Difference between revisions of "VH/Debug Mode"

Latest revision as of 22:47, 14 October 2024

The Violated Heroine game has been, for most of its development history, developed by a community of contributors. As such, it is in a perpetually unfinished state, with some of its content more or less completed, and other parts barely even accessible without causing the game to crash. Because of this, the developers have made it so that the game can be played in one of two modes: Normal Mode, and Debug Mode.

Activating Debug Mode

In Normal Mode, only content that developers have deemed to be generally playable without causing the game "too many issues" is available to the player during the course of gameplay. In order to switch the game over to Debug Mode, the player must manually change the game's mode. There are a couple of ways of doing this.

Start New Game in Debug Mode

When starting a New Game, after you choose which character you want to play as, a menu will pop up with various settings. The first line allows you to select between Normal Mode and Debug Mode. If you choose Debug Mode, you will then be asked whether you want to increase your starting stats and the amount of money you start with, and whether or not you want to view the opening sequence. However, selecting Debug Mode means that you will not be able to go through the character creation questions.

IMPORTANT NOTES

• Some content will only be available if you start a New Game in Debug Mode. For example, if you start a New Game in Debug Mode and open the Portable Portal, all possible map locations are available to be teleported to. However, if you started a New Game in Normal Mode, some of of these locations won't get added to the map even if you switch to Debug Mode later on during gameplay. Some examples are North Mountain Cave, Foothills Town, Gerbera's Mansion, and Barbarian Village Annalla.
• When you start a New Game in Debug Mode, if you choose to answer the "Add skills and money?" question with "Increase", then your character will start the game with certain stats set to incredibly overpowered levels. For example, Nanako will start with HP: 930, Atk: 917, Def: 903; and Serena will start with HP: 920, Atk: 955, Def: 952, Spi: 83. On the other hand, if you choose to answer the "Add skills and money?" question with "Don't increase", then you will start the game with the character's regular default starting stats.

Switching to Debug Mode During Gameplay

Even if you have started a New Game in Normal Mode, there is still a way to access Debug Mode. In Hot Springs Town, enter the house just north of the Adventurer's Guild, where you will encounter a pink–haired woman being spit–roasted by two goblins (this is the house that your heroine will eventually be able to purchase). Inside the house, you can use the teddy bear sitting on the counter between the kitchen and dining room to switch between Normal and Debug Modes. Note that you can do this at any time, and you do not need to have purchased the house in order to use the teddy bear.

Note: If you started a New Game in Debug Mode, using the teddy bear for the first time and choosing to switch to Normal Mode will not actually switch to Normal Mode (yet another bug in the game). You need to select the option the enable Debug Mode first (even though you are already playing in Debug Mode), then talk to the teddy bear again and select the option to switch to Normal Mode. You can confirm that you are actually playing in Normal Mode by checking if the Debug Tool is not present in your items inventory.

Effects of Debug Mode

Debugging Tools

When Debug Mode is activated, a couple of items are added to the player's inventory. The first is the Debug Tool, and the second is the ID Check tool.

The Debug Tool

This item allows you to perform various debugging–related actions; e.g., directly modifying the game characters' stats, or changing the time of day between day and night without needing to use an inn or finding a time–shifting clock. You can even change which heroine your player character is, and add/remove/change companions.

ID Check Tool

While you are in combat zones, it allows you to check the stats of enemies that are on the current map. This allows developers to ensure that enemies aren't suddenly much more powerful between two connected maps that are supposed to be part of the same zone.

Debugging Objects

When playing the game in Debug Mode, many additional debugging–related objects will also appear in the environment. Interacting with these objects (i.e., walking up to them and pressing the action key, which is usually the Z key) will allow the player to perform actions that wouldn't/shouldn't be possible in Normal Mode.

Some examples of debugging objects are:

• The teddy bear in Nanako's House. This is one of the few debugging objects visible to the player when the game is in Normal Mode.
• Even though they are labelled as such, it's debatable whether the time–shift clocks found throughout the environment can be considered debugging objects. They are one of the few ways that players are able to control going from day–time to night–time, and some content (such as entering the onsen in Hot Springs Town) is only available at night.
• When in Debug Mode, many developers place Debug Fairies where they want to leave informational messages. Talking to a Debug Fairy will trigger their dialog, where a developer can leave useful information or reminders for themselves or other developers. These fairies look like the "teleport fairy" when using the Portable Portal; i.e., the green fairy with a giant foam finger that you move around the map, not the fairies that live in the Fairy Forest.
• When in Debug Mode, if you encounter a large purple squid, that is the Debug Squid. Talking to it will allow you to change your heroine or party members. This functionality also exists in the Debug Tool, but presumably the Debug Squid pre-dates the menu in the Debug Tool, or vice versa, and at some point, one of the developers decided that it would be a good idea to have the same functionality available using the other method.

Hiding Debugging Objects

While you are playing the game in Debug Mode, you can toggle between showing and hiding the debugging objects scattered throughout the environment by using the VH01 General Message Board, which is located in front of the fountain statue in the middle of Hot Springs Town. The menu option is located under Change system settings > Next > Switch normal – Switch debug. However, note that this only hides debugging objects (including staircases that lead to the developer rooms), but it doesn't actually turn off Debug Mode. To actually disable Debug Mode, you must use the teddy bear in your character's house (see the Switching to Debug Mode During Gameplay section above).

Developer Rooms

A developer room is a location (usually hidden) that the developers have created in order to allow them to keep content that is still incomplete and under development separate from the content that has been deemed completed and ready for regular players to access. Developer rooms have been used by video game makers for decades, and Violated Heroine is no different.

Many video game makers will leave a developer room in a finished game, as an Easter egg for players to find. However, given VH's eternally unfinished state, the developer rooms are very much being used for their original purpose, for testing and debugging.

When Debug Mode is enabled, you will be able to access the developer rooms.

The Debug Room

Debug rooms are a subset of developer rooms, where developers can test and debug portions of a video game. This room acts as a sandbox and storage area where developers can work on or experiment with new content. Much of the content in the Debug Room can be considered to be in a pre-alpha state, although some of the components look close to being polished enough that they could be directly added to the real game.

Staircases that lead down to the Debug Room are added to a few places throughout the environment. One is located at the bottom–left corner of the Hot Springs Town town square; another is located inside the Adventurer's Guild hall in Grihastha; and a third is located inside the Adventurer's Guild hall in Eisen. The Debug Room can also be accessed by using the Portable Portal. A teleport location for the Debug Room will be added to the same spot where the pointing fairy starts on the world map, when you use the Portable Portal.

Event Templates Storage Room

This is a separate room from the Debug Room which stores animations and image sequences that are used for cutscenes during H events. If you want to view some of these sex sequences, independent from the quest or H event, this is the place to do it. There are even sequences that haven't been used in the game yet, so you can view some unique content that isn't available anywhere else.

To reach the Event Templates Storage room, step onto the magic circle in the Hot Springs Town town square, just to the right of the staircase that leads down to the Debug Room. As far as we are aware, this is the only way to access the Event Templates Storage room.

Extraordinarily Lewd Tavern

This room is accessed by talking to the blonde girl in a bunny suit who gets added to the top–left corner of the Adventurer's Guild in Grihastha. Do not step onto the staircase next to her — this will take you to the Debug Room. The purpose of this room is somewhat similar to the Debug Squid. You can change which companion is your party member, although unlike the Debug Squid, you cannot change your heroine. What is unique about this room is that some of the more obscure NPCs are sitting at the table on the right. This developer room also has a staircase, which yet again, will take you to the Debug Room. If you walk out the front door, you will end up outside of the Adventurer's Guild hall.