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The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

renpy.org

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Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#31

Post by optionalsquid »

Frotag wrote: post #30
jsheard wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For context, visual novels are basically ~novella sized stories Usually, but some of them are infamously ludicrously long. Like 2-3x War and Peaces long.

Got curious about the actual distribution so ran some queries on vndb [1]. Looks like the median renpy novel (with 100+ votes) takes 250min to complete with the ludicrously long ones [2] bringing the average up to 503min. engine vn count avg 25% 50% 75% Ren'Py 251 503 120 251 571 KiriKiri 187 813 241 522 1143 Unity 65 871 224 452 1109 [1] https://query.vndb.org/?sql=SELECT+%0D%0A++++r.engine%2C+%0D... [2] https://que…

Keep in mind that several of these titles are hybrid VNs, i.e. games that mix visual novel narration with gameplay elements. This has a tendency to inflate the playtime disproportionately to the actual word count, though VNDB does require that a significant amount of play-time is spent reading for games listed on there in the first place.

Off the top of my head, hybrid VNs on your list includes HEAVEN BURNS RED, Rance X, Kamidori, Seinarukana, and Koihime. Though as far as I know, Rance X in particular also has a very, very long script

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#32

Post by debugnik »

riffraff wrote: post #3

Curious, I discovered this today as I played a visual novel built with it: Doki Doki literature club (free on steam). Interesting read/play, but not for everyone.

Interestingly, DDLC Plus, the paid rerelease with extra content, was rebuilt in Unity, presumably to support consoles.

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#34

Post by cardanome »

Frotag wrote: post #11

For context, visual novels are basically ~novella sized stories that come with visuals like static backgrounds + a few dozen renders per character. The character renders tend to be mostly the same, with small variations in facial expression, pose, maybe outfit. All that to say, you probably won't like VNs unless you like reading. Don't expect much gameplay / animation. That said, the more famous stories tend to have…

The Spooktober Visual Novel jam that happens every September is a good way to both get into VN development and also find high quality games that you can play for free on itch.io.

Some if the entries really push the limits in terms visual presentation and can have a crazy amounts of animations. Plus really talented voice actors use the jam to practice their skills.

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#35

Post by devnullbrain »

optionalsquid wrote: post #7

As somebody who has read a large number of visual novels (VNs), I consider Ren'py one of the better engines as a consumer: - It has all the basic featured you'd expect, ranging from proper backlogs, to key bindings, and much more. You'd be shocked how many VN developers think that they can just pop out an VN engine themselves, and end up producing something that lacks even basic features. - It is performant. You'd be…

>proper backlogs

Something noticeably missing from almost every other type of text-heavy game which perhaps wouldn't be if games developers were less snobbish about where they draw inspiration from.

On the other hand, writers of games with metatextual stories benefit from their target audience not knowing how well-trod the ground is.

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#36

Post by ianbicking »

optionalsquid wrote: post #7

As somebody who has read a large number of visual novels (VNs), I consider Ren'py one of the better engines as a consumer: - It has all the basic featured you'd expect, ranging from proper backlogs, to key bindings, and much more. You'd be shocked how many VN developers think that they can just pop out an VN engine themselves, and end up producing something that lacks even basic features. - It is performant. You'd be…

What does a "backlog" mean in this context?

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#37

Post by tumsfestival »

optionalsquid wrote: post #7

As somebody who has read a large number of visual novels (VNs), I consider Ren'py one of the better engines as a consumer: - It has all the basic featured you'd expect, ranging from proper backlogs, to key bindings, and much more. You'd be shocked how many VN developers think that they can just pop out an VN engine themselves, and end up producing something that lacks even basic features. - It is performant. You'd be…

>A number of localization companies have also ported (typically older) Japanese titles to Ren'py, instead of having to struggle with poor to non-existent support for non-Japanese systems in the original engine, as well as extremely expensive engine licenses, and just straight up poorly written bespoke engines. Examples of companies having done this includes JAST USA, FAKKU, MangaGamer, and (IIRC) Sekai Project/Denpasoft. In other words, the heavy hitters of VN localization.

That caught my curiosity, but I couldn't find any examples of older VNs being ported to Renpy. Could you share any examples?

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#38

Post by programd »

lelandfe wrote: post #16

Some really cool stuff has been built with Ren'Py. A (fairly) recent example for me is Roadwarden, a 20hr long RPG.

I was wondering what it was built with as I was playing. Roadwarden is tripple-A storytelling and world building masquerading as a little indie title. I was very impressed by how much atmosphere it conveys with minimalistic presentation. That takes a lot of skill.

Here it is on Steam, currently on sale for a criminally under priced $4.39

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#39

Post by daedrdev »

ianbicking wrote: post #36
optionalsquid wrote: post #7

As somebody who has read a large number of visual novels (VNs), I consider Ren'py one of the better engines as a consumer: - It has all the basic featured you'd expect, ranging from proper backlogs, to key bindings, and much more. You'd be shocked how many VN developers think that they can just pop out an VN engine themselves, and end up producing something that lacks even basic features. - It is performant. You'd be…

What does a "backlog" mean in this context?

Like you can either read a log of what characters said in a scene so far, or simply go backwards through the story to reach an earlier line and view it again.

Re: The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine

#40

Post by edflsafoiewq »

devnullbrain wrote: post #35
optionalsquid wrote: post #7

As somebody who has read a large number of visual novels (VNs), I consider Ren'py one of the better engines as a consumer: - It has all the basic featured you'd expect, ranging from proper backlogs, to key bindings, and much more. You'd be shocked how many VN developers think that they can just pop out an VN engine themselves, and end up producing something that lacks even basic features. - It is performant. You'd be…

>proper backlogs Something noticeably missing from almost every other type of text-heavy game which perhaps wouldn't be if games developers were less snobbish about where they draw inspiration from. On the other hand, writers of games with metatextual stories benefit from their target audience not knowing how well-trod the ground is.

The other big text engines are probably Inform 7 and Twine? They both have undo.
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