Visual Novel creation tool for Unity

Utage

document

Launching an example scenario

Scenario import example

Double-click to open

Click ImportExample scenario is imported

Launch scenario example

If you launch the imported scene then the example scenario will play.

Within this example scenario all of the fundamental visual novel functions are covered.

Tutorial

1. Easily create a visual novel by using templates

1-1. Copy and paste the template folder

Press CTRL+D to copy and paste

Re-name each“Template” asset name

Save in your preferred location

1-2. Configure the scenario build

From the Unity top menuOpen Tools/Utage/CreateScenario Data Builder

Click “Create New”

Enter a project name and Click “Create”

Click “Import”

Create the scenario file using drag and drop

1-3. Create a scenario scene

Open a scene

The scenario file is created because you imported data

Create the scenario file using drag and drop

Choose this

asset

Create a resource directory name

1-4. Test your current implementation

Test your current implementation by playing the game inside of Unity.

At this point the default scenario will have no background image and after displaying two lines of text it will immediately return to the title.

However, after simply adding some scenario data to Excel you can create a visual novel.

2. Edit scenario data using Excel

2-1. Edit data in Excel

Select the “Start” sheet

This is the default text

Try writing some placeholder text

After modifying the excel file save your work and return to Unity.

2-2. Check your implementationTest your current implementation by playing the game inside of Unity.

The placeholder text you entered in Excel should now be displayed.

(If your build settings are identical to those in 1-2 then the scenario data at the time you updated your excel will automatically be imported)

For detailed information on how to display backgrounds and characters please consult the “sample scenario” and the “scenario data reference”.

2-3. Standard configuration for scenario data

Start is the scenario that will be called when the game launches.

Remaining sheets are for scenario-specific data and can be named anything you like.

This section is for common game data settings.

Scenario data can be separated into numerous different excel files.

Dividing the files can help you avoid any conflicts caused by having a large number of people working on the scenario simultaneously.

2-4. How to write

For detailed information on how to display backgrounds and characters please consult the “sample scenario” and the “scenario data reference”.

3. Fetching resources from external servers

When creating a smartphone application it is a common occurrence to frequently update the app without submitting a new version while needing to keep the size of the app small.For this reason “Utage” allows you to load all of your resources from a server.This functionality is not necessary for PC apps that include all resources and do not make use of a server.

3-1. Convert into TSV from ExcelFrom the Unity top menuOpen Tools / Utage / Create Scenario Data Builder

Click “Select”

In the Scenario Data Builder options click “Convert”

Specify a folder for the converted file.It is not necessary to save it under the Unity project directory.

When in mid-development it is convenient to use a public DropBox folder as you can also copy to a server.

3-2. Put resource files on a server

Copy a folder and its contents to the server

In this example we are saving the resource and scenario data in the same directory.However, you can place them in different locations if desired.

Resource directory

3-3. How to switch to loading from the server

Choose this

asset

Use the same settings for the resource data

Enter the server’s URL

Change the setting to

Server

For practical purposes it is also possible to configure your build to load resources from a server and the scenario from your local drive.

3-4. Check your work

When launching for the first time a brief download is necessary.

The scenario will begin after this download is finished.

4. Create a visual novel without using templates

Up to this point you have learned the method for creating a visual novel using templates. Even if you don’t want to use templates you can still easily create a visual novel. You can also use this tool to add functionality found in dialog systems of existing games.

From here you cannot create prefabs for title screen, config screen, item lists, etc. but there are prefabs for UI so please reference Examples/Prefab for further information.

From the Unity top menuOpen Tools/Utage/Create

From the top create these 3 in order