Ren'Py on the DS

[vnds guy]

Since I can`t be bothered to register a name(I am quite lazy, and rather adverse to registering in general), I`ll post as this.

Anyway, I wouldn`t mind trying to port ren'py to DS. But there is a major problem with doing so: Python is slow, nds is slow. these things do not mix well.

So, it would require an entire rewrite of code in cpp. So I`m going to see how much interest there is in this before I waste a bunch of time doing it.






Also:

Care to describe what's actually on that page, or is there a mirror somewhere? It's just that whichever child runs digital-haze.net has decided to block access from customers of my ISP 'cause he doesn't like something the CEO said...

yep

[Twar3Draconis]

Another handheld console to consider is the Pandora - http://openpandora.org/
Not until it gets officially released, of course.

It'll run Linux on an Arm processor; screen is 800*480, so plenty big. Technically it seems like a good platform for Renpy, hopefully it gets enough popularity to justify a port..

That would eventually make things easier to some extent. Especially if GCC is involved; considering that the NDS and GP2X devkits are GCC based.

[PyTom]

The problem with porting to the NDS isn't really python, as most performance-critical code is in C. The real problem is that the NDS only has 4mb of ram, which isn't really enough to run a python interpreter, as well as all the libraries Ren'Py needs to operate. Other consoles/handhelds have significantly more ram, which makes the endeavor feasible.

[LVUER]

May be because DS uses cartridge system (which loads very fast), it doesn't need big memory?

[monele]

It would seem so o_o... as I've seen games that don't look like only 4mb would be enough, yet they run.

[Cybeat]

What about a PSP?

[PyTom]

It would _probably_ be possible to get the full version of Ren'Py operational on the PSP, especially if you strip out some of the less-used music formats. (Has anyone used ogg speex?) That being said, I have little interest in supporting closed platforms, as it seems like a lot of work for a very small audience.

[Twar3Draconis]

The problem with porting to the NDS isn't really python, as most performance-critical code is in C. The real problem is that the NDS only has 4mb of ram, which isn't really enough to run a python interpreter, as well as all the libraries Ren'Py needs to operate. Other consoles/handhelds have significantly more ram, which makes the endeavor feasible.

The Ezflash 3in1 option pack adds a usable 128mb of RAM. Making it a total of 132mb usable.

[PyTom]

The Ezflash 3in1 option pack adds a usable 128mb of RAM. Making it a total of 132mb usable.

While I have no doubt you're right, I wonder what fraction of the DS homebrew community actually has that particular card.

We're talking about two relatively small communities: DS homebrew and OELVN. It seems to me that the intersection of those two communities is very small, and additional restrictions would make it even smaller. As it is now, one of the primary reasons for not attempting ports to closed platforms is that I simply don't expect many people to use those ports, especially since people seem to be adequately served by the ports to open platforms.

How many people are able to play a game on the DS, but unable to play that same game on a PC, Mac, or Linux box?

[Guest]

I disagree but only where it intersects the hentai fandom:

Adult VNs are EXTREMELY popular, and I can think of 2-3 H demos of the top of my head trying to get them onto the DS (mostly seen as targeted toward "children"). One is loli, several Japanese games out for the DS are borderline-ecchi but not released stateside, and the other is a regular H game ...

[Guest]

I meant, the DS is seen as being targeted toward children, so Nintendo doesn't approve official games ... not H games!!

Although sometimes I wonder ...

[Jake]

I disagree but only where it intersects the hentai fandom:

Adult VNs are EXTREMELY popular

No, they're really not.


Coca Cola is "extremely popular". Soccer is "extremely popular". Adult VNs might be extremely popular within the population of hentai fandom, but you have to realise that only a tiny proportion of all people belong to that fandom. And I'm guessing even fewer would actually pay for DS games.

[000]

Coca Cola is "extremely popular". Soccer is "extremely popular". Adult VNs might be extremely popular within the population of hentai fandom, but you have to realise that only a tiny proportion of all people belong to that fandom. And I'm guessing even fewer would actually pay for DS games.

Well, I always wondered, wich fandom is bigger, AdultVN-fandom, or NonAdultVN one?
Still, that is not changing the fact that VN fandom is small to begin with...

[tau]

I don't use Ren'Py very often so I didn't want to register. I hope that's ok.

I don't know much about programming, but would it be possible to make a program that would convert a Ren'Py script to the format used by VNDS? It would be have to be barebones (no transitions or special effects), but I think most games would transfer fairly well.

[Jake]

I don't know much about programming, but would it be possible to make a program that would convert a Ren'Py script to the format used by VNDS? It would be have to be barebones (no transitions or special effects), but I think most games would transfer fairly well.

Possible? Yes. Ren'Py script can be parsed by a machine, so it can theoretically then be re-written into another format.

Very basic use of Ren'Py should be pretty trivial to parse. I need more practice writing parsers, so I'd not be totally disinterested in giving it a go, but as far as I can tell 'VNDS' doesn't actually exist. The owner of the website you link to is barring everyone who uses my ISP from his site in an attempt to make us switch to a different provider, so I've seen no evidence of it's existence.