YaneuraoGameScript 2000
YaneuraoGameScript 2000 (abbreviated YaneGameScript 2000 or YGS2K) is a scripting and runtime environment for Windows created by Urao Yane (Yaneurao) aimed for the easy creation of game applications. The language is loosely based on C, with numerous game-related embedded functions. It is an interpreted language, allowing one to start coding and/or modifying existing games by simply using text editors like Notepad, without the need to set up file paths or compiler toolchains.
YGS2K is freeware and allows the creation of commercial products without the payment of royalties, however the environment itself is closed source. The author has abandoned the development of YGS2K in favor of his newer game development library, YaneuraoGameSDK. The last publicly available version of YGS2K is 1.64c. Notable features that YGS2K lacks include object-oriented programming, 3D graphics, Unicode support, and cross-platform support.
Heboris, a popular fan game in Japan, was developed using YGS2K. The original author has not updated the program since 2002. However, fans of the game, residing in the 2ch forums, have taken it to their own hands to continue development, bringing it far beyond what the original game was capable of. Despite being obsoleted by its author, and the emergence of ports to compiled languages like C++, Heboris continues to use YGS2K due to its low barrier to entry.
Urao Yane first gained fame for developing BM98, the first Beatmania simulator.
YanePack
A supporting tool for YaneGameScript exists called YanePack. YanePack allows the developer to pack multiple files into one, while still being accessible from the game code. Heboris uses YanePackEx, a variant that performs compression when packaging the files. Files packaged using YanePack usually bear the .dat file name extension.
The user interface of YanePack is very bare-bones, with little regard taken towards non-Japanese speakers. When run, YanePack displays a dialog with three buttons written in Japanese. The functions of each button is as follows:
- Left: The left button reads "Pack." Pushing this will open a file dialog where the user can select multiple files to be included in the package. After selecting, a dialog will then pop up to notify that the unpacking process is done. A file named target.dat will be created in the same directory as the source files. The program will then return to the three-button menu.
- Middle: The middle button reads "Unpack." Pushing this will open a file dialog where the user can select a packed file to extract. After selecting, a dialog will then pop up to notify that the packing process is done. The files contained in the package will be extracted to the same directory as the package file. The program will then return to the three-button menu. YanePack does not create a new directory when unpacking, so it is advised to put the package file into an empty directory first.
- Right: The right button reads "Quit", and will quit the application.
External Links
Most files by Urao Yane are distributed in LZH, a compression format popular in Japan but uncommon in the rest of the world. LZH files can be extracted by WinRAR and several other popular compression software.
Links to both the download pages and files themselves are listed here for the sake of convenience, since the pages are mostly written in Japanese.