visual-novel

1# Visual Novel
2 
3A playbook for visual novels — the branching script, the presentation (text box, characters,
4backgrounds), choices, and the quality-of-life systems players expect (save anywhere, backlog,
5skip, auto). This is a **compositional** skill: it drives a dialogue engine and a UI layer. It
6does not re-teach the dialogue engine or UI nodes; it defines the script model and the player
7conveniences that make a VN pleasant to read.
8 
9## When to use
10 
11- Use when the game is **mostly reading branching text** with character art and backgrounds:
12  visual novel, dating sim, branching interactive fiction, story-choice game.
13- Use when designing a choice/route structure, story flags, or VN conveniences (backlog,
14  skip, auto-advance, save-anywhere).
15 
16**When *not* to use:** dialogue as one feature inside a larger game → `rpg` consuming
17`dialogue-systems`. Card/board play → other genres. For the branching-script engine itself,
18use `dialogue-systems` (Ink / Yarn Spinner).
19 
20**If the project is Ren'Py** (current stable 8.5.3): the engine already ships save-anywhere,
21rollback, a history (backlog) screen, skip that stops at unseen text by default
22(`preferences.skip_unseen = False`), auto-forward and a text-speed preference. Use and restyle
23those through its screens and preferences; apply this skill's design guidance (routes, flags,
24reactivity) rather than rebuilding the systems in Patterns 2–3.
25 
26## Core loop
27…