Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm (Aokana)… for Linux!

This repository officially hosts Lutris-based Linux installers for the unofficial native Linux port of Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm: Beyond the sky, into the firmament, officially localized as Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue and commonly abbreviated as merely Aokana (あおかな). Read the highly-acclaimed shounen sports chuunibyou visual novel that spawned a derivative outpouring of anime and manga spinoffs in the most cultured way possible: as a native 1440p application under a Linux distro near you.

⚠️

This port is not officially endorsed by NekoNyan, Aokana's applause-worthy Steam publisher and English localizer. We still love you, NekoNyan.

Installation

1. Please legally purchase NekoNyan's English localization of Aokana, because NekoNyan continually goes beyond the call of corporate duty to support censorship-free localization throughout the English visual novel community. Online storefronts include:
   • NekoNyan themselves.
   • JAST.
   • Steam.
2. Download Linux-compatible videos in the language of your choice:
   • English and/or Japanese.
   • Simplified Chinese.
   • Traditional Chinese.

3. Choose the installation route that's right for you:

   • "NekoNyan or JAST, please." But of course, cultured senpai! This route installs the Aokana Perfect Edition+ R18 release directly purchased from NekoNyan or JAST (identical to the uncensored Steam release detailed below). Either:

     • (Recommended) Install Aokana from the Lutris website:
       1. Browse to the Lutris Aokana page.
       2. Click the Install button to the right of the LINUX Windows NekoNyan or JAST version installer.

     • Manually install Aokana from this repository:

       1. Download our well-tested NekoNyan-or-JAST Lutris installer.
       2. Open a terminal to the directory containing that file.

       3. Copy-and-paste this command into that terminal:

          lutris -i aokana-native-nekonyan-or-jast.yml

   • "Steam, please." Your wish is our Linux command. Our Steam installers are experimental, largely untested, and possibly even (but hopefully not) broken. Please help us get a better idea of the state of these installers by submitting a new issue documenting your installation experience. Note that NekoNyan's vanilla Steam release of Aokana is the censored All Ages version. Some people like that. Some people don't. ^{Obligatory shoutouts to /r/visualnovels here.} Again, choose the installation subroute that's right for you:

     • "Censored, please." Sure thing! It's your visual novel. This subroute installs the censored All Ages vanilla Steam release of Aokana:

       1. Download our experimental censored Steam Lutris installer.
       2. Open a terminal to the directory containing that file.

       3. Copy-and-paste this command into that terminal:

          lutris -i aokana-native-steam-censored.yml

     • "Uncensored, please." You have chosen wisely. This subroute installs the free-as-in-beer Perfect Edition+ R18 Steam DLC patch restoring all CGs, scenes, and dialogues from the original Japanese release as well as adding Misaka's supplementary scenes from the so-called Aokana Perfect Edition+:

       1. Download our experimental uncensored Steam Lutris installer.
       2. Open a terminal to the directory containing that file.

       3. Copy-and-paste this command into that terminal:

          lutris -i aokana-native-steam-uncensored.yml

   • "Unspecified other sources, please." Please legally purchase NekoNyan's English localization of Aokana when you have the financial means – if you haven't already, of course. Without ongoing monetary support, the visual novel community will get a BAD END (which is bad):

     1. Download our well-tested portable Lutris installer.

     2. Open a terminal to the directory containing that file.

     3. Copy-and-paste this command into that terminal:

        lutris -i aokana-native-portable.yml

     4. When asked to Select main Windows executable "Aokana.exe", select the top-level Aokana.exe file in the directory containing your portable Windows copy of Aokana.

You're done. Praise Misaka!

Features

This port is a fan-authored third-party conversion of NekoNyan's original Windows-only release, now featuring:

• Native Linux execution. As a native Linux application, this port requires no compatibility layer (e.g., WINE Proton) – reducing runtime overhead and the usual laundry list of issues caused by these layers.
• Linux-compatible videos. As a native Linux application, this port leverages cross-platform open-source royalty-free media standards like Vorbis, VP8, and WebM rather than the non-cross-platform non-open-source royalty-encumbered media shipped with the original Windows-only release.
• Fast save restart. This port additionally supports a new low-level --continue command-line option substantially reducing startup times. When passed, this option bypasses all startup logos, the opening video (OP), the main menu, and the load menu by immediately loading straight into the most recent save. Nice.

Differences

This port also features a number of mostly negligible differences from the original Windows-only release, listed here for both completeness and to avoid confusion:

• Sprite Viewer file features unsupported. This port does not currently support Sprite Viewer features attempting to open a file dialog, as the original Windows-only release did so by opening a non-portable Windows-specific file dialog. This includes the following Sprite Viewer features:
  • Background importation.
  • Image file saving.
• Letterboxing on window resizes. When manually resizing the game window to an unsupported aspect ratio, this port currently letterboxes (i.e., surrounds game content with both horizontal and vertical black bars) rather than auto-correcting itself as in the original Windows-only release.
• Unpaused audio on window minimization. When minimizing the game window, this port currently fails to pause the currently playing audio if any rather than automatically pausing that audio as in the original Windows-only release.
• Save thumbnail degradation. As in the Switch port, this port downscales save thumbnails with Unity's lower-quality stock bilinear filtering mode rather than the higher-quality bicubic filtering mode implemented by the original Windows-only release.

Authors

Authoritative credit for this native Linux port goes entirely to Unity maestro and Fuwanovel forums contributor loam, whose initial post ignited the whole shebang. You are amazing and you surely know it.

See Also

If you enjoy this, you might also enjoy:

• Fate/stay night [Réalta Nua] Ultimate Edition… for Linux!, a Lutris installer automating patching and execution of the [Réalta Nua] variant of the seminal shounen chuunibyou visual novel Fate/stay night.
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of… for Linux!, Lutris installers automating patching and execution of fully translated and voiced SoraVoice variants of the legendary Kiseki (i.e., Trails, Legend of Heroes,『英雄伝説 …の軌跡』) Japanese role-playing franchise.