choice4genesis - a ChoiceScript clone for the Sega Genesis

haroldoop · September 23, 2022

Hello;

This is a ChoiceScript clone that generates Sega Genesis ROMs. If can be used for visual novels or simple multimedia presentations.

It takes a bunch of scripts and images and, from that, it generates SGDK-compatible .c and .res files. Those are then compiled into a Sega Genesis compatible ROM, which can be run on an emulator or even on real hardware.

The syntax of the scripts is somewhat based on ChoiceScript, but it is not exactly the same.

Please note that this is an early work and progress, and it is not as stable or user-friendly as it is planned to become.

Page on itch.io: https://haroldo-ok.itch.io/choice4genesis

Github repo: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis

Transpiler for version 0.3.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.3.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.3.0.-.transpiler.7z

Example ROM for version 0.3.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.3.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.3.0.-.small.example.bin

Video for version 0.1.0:

Example script:

* font "damieng.com - Hourglass font.png"
* background "Blue Hedgehog.png"
* create intVar, 1
* create boolVar, true
* temp localInt, 2
* set intVar, 3
* set localInt, intVar + 3
* create playingMusic, false
* choice
    * if playingMusic
        # Stop the music
            * stop music, sound
            OK, music is stopped.
            * set playingMusic, false
    * elseif FALSE
        This should not appear
        This should not play
        * music "Actraiser - Fillmore.vgm"
    * else
        # Play some music
            * music "Actraiser - Fillmore.vgm"
            OK, playing Fillmore, from Actraiser.
            * set playingMusic, true
        
    # Play a voice
        * sound "ready.wav"
        OK, playing a digital voice.
    # Show a smiley
        * image "Smiley.png", at(30, 3)
        OK... showing a smiley!
    # Fourth choice
        You chose the last one
        * choice
            # Yet another choice
                You chose this.
            # One more choice
                You chose that.
This is a test.
Second line.
Third line.

Quote

Commands implemented so far

font

Loads a .png file containing the 8x8 font. Note that the image must be paletized, with 16 colors. Future versions of this tool will probably convert the image automagically.

background

Loads a .png file as a background image. Note that the image must be paletized, with 16 colors. Future versions of this tool will probably convert the image automagically.

choice

Presents a menu to the user, allowing to choose between multiple options.

music

Starts playing a .vgm/.xgm music in the background.

sound

Plays a digitized sound.

stop

Stops the music and/or sound.

image

Allows drawing a small image in .png format somewhere in the background. Note that the image must be paletized, with 16 colors. Future versions of this tool will probably convert the image automagically.

wait

Waits for a few seconds.

create

Creates a global variable.

temp

Creates a local variable. temp variables are only visible inside the scene file that created them.

set

Changes the current value of an existing variable.

if/elseif/else

Allows a certain block of code to only be executed on a given condition.

goto_scene

Jumps to a different scene. The scene files are located on the script directory, and have the .choice extension.

Planned commands

The tool accepts those commands, but, at the moment, they don't do anything.

label

Will allow to mark a place where the goto command can jump to.

goto

Will jump to a given label from anywhere on the same scene.

scene_list

Will configure the default sequence in which the scenes will be played.

finish

Will jump to the next scene in the game.

window

Will allow to configure the region of the screen that will be used for the text popups and menus.

clear

Will allow to clear regions of the screen.

video

Will play a full screen video.

haroldoop · October 2, 2022

Version 0.6.0 is now available!

Implemented between 0.3.0 and 0.6.0:

Added a few improvements on the command line tool:
- It is now possible to choose which project to compile;
- The command line tool can now invoke the SGDK compiler to convert the generated .c and .res files into ROMs;
- The command line tool can now call the emulator after compiling;
- It is now possible to call a command line menu to compile the projects interactively.
Added language features:
- Now it is possible to use print a numeric variable in the middle of a text line by using ${expression};
- window: allows to change the location of the text window;
- flush: immediately displays the contents of the text buffer on the text window; it may or may not wait for a button press;
- clear: clears a layer/region of the screen.

Distributions:

Transpiler for version 0.6.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.6.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.6.0.-.transpiler.7z
Demo ROM for version 0.6.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.6.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.6.0.-.simple.demo.rom.bin
Standalone distribution for version 0.6.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.6.0/choice4genesis-0.6.0-standalone.7z

Example script:

* font "damieng.com - Hourglass font.png"
* background "Blue Hedgehog.png"

* create intVar, 1
* create boolVar, true
* temp localInt, 2

* set localInt, intVar + 3

* create playingMusic, false

* choice
	* if playingMusic
		# Stop the music
			* stop music, sound
			OK, music is stopped.
			* set playingMusic, false
	* elseif FALSE
		This should not appear
		This should not play
		* music "Actraiser - Fillmore.vgm"
	* else
		# Play some music
			* music "Actraiser - Fillmore.vgm"
			OK, playing Fillmore, from Actraiser.
			* set playingMusic, true
		
	# Play a voice
		* sound "ready.wav"
		OK, playing a digital voice.
	# Show a smiley
		* image "Smiley.png", at(30, 3)
		OK... showing a smiley!
	# Fourth choice
		This is a test.
		Second line.
		Third line.
		* choice
			# Yet another choice
				You chose this.
			# One more choice
				You chose that.
	# Increment a number
		* set intVar, intVar + 1
		The value is now ${intVar}!
	# More options...
		* choice
			# Test window
				* window from(1, 1), to(10, 4)
				Window 1
				* flush nowait
				* window from(29, 1), size(10, 6)
				Window 2
				* flush nowait
				* window default
				Returning to the default window
				* flush
				* clear background, foreground
				Clearing everything
			# Go to another scene
				* goto_scene test

Edited October 2, 2022 by haroldoop

ColecoGamer · October 4, 2022

Would it be possible to create a Choose Your Own Adventure-style Visual Novel with this SDK? You know, so the player has some control over the story?

This would rock if the SDK had this function.

Edit: After reading through the example code, it would appear that what I asked is actually possible with your SDK.

Edited October 4, 2022 by ColecoGamer

haroldoop · October 4, 2022

5 hours ago, ColecoGamer said:

Would it be possible to create a Choose Your Own Adventure-style Visual Novel with this SDK? You know, so the player has some control over the story?

This would rock if the SDK had this function.

Edit: After reading through the example code, it would appear that what I asked is actually possible with your SDK.

Yes, Choose Your Own Adventures is one of the primary objectives of the tool. 👍

haroldoop · October 25, 2022

Version 0.9.0 is now available!

Implemented between 0.6.0 and 0.9.0:

0.7.0: Implement `title`, `author` and `while` commands:
- title and author are used for populating the ROM header;
- while allows to keep repeating a block of code while a condition is true.
0.8.0: Customize cursor and allow to select image layer:
- Flags were added to the image command, in order to allow choosing if the image will be drawn in the foreground or in the background l
- Implemented the cursor command, in order to allow customizing the cursor.
0.9.0: Implement automatic word wrapping for the text boxes.

Standalone distribution for 0.9.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.9.0/choice4genesis-0.9.0-standalone.7z

Transpiler for 0.9.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.9.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.9.0.-.transpiler.7z

Demo ROM for 0.9.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.9.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.9.0.-.simple.demo.rom.bin

haroldoop · November 30, 2022

Version 0.12.0 is now available!

Implemented between 0.9.0 and 0.12.0:

0.9.1: Fix image and sound related code to check if the referenced file exists;
0.10.0: Allow the use of native `C` functions;
0.11.0: Automatically convert images to 16 colors, if necessary;
0.11.1: Fix background palette bug;
0.11.2: When clearing the foreground, deallocate the tiles used by the `*image` command;
0.12.0: Implement support for ADPCM for both music and sound

Standalone distribution: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.12.0/choice4genesis-0.12.0-standalone.7z

Transpiler only: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.12.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.12.0.-.transpiler.7z

Edited November 30, 2022 by haroldoop

haroldoop · December 2, 2022

This is Ren Py's "The Question" ported to Sega Genesis through the "choice4genesis" engine.

itch.io page: https://haroldo-ok.itch.io/the-question-for-sega-genesis

Github repo: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/the-question-c4j

The Question - v0.0.4.bin

ColecoGamer · December 21, 2022

I found this thread again! Woohoo!

haroldoop · December 23, 2022

Version 0.13.1 has been released!

It adds a built-in code editor.

Video showing the editor in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK_CyszhHl0

Standalone distribution for version 0.13.1: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.13.1/choice4genesis-0.13.1-standalone.7z
Transpiler only: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.13.1/choice4genesis.-.v0.13.1.-.transpiler.7z

ColecoGamer · December 30, 2022

Quick question: can you include animation to the story? You know, like a hand-drawn cinema with sound and music?

haroldoop · December 30, 2022

2 hours ago, ColecoGamer said:

Quick question: can you include animation to the story? You know, like a hand-drawn cinema with sound and music?

There are planned commands for playing videos and moving sprites around, but they haven't been implemented yet:

Implement "video" command: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/issues/15
Implement sprite support: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/issues/73

Without those, there are ways to do very limited animation by combining the "background", "image" and "wait" commands, but it would be pretty awkward to do animation in that way.

haroldoop · February 25, 2023

Version 0.14.0 is now available!

This version reduces the size of the distribution. The full distribution for this version occupies 190MB, while in the previous version, it was 235MB.

- Full standalone distribution for 0.14.0: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.14.0/choice4genesis-0.14.0-standalone.7z

- Transpiler only: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/choice4genesis/releases/download/v0.14.0/choice4genesis.-.v0.14.0.-.transpiler.7z

ColecoGamer · August 20, 2023

I’ve waited long enough for this SDK to take shape; it now has all the features I’ve been looking for!

haroldoop · August 20, 2023

1 hour ago, ColecoGamer said:

I’ve waited long enough for this SDK to take shape; it now has all the features I’ve been looking for!

Nice!

BTW, implementation of the video player that will be used for the "video" command is in progress:

choice4genesis - a ChoiceScript clone for the Sega Genesis

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Commands implemented so far

font

background

choice

music

sound

stop

image

wait

create

temp

set

if/elseif/else

goto_scene

Planned commands

label

goto

scene_list

finish

window

clear

video

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`font`

`background`

`choice`

`music`

`sound`

`stop`

`image`

`wait`

`create`

`temp`

`set`

`if`/`elseif`/`else`

`goto_scene`

`label`

`goto`

`scene_list`

`finish`

`window`

`clear`

`video`