Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

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Empish
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Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#1 Post by Empish »

Hey there creators! Last week was the Pilot of the Let's Code event on /r/visualnovels' devtalk server. We discussed custom GUI programming in Ren'Py. If you want to see a video of it, check here.

I learned a lot from the event including that I need to foster more active participation, so we'll be having a bit of a shift for the second one tonight to be more conversational. Tonight we'll be focusing on the Ren'Py documentation, reading it and extracting the information you want from it. Check here for more information.

Where does this event take place? On the /r/visualnovels Discord server, specifically in the devtalk and devclub channels! If you're not there already, here is an invite to the server: https://discord.gg/Z6skErt

Feel free to discuss things here, including giving me feedback and suggesting topics for future Let's Codes. I'll be updating this thread with new topics and screencasts of the Let's Codes.

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#2 Post by Empish »

Here is the link to the video for last night's Let's Code. Ideas for next week include Screens, but I'd be open to other topic suggestions.

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#3 Post by Empish »

Tonight's Let's Code is on Screen Language! Stop by if you can!

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#4 Post by Empish »

Here's the link to the let's code from last night. I'm thinking of turning it into a livestream instead. https://youtu.be/Fx5bGIfdmw8

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#5 Post by Donmai »

Hi, Empish. I think I better make a post here before this thread is considered a "non-discussion thread"... :) You've been adding wonderful stuff here, but I see two problems with this thread. The first is that it's Ren'Py related, but it is outside the Ren'Py section. The second is in its presentation. I believe it will be more interesting if you post the video links using Youtube tags (you know, [youtube]the part of the URL after the v=[/youtube]). That will embed the videos and make them a click away from being watched.
I'm not a moderator and I'm not sure where this thread could be moved to (the Cookbook, maybe?).
Thanks for the good work.
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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#6 Post by Empish »

Hey Donmai, thanks for your help. I actually asked Tom about where to put this thread and he said Creator's Corner, so. *shrugs* I will definitely ask again though to see if he wants it moved.

The youtube tag is a good idea though, I'll definitely do that!

Also, guys, I do have something to discuss with you. The Let's Codes seem to not be doing so well due to the delivery format of people not being able to see as I code, so I'm thinking of changing the format from voice chat to streaming. Another suggestion I received was to create a long-term project we'd work on together so people could see all aspects of the creation process from the point of view of the coder and director. What do you guys think of these ideas?

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#7 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

Empish wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:24 am Also, guys, I do have something to discuss with you. The Let's Codes seem to not be doing so well due to the delivery format of people not being able to see as I code, so I'm thinking of changing the format from voice chat to streaming. Another suggestion I received was to create a long-term project we'd work on together so people could see all aspects of the creation process from the point of view of the coder and director. What do you guys think of these ideas?
You've definitely been doing good work - I appreciate anyone in the community teaching Ren'Py code. I don't personally do well with following along to coding videos - it is much easier for me to refer to detailed written tutorials, because I can go back and word search to go exactly to the information I need. Scrolling back and forth in a video timeline to try and find the part where you mentioned or showed something is pretty inefficient. I don't usually watch streams for the same reason - having to sit through the streamer answering questions from viewers I may already know the answer to, and worse, I can't scrub ahead in the timeline of a live stream. (My work and commission schedules are also all over the place, so I can't plan to watch many things live.)

I do really like the idea of you doing a long-term project and stepping through all aspects of the creation process. Real world application is definitely the best learning tool IMHO, rather than presenting something in abstraction. I think something like you are discussing would be immensely helpful.

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#8 Post by Empish »

Yeah, I'm usually the same way, but for beginners it seems like they overwhelmingly prefer video tutorials, so that's what I'm doing mostly. After all, more advanced users don't really need my help as much.

And okay, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad I'm onto a good idea.

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#9 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

Empish wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 2:18 pm Yeah, I'm usually the same way, but for beginners it seems like they overwhelmingly prefer video tutorials, so that's what I'm doing mostly. After all, more advanced users don't really need my help as much.

And okay, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad I'm onto a good idea.
I don't think that I'd qualify as an advanced user of Ren'Py. I bring some previous coding experience to the table, but at this point, I'm not sure whether that is a benefit or a liability! I'm new to Python and Ren'Py in particular.

I spent an hour last night experimenting with a dialogue trick in Ren'Py I plan to use for my NaNoReNo project this year, and it basically involved trying one way that didn't work, trying a second way that ALMOST worked and I spent a long time trying to get the last 10% of the way there, and then finally stumbling onto a third way that was easier and slightly more elegant, but involved some poorly educated guesses about the exact wording an argument was expecting. But I got it working! :cry:

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#10 Post by Donmai »

Yeah, I think I've found the third problem: the thread's title seems very elusive to me because it doesn't mention Ren'Py or scripting (definitely your videos are not about coding). If you say "coding" many people here will believe you're teaching python. People often complain that the Ren'Py docs are lacking examples, and your videos are actually full of good examples. People would love to find, for example, a video showing how to customize the new GUI. They just don't know that video is in this very thread:
I agree with LWR about videos tutorials (especially for non-English speakers like myself they're sometimes even more difficult to follow. Not your case, your voice is clear enough.), but yes, good demonstration videos like yours are a very good complement to the Ren'Py documentation.
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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#11 Post by Empish »

LateWhiteRabbit wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 3:01 pm
I don't think that I'd qualify as an advanced user of Ren'Py. I bring some previous coding experience to the table, but at this point, I'm not sure whether that is a benefit or a liability! I'm new to Python and Ren'Py in particular.

I spent an hour last night experimenting with a dialogue trick in Ren'Py I plan to use for my NaNoReNo project this year, and it basically involved trying one way that didn't work, trying a second way that ALMOST worked and I spent a long time trying to get the last 10% of the way there, and then finally stumbling onto a third way that was easier and slightly more elegant, but involved some poorly educated guesses about the exact wording an argument was expecting. But I got it working! :cry:
I would actually say that you DO qualify as at least an intermediate user, for your debugging and problem-solving skills if nothing else. A lot of beginners don't even know how to get started, and feel overwhelmed and such when they meet some resistance or things don't go as they expect. The fact that you were able to troubleshoot and persevere and try multiple ways shows me that your experience and mindset are working in your favor.

Donmai, how would you recommend I title it, then? I didn't want to call it "Let's Ren'Py" because I want to leave the door open for having guest speakers on other engines or just coding in general. I could add subtitles to the Let's Code videos to say what their topics are, if you think that would help.

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#12 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

Empish wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:17 pm I would actually say that you DO qualify as at least an intermediate user, for your debugging and problem-solving skills if nothing else. A lot of beginners don't even know how to get started, and feel overwhelmed and such when they meet some resistance or things don't go as they expect. The fact that you were able to troubleshoot and persevere and try multiple ways shows me that your experience and mindset are working in your favor.
Thanks. It can get pretty frustrating when you know the way something SHOULD work, but can't seem to find the magic word that RenPy is wanting.

I can't remember the exact part of the documentation now, (it has been a few days) but there was actually something to the effect of "This can accept other properties than the ones listed here." :shock: Why aren't the other properties listed? Sometimes I can guess if the naming pattern of the other listed properties is consistent, and that can get me the solution I need.

The trick is to make a pot of coffee, put on some music, and let the errors and RenPy tracebacks flow. And frown at the screen a lot ....
Empish wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:17 pm Donmai, how would you recommend I title it, then? I didn't want to call it "Let's Ren'Py" because I want to leave the door open for having guest speakers on other engines or just coding in general. I could add subtitles to the Let's Code videos to say what their topics are, if you think that would help.
You want something that is keyword heavy, because it helps people find your videos. As they are titled right now, they won't come up for Ren'Py searches, and if you are discussing a certain topic, you definitely want that in the title. For instance:

Let's Code - Making a Custom GUI in Renpy
Let's Code - Creating Animations in Renpy
etc. etc.

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#13 Post by Donmai »

LateWhiteRabbit wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:35 pm You want something that is keyword heavy because it helps people find your videos. As they are titled right now, they won't come up for Ren'Py searches, and if you are discussing a certain topic, you definitely want that in the title.
This.
Empish wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:17 pm Donmai, how would you recommend I title it, then?
Hm, now that you told me about the other engines, I really don't know, and I can also understand why Tom suggested the Creator Discussion section. I believe adding keywords to the video titles, as LWR suggested, would be enough for now.
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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#14 Post by Empish »

Thanks for all your help, guys. Time to go add keywords to my videos.

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Re: Let's Code: Every Thursday at 7pm CST!

#15 Post by Empish »



Here is a post of last night's Let's Code, where we did planning and brainstorming for KamiDev, our long-term group project RPG. Anyone who wants to contribute is welcome!

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