Homebrew VNDS converted novels

[Poudink]

I agree that Tomoyo After isn't very good, yeah. A ton of the plot points make absolutely no sense, and the memory loss arc felt like a pretty forced way to give the story a tragic twist. As for the characters, I liked Takafumi, was indifferent to Kanako, and thought Tomoyo was pretty out-of-character compared to her CLANNAD incarnation. And Tomo was more plot device than character. I mainly did Tomoyo After because it was a VN I was already familiar with and I didn't want to dive headfirst into something bigger, and I'm glad I did because I probably would've given up had I tried doing CLANNAD right off the bat.

As for the typing sequence at the end, I timed it and it's only supposed to take about seven minutes, which is actually a bit faster than the original VN. So if it takes half an hour for you there's definitely something going wrong. Unless that was meant to be hyperbolic. The fact that you can't skip it is partially my fault, though. In the original VN you can hold the ctrl key to speed it up and it only ends up taking about 2.5 minutes. But due to the way I replicated the effect in VNDS, Y-skipping ends up doing pretty much nothing. R+Y should still be able to skip the whole sequence, though.

 

[Poudink]

After about two weeks of work and one week of procrastination, the CLANNAD port is finally done. Screenshots:

As a disclaimer, this is mostly untested. I've only gone through the Baseball, Kotomi, Misae, Tomoyo and Yukine routes. The rest of the game should also work correctly, but please report any issues if they come up (outside of random crashes, since those are interpreter issues that I can do very little about).

There's also a high res (1280x960) version for those using VNDS interpreters on other platforms, though it's also currently untested.

Also, as a reminder, if played on DS(i) this port should be played using one of the custom VNDS builds I posted here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/vnds-converted-novels.503610/page-5#post-10842023

 

[Nikokaro]

Also, as a reminder, if played on DS(i) this port should be played using one of the custom VNDS builds I posted here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/vnds-converted-novels.503610/page-5#post-10842023

Wow, you were so quick! I'll be testing it on DS Lite via R4 Gold Pro, alternating between the old version and your two builds, but I'll be doing it over a long, loooong period of time. I assume save files created with one are compatible with the other versions, strictly speaking. Thanks again for this colossal and memorable undertaking.

Edit and first test. Using the old version of vnds, it crashed twice with the guru meditation error when saving, but both times, strange to say, the save file was created correctly and I was able to load it normally.

 

[Nikokaro]

Hi. About Clannad, I'm following the Fuuko path, and for the last day I've only been using your "build 1". Aside from the hoarse opening bgm, all the other musics are perfect, just like on the old VNDS version. At least, that's how it sounds on the DS Lite, via flashcard. It also never crashed when saving (made during alternative choices), nor did it freeze during gameplay. In my opinion, I'd say it's the definitive version, at least for flashcards. I'll test it more thoroughly later, though. It seems the sound issues are unique to the DSi, after all. Let's see if others can confirm this fact.

 

[Poudink]

Really? That's odd, then. I tested using both nds-bootstrap and Unlaunch and had a lot of crashes with both. I also tried using DS mode with nds-bootstrap and it just refused to launch (libfat error). I'm really glad to hear you haven't had these issues, but now I'm wondering how I can fix them on my end.

EDIT: I've just ordered a DSpico. We'll see if that fixes it once it arrives.

 

[Nikokaro]

Really? That's odd, then. I tested using both nds-bootstrap and Unlaunch and had a lot of crashes with both. I also tried using DS mode with nds-bootstrap and it just refused to launch (libfat error). I'm really glad to hear you haven't had these issues, but now I'm wondering how I can fix them on my end.

EDIT: I've just ordered a DSpico. We'll see if that fixes it once it arrives.

I can confirm the good stability and consistent reliability of your build 1 (which I've renamed VNDS+ ), at least on my flashcard (R4 Gold Pro with YSMenu firmware). It hasn't crashed once in the last two days, and bgms havent crackled at all. Let us know when your flashcard arrives and if you can confirm my positive experience.

Post automatically merged: Apr 23, 2026

I've just ordered a DSpico. We'll see if that fixes it once it arrives.

Bad news, alas, bad news. Following the Fuuko path, when I saved at the last choices (see screenshot), the console actually shut off (not just froze or crashed)! Yeah, incredible to say, and I repeat, it shut off while saving, something that has never happened before. And when I managed to save (with "no Image" icon), it shut off while loading the save file: this too is inexplicable. Do you have a technical explanation for this bizarre event?
Too bad! I had high hopes.

I managed to load an advanced save file, giving me this memory error:

 

[Poudink]

I've never had my console shut off, but I've had some saves that consistently had Guru Meditation crashes. I'm not sure what the cause is, but it's a distinct issue from the save freezes that my build fixes. I guess maybe on flashcart these crashes just shut off the console? In my experience when those happen you should just load an earlier save and then try saving somewhere else.

 

[Nikokaro]

I've never had my console shut off, but I've had some saves that consistently had Guru Meditation crashes. I'm not sure what the cause is, but it's a distinct issue from the save freezes that my build fixes. I guess maybe on flashcart these crashes just shut off the console? In my experience when those happen you should just load an earlier save and then try saving somewhere else.

I don't remember if I asked you this already: would you be able to modify VNDS, so that it takes advantage of the additional RAM (Supercard's 32 MB) in slot-2?

 

[Poudink]

Probably not at my current skill level, and it also wouldn't fix the issue because my version of VNDS does support DSi RAM and if my testing is anything to go by that doesn't help much at all. And to be completely honest, I'm not interested in using SuperCard hardware. Slot-2 expansion pak maybe, but using flashcart RAM/CPU feels like cheating IMO. It also shouldn't be needed. The DS should be powerful enough to handle visual novels. If it crashes, that should be fixable without relying on extra RAM. Plus, I don't have a SuperCard, and I'm not going to buy one because they're pretty expansive second hand, and there's no emulators that support SuperCard hardware.

 

[Nikokaro]

Sure. I certainly didn't mean to advise you to buy one. Of course not. In my ignorance, I thought it would be a simpler and more immediate modification of this software. Anyway, I found a workaround, but I have to confirm it. It only saves the first time after booting up, and then it always crashes. If, after saving, I turn off the console (freeing up the ram), turn it back on, and load the save file, I can save once without problems, but then I have to turn it off and repeat the operation every time. So, in short, it only saves once and then I have to reset the console. It's tedious, but it seems to work. I'll have to confirm this discovery with further tests, however.

 

[Poudink]

I guess that would indicate a memory leak of some kind. But to be honest, I don't feel qualified to keep working on the fork right now. Like I said previously, I basically just copy-pasted code from Asiekierka's fork back into Sammy6's fork in order to fix the issues that Sammy6's fork introduced. I didn't really do anything else. I barely know what I'm doing. I'd have to really sit down and study how DS homebrew development works, and I might do that eventually, but it'll probably at least come after I'm done with my next port (AIR).

EDIT: Oh, by the way, are you using the extra save slots? They're a thing that Sammy6's fork introduced, but I recommend against using them. I suspect VNDS tries to load all of the save file thumbnails at once, which would very bad if you've filled all 12 pages. Try only using the first three pages and see if that helps. If it does help, I'll remove the extra slots from the first build (I've already removed them from the second build).

 

[Nikokaro]

Oh, by the way, are you using the extra save slots? They're a thing that Sammy6's fork introduced, but I recommend against using them. I suspect VNDS tries to load all of the save file thumbnails at once, which would very bad if you've filled all 12 pages. Try only using the first three pages and see if that helps. If it does help, I'll remove the extra slots from the first build (I've already removed them from the second build).

Okay. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm using the second page for now. When I restart with the second route, I'll try saving only on the first page to see if things improve.

Edit: Anyway, regarding build-1, aside from the save issue, it never crashed when scrolling text, during transitions, or when loading vocal or bgm tracks. But I'd also like to try build-2. Is there any difference between the two builds, regarding the save function?

One more thing: when loading the save, it gives an error (like in the previous picture), but then it works. However, the error text is also printed on the top screen, and it persists even when the following (background/ foreground) images are displayed. Could you make the error text only appear on the bottom screen, as in the old VNDS?

 

[Nikokaro]

Hi. Unfortunately, I can't finish the Fuko route. If I load the most recent save, the console shuts down (see attachment). I've tried several times. Previously, with older saves, it gave me an error but managed to load the save file. I think I'm near the end (when Fuko is staying at Nagisa's house), and I assume I have to play to the end without being able to save. However, are achievements saved automatically?

 

[Poudink]

Achievements are ignored. I could have implemented them, but I decided it would require a prohibitive amount of global variables (well, I technically could've done it in just six global variables, but I still didn't want to spend time implementing something I wasn't confident I'd be able to keep).

Fuko being at Nagisa's house is more like halfway through her route. I'm currently testing the Fuko route myself and I'm currently at 5/11 (the founder festival), so it should definitely be possible to get past that part.

Can you send your save folder?

 

[Nikokaro]

Update: towards the last choices (following the walkthrough) it froze during gameplay, and this is new, with a purple "arm9: guru meditation error." I'll try again, skipping the text I've already read, but I have a bad feeling. It seems that, somehow and for some reason, the ram is slowly becoming clogged and exhausted.
I'll post that save folder later.

Edit: Don't worry about the date of my saves: I change the battery often (I alternate three) and I don't set the console's date.

The last save is the one you see in the video posted above.

 

[Poudink]

One easy way to check if this is a RAM issue would be to temporarily remove the sound folder to get rid of the 700KB+ sound cache. If that helps, it's probably a memory problem.

EDIT: I meant the sound ZIP, not the folder.

 

[Sammy6]

The second fork I tried was this one, which is based on the first fork but adds back MP3 and AAC support. It also makes a bunch of questionable "improvements", like aligning the messages to the top of the screen (which breaks multi-line messages) and playing sound effects while skipping (which slows skipping to a crawl, since it constantly has to wait for voice lines to load). But none of that is a deal-breaker. What is a deal-breaker is that it crashes every 5 minutes, especially during scene transitions.

What game were you using it with? I don't remember it being unstable but I only made it for one game. Also yeah I didn't consider voice acting when I made it play sounds while skipping Maybe I can make that optional, depending on how hard it is to add new settings
edit: ig I should've read further, seems like you already fixed most of it

 

[Nikokaro]

One easy way to check if this is a RAM issue would be to temporarily remove the sound folder to get rid of the 700KB+ sound cache. If that helps, it's probably a memory problem.

EDIT: I meant the sound ZIP, not the folder.

Exactly. I'll try renaming that voice archive on the fly with DSOrganize so it doesn't load during gameplay. We'll see if that changes anything.

Post automatically merged: Apr 26, 2026

What game were you using it with? I don't remember it being unstable but I only made it for one game. Also yeah I didn't consider voice acting when I made it play sounds while skipping Maybe I can make that optional, depending on how hard it is to add new settings
edit: ig I should've read further, seems like you already fixed most of it

Hello and welcome. We're talking about Clannad, which he completely ported to VNDS for DS. He also built two VNDS builds (posted previously) that are better than the old version. However, much further into the VN, it started crashing more and more frequently when saving, and sometimes when loading. Is it a ram issue? Could you help him improve this software?
To understand better, you should read all the latest posts.

Post automatically merged: Apr 26, 2026

Important update
So, without voice tracks, if I load the last save file in question (the one in my short video), it loads immediately, and I can also save without problems. Therefore, strictly speaking, I assume the issue arise as the number of voice tracks to load gradually increases. So, a limited ram issue? But then on the DSi, which has more ram, it shouldn't happen.
Anyway, I think I'll finish this route like this, without the jpn voice acting (and thus losing 90% of the sense of immersion, and of the pleasure of reading it, alas).

 

[Poudink]

What game were you using it with? I don't remember it being unstable but I only made it for one game. Also yeah I didn't consider voice acting when I made it play sounds while skipping Maybe I can make that optional, depending on how hard it is to add new settings
edit: ig I should've read further, seems like you already fixed most of it

Hey, thanks for replying. The game I was using was the port of CLANNAD I was working on. Sorry for being a bit harsh with my criticism of your version. I know you made that build specifically for your Echo port, and it probably works great for that, but I wanted something I could use for my own ports. And to be fair to your version, it was a very useful base to accomplish just that.

Important update
So, without voice tracks, if I load the last save file in question (the one in my short video), it loads immediately, and I can also save without problems. Therefore, strictly speaking, I assume the issue arise as the number of voice tracks to load gradually increases. So, a limited ram issue? But then on the DSi, which has more ram, it shouldn't happen.
Anyway, I think I'll finish this route like this, without the jpn voice acting (and thus losing 90% of the sense of immersion, and of the pleasure of reading it, alas).

Well, that's a bit disappointing. Once my flashcart arrives, I'll borrow my brother's DS Lite and see if I can have a go at fixing it. If that doesn't pan out, I guess I can release a version that at least retains the sound effects on top of the music. I guess another thing I could try would be splitting the port into two halves, one with just the School Life arc and one with just After Story, since they're largely separate from each other. You'd just have to copy your global.sav over to the After Story half once you're done with the School Life half. Or I could try minifying variable names to make save files smaller, though I have no clue if that'd actually help (and it'd also break all existing save files).

However, I have excellent news for DSi users (like myself). I think I've managed to fix the stability issue, thanks to the help of yet another fork that I found. Long story short, it replaces the old libhelix MP3 decoder with the one from cquake. I was able to copy the code for that into my "build 2" and in my brief testing experienced zero music resets or crashes, even in parts that were particularly sensitive to them (like the credits sequence, which is basically made up of continuous background transitions, which the old MP3 decoder really hated for some reason). One thing to note is that the new MP3 decoder is noticeably quieter than the old one, though I would actually consider that a good thing since I'd always have to set the music volume to like 4 with the old decoder due to how loud it was. So I've created a "build 3", which I would now recommend over my previous two builds.

Also, I've now tested every route except the Nagisa route and After Story. I've found a few issues, but so far it's all been very minor graphical and text formatting things. Once I've tested the remaining content, I'll probably release a 1.1 update that fixes most of it. I've also experimented with converting the French fan translation to VNDS and it seems to mostly work, so I might release that alongside 1.1.

Oh, and the AIR port is progressing at a snail's pace, because AIR and SNOW have their scripts laid out in a very different way from the RealLive VNs I've ported so far and it's a massive pain in the ass. I might just put it on hold and do Little Busters! instead, since that's a lot closer to CLANNAD and Tomoyo After, scripting-wise.

EDIT: Oops, didn't notice build 3 was too large for an attachment. Here's a link to the new build: https://mega.nz/file/4whgCbZT#4w7-GPsKuGFs_-yo6BdIEO3DdtPizG0ZPvlM-iNQYB4

EDIT2: Oh, and there's another thing I forgot to mention. When I released the Tomoyo After port I mentioned that it wasn't compatible with VNDS-LOVE due to issues with that interpreter (which also applies to my CLANNAD port btw). Well, I found another LÖVE-based VNDS interpreter for PC called vndspcpl which seems to work much better: https://gitlab.com/ale4710/vndspcpl

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be compatible with the Switch, unlike VNDS-LOVE, but at least it's an option for PC users. Oh, and I've tested my CLANNAD port with the Android VNDS Interpreter (https://archive.org/details/android-nlweeabooandroidvnds-0) and it seems to work correctly, so that's also an option.

EDIT3: @Nikokaro can you try using this as your sound ZIP? https://mega.nz/file/gxYk3BbT#ukBwWNajXb-6dgDrHLhbKfLgEDk7AGlNpwxr9HnS26M

It has all of the After Story voice lines removed, though unfortunately that's only good enough the reduce the total amount of lines from ~43,000 to ~36,000. Still, if that turns out to be good enough then my idea of splitting the School Life arc and After Story appart will definitely be worth exploring.

 

[Nikokaro]

Thanks for your efforts to improve the software on the DS Phat/Lite as well. This is highly commendable, as you could simply focus on the DSi and leave the rest aside.
I have a question: Could you copy the code from NeoDS (NeoGeo emulator) that takes advantage of the memory expansion in Slot-2 (which I've already tested, and also detects my Supercard)? Would that be possible? Or is it too complicated and time consuming?