Hidden Object Example - Beginner

[thebullet]

Ok, here goes nothing!

Long-time lurker and admirer of VN-games, I have always wanted to make a vn-game, but so far I haven't made any. But at the end of the year I saw myself making a simple game for a treasure hunt. Screenshots, crossover with other games, treasure maps and.....a hidden object game.

I looked around the forums/web but couldn't find any tutorial or even a lot of info about it. I found some using imagemaps but I wanted to use image buttons instead, so I figured I'd give it a try myself! After some struggling I managed to do it and get it installed. It was well received, although it was played by kids in elementary school so not that picky. Despite not having a lot of experience with renpy, I wanted to share what I figured out. I hope it can help someone like me.

Attached to this post is the example I made. In it I show 2 versions. Puzzle #1 with a timer and where the item you find make a difference(think "unique clues"). Puzzle #2 has you finding 15 items, which disappear upon finding. Please check the script.rpy file to see how it's done, I tried to comment as much as possible.

For the people who would rather read it here than checking the script.rpy, I will to post it here as well but with most of the "flow"-code stripped out.

Puzzle #1: Timed Hidden Object - 50 second timer to find 3 items.

#1 Variables: These register if an item has been found, how many points are earned and how much time is left to finish the puzzle.

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#puzzle 1 variables
    $ puzzle1_a = 0 # 1st image found or not? 0 = not found, 1 = found 
    $ puzzle1_b = 0 # 2nd image
    $ puzzle1_c = 0 # 3rd image
    $ puzzle1_clues = 3 # number of clues to find
    $ puzzle1_time_points = 0 # how many points have been earned by being fast enough
    $ puzzle1_game_result = 0 # total number of points earned
    $ puzzle1_clues_found = 0 # number of clues found
    $ puzzle1_timer_range = 0 # puzzle 1 has a counter, this determines how much time you have

#1 Transformations: This is used to add transparency to image button and to make the countdown bar fade out.

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transform barely_seen: # used to make the image button transparent, 80%. This may not be needed, depending on the background/game
    alpha 0.8

transform barely_seen2: # 50%
    alpha 0.5

transform alpha_dissolve: # used by the countdown bar, so it moves/disappears
    alpha 0.0
    linear 0.5 alpha 1.0
    on hide:
        linear 0.5 alpha 0

#1 Screens: Countdown & 1 screen with 3 image buttons

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screen countdown(): # the countdown bar - search for "Timed Menus" in the forums/cookbook
    timer 0.01 repeat True action If(time > 0, true=SetVariable('time', time - 0.01), false=[Hide('countdown'), Jump("puzzle1_checktime")]) 
    # it checks the time, if the time is bigger than 0, it does the stuf behind the true=, namely changing the time
    # if that is false, it does the stuff behind the false=, namely hiding the countdown and jumping to the label puzzle1_checktime
    bar value time range puzzle1_timer_range xalign 0.95 yalign 0.05 xmaximum 300 at alpha_dissolve # Timer bar, using the transformation above

screen s_puzzle1(): # screen for puzzle 1, three imagebuttons in 1 screen
    imagebutton:
        auto "clue_1_%s" # will look for an image called hidden1a_idle / hidden1a_hover / etc
        action [ SetVariable("puzzle1_a", 1), Jump("puzzle1_checktime") ] # 1: sets the variable puzzle1_a to 1, 2: jumps to puzzle1_checktime
        xpos 952 ypos 510 # location of the imagebutton
        focus_mask True # makes it so the transparent parts of the image are not clickable
        at barely_seen 

    imagebutton:
        auto "clue_2_%s"
        action [ SetVariable("puzzle1_b", 1), Jump("puzzle1_checktime") ]
        xpos 512 ypos 432
        focus_mask True

    imagebutton:
        auto "clue_3_%s"
        action [ SetVariable("puzzle1_c", 1), Jump("puzzle1_checktime") ]
        xpos 520 ypos 155
        focus_mask True
        at barely_seen2 # transformation with more transparency

#1 Puzzle Logic: During the puzzle, the game jumps here to check stuff. Are all clues found, did the time run out, etc.

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label puzzle1_checktime:
    window hide
    pause
    $ puzzle1_clues_found = puzzle1_a + puzzle1_b + puzzle1_c # how many clues have been found already?
    if puzzle1_clues_found == puzzle1_clues : # all clues found, finish
        if time > 30: # award the points gained from finishing it within a certain number of time
            $ puzzle1_time_points = 2 # 2 points get added
        elif time > 10:
            $ puzzle1_time_points = 1 # 1 point gets added
        # if the time left over is less than 10 seconds, no bonus points are given
        jump puzzle1_done
    elif time < 1: # ran out of time
        jump puzzle1_done
    else: # not all clues have been found and time has not run out, continue
        jump puzzle1_ongoing

#1 Actual gameplay code

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o "Example 1"
	hide owlinera
        scene crime_scene
        $ time = 50
        $ puzzle1_timer_range = 50
        show screen s_puzzle1
        show screen countdown
        o "Find them all!"
        window hide # to hide the text box
        pause # pause things until the mouse is clicked

label puzzle1_ongoing: # puzzle1_checktime will jump here when the time hasn't run out yet. It serves as a loop of sorts.
    jump puzzle1_checktime
    
label puzzle1_done: # puzzle1_checktime will jump here when the time runs out or all objects have been found
    $ puzzle1_game_result = puzzle1_clues_found + puzzle1_time_points # tally of the score
    hide screen countdown # the countdown bar
    hide screen s_puzzle1 # the puzzle screen

In the actual game I have some text showing how many points you've earned by finding all/finishing it in time. Then each item gets shown with a description of it.


Onwards to the second example I made!
This one is a bit different. There is no timer, instead there is a counter that shows how many items have been found. And unlike the previous example, the found items disappears/gets hidden.

Puzzle #2: Non-Timed Hidden Object - Find 15 items, with a counter.

#2 Variables:

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	$ puzzle2_score = 0 # how many pieces have already been found in puzzle 2, used for the counter
    $ puzzle2_total = 15 # how many pieces to find in puzzle 2 in total. Is used to show a counter/end the game.[/spoiler]

#2: Transformations (they are the same as the one in the previous example)

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transform barely_seen: # used to make the image button transparent, 80%. This may not be needed, depending on the background/game
    alpha 0.8

transform barely_seen2: # 50%
    alpha 0.5

#2 Screens: 15 Hidden Objects + counter.

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# screens for puzzle 2
# each image button has its own screen because this allows you to hide each item(image button) individually.
screen s_puzzle2a():
    imagebutton:
        idle "puzzle_animals/animal1.png" # mentions the specific name of the image, different from the previous puzzle
                                          # also this time the images are saved in a sub-folder to make things more tidy
        action [ Hide("s_puzzle2a"), SetVariable("puzzle2_score", puzzle2_score + 1), Jump("puzzle2_check_number") ] 
        			#hides this imagebutton,  adds 1 to the score and jumps to puzzle2_check_number
        xpos 480 ypos 120
        focus_mask True # makes it so the transparent parts of the image are not clickable
        at barely_seen # calls the transform above, making the button itself a lot less visible
screen s_puzzle2b():
    imagebutton:
        idle "puzzle_animals/animal2.png"
        action [ Hide("s_puzzle2b"), SetVariable("puzzle2_score", puzzle2_score + 1), Jump("puzzle2_check_number") ]
        xpos 248 ypos 574
        focus_mask True
        at barely_seen
        
        ##Etc, etc, for as many screens as you have, in my case until o since the game has 15 images to find
        
# A counter that shows how many items have been found already
screen s_puzzle2_found_txt():
    text "[puzzle2_score]/[puzzle2_total]" color "#ffffff" xpos 1170 ypos 40

#2 Logic:It will check if all animals have been found.

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label puzzle2_check_number:
    window hide
    pause
    
    if puzzle2_score == puzzle2_total: # all animals were found!
        jump puzzle2_done
    else: # not yet, keep going
        jump puzzle2_ongoing

#2 : Actual gameplay code

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    show screen s_puzzle2_found_txt # the counter
    show screen s_puzzle2a # all the animals to collect
    show screen s_puzzle2b
    etc
    
        o "Find them all!"
    window hide
    pause
    # It waits until an image button is pressed. When that happens, it does the following:
    # action [ Hide("s_puzzle2q"), SetVariable("puzzle2_score", puzzle2_score + 1), Jump("puzzle2_check_number") ]

label puzzle2_ongoing: # it will go back here to continue
    jump puzzle2_check_number
    
label puzzle2_done: # it will go here when all animals have been found
   return

Phew, that's quite a lot. I hope it is readable, I suggest reading the actual script instead, it might be easier to follow. Anyway, hopefully it will be useful to people. And if you have any questions or suggestions how to make it better, feel free to comment. Just keep in mind I'm not capable of putting stuff like this in the form of classes and such, maybe some day in the future.

Thanks to the documentations, forum, cookbook and the [GxImagebuttons]-thread.

[Andredron]

1 post

viewtopic.php?f=51&t=47820

[thebullet]

Yes, I see it. However back when I was making this I did not come across this, I've only found it just now. It's probably because it does not mention being a hidden object game. It works well, I just tried it, however I'm not sure if I'd be able to use it. The coding used would've been a bit too advanced for me to use.

I'm keeping this post up, because it might get people started, but I will definitely try and figure out your method if I ever incorporate a hidden object game.
Thanks for the info!

[ussramshack]

Thanks! Other examples posted were too complex for me, but this one was perfect! Easy to follow, easy to adapt. Much appreciated!