2007 Year in Ren'Py

[PyTom]

There's still a few hours left in 2007, but I don't see why that should stop me from writing my annual year in review post, from my totally and completely biased post as Ren'Py's creator.

Before I show the numbers, let me give my thanks to DaFool, who's been updating the list of Ren'Py games all year. It's been a real help, both to me and the community as a whole. The same goes to everyone who, anonymously or not, edited the wiki to add, fix, and organize information. Thanks!

In 2006, we released 18 games. I remember thinking, on January 1st, 2007, that it would be great if there were 24 Ren'Py games released in 2007... two games a month. I was stunned when we hit that level in July.

In total, there were 48 Ren'Py games released in 2007. Double what I expected. Here's a graph of releases by month:



As for Ren'Py itself, there were 12 releases of Ren'Py in 2007. For the first time, we've had more releases of Ren'Py games than Ren'Py itself... the so-called breakeven point. The release rate has slowed a bit as Ren'Py has gotten more stable and feature complete, but I've still been trying for one release every month or so. I have a bunch of features I want to add, so I don't see this letting up in 2008.

Of course, I'm not the only one supporting Ren'Py anymore. We've gotten to the point where when a user asks questions, I can step back and let someone else answer them, secure in the knowledge that there is a Ren'Py community out there capable of answering just about every question that doesn't stem from a bug in Ren'Py itself.

On a personal note, 2008 will be a fairly momentous year. I will be defending my forum spam relatively soon, and making my way in the real world. It looks like I'm going to be starting my own software development and consulting company, and trying to make a living doing that.

But while I mention that, let me reiterate my commitment to Ren'Py and to the community. I look forward to supporting and improving Ren'Py in the new year. I'm honored to be a small part of so many projects.

Happy New Year, and once again thanks for letting me make the paintbrushes.

[monele]

Yay for Ren'Py ^_^. And yay for PyTom without whom this wouldn't exist .
I love the little peaks... I wonder if they all have a particular reason or if there's some untold rule for that ^^

[PyTom]

Well, the only one that seems to be present in all 3 years is the March one. And that one is due to NaNoRenO, one would assume. I wouldn't read too much into the rest of it...

[Hime]

Yay for Ren'Py ^_^. And yay for PyTom without whom this wouldn't exist .
I love the little peaks... I wonder if they all have a particular reason or if there's some untold rule for that ^^

I agree - if it wasn't for Ren'Py, my dream of VN-making would never have become true. I think people like PyTom, who create and contribute in such fine ways, are needed and admirable. I wish that his company will become a great success!
As for the peaks, I can see a peak in July/August - summer holidays = more free time for VN-making, perhaps?

I hope 2008 will be a good year for this community as well! ^^

[Ignosco]

Thanks PyTom, and everyone else in the Lemmasoft community - it's been a great year . At some point, I'll try and write a retrospective of 2007 - although with so many games released, it might take a while. Here's to even more games in 2008 .

[monele]

PyTom : Aw, c'mon! There's another sort-of peak at the end of the year too, especially for 2007

[Aashtarsrain]

PyTom, thank you so much for everything I've been able to make from RenPy for my students and all I've learnt from you (nearly everything about programming actually) for my personal projects : your work is a real masterpiece and a dream come true for all game-makers and story-lovers ! Happy new year to all !

[Alessio]

Thanks to PyTom for making our dream of easy VN development true! I for myself will try to contribute to the statistics by finishing my elusive current work-in-progress in 2008. Happy New Year everybody!

[rocket]

Happy New Years Everybody! (^_^)