XSYSTEM35(6)

📦
version 2.19.1 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 XSYSTEM35(6) — aka the xsystem35 vibe 💖

okay bestie, pull up a chair, because we're about to talk about the iconic System 3.x game engine player. this is section 6 of the manual (games, obvs), and it's giving "let me play my retro visual novels in peace" energy. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

xsystem35 [OPTION]...

that's it. that's the whole thing. no cap. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so this man page is all about xsystem35-sdl2, which is a multi-platform port of AliceSoft's System3.5 / 3.6 / 3.8 / 3.9 game engine — and it's derived from the original xsystem35. we love a glow-up fr fr. 🦋

here's how the whole "finding your game" thing works, and it's lowkey a scavenger hunt:

  • first, xsystem35 reads the game resource file from the path you gave with the -gamefile option.
  • if you did not specify that option, it looks for xsystem35.gr in the current directory instead.
  • and if the game resource file is still nowhere to be found? xsystem35 goes hunting for System 3.x game files — *.ALD — right there in the current directory. detective mode activated. 🔍

👑 OPTIONS 👑

every single one, bestie. we're not skipping a single flag, that's the rules. 💅

  • -gamefile file — load the game resource file from file. the FILES section down below has the deets, go peek.
  • -game game — turns on game-specific hacks. usually it auto-detects for you (main character energy 🫶), but you gotta say it out loud for games with modified / translated titles. the possible values are: toushin2, rance2, rance3, rance3_eng, rance4_eng, rance4_v2, persiom, agake.
  • -savedir dir — the directory where your game state save files go. if dir starts with ~, it gets expanded to your home directory ($HOME). cute.
  • -saveformat fmt — the format used when writing save files. possible values: xsystem35, system36, system39 (that last one is the default ✨).
  • -texthook mode — set the text hook mode. possible values: none (default), print (prints text to the console), copy (copies text to the clipboard).
  • -texthook_suppress list — suppress the text hook on specific scenario pages. list is a comma-separated list of page numbers. used to suppress system messages and stuff like that. 🙈
  • -censor file — enables Streamer Mode, which mosaics specific images so they're safe for streaming. the file is a text file with a list of image numbers to censor, one per line. lines that start with # count as comments. 🫣
  • -renderer name — use the SDL rendering driver named name.
  • -playlist file — load the CD playlist from file. the playlist is a text file with one filename per line, in the order of the CD tracks. FILES section has the details, as always. 💖
  • -Me — use SDL_mixer for MIDI playback.
  • -Mpdevice_number — use ALSA (via PortMidi) for MIDI playback.
  • -M0 — disable MIDI playback entirely. silence. 😶
  • -devjoy device_index — use the joystick device with the given index.
  • -ttfont_mincho file — use the given TrueType or OpenType font file for mincho (serif) text. fancy ✒️
  • -ttfont_gothic file — use the given TrueType or OpenType font file for gothic (sans-serif) text.
  • -debuglv level — set the debug level to level. the higher the level, the more verbose the debug output gets. (spam city, but make it useful 📢)
  • -debug — start with the debugger enabled.
  • -noantialias — disable text antialiasing. pixels stay crunchy. 🍓
  • -fullscreen — start in fullscreen mode. cinema. 🎬
  • -integerscale — use integer scaling for the window. crisp vibes only.
  • -noimagecursor — disable custom mouse cursor images.
  • -mute_on_unfocus — mute audio while the game window isn't in focus. considerate queen. 👑
  • -version — print the version number and exit.
  • -h, --help — print a help message and exit.

🎀 FILES 🎀

.xsys35rc

xsystem35 reads its configuration from ${HOME}/.xsys35rc and from .xsys35rc in the game directory. the one in the game directory takes precedence over the one in your home dir — so the move is: put your general settings in ${HOME}/.xsys35rc, and your game-specific settings in .xsys35rc inside the game directory. bestie, it's a whole hierarchy. 💅

and obvs, options you pass on the command line override both of them. for the format of the configuration file, go look at xsys35rc.sample. 👀

playlist.txt

so here's the tea: xsystem35 does not support playing BGM directly from a CD. nope. instead it plays BGM from audio files on your filesystem, which honestly? kind of a slay. 🔥

xsystem35 reads the playlist from a file you specify with the -playlist option, or from playlist.txt in the game directory. the first line is the path to the audio file for track 1, the second line is the path to the audio file for track 2, and so on and so forth.

also psst — the first line is usually empty, because track 1 isn't an audio track, it's a data track. 📀 iykyk.

xsystem35.gr

the game resource file, which lists the locations of the various files needed to run a game. it's optional! xsystem35 can automatically find the files it needs when it's run inside a game directory. self-sufficient king. ✨ see xsystem35.gr(5) for the format of the game resource file.

⌨️ KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ⌨️

System 3.x games basically only use the UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, SPACE, RET, ESC, and TAB keys (tho some games use other keys, they're quirky like that).

xsystem35 adds these special key assignments on top:

  • F1 — toggle message skip mode. ⏩
  • F4 — toggle fullscreen mode. 🖥️

also, on some platforms, the middle mouse button opens the menu. 🖱️

🌈 HISTORY 🌈

xsystem35 was originally developed by Masaki Chikama (Wren) masaki-c@is.aist-nara.ac.jp between 1998 and 2006. 😭 history!!

then the project was later forked by Kichikuou KichikuouChrome@gmail.com as xsystem35-sdl2, and ported to SDL2. and now we're here. generational. 🧚

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

and that's the whole page, bestie 🫶 this was xsystem35 version 2.19.1, dated 2026-08-04, filed under XSYSTEM35(6). go play your games. periodt. 💅✨🌸

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