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Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine: make your own visual novel, dating sim |
Listed in: Featured Articles Tags: Linux, MIT, PyTom
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If you have dreams of publishing your own game but don't have the programming know-how to make your own homebrew script, then you might be interested to know that we have a worthwhile alternative for you.Developer PyTom has created a Windows-based engine which works on the concept of creating your own visual novel or dating sim. The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine supports a movie script-like syntax that makes writing the code for simple games quite easy.
Ren'Py uses a robust engine which is still easily flexible and extensible enough for advanced users. If you've seen some of the visual novel games on the market, you can pretty much emulate all the features with this application.
Just type in the script then add any corresponding images and background music you want for your game. The best thing about this application is that its open-source and free to download from the Ren'Py website. It also has multi-language support, as well as cross platform compatibility on Mac and Linux.
Making your own visual novel
What makes Ren'Py such a nifty application is the simplicity of how the code works. Anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge in programming can pretty much feel their way through the actual meat and bones of the visual novel engine.
In case you're still a bit apprehensive, the program comes with an easy to understand tutorial and some demo programs you can use for reference. So you don't have to worry about it being too complicated like the other homebrew interface programs released by hardcore developers.
Because of the movie script-like format of the code, you can easily keep track of which of your characters are running the scene's dialogue. Any menus you want to put up can be as simple or as comprehensive as you want since all the coding requires is a simple label and goto command when making a choice in-game.
The biggest challenge when making your first game would probably be the timing of each scene rather than keeping track of the actual code. As the game producer as well as developer, you have to make sure there's a logical and smooth progression to your game's story.
After all, it doesn't matter if you have an all-star cast of pretty girls in your game, if your players can't make heads or tails of your plot then people wouldn't spend a lot of time playing it.
L33t programmer tools
Now that you have your storyline all set, you can spice up your game by adding some l33t features that most visual novel games have. These include spiffy interface options like on-screen buttons, as well as some special effects that you can add to really brighten up your game.
No, I won't be giving you details on how to write the code. No worries, though. Like I mentioned earlier, the tutorial that's included with the program is your best friend. It has a lot of tips on how to pull off some of the different special effects that you can insert in the game.
Do you plan on adding a shaking screen effect like the one in Phoenix Wright? How about an unlockable CG gallery for finishing the game? All of this and more can be found on the comprehensive Cookbook section on the Ren'Py website.
In addition, you can also make use of some of the frameworks made by other fans which extend the functionality of the base Ren'Py script files. While they aren't a part of the actual Ren'Py program, they serve as an alternative method to build your game without all the heavy coding involved.
Publishing your game
Because Ren'Py is distributed under the MIT license, that means you're free to distribute retail copies using the engine without having to pay for it. Of course, if you don't want to make millions off your visual novel game, then you're also free to just share it among your friends and have a couple of laughs.Before you release your game, make sure to check the options.rpy file to customize the settings you want your game to run on. Just like a good developer, you shouldn't pass up the chance to make a Readme file, as well as credit the people who made your game possible (the Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine for starters).
Finally, when you're ready, go ahead and build the distribution version from the Ren'Py Launcher. If everything went well, you should have the generated files for your Ren'Py game all ready for distribution and download.
Addendum
If you enjoy programming and making your own game as much as the next hopeful game developer, then you should have a blast using Ren'Py.
You can download a copy of the latest version of Ren'Py 6.4.0 "Character Actor" from the link below. And while you're at it, you can also check out QJ.NET's first ever Ren'Py Visual Novel adventure entitled "Chuu-dunnit".
If you think you have what it takes to be a hardcore game developer, we dare you to try your hand in making your own visual novel masterpiece. You can also check out the Ren'Py website through the read link below for more information.
Snaps to dementedchris for the Chuu-dunnit demo and to jino_turtlegod for the heads up on Ren'Py!
Download: Ren'Py 6.4.0 Character Actor
Download: chuu-dunnit v1.0 Ren'Py adventure
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