Edge Engine's flagship module has reached its biggest milestone yet, and in more ways than one! For the past few months Edge VN has been receiving major updates to overhaul every aspect of the visual novel suite and bring to it a new level of features, performance, and stability. Now that quest is complete, and on top of that, one of the first commercial visual novels built on Edge VN is now available to the public!
A New Edge VN
The last version of Edge VN, 1.7.0, was one of the biggest single leaps the module made since its inception. The new 1.8.0 update finishes what it started with even more overhauls, feature updates, unifying of existing elements, and performance improvements.
Here's the full list of updates to this version of Edge VN:
• Updated edgevn_create_text to set the drawing font, enabling variable fonts per string. The text font parameter
in edgevn_draw_text is now an override and can be disabled
• Added optional auto ID mode to edgevn_create_text and edgevn_create_char
• Added option to edgevn_create_text to enable or disable breaking between strings to facilitate ‘NVL’-style
visual novel presentation
• Added passive parallax mode to scenes, enabling scenes to offset other scenes for enhanced effect
• Rewritten textbox script brings code up to parity with recent updates—adds style modification features and effects to
textboxes just like characters and scenes!
• Updated edgevn_draw_char_ext to syntactical parity with scene and textbox effects, including a new ‘loop’
option (also applies to edgevn_char_style_ext)
• Added option to audio functions to stop sound if target string is skipped before sound is finished playing
• Added basic backtracking support to edgevn_goto
• Improved touch screen support for reference links (see documentation on mobile device support)
• Renamed edgevn_prepare_block to edgevn_init_block for clarity and uniformity with other Edge
Engine modules
• Added support for # line breaking
• General additional improvements and bug fixes
If you already own Edge VN, then you know what to do: visit your asset library from within GameMaker Studio and download the latest update. Or, if you're new to Edge VN and would like to learn more, head on over to thinkboxly.com where you can check out details for all Edge Engine modules, including full documentation and where to buy.
Introducing Echoes of the Fey, from Woodsy Studio
But wait, there's more! Since Edge VN's release it has been adopted by developers, and now one of the first commercial products to come out of their hard work is available for purchase on Itch.io, and gathering support on Steam Greenlight! Echoes of the Fey by Woodsy Studio is an episodic visual novel series combining fantasy and detective mystery elements, and episode 1, The Fox's Trail, makes excellent use of Edge VN for its storytelling sequences. Visit Woodsy Studio to learn more, and stay tuned—this is only the beginning for new releases built on Edge Engine!
