6 ms·

VNDB founder Yorhel has died

206 points by indrora 7mo ago

indrora 7mo ago
This is probably a niche topic on HN, but for those of us who play Visual Novels, VNDB is a massive resource for getting the setup right for older and obscure ones that require odd hardware or configurations. The early days of VNs were all on DOS/V and Sharpx68000 systems with quirky configurations. VNDB catalogs so many of them and things that are "Mostly" VNs for historical purposes. Without it, we wouldn't have the modern wave of VNs that have become popular today (Hatoful Boyfriend, Doki Doki Literature Club, etc.) nor some of the offshoot genres that have become popular.
- kageroumado 7mo ago
  This website is a remnant of something long gone: simple yet capable HTML websites that just work. I hope it will be preserved, or at least the database made public so it won’t get lost.
  - indrora 7mo ago
    There's a whole team behind it running, so VNDB isn't going anywhere fast.
  - fau 7mo ago
    It is public, and more! There's even an interface allowing you to run your own queries directly against a synchronized copy: https://query.vndb.org/browse https://query.vndb.org/browse
- Benjamin_Dobell 7mo ago
  I must admit, this is one area I've found LLMs to be surprisingly strong. They're REALLY good at reverse engineering obscure platforms, languages, game engines; and quickly throwing together super hacky tooling. I was able to reverse engineer the PS4 edition of "New Game!: The Challenge Stage", which was never released in English. I've now fully translated it, added proper text wrapping and additional text boxes where text would now overflow. Along the way I've fully decompiled (with byte exact recompilation) the Squirrel scripts for the entire game, built atop the game engine of a now largely defunct game studio. Prior to this I hadn't even heard of Squirrel scripting language. I had most of this done in under 24 hours. I'm not in any way a part of the visual novel community. I just did this because I enjoyed the New Game! anime way more than a near(?) middle aged man probably ought to. P.S. My condolences to Yorhel's friends and family.
  - Anonyneko 7mo ago
    Brings back memories of how I did much the same for the PSP spin-off VN of the GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class manga/anime (that, of course, also originated from Manga Time Kirara and also had a big focus on art), although those were pre-LLM times. It even used Squirrel scripts too! I second the condolences, tremendous loss for the people who knew Yorhel, as well as for the VN and open source communities.
- 1313ed01 7mo ago
  It is fascinating how some similar niche genres of games have managed to mostly ignore each other, from what I have seen. Interactive fiction has https://ifdb.org/ https://ifdb.org/. Gamebooks ("CYOA" to outsiders) have https://gamebooks.org/ https://gamebooks.org/. I think there is some community around branching browser text stories like (mostly) Twine games that have their own database somewhere? And then there is always some overlap and discussions around what games to allow where, with each community gatekeeping to some degree what games are allowed in their database or not. So, for example, I never heard about VNDB and never really crossed paths with VN players online, even if I have been around communities for IF and gamebooks since last century and the similarities are obvious.
  - keychera 7mo ago
    thank you for sharing this! I never heard the two website you mentioned while being very familiar with vndb. I guess there will be always another corner of the internet that you don't even know existed. If you are curious, vndb has a guideline you can see about what can be added here: https://vndb.org/d2 https://vndb.org/d2
  - mister_mort 7mo ago
    I think IF games tend to be more puzzle games with some story segments. Gamebooks are much closer, but still often have proto-RPG mechanics. (I remember tracking inventory and HP for the ones I played/read through). VNs are much closer to pure story, with some tracking of earlier decision flags for callbacks later in the story.
  - atahanacar 7mo ago
    >similar niche genres of games have managed to mostly ignore each other That's only because they are only "similar" on the surface. It feels like saying "football, volleyball and basketball are similar" just because they are all team games played with a ball.
    - 1313ed01 7mo ago
      Isn't it the opposite, that they are mechanically the same, but differs on the surface (art style and type of stories)?
anonymous908213 7mo ago
RIP. VNDB is a truly incredible resource and the world is a better place for its existence.
stuffoverflow 7mo ago
Yorhel was also the creator/developer of ncdu among many other open source projects. He was a big open source advocate. The sites he hosted (vndb.org and manned.org) have automated database dumps and source code fully available. Recommend to check out his website https://dev.yorhel.nl/ https://dev.yorhel.nl/
- veeti 7mo ago
  ncdu is a lifesaver, RIP.
- wahnfrieden 7mo ago
  There's a Yomitan dictionary (by bee) of VNDB using those dumps: https://github.com/bee-san/VNDB-Character-Names-by-Bee https://github.com/bee-san/VNDB-Character-Names-by-Bee
- chubot 7mo ago
  Wow a few years ago I wanted to resurrect some of my old code, to do essentially what ncdu does Then I found ncdu, and haven’t looked back since. So it saved me a lot of time Thank you and RIP
- ThatPlayer 7mo ago
  I've forgotten about ncdc. That was the one we used back in university.
wang_pp8 7mo ago
[flagged]
maltyxxx 7mo ago
[flagged]
peauc 7mo ago
Also the creator of my beloved NCDU. May he rest in peace.
fsckboy 7mo ago
another RIP has a nice picture https://bimgs.jlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RIP-Yorhel-Founder-of-the-Visual-Novel-Database-VNDB.jpg https://bimgs.jlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RIP-Yorhe...
- snvzz 7mo ago
  Incidentally, Ever17[17] (shown in the background) is definitely a good VN. 17. https://vndb.org/v17 https://vndb.org/v17
Adachi91 7mo ago
Wow, I hope they continue on with the legacy built. I honestly have never heard of vndb until a few weeks ago. I am a large VN consumer, and when I found the site not only did it hit VN side, but also the aesthetics of a website looking like it was locked in the early 2000s, it made me save a screenshot to remind myself to build out one of my domains to one of my older styles with updated HTML/CSS.
Anonyneko 7mo ago
Worth noting that the VNDB code is also used to host other databases such as https://nepchan.org/ https://nepchan.org/ (a catalogue of indie Japanese or other similar-in-style RPGs)
ggerules 7mo ago
I've used ncdu for years. Great utility! I'm sorry he is gone. How did he die? He doesn't look too old from his website, https://dev.yorhel.nl https://dev.yorhel.nl.

206 points by indrora 7mo ago

This is probably a niche topic on HN, but for those of us who play Visual Novels, VNDB is a massive resource for getting the setup right for older and obscure ones that require odd hardware or configurations. The early days of VNs were all on DOS/V and Sharpx68000 systems with quirky configurations. VNDB catalogs so many of them and things that are "Mostly" VNs for historical purposes. Without it, we wouldn't have the modern wave of VNs that have become popular today (Hatoful Boyfriend, Doki Doki Literature Club, etc.) nor some of the offshoot genres that have become popular.

kageroumado 7mo ago
This website is a remnant of something long gone: simple yet capable HTML websites that just work. I hope it will be preserved, or at least the database made public so it won’t get lost.
- indrora 7mo ago
  There's a whole team behind it running, so VNDB isn't going anywhere fast.
- fau 7mo ago
  It is public, and more! There's even an interface allowing you to run your own queries directly against a synchronized copy: https://query.vndb.org/browse https://query.vndb.org/browse
Benjamin_Dobell 7mo ago
I must admit, this is one area I've found LLMs to be surprisingly strong. They're REALLY good at reverse engineering obscure platforms, languages, game engines; and quickly throwing together super hacky tooling. I was able to reverse engineer the PS4 edition of "New Game!: The Challenge Stage", which was never released in English. I've now fully translated it, added proper text wrapping and additional text boxes where text would now overflow. Along the way I've fully decompiled (with byte exact recompilation) the Squirrel scripts for the entire game, built atop the game engine of a now largely defunct game studio. Prior to this I hadn't even heard of Squirrel scripting language. I had most of this done in under 24 hours. I'm not in any way a part of the visual novel community. I just did this because I enjoyed the New Game! anime way more than a near(?) middle aged man probably ought to. P.S. My condolences to Yorhel's friends and family.
- Anonyneko 7mo ago
  Brings back memories of how I did much the same for the PSP spin-off VN of the GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class manga/anime (that, of course, also originated from Manga Time Kirara and also had a big focus on art), although those were pre-LLM times. It even used Squirrel scripts too! I second the condolences, tremendous loss for the people who knew Yorhel, as well as for the VN and open source communities.
1313ed01 7mo ago
It is fascinating how some similar niche genres of games have managed to mostly ignore each other, from what I have seen. Interactive fiction has https://ifdb.org/ https://ifdb.org/. Gamebooks ("CYOA" to outsiders) have https://gamebooks.org/ https://gamebooks.org/. I think there is some community around branching browser text stories like (mostly) Twine games that have their own database somewhere? And then there is always some overlap and discussions around what games to allow where, with each community gatekeeping to some degree what games are allowed in their database or not. So, for example, I never heard about VNDB and never really crossed paths with VN players online, even if I have been around communities for IF and gamebooks since last century and the similarities are obvious.
- keychera 7mo ago
  thank you for sharing this! I never heard the two website you mentioned while being very familiar with vndb. I guess there will be always another corner of the internet that you don't even know existed. If you are curious, vndb has a guideline you can see about what can be added here: https://vndb.org/d2 https://vndb.org/d2
- mister_mort 7mo ago
  I think IF games tend to be more puzzle games with some story segments. Gamebooks are much closer, but still often have proto-RPG mechanics. (I remember tracking inventory and HP for the ones I played/read through). VNs are much closer to pure story, with some tracking of earlier decision flags for callbacks later in the story.
- atahanacar 7mo ago
  >similar niche genres of games have managed to mostly ignore each other That's only because they are only "similar" on the surface. It feels like saying "football, volleyball and basketball are similar" just because they are all team games played with a ball.
  - 1313ed01 7mo ago
    Isn't it the opposite, that they are mechanically the same, but differs on the surface (art style and type of stories)?

anonymous908213 7mo ago

RIP. VNDB is a truly incredible resource and the world is a better place for its existence.

stuffoverflow 7mo ago

Yorhel was also the creator/developer of ncdu among many other open source projects. He was a big open source advocate. The sites he hosted (vndb.org and manned.org) have automated database dumps and source code fully available. Recommend to check out his website https://dev.yorhel.nl/ https://dev.yorhel.nl/

veeti 7mo ago
ncdu is a lifesaver, RIP.
wahnfrieden 7mo ago
There's a Yomitan dictionary (by bee) of VNDB using those dumps: https://github.com/bee-san/VNDB-Character-Names-by-Bee https://github.com/bee-san/VNDB-Character-Names-by-Bee
chubot 7mo ago
Wow a few years ago I wanted to resurrect some of my old code, to do essentially what ncdu does Then I found ncdu, and haven’t looked back since. So it saved me a lot of time Thank you and RIP
ThatPlayer 7mo ago
I've forgotten about ncdc. That was the one we used back in university.

wang_pp8 7mo ago

[flagged]

maltyxxx 7mo ago

[flagged]

peauc 7mo ago

Also the creator of my beloved NCDU. May he rest in peace.

fsckboy 7mo ago

another RIP has a nice picture https://bimgs.jlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RIP-Yorhel-Founder-of-the-Visual-Novel-Database-VNDB.jpg https://bimgs.jlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RIP-Yorhe...

snvzz 7mo ago
Incidentally, Ever17[17] (shown in the background) is definitely a good VN. 17. https://vndb.org/v17 https://vndb.org/v17

Adachi91 7mo ago

Wow, I hope they continue on with the legacy built. I honestly have never heard of vndb until a few weeks ago. I am a large VN consumer, and when I found the site not only did it hit VN side, but also the aesthetics of a website looking like it was locked in the early 2000s, it made me save a screenshot to remind myself to build out one of my domains to one of my older styles with updated HTML/CSS.

Anonyneko 7mo ago

Worth noting that the VNDB code is also used to host other databases such as https://nepchan.org/ https://nepchan.org/ (a catalogue of indie Japanese or other similar-in-style RPGs)

ggerules 7mo ago

I've used ncdu for years. Great utility! I'm sorry he is gone. How did he die? He doesn't look too old from his website, https://dev.yorhel.nl https://dev.yorhel.nl.