NovelVM: Visual Novel interpreter

1. What is NovelVM?
2. Current state
3. Configuration
4. Troubleshooting
5. Debugging
6. Bug reports
7. Changelog
8. Credits
9. Contact

1. What is NovelVM?

NovelVM is a game engine reimplementation that allows you to play Visual Novel games.

2. Current state

Currently not playable.

2.1. Which games does NovelVM support?

None

6. Configuration

Currently, not all the settings for NovelVM are available through the GUI, if you have problems with getting anything to work, first try to pass the settings from the command line, then, if that doesn't work, try to change your configuration file manually.

6.1. Location of configuration file

By default, the configuration file is saved in and loaded from:

Operating System	Location
Windows Vista/7/8/10	\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\NovelVM\novelvm.ini
Windows 2000/XP	\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\NovelVM\novelvm.ini
Linux	~/.config/novelvm/novelvm.ini
macOS/OS X	~/Library/Preferences/NovelVM Preferences
Others	novelvm.ini in the current directory

6.2. Location of saved screenshots

By default, screenshots will be saved to:

Operating System	Location
Windows	\Users\username\My Pictures\NovelVM Screenshots
macOS X	On the Desktop
Other unices	In the XDG Pictures user directory, e.g. ~/Pictures/NovelVM Screenshots
Any other OS	In the current directory

Alternatively, you can specify the directory where the screenshots will be saved in the configuration file. To do so, add a screenshotpath value under the [novelvm] section:

[novelvm]
screenshotpath=/path/to/screenshots/

6.3. Interesting settings for GrimE games

The following settings are currently available in the config file, however some of them might not work with your current build and some of them might make NovelVM crash, or behave in weird ways.

Setting	Values	Effect
show_fps	true/false	If set to true, NovelVM will show the current FPS rate while you play
last_set	set name	The set you were last on, NovelVM will try to continue from there
last_save	save number	The save you last saved, NovelVM will have that selected the next time you try to load a game
use_arb_shaders	true/false	If set to true and if you are using the OpenGL renderer NovelVM will use ARB shaders. While fast, they may be incompatible with some graphics drivers
fullscreen_res	desktop/widthxheight	If set to desktop (the default), NovelVM will use your desktop resolution in fullscreen mode. If set to a resolution such as 640x480 or 1280x720, that resolution will be used

7. Troubleshooting, known bugs, issues

Grim Fandango had a few issues when it came out and a few new and exciting issues when you try to run it on newer hardware. Some of these have been fixed in NovelVM, but NovelVM itself also has a few new issues that we know about: https://github.com/novelvm/novelvm/blob/master/KNOWN_BUGS

Look below for help with these issues and if you can't find help here, try contacting us at Contact section.

7.1. I played a bit, but can't start a new game!

This is because the last save and visited scene is stored in your configuration file, either delete your Grim Fandango entry from the NovelVM menu and readd it, or go to your configuration file and clean out the last_save and last_set entries.

7.2. My saved games don't work any more!

Did you recently update to a newer build of NovelVM? NovelVM is still a work in progress, which means that the save format might change between builds. While attempts are made to keep save file compatibility, this isn't always possible.

8. Debugging

WARNING: This section contains information about the various tools that are included for debugging NovelVM, this should not be necessary for normal play at all! However, the curious might like to know how to access these tool. Please use at your own risk!

To enter the debug console, press Ctrl + Alt + d. Use the help command to display a list of the available commands. To exit, press Escape or type exit or quit.

Debug console commands common to all engines:

Command	Description
openlog	Show the log of errors/warnings/information from the engine
debuglevel	List or change verbosity of debug output
debugflag_list	List the available debug flags and their status
debugflag_enable	Enable a given debug flag
debugflag_disable	Disable a given debug flag
md5	Calculates MD5 checksum of a file
md5mac	Calculates MD5 checksum of a file (Mac format)

9. Bug reports

NovelVM still has a few bugs, many might already have been reported, but should you find a new one, don't hesitate to report it.

9.1. How and where do I report bugs?

You can report bugs at our GitHub issue tracker: https://github.com/novelvm/novelvm/issues

Please read the Wiki regarding how to report bugs properly first though: https://wiki.novelvm.org/index.php?title=Reporting_Bugs

Remember to always provide the following information in your bug reports:

• Information about the game (e.g. Escape from Monkey Island, PS2 version).
• Language of game (English, German, ...).
• Platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, ...).
• Bug details, including instructions on reproducing it.
• Preferably also a link to a save game right before the bug happened.

10. Changelog

Please refer to our extensive Changelog here.

11. Credits

Please refer to our extensive Credits list here.

12. Contact