Lemma Soft Forums

First post here, but I've been working with Ren'Py and Python for some time already.

Now I've come to a point where I would like to add a notepad to my game where the player can write down notes and hints and such, but ui.input isn't really made for that.
It's not possible to move the caret around to go back and edit what you typed and adding a new line is also out of the question, because pressing enter causes the widget to return it's content right away.

Maybe this is something that could be added/changed?
For now, I've hacked it in by myself. Line breaks by pressing enter, moving back and forth with the arrow keys (no moving up and down or using the mouse to position the caret yet). It's working quite well. Perhaps it's something that could be included as a new type of widget or by giving ui.input some new properties that make it possible to produce this kind of behavior?

Whether a text editor should be added or not aside, I'm not sure what you're doing is the best game design decision. Most people don't want to have to write down or type in hints and clues, and those who do will probably just use Notepad or a notepad :p

If your game is complicated enough that someone would need to record clues, I'd suggest showing your players some mercy, saving them some time and frustration, and have the game record the clues somewhere as they are uncovered. I've seen this done a lot, but I haven't seen note/clue recorders that players manually type into, and I think there's a good reason for it.

Just my two cents

Thanks for the input. Using the in-game notepad is not mandatory for the player, it's just a gimmick that might be helpful to some players, really. The game won't be so complicated that you will have to take notes, of course, and all the important clues in the story will be added automatically (for example by finding a note with a password on it, which will be added to the inventory so you can always look at it.)

Still, support for proper forms (similar to what they work like in HTML) is something that might help developers in the future to increase interactivity in their games and go beyond the "What is your name?" type of interactivity without having to write huge mountains of code.
I remember, for example, that in this VN I played, there was a kind of form that you had to fill in, like a personality test, and some routes would only be available with certain choices. (The blood type for example would affect it somehow, I think?)
Of course all of that could be done using inputs and menus, but it doesn't look as nice and doesn't create the proper atmosphere, imho. Having a proper form with checkboxes and everything made it a lot more immersive.

I realize that it's something most people won't use. If that means that it doesn't fit into Ren'Py or has very low priority, that's fine. I could probably code it myself then. But before I do that, I want to wait for a definite yes or no, so I don't end up with coding all this, only to figure out that I didn't have to. I'm lazy after all.

Well, that's a thing I would use too in my RPG/simulations, though probably I'm a minority as well!

This thread makes me remind of the detective notepad of Kyle Hyde in Hotel Dusk room 215.
It wasn't text, but rather some sort of widget you could use to write onto to take notes.