FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

[Kentou]

1. How can I upgrade to BETA?
If there is any BETA which is newer than STABLE, you can right click VN Maker in Steam, select Properties > BETAs tab and select "BETA - Use at own Risk" branch. Make sure to make a backup of your game before migrating to a newer version as it is not possible to go back.

2. Where can I see which version I am using?
You can see the version in VN Maker's About Dialog Box.

Windows:
Menubar > Help > About Visual Novel Maker

Mac:
Menubar > Visual Novel Maker > About Visual Novel Maker


3. How can I downgrade to a previous version?
Right click VN Maker in Steam, select Properties > BETAs tab and select the previous version you like e.g. "v1093" or "v1101" for example. Not all previous versions are selectable for downgrade.

After downgrade, make sure to delete AppData/Local/Visual Novel Maker on Windows and Library/Application Support/Visual Novel Maker on Mac to avoid issues. You might not be able to launch your game otherwise.

4. I am getting weird error popups when launching my game after migration to a new version
If you get an error message after migration when launching your game, go into Script Editor and make sure the Main script is at the bottom of the list.

5. Can't Press OK/Confirm, Preview/Pop-up Window is out of bounds/I can't reach it.
It means you're using a screen resolution for your game that is bigger or exactly as yours. Do the following:

Windows:
Tools -> Preferences -> Application -> Scene Editor -> Uncheck Use Original Size on Preview.

Mac:
Visual Novel Maker -> Preferences -> Application -> Scene Editor -> Uncheck Use Original Size on Preview.

6. Can't export my game no matter what platform I select
It could be that there is an issue with your temp/cache data.

Windows:
Navigate into your user directory and look for the (hidden) AppData/Local folder. In there, look for "Visual Novel Maker" and delete the entire directory.

Mac:
Navigate into your user directory and look for the (hidden) Library/Application Support folder. In there, look for "Visual Novel Maker" and delete the entire directory.

WARNING: Delete the "Visual Novel Maker" will reset all Application Preferences you have done. (if any).

7. Can't export my game for Mac on Windows, there is no Game.app inside the output folder
At time of writing this, you can only properly export for Mac on a Mac due to difference with the file system. However, that doesn't mean that you need to install VN Maker on a Mac.

Navigate into the VN Maker Installation Directory. You can go there if you right click VN Maker in Steam, select Properties > Local Files and click Browse Files button. In there, navigate into nw-runtimes folder. You will see two zipped for arm64 and x64 Mac. Unzip them and then try to export your game for Mac again, this time there should be a Game.app in your output folder.

That Game.app however, might not run correctly on a Mac. There might be an error "This app is damaged" popping up. In that case, read the FAQ entry below.

8. I exported for Mac on Windows and got a Game.app but it cannot be launched
Due to differences in file system between Windows and Mac, you have to correct the file permissions of that Game.app on a Mac by executing:

xattr -cr Game.app

on a terminal on a Mac. After doing that, the best is to publish your game via DMG files or upload it to Steam or any other Mac supporting way.

9. Can't run my exported web build in a browser, only see a black/white screen
Due to security restrictions with modern web browsers, you can only launch a web game by:

1. Disabling the security restrictions of your browser (Not recommended)
2. Install and run a local web server and put your web game in there and then open it with your web browser.
3. Upload to a web server or any other game upload service like Itch.io.
4. Any other service/runtime which can run Web-Games directly.

10. Can't playtest my game with v1101, getting an error message about "Live2D" and "instanceof"
You choose the Live2D Template when you created the project. However, v1101 doesn't support it properly. So either upgrade to a higher version or choose a different template. You can still use Live2D 2.1 with v1101, just choose a different template.

11. How to easily share VN Maker Scene Commands with others
Select the commands, right click and copy them into your clipboard. They are copied as text so you can easily share them with other people. To paste, just right click > paste in VN Maker Scene Editor.

12. I am at version 1.0.1112 or above but still get an error opening scene-based CG Gallery in-game
In that case, you need to put in a special fix by yourself. Please go to Common Events in Database > Beginner's Guide > CG Gallery > Show Gallery Thumb. Look for the [Script] command in there and exchange it's entire content with this script:

/* 
 * Here we access tempNumbers which is an array containing all local number variables for this common event.
 * So we store the Picture ID and CG image number in two local variables "id" and "cgNumber" to access them later in a shorter way. We also subtract
 * 1 from the gallery-slot-number because the internal counting starts at 0 and not at 1. 
*/
var id = GameManager.variableStore.tempNumbers[0];
var cgNumber = GameManager.variableStore.tempNumbers[3] - 1;

/*
* Here we use the Picture ID to get the corresponding picture object and store into "picture" variable so we can modify the picture object later. We also
* use the cgNumber to get the corresponding cg-image-object from database which contains more info about the CG image.
*/
SceneManager.scene.behavior.changePictureDomain("com.degica.vnm.default")
var picture = SceneManager.scene.pictures[id];
var cg = RecordManager.cgGallery.first(function(cgItem){ return cgItem.slot-1 == cgNumber; })
/*
* Here we check if the CG image exists and if its unlocked.
*/

if(cg && GameManager.globalData.cgGallery[cg.index].unlocked) 
{
    GameManager.variableStore.tempStrings[0] = cg.thumb.folderPath + "/" + cg.thumb.name
}
// Otherwise we make the picture invisible
else
{
    GameManager.variableStore.tempStrings[0] = " "
}