BUG Clicker versus Shimeji-ee

Shimeji-ee, as Kilkakon’s page describes it, needs Java and runs on Windows. It is open source. The license on that project is a BSD-style permission to keep making your own. Character packs are PNG images plus XML for the actions. The site hosts a large pile of artist packs. A GitHub line, including DalekCraft2’s port, has moved the runtime from old Java 6 toward current JDKs. The gil/shimeji-ee repository is a fork of the same family.

BUG Clicker does not ask you to install Java. The Windows file is a portable exe and the Mac file is a dmg. I read the Windows release as an Electron-style app because it ships an .asar archive, and the developer has not confirmed that reading. It runs on Windows 10/11 and on macOS 13 or newer, with a Monterey dmg besides. A character is one .cvclk. The editor and the line tool are inside the program. The developer says it is free and that there is no plan to charge.

Moving a character across

A Shimeji folder will not drop onto BUG Clicker’s Import box. You would repaint the character as body, head1, and head2, then rebuild any swing as a part. That is a redraw, not a converter. I am not claiming Shimeji has, or lacks, a speech editor. The pages I used do not settle it, so the comparison stops at platform, the Java dependency, the file format, and the license style.

Choose Shimeji if you want the existing PNG packs and you are on Windows with Java available. Choose BUG Clicker if you want a Mac build, a single share file, or lines you type yourself. Both can sit on a desktop. They do not share pets.