Command Reference

Every VNKit Command can end with a duration in seconds, and then nowait. Leave the duration out to make the change happen instantly. See Writing Commands.

wait_for is the exception: it doesn’t take a duration. The emphasise and deemphasise Commands take a list of names, and their duration and nowait go after the names.

Backgrounds

See Backgrounds and Stages.

CommandWhat it doesParameters
<<scene image seconds>>Removes every character from the active stage and changes its background.image: The image, found in a Resources folder. Use a path like backgrounds/beach for images in subfolders.
<<bg image seconds>>Changes the background of the active stage.image: The image, found in a Resources folder. Use a path like backgrounds/beach for images in subfolders.
<<bg_colour colour seconds>>Changes the background of the active stage to a solid colour. The stage keeps its current size. bg_color does the same thing.colour: A colour name like red, or a hex colour like FFA500.
<<bg_live seconds>>Removes the background of the active stage so the game behind it shows through. The stage keeps its current size.
<<bg_render texture seconds>>Changes the background of the active stage to a render texture.texture: The render texture, found in a Resources folder.
The background Commands.

Characters

See Characters.

CommandWhat it doesParameters
<<show character pose seconds>>Shows a character’s image. If they’re already on stage it changes their image in place, otherwise they appear in the slot set with move, or in the centre.character: The character, which is the first part of the image name.
pose: The rest of the image name, like happy.
<<move character slot seconds>>Moves a character to a slot. Use it before show to choose where a character appears.character: The character to move, by name or by the slot they’re in.
slot: A slot: far_left, left, centre, right, far_right, off_left, off_right, or one set in the configuration.
<<hide character seconds>>Hides a character.character: The character to hide, by name or by the slot they’re in.
<<fade_in character seconds>>Fades a character in.character: The character to fade in, by name or by the slot they’re in.
<<fade_out character seconds>>Fades a character out.character: The character to fade out, by name or by the slot they’re in.
<<pop character seconds>>Makes a character pop to draw attention. Needs a duration.character: The character to pop, by name or by the slot they’re in.
<<shake character seconds>>Shakes a character. Needs a duration.character: The character to shake, by name or by the slot they’re in.
<<flip character seconds>>Flips a character horizontally.character: The character to flip, by name or by the slot they’re in.
<<flip_vertical character seconds>>Flips a character vertically.character: The character to flip, by name or by the slot they’re in.
<<scale character scale seconds>>Sets how big a character’s images are, where 1 is normal size.character: The character’s name, as used in your Yarn scripts.
scale: The size, where 1 is normal size.
<<emphasise characters...>>Makes the named characters stand out and dims everyone else. Use all to bring everyone up. emphasize does the same thing.characters: One or more character names, or all. A duration and nowait can follow the names.
<<deemphasise characters...>>Dims the named characters and brings everyone else up. Use all to dim everyone. deemphasize does the same thing.characters: One or more character names, or all. A duration and nowait can follow the names.
<<images character image seconds>>Sets which images a character’s line tags use. A #happy tag on their line shows this image name plus happy.character: The character’s name, as used in your Yarn scripts.
image: The image name for this character, like capsley. Defaults to the character’s display name.
<<alias_sprite original alternative seconds>>Adds an image that can be picked at random whenever the original image is used.original: The image to add an alternative for.
alternative: The image that can be used instead.
The character Commands.

Names and the text box

See The Text Box.

CommandWhat it doesParameters
<<character character display_name seconds>>Sets the name shown on a character’s nameplate.character: The character’s name, as used in your Yarn scripts.
display_name: The name shown on the nameplate.
<<nameplate character colour seconds>>Shows a character’s nameplate in a colour.character: The character’s name, as used in your Yarn scripts.
colour: A colour name like red, a hex colour like 4f63c2, or clear.
<<name_colour character colour seconds>>Sets the colour of a character’s name. name_color does the same thing.character: The character’s name, as used in your Yarn scripts.
colour: A colour name like white, or a hex colour like ffffff.
<<nameplate_position character position seconds>>Sets where a character’s nameplate sits.character: The character’s name, as used in your Yarn scripts.
position: left, centre, or right.
<<hide_nameplate character seconds>>Hides a character’s nameplate.character: The character’s name, as used in your Yarn scripts.
<<hide_textbox seconds>>Fades out the text box. It comes back with the next line.
The Commands for names and the text box.

Stages and masks

See Backgrounds and Stages.

CommandWhat it doesParameters
<<new_stage stage seconds>>Creates a stage.stage: The stage’s name.
<<remove_stage stage seconds>>Removes a stage. The main stage, the top stage, and the only stage can’t be removed.stage: The stage’s name.
<<use_stage stage seconds>>Makes a stage the active stage, which receives commands.stage: The stage’s name.
<<raise_stage stage seconds>>Makes a stage the top stage, which is the one shown.stage: The stage’s name.
<<switch_stage stage seconds>>Makes a stage both the active and the top stage.stage: The stage’s name.
<<fade_in_stage stage seconds>>Fades a stage in.stage: The stage’s name.
<<fade_out_stage stage seconds>>Fades a stage out.stage: The stage’s name.
<<start_mask stage seconds>>Puts a stage on top and masks it, so the stages below can be revealed.stage: The stage’s name.
<<mask_left amount seconds>>Moves the mask left.amount: How far to move, as a fraction of the screen’s width, from 0 to 1.
<<mask_right amount seconds>>Moves the mask right.amount: How far to move, as a fraction of the screen’s width, from 0 to 1.
<<mask_up amount seconds>>Moves the mask up.amount: How far to move, as a fraction of the screen’s height, from 0 to 1.
<<mask_down amount seconds>>Moves the mask down.amount: How far to move, as a fraction of the screen’s height, from 0 to 1.
<<end_mask seconds>>Moves the mask back over the top stage and removes it.
The stage and mask Commands.

Audio

See Audio.

CommandWhat it doesParameters
<<music track seconds>>Plays music on a loop, crossfading from any music already playing.track: The music, found in Resources/music or anywhere in Resources.
<<stop_music seconds>>Fades out the music.
<<music_volume volume seconds>>Changes the music volume.volume: The volume, from 0 to 1.
<<ambience track seconds>>Plays a looping background sound like rain, under the music.track: The sound, found in Resources/ambience or anywhere in Resources.
<<stop_ambience seconds>>Fades out the ambience.
<<ambience_volume volume seconds>>Changes the ambience volume.volume: The volume, from 0 to 1.
<<sound effect seconds>>Plays a sound effect once.effect: The sound, found in Resources/sounds or anywhere in Resources.
<<stop_sound seconds>>Fades out every sound effect that is playing.
The audio Commands.

Waiting

See Writing Commands.

CommandWhat it doesParameters
<<wait_for target>>Waits until something started with nowait has finished.target: A character or slot, a stage, background, mask, textbox, music, ambience, sound, or all.
The waiting Command.
Next step Customising VNKit Replacing how VNKit finds images, animates characters, and draws the text box.