How to install a Ghost / Ukagaka
An ukagaka, or a Ghost, is a little program that sits on your computer desktop. It usually consists of one or two characters that you can interact with. Most ukagakas are in Japanese, but there is a growing community of English ghost developers as well! Most of them are part of the Ukagaka Dream Team (on the link you will find a list of both members and ghosts).
Here’s how to install such a little desktop buddy:
Download and install SSP from here. The site is in Japanese, but the download links on the left have English labels as well. “Complete install package” is the one you will need. (Note: SSP only runs on Windows. Options for other operating systems exist, but I have never used them and don’t know how/if they work. There are some links on Zarla’s Ghost Walkthrough here, if you want to try it out.)
Run the ssp.exe you just installed. A default character will appear and say something in Japanese. Right-click on the character. The menu that pops up will probably be in Japanese as well (if it’s already in English, just proceed with the next step). On the fourth option from the bottom, change the menu language to English. You will need to restart SSP for the change to take effect.
Download the Ghost you want to install. If the ghost comes with a seperate link for a Balloon (that’s the textbox/speech bubble a Ghost uses), download that as well. Both ghosts and balloons can come as either .zip or .nar files.
Drag and drop the downloaded file(s) onto the default SSP character and wait for them to install. If you have downloaded a balloon for the ghost, make sure to install the ballon first, so that the ghost can recognize and use it.
Right-click on the default character again, find the “Change Ghost” option in the menu, and choose your newly downloaded ghost.
Your new ghost should now start up!