Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

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jack_norton
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Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#1 Post by jack_norton »

I've been asked a lot of questions though PM, so I thought to do this post. I don't have much time so I'll keep it short :)
Your game has been greenlit! Yay! now, time to put it on Steam.

Steam API integration
You need to ask Pytom for the steam lib download link, they're not publicly available.
Also remember that achievements AREN'T essential for a successful title. The example I always make is the game of my friend Kao, To The Moon (is a narrative game too albeit done with RPGMaker) which is an absolute topseller and has 1 achievement :D
So for now I think is best for you to wait until pytom does the integration - you can always add achievements later!

Trading Cards
The trading cards don't need any particular integration. Everything is done through the Steam control panel. You go in your app->Steamwork settings->Community->Trading Cards and from there you need to prepare the various assets and upload them. I'm not going to explain this process since everything is explained on the site.

Uploading the game
You need to use a commandline program. Before you run away in panic, is actually a very simple solution, you only need to learn a bit how it works. I can't explain the details even in this case since is long and besides everything is written in the docs. I want instead to share a tip: use the "Build All" option of Ren'Py when building the game.
Why? Because then you have a SINGLE ZIP, with all the OSes, to upload (of course you need to unzip it before uploading!). Since Steam allows players to play the game any OS after you buy it, is smarter to do this. Then, you go in the Installation->Configuration tab, and you define the launch options like this:
launch.png
In practice tells Steam which file to launch for each OS: the base filename will be the same, but we'll have:
SOTW.exe -> Windows
SOTW.app -> Mac
SOTW.sh -> Linux
all in the directory root, so when users click "Launch" they run the game for the right OS.
Another advantage of using the "zip-all" system is that you don't need to mess with the depots configuration, which is a headache. Also you don't need to upload the same resources (like the archive) 3 times for each OS.

Smart depot config
On Steam site there are all the docs to build depots and so on. However I wanted to suggest a "smart" way to do it. Since the Renpy Steam lib might be updated, is wiser to put them in a separate folder, and include them in the depot script, like this:

Code: Select all

"DepotBuildConfig"
{
  "DepotID" "XXXX"

	// include all files recursivley
	"ContentRoot"	""

  "FileMapping"
  {
    "LocalPath" "- steamlibs\*"
    "DepotPath" "."
    "recursive" "1"
  }

  "FileMapping"
  {
    "LocalPath" "BionicHeart\*"
    "DepotPath" "."
    "recursive" "1"
  }

}
This way, if a new version of Ren'Py Steam lib are available, you only need to extract them and update that folder (in my example above, "- steamlibs") and run the build script again. In theory you could do the same for all common Ren'Py directories and just have specific "game" subfolder for each title, but might become a bit of headache :)

OK I hope the post will be useful to someone! I am afraid I can't provide more support than that (no time, ugh) so don't ask me how to build depots, script files, etc. You need to study the Steam docs for this :wink:
Last edited by jack_norton on Fri May 29, 2015 12:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#2 Post by noeinan »

Wow, thanks for sharing this, Jack!
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#3 Post by jack_norton »

I've updated the first post with some info on how to configure the depots, now that the Steam Ren'Py lib are available.
Maybe some mod could make this post sticky since seems many people ask for help with Steam?
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#4 Post by storykween »

Putting up one of my games on Steam for the first time now... so thanks a lot for this!
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#5 Post by Bryy »

Sorry for the necro, but the .exe is the filename of the game, right? The main application file? Because I just built my beta build, and it says it is missing an executable when I try to launch it on Steam.

My current .exe path is Army of Tentacles.exe; should it be ArmyofTentacles.exe?

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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#6 Post by storykween »

@Bryy Leaving spaces out of your file names is always a good idea. But first try disabling your antivirus software before launching; that could cause the problem
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#7 Post by ChronoWorkS »

Thank you for this! Hopefully sometime soon I want to put my game on Steam and I knew nothing, so this helps me a lot

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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#8 Post by Taju »

Thank you so much for this! It has really helped me to understand how to proceed. Getting Greenlighted and trying to figure out how to get the game to Steam can be a little overwhelming.

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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#9 Post by Shagwrath »

Bookmarking this, thank you for making an awesome guide on this process.
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#10 Post by jack_norton »

You're welcome, hoped that some mod could make this thread sticky maybe?
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#11 Post by Kinmoku »

Thanks for this! I was having a headache with all the depots until I saw that I could just create an "all" build! Now, my game is working, hurray!

I'm wondering, though, what the steamlibs is about? I haven't put that in mine and it works okay. Am I missing something? I don't know what it's for.

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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#12 Post by jack_norton »

Without steamlib the achievements won't work - you need to ask Pytom about the steamlib URL.
As for the build-all, looks like Apple managed to screw developers once again with the new OS and their "security features". I think that soon won't be possible to use that method anymore. Personally I'm considering dropping Mac support altogether, since the % of users is really small and it's the platform that causes most problems (not just for Ren'Py, in general for all development tools).
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Re: Ren'Py Steam Quickstart

#13 Post by Kinmoku »

jack_norton wrote:Without steamlib the achievements won't work - you need to ask Pytom about the steamlib URL.
As for the build-all, looks like Apple managed to screw developers once again with the new OS and their "security features". I think that soon won't be possible to use that method anymore. Personally I'm considering dropping Mac support altogether, since the % of users is really small and it's the platform that causes most problems (not just for Ren'Py, in general for all development tools).
Thanks Jack, I'll message him.

It's a shame about Mac (since I'm using Mac) but it is a real pain, I understand. Really wishing I had a PC at this point as uploading to Steam with Mac is difficult, to say the least!

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