New Look for Ren'Py

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#1 Post by **PyTom** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:05 pm

Okay, here's the result of some playing around with an idea I had for a new default look for Ren'Py games. It's a style function that starts with a single small image, and then resizes and recolors it to generate most of the UI. (Save for the status bars.)

I've come up with a color scheme here, but realize that this is by no means the only color scheme this style could support. In fact, colors are given as parameters to the function that makes the style... which make it possible to easily recolor it. It's also possible to make some or all of the colors transparent, to let a background image show through.

So, I'd like people's thoughts about this. (Since it's not obvious from the pictures, I'll point out that buttons brighten up when you hover over them.) I'll also point out that the old interface will remain available indefinitely...

The goal here is to try to make an uncustomized Ren'Py reasonably attractive, and a lightly customized (== changing colors and a few images) Ren'Py even more so... while preserving the ability to make more drastic changes, as was done in G!MB.

monele · #2 Post by **monele** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:23 pm

Looking good. I'm not a fan of round shapes when it comes to the web but here it looks really nice and seems easy to do

. I suppose it works the same way you can customize the say window ?
What would be nice would be to see another kind of shape to see what's possible with this system (texture, parchament borders...?)

Watercolorheart · #3 Post by **Watercolorheart** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:55 pm

Well, it would be nice to have a seperate window for the "Do you really want to quit?" prompt.

I want a full-screen border too!

How do I apply a full-screen overlay around the window? I don't know how to do it ...

To make the image stay on top throughout the entire game, like a frame?

Also, I think that the save menu in Ren'Py is very large and ugly. Is there any way to make a small, unobtrusive one like the kind made with ONScripter? Just a simple, small list of "slots"? I looked through the extras to see if there was a different one text-only, but it only shows me how to make one with image buttons ...

#4 Post by **PyTom** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:24 pm

I think people may be a little confused by what I'm proposing here. Basically, Ren'Py is a very customizable system, and I don't plan to change that. But what I want to do is to change the default look of it, what people get without customization. I'd also like to have an intermediate level of customization, where people can just change the colors and the background image of the default look.

Basically, this comes from me noticing that, by and large, people are _not_ taking advantage of the built-in customization... and so it's best to make the default look as attractive as possible. (Is this look attractive?)

monele >>> I think the parchment look may be outside of the scope of this project.

BCS >>> Do you mean a popup window, or the new window-look like I have now. Either way, I'm implementing the latter, as it's cross-platform.

Re: Full-screen overlay:

Probably the best way is to do something like:

Code: Select all

init:
    $ config.layers.append('myoverlay')
    image overlay = "overlay.png"

label start:
    scene overlay onlayer myoverlay

    # ... rest of script

Or do you just mean a fullscreen overlay in the menus? If that's the case, then we'll support that through allowing the background to be changed.

Save menu customization is supported, up to a point. Try something like:

Code: Select all

init:
    $ library.file_page_cols = 2
    $ library.file_page_rows = 2
    $ library.disable_thumbnails = True

And you may want to consider customizing file_picker_entry to eliminate backgrounds.

#5 Post by **PyTom** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:48 pm

BTW, here are two more images of the new look. Both of these have the colors changed to use a reddish-pinkish scheme, and one shows how the backgrounds can be photograps.

The code used to make this looks like:

Code: Select all

        newlook(widget=(150, 50, 50, 255),
                hover=(200, 50, 50, 255),
                face=(255, 225, 225, 255),
                window=(225, 115, 115, 192),
                mm_root=Solid((255, 225, 225, 255)),
                gm_root=Solid((255, 225, 225, 255)),

                # gm_root=Fixed(Image("whitehouse.jpg"),
                #              Solid((255, 225, 225, 64)))
                )

Which shows how one can customize the colors used by the style.

Alessio · #6 Post by **Alessio** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 4:29 pm

Tom, these are just gorgeous, really good. Wouldn't have thought it would make that much of a difference, but now I've seen it... brilliant. Thanks!

monele · #7 Post by **monele** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:05 pm

PyTom : It's better to know the limits right away, thanks ^^. While we're at it, I'm wondering if something I tried a while ago is possible now : have the menu appear *over* the current scene. I mean that you don't really go to *another* screen when right-clicking but have the menu overlayed on the game screen.

#8 Post by **PyTom** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:38 pm

Let me think about that... It's not supported, but I might be able to make it happen.

ShiraiJunichi · #9 Post by **ShiraiJunichi** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:08 pm

I like the new look- I think it's a quite an improvement

mikey · #10 Post by **mikey** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:17 pm

monele wrote:Looking good. I'm not a fan of round shapes when it comes to the web...

Well, we men, we like... round shapes

Anyway, I'm all for it - the true thing is, many people will use the default menu and by changing it, the new batch will have a new interface.
Hmmm... green menus... I've always wanted those...

Mark Thern · #11 Post by **Mark Thern** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:15 pm

The new rounded look is a definite improvement. It makes it easier to identify the choices that are being offered, and that's always a good thing. The improvement is especially noticeable in the preferences menu. Prior to the change, I've always had a bit of trouble distinguishing the difference between the options and the settings.

I'm not sure that increasing the number of page buttons in the save slot menu to 10 is a good idea. By doing that, it makes it easy for a novice to assume at first glance that the page number buttons and the save slots are the same thing. You could make a clearer distinction between the two by changing the "Previous" and "Next" buttons to "Previous Page" and "Next Page".

The black background to the say menu doesn't necessarily look bad, but it is inconsistent with the blueness of the rest of interface. No big deal really, and if the black background makes the text less fatiguing to read, then you should go with that choice by all means.

While we're on the subject of eyestrain, is there a way to increase the default refresh rate that Ren'py displays? I can see a noticeable screen flicker in the images when I run Ren'py games in full-screen, which suggests that the default rate is 60hz. Increasing the refresh rate to a higher rate would eliminate this problem. Even more importantly, the user's eyes would be less apt to get tired and he will be more willing to play the game for an extended period of time

RedSlash · #12 Post by **RedSlash** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:38 pm

I don't really like the new theme with the round shapes and all, but I agree that its an improvement over the current default. The "Seen messages" button is the above photo seems off centered (relative to the big rect box that encloses it) as well as all the other sub-buttons.

Maybe you can start an archive of themes for renpy.

#13 Post by **PyTom** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:52 pm

Mark Thern wrote:While we're on the subject of eyestrain, is there a way to increase the default refresh rate that Ren'py displays? I can see a noticeable screen flicker in the images when I run Ren'py games in full-screen, which suggests that the default rate is 60hz. Increasing the refresh rate to a higher rate would eliminate this problem. Even more importantly, the user's eyes would be less apt to get tired and he will be more willing to play the game for an extended period of time

The refresh rate is selected by your video driver, so you should check in its settings to ensure that 800x600 and 640x480 have appropriate refresh rates.

RedSlash >> The off-center buttons are intentional.

absinthe · #14 Post by **absinthe** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:32 pm

I really like this -- it looks very polished, and more 'put together' when compared against the regular default.

I especially like the way it looks overlaid over a picture... can you use dynamic pictures? I could totally see graying out the current background (or spoofing doing so) when the player brings up the menu.

RedSlash · #15 Post by **RedSlash** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:39 pm

RedSlash >> The off-center buttons are intentional.

I think they'd look better centered. I keep having the feeling that its off everytime I look at it. That my opinion though.

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