't run it (no specific reason on mind) Or maybe I'm just putting the novel on the wrong folder, creating a extra folder shouldn't be there, and when put the path on the vnds as an alternative option, I do taht wrong too.. (by the way, the link you posted where the one I used to download tsukihime for vnds xd, and followed the steps written there )

 

EDIT: forget  about the vnds problem, I found the path... as I though.. what I was doing wrong was specificating the path on the vnds, after trying some new I didn't yesterday I found out the correct one thanks anyways ..

 

which leaves the problem with the onscripter crash-runing the same novel.. (but since I have it on vnds I don't mind that much anymore.. will try with another one and If not run the onscripter... I'm screwed)

[theonyxphoenix]

This again proves to me why ignorant Westerners will never accept visual novels as a "real" form of games.

 

Anyways, I wouldn't really recommend VNDS for "complex" VNs like Ever 17. Just use it for stuff like Higurashi. And even then, I'm getting really weird glitches with Kai. Sometimes the backgrounds turn gray, sometimes the text freezes for up to around 8 seconds, and some of the tips don't even work when I access them from the game. For some reason though, they work fine on the title screen. It's in desperate need for an update, but the guy who made it hasn't done anything with it since August. It's a neat concept, but it needs tons of work. I hope that VN4ALL will prove to be more successful.

 I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of VN4ALL.  Granted, VNDS doesn't provide the full experience but at the moment it is the best way for me to play, which happens to be on the go.

[Rin Tohsaka]

This again proves to me why ignorant Westerners will never accept visual novels as a "real" form of games.

 

I wouldn't go that far, even within the VN community it can be arguable whether VNs like Ever17 or Fate/stay night would be considered games.  I myself usually like my video games to be arcadey, and those that aren't are still very open-ended with lots of end-user control.  Personally I see VNs as a half-way point between manga and anime, similar to a media-rich ebook.  Heck even one of the writers for Ever17 (who now works at Chunsoft) has been quoted in an issue (which I own) of Nintendo Power for an interview on 999 that he felt that VNs were sold in bookstores.  Last year Chunsoft even had a presentation in the US regarding (then) future plans on using their VN business to attack the English ebook market:

 

It may say "gameplay" in the video title, but for the most part they're just talking about traditional branching VNs like Ever17 rather than those with traditional gameplay elements like 999.

[Rin Tohsaka]

999's coming to iOS?  Did not know that, but I expected it to happen at some point.  I noticed in the Nintendo Power interview that the screenshots for 999 were actually of higher resolution than the DS is actually capable of, so I assumed that 999 wasn't a pure DS-optimized title and that they planned on other higher-res platforms in the future.  This is also why I haven't jumped the gun Virtue's Last Reward - I would much rather have my VNs on Android rather than a dedicated gaming system.

 

Of course, Chunsoft's lack of Android support is particularly disappointing...

 

 

To clarify, I do own 999 on the DS.  However the DS was old enough at the time that it already had emulators and stuff.  Not only that but my DS is homebrew'd via a slot2 device which allows me to transfer my save data to and from DS game cards for use in emulators and vice-versa (heck I can even rip the game itself via said homebrew device)

 

 

EDIT: Hmmm, like I previously said regarding Chunsoft, it would seem that the iOS version of 999 is very much targeting the ebook market to the point that the escape puzzles have even been removed.  I personally would have preferred if they were made to be optional rather than removing them completely...

[Rin Tohsaka]

As for VNs on Android, your best bet is to wait for VN4ALL. You can follow the guy who's making it on Twitter here. He quickly answers any questions that you have.

https://twitter.com/IVNTP

I'm well aware of VN4ALL but I've been thinking about the DosBox+Win98+VNs idea for over a year now and I really wanted to know just how feasible it truly is.