Install the Runtime

Preview is useful while you write, but it is not the thing players run. Players need the installed runtime bundle: player-facing UI, save/load behavior, settings, networking, and story execution code.

Install the runtime when you are ready to test your visual novel as part of a Roblox game.

Before installing, create or load a VNC project, save the place, and resolve the warnings on the route you want to test. If you do not have a route yet, build your first story first.

What gets installed

• DirectoryReplicatedStorage

  • DirectoryVisualNovelCreatorRuntime

    • Shared
    • Packages
    • VNCClient
    • StoryAssets
• DirectoryServerScriptService

  • VNCServer

The runtime contains the player-facing UI, save/load behavior, settings, networking, story execution code, extension contracts, and the StoryAssets folders used by playable stories. Shared and Packages hold the runtime’s shared contracts and dependency bundles; VNCClient and VNCServer are the client and server bootstraps.

Your editable project and playable story are separate artifacts. Save Project stores the editable source under ServerStorage.StoryProjectSource. Compile Project checks that source and publishes a compiled story for the installed runtime. Play sessions load that compiled story; they do not compile the editable project at startup.

Install or update

1. Open the plugin.
2. If the runtime is missing or outdated, choose File > Install / Update Runtime.
3. Choose Story > Compile Project to publish the current playable story.
4. Start a Studio play session to test the in-game menu and story flow.

Use Install / Update Runtime when the runtime is missing, after updating the plugin, when Output reports a version mismatch, or when you want to refresh the installed runtime scripts and contracts. Compile Project installs a missing runtime automatically, but ordinary story edits only need a new compile. If installation is refused, compile keeps the last successful playable story; resolve the named collision and retry.

After changing story data, runtime menu fields, dialog styling, sprite assets, or extension settings, compile the project and restart the Studio play session you are using to test. You do not need to reinstall the runtime for ordinary authoring edits unless the installed runtime itself is missing or outdated.

Runtime assets are different: imported StoryAssets are place-owned assets under the runtime root. Reinstalling the runtime preserves those assets; it does not repopulate deleted demo assets unless you explicitly create a demo project. If the current project references bundled VNC assets, runtime install copies only those referenced bundled assets.

VNC replaces only runtime code that it can identify as VNC-owned. If a creator script, folder, or value already occupies a reserved runtime path, installation stops and reports the exact collision instead of deleting it. Rename or move that content, then install again. Complete older VNC runtime installs and exact historical VNC data-only roots are upgraded automatically; partial or ambiguous legacy layouts are refused so creator content is never guessed to be disposable.

Runtime responsibilities

Story state

The runtime tracks active story progress, save data, text filtering, and world-facing actions.

Presentation

Players see menus, dialog, sprites, audio, settings, logs, and input prompts.

This split is intentional. The runtime accepts actions only when the active story is waiting for them. A choice click should not matter unless a Choice node is active.

Test both preview and runtime

Preview is for fast authoring feedback. Play testing is for runtime behavior such as saves, settings, and player-facing UI.

The payoff is confidence. Preview tells you the scene reads correctly; runtime testing tells you the game behaves correctly.

For a fuller checklist, use Testing Runtime.