Suika3: Getting Started Guide

Welcome to Suika3! This guide will help you jump-start your very first visual novel project in just a few easy steps.

1. Installation

Let's get the engine running so you can see the magic happen!

Windows

• Download & Extract
  • Download Suika3-SDK-Full.zip and extract it to your preferred folder.
• Launch
  • Open the folder and run suika3.exe to start to the sample game!

macOS

• Download & Extract
  • Download Suika3-full.zip and extract it to your preferred folder.
• Mount the Disk Image
  • Navigate to SDK/macos/ and open Suika3.dmg.
• Setup the App Bundle
  • Copy the Suika3 app from the DMG into the same folder where suika3.exe (and the data folder) is located.
  • Note: The app bundle must reside alongside your game data to function correctly.
• Launch
  • Double-click the Suika3 app to start the sample game!

Linux

• Download & Extract
  • Download Suika3-full.zip and extract it to your preferred directory.
• Install the Flatpak Package
  • Navigate to SDK/linux/ and open Suika3.flatpak (or run flatpak install --user Suika3.flatpak).
  • This associates .novel and .ray files with the Suika3 engine.
• Launch
  • Open the extracted folder, then double-click start.novel to launch the sample game!

2. Visual Studio Code Integration

VSCode Integration is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux!

Also, NovelML-Helper is available for syntax highlighting.

• Open the extracted folder by Visual Studio Code.
• Click the command palette.
• Click Run Task.
• Choose from:
  • Suika3: Run (or Ctrl+Shift+B)
  • Suika3: Create a package
  • Suika3: Build Android APK
  • Suika3: Build iOS IPA
• Click PROBLEMS if an error occurred.

3. Personalize Your Story (start.novel)

Now, let's make the game say exactly what you want.

• Open:
  • Find the start.novel file in your project folder and open it with your favorite text editor.
• Edit:
  • Add the following tag at the beginning of the file:

  [text text="Hello, world! This is my first game."]
  

• Test:
  • Save the file and run Suika3 again.
  • You should see your new message on the screen!

4. Customize the Screen (main.ray)

You can easily change the look and feel of your game window.

• Locate:
  • Open the main.ray file in your editor.
• Modify:
  • Look for the func setup() section.
  • You can change the resolution and the title of your window here:

  // Called when the window is opened.
  func setup() {
      return {
          width:      1280,            // The width of your game
          height:     720,             // The height of your game
          title:      "My First Game", // Your game's title
          fullscreen: false            // Set to true for full-screen mode
      };
  }
  

5. Under the Hood (Advanced Tips)

The bottom part of your main.ray file contains the core engine logic. It's best to leave these functions as they are unless you are doing advanced customization:

• func start():
  • This is called once when your game launches.
• func update():
  • This runs every single frame to handle game logic.
• func render():
  • This draws everything on the screen after the update is done.

// Called before the game starts.
func start() {
    // Load plugins here.
    // Suika.loadPlugin("testplugin");

    // Do not delete the following line.
    Suika.start();
}

// Called before a frame rendering.
func update() {
    // Do not delete the following line.
    Suika.update();
}

// Called every frame rendering.
func render() {
    // Do not delete the following line.
    Suika.render();
}

[!TIPS] These functions are the core mechanism of the Playfield Engine that powers Suika3. Suika.start(), Suika.update(), and Suika.render() must remain in place for the game to function properly.