New to the VN World: Some Terms

[Tay]

I got a PM from a great new member who had a lot of questions about the technical lingo we throw around here at the site. I answered his questions to the best of my ability (I'm still sick, and the brain's a little fuzzy), but I'm sure (s)he'd be happy if others added input. Someday perhaps we'll make a guide for the truly new VN players.

Downloading Games:

Torrents – Torrentsare the files you’ll download and plug into a torrent client (like uTorrent) todownload games. They’re a commontechnology that can be used in legal and illegal ways. Here’s a good primer on torrents: http://netforbeginne...enthandbook.htm Read through all four pages.

Torrent Clients (utorrent, bittorrent) – The torrent filesare read/downloaded/uploaded via torrent clients (programs). uTorrent is a great one to start with if youdon’t have one yet. It’s free, and safe.

“Seeding” or “Seeds” – Check out the link I posted above toAbout.com. That should fill you in onthe basics of seeding. In short, “seeding”means uploading the files to somebody else who is trying to download them. If nobody is seeding a torrent, downloads areimpossible.

Running the Games:

Japanese Non-Unicode Location – To run a lot of games, youhave to restart your computer so that it can “think” in Japanese. Here’s how you do it: http://forums.fuwano...efore-you-post/. Note: this wont harm your computer andis COMPLETELY reversible. Just followthe steps but instead of “Japanese” language, pick “English” or your originalcomputer language.

“Applocale” – Applocale is a program Windows developed tohelp users get around the “Japanese Non-Unicode Location” requirement and kindof fudge the lines. It can fool somevisual novels, but not many. It’s safer, faster, and simpler to simply switch to Japanese Non-Unicode location whenever you want to play a VN. You can even leave your computer in that mode – like I said, it will notharm your computer.

“Admin Mode” – Sometimes on Windows you have to run aprogram as an Administrator. To do so,you right-click the program and then choose “Run Program as Administrator”. Do not do this lightly! As an admin, you give a program a lot ofpower over your computer. Only do thiswith trusted programs and ONLY when absolutely necessary.

Computer Stuff:

Codecs and codec packs – Codecs are kind of like video languages. The more codecs you have (in moderation), the more videos your computercan “read”. Installing a codec pack likeK-lite is a good way to make sure your computer can run whatever videos arethrown at it from inside Visual Novels.

DirectX – DirectX is a feature of Windows that is used forgaming. Download the latest versionthrough windows update or Microsoft (http://www.microsoft...ails.aspx?id=35)

Other:

“sdrt4280j.exe” -- I actually don’t know what that it. It looks game-specific. Where did you see it on the forums?

[Aggressor]

Installing a codec pack likeK-lite is a good way to make sure your computer can run whatever videos arethrown at it from inside Visual Novels.

From my experience it's just a way to invite trouble. All VN have their own means of decoding their own videos, or just use codecs each Windows system have by default. But if you have something like Haali Media Splitter or/and FFDshow installed, some VNs can freeze or not play their movies at all.

[Tay]

From my experience it's just a way to invite trouble. All VN have their own means of decoding their own videos, or just use codecs each Windows system have by default. But if you have something like Haali Media Splitter or/and FFDshow installed, some VNs can freeze or not play their movies at all.

Sure, that does happen. But things like the K-Lite or the CCCP codec packs generally have fantastic compatibility track records. Sadly, I don't' know much about Haali Media Splitter or FFDshow.

[Aggressor]

Sure, that does happen. But things like the K-Lite or the CCCP codec packs generally have fantastic compatibility track records. Sadly, I don't' know much about Haali Media Splitter or FFDshow.

Both K-Lite and CCCP are just "wrappers" for FFDshow, with some additional codecs. I never experienced a VN not playing video on a raw system w/o codec packs, but had issues with installed packs several times on different systems.

[Tay]

Both K-Lite and CCCP are just "wrappers" for FFDshow, with some additional codecs. I never experienced a VN not playing video on a raw system w/o codec packs, but had issues with installed packs several times on different systems.

Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. I haven't had any problems yet with the codec packs on the four systems I use to test Fuwa games, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Thanks, Aggressor.

[neonie]

I tried to get CCCP once and Avira was immediately all "YO THAT IS A VIRUS WTF ARE YOU DOING.". So I deleted it, did a system restore, installed VLC and never looked back.

[Luch]

I tried to get CCCP once and Avira was immediately all "YO THAT IS A VIRUS WTF ARE YOU DOING.". So I deleted it, did a system restore, installed VLC and never looked back.

According to Avira everything is a virus.

Also FFDShow was dropped from CCCP some time ago (haali splitter is still included only for fallback purposes) and I haven't experienced any problems (yet) with the new LAV filters.

[Oyabun]

Thank you for actually putting this up, it has helped me a lot, really.

So the codec is not actually needed to troubleshoot anything then right? And the sdrt4280j.exe I found? It was put beside an IMPORTANT: sign under troubleshooting suggestions for the DRAMAtical Murder VN page. It said that I may need it, but when i looked it up, there were many people questioning it's safety and whatnot which scared me away from it... but fro what it seems like maybe not?

In any case, this is very helpful, so thank you once again.

[REtransInternational]

ffdshow is usually safe, it is very configurable as you can turn on/off the codecs it'll try to decode.

Codec packs are often a bit more complicated, and the interactions between the various codecs in one can lead to more issues.

[Darklord Rooke]

Question for people who know about codecs. Demonbane causes video problems for some gamers, and a solution that seems to work is to download and install 'DScaler MPEG Filters 0.08'. ( http://www.jastusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6970 )

The question is are the video problems occuring because people have downloaded codecs like 'Haali splitter' which is mucking up the visual novel, meaning the above step can be safely ignored by most people. Or do the video problems have nothing to do with pre-existing codecs installed on the computer, and maybe people should install the above as a precautionary?

Because I installed the MPEG filters as a precautionary even though I don't have any other codecs installed. I'm wondering if I should keep them installed or remove them.

EDIT: As for sdrt4280j.exe, it seems legit and an actual part of the game, but you may want to do a bit more digging.

http://systemexplorer.net/file-database/file/sdrt4280j-exe/13682710

http://www.isthisfilesafe.com/md5/E2631672D82B9B93667304709141EA31_details.aspx

http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/GUILTY-CROWN-LOST-XMAS-47502-program.aspx

[Tief Blau]

Eh... It shouldn't matter for sound. If I remember correctly, all Kirikiri based games have their own vorbis audio decoder dll which the game uses.

(each game has it's own unique or semi-unique plugin)

-Edit-

That could be phrased better.

[Fujimoto Takashi]

According to Avira everything is a virus.

So true

Also, can someone please explain me the point of installing codec packs? I have a shitty computer and every VN so far has been working perfectly without them.

[Kendjin]

So true

Also, can someone please explain me the point of installing codec packs? I have a shitty computer and every VN so far has been working perfectly without them.

Sometimes ingame videos might use a codec that isn't already installed on your machine, either giving a black screen or in rare cases, crashes games.

I'd say don't install a codec pack till the point comes where you need it.

[Luch]

I'd say don't install a codec pack till the point comes where you need it.

Pretty much that.

For VNs or just video games in general there should never be any reason to install a codec pack. Requiring the user to install external codecs because the dev was too lazy to include them with their product is not a good way to handle things.

If you want to play video/audio files that aren't natively supported by the operating system then you will need to install codecs (or get a media player with built in codecs).

[Steve]

What Luch said, stuff like Pot Player supports basically anything you can come across anyways and you don't need to install anything useless. The times when you needed codec pack to just play a video are way behind us as good players just have the support.

[Fujimoto Takashi]

Ahhh, understood, thanks for explaining it to me everyone, I bet ill never be forced to install one of those but if by any miracle it happens Ill just move on to another VN, I refuse to install something a dev could have included but decided to take the lazy route instead.

[Zakamutt]

Well, if you play prepatched stuff you might miss out on codecs from installation

Pretty problematic issue, as many people will already have some codec installed through one of the many means possible for it to happen (default with OS, installing some other game or vn, installing a media player...).