Ren'Py 7.4.2 Released

[PyTom]

I'm happy to announce Ren'Py 7.4.2, the second patch release for the 7.4 series. This release fixes a number of issues found in Ren'Py 7.4, including some that only affect users that need accessibility options. Everyone should upgrade.

Ren'Py 7.4 is the the product of over a year of development, and one of the biggest releases of Ren'Py to date. This series of releases focuses on updating Ren'Py's internals so that Ren'Py is ready for its next 15 years.

Some of the bigger changes are:

• A new model-based renderer. While this is opt-in for the moment, it opens the way to features that creators have been requesting for a long time, such as being able to recolor displayables, blurring the screen, and using Live2D to animate sprites. The model-based renderer is extensible with shaders, allowing for custom effects.
• A new Python 3 compatibility mode has been added, to pave the way for Python 3 support in the next release. This mode changes the ways in which Ren'Py runs, to allow you to begin porting your game before full Python 3 comes out in Ren'Py 8.0.
• Ren'Py's build system has been modernized, and the libraries underlying it have been updated. This allows 64-bit Windows to be supported.
• The web platform has been updated, to allow for the incremental download of games.

This release also raises the minimum requirements to run a Ren'Py game. It is now required that a user's computer have OpenGL 2, DirectX 9, OpenGL ES 2, or WebGL to run Ren'Py. The model-based renderer requires OpenGL ES 3 or WebGL 2.

With these changes, there have been a few deprecations. Ren'Py no longer runs on Windows XP. The minimum version of macOS Ren'Py uspports is now 10.10. The 32-bit armv7l platform has been removed on iOS, as this platform hasn't been supported by Apple for several years. The Editra text editor has been removed, as it hasn't been supported for quite some time, and wasn't compatible with the new build system.

It's my hope that this release will enable creators to take on projects they couldn't before, and will provide a solid basis for the next releases of Ren'Py.


Downloads of 7.4.2 can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/release/7.4.2

A full list of changes to Ren'Py can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/changelog.html

A list of changes that may require you to update your game can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/incompatible.html

Please also check out the credits and sponsor list.



This release is 7.4.2.1291.

The biggest fix, and the reason I recommend everyone upgrade, is that the say.vbs file (used for accessibility on windows) and some of the ANGLE files were missing from the Windows build.

In addition to that, some of the changes are:

* A new way of scanning for Java on macOS, which doesn't get confused by the Java browser plug-in.
* A fix to the scale_fast field being missing on the software renderer, which means errors in rendering would lead to a crash. (The missing ANGLE files made this more common.)
* Ren'Py no longer disables screensavers and power save. (It's possible to change this default.)
* A new build.include_i686 field, that determines if the 32-bit x86 binaries are included.
* A fix for a problem intersecting polygons.
* New config.context_fadeout_music and config.context_fadein_music variables, that determine music fadeins and fadeouts on context changes like loading.
* Better scanning for expressions in Live2D.
* A pair of focus fixes.
* A fix to webp support on the Raspberry Pi.

Thanks to everyone who worked with me on this release.

[PyTom]

I took a mulligan, and bumped the version up to 7.4.2.1292.

[Potato0095]

A new Python 3 compatibility mode has been added, to pave the way for Python 3 support in the next release. This mode changes the ways in which Ren'Py runs, to allow you to begin porting your game before full Python 3 comes out in Ren'Py 8.0.

Are you able to tell if there's gonna be any functions, properties (anything really) that might be removed or changed past the point of back-compatibility? I'm pretty sure there will be some things that will be deprecated, but can you come up with some sort of changelog? I have a lot of written code in Python that wasn't me who made it, and I'm worried they might stop functioning if I use Python 3. Also, how much do you expect for Ren'Py codes to change? Especially around ATL, how variables are handled...

[Jackkel Dragon]

Not sure where to ask this, so I'm posting here...

Is there any solid progress on 7.4.3 yet? I realize 7.4.2 just came out recently, but apparently APK builds made using 7.4.x have issues on newer phones, and I've been getting a number of reports of the issue on a release I made using features from 7.4.x. I get the impression this is a known issue that was being worked on, so I wanted to know if there has been any sign of a fix yet.

[PyTom]

I'm pretty sure the 7.4.3 nightlies are better than 7.4.2 on Android, though there may still be an issue with newer samsung devices. I'm trying to get a device with One UI 3.0 on it.

[MaxLib]

Hi!

Excuse me for asking here, but maybe I can get the surest answer to my question here? Renpy is completely new to me. It looks awesome.

I would like to ask your advice on Renpy + Live2d. I experienced a huge slowdown in the editor while I was using CubismSDK. I used this Ren'Py 7.4.2 first then I decided to upgrade to 7.4.3 nothing changed. I have observed that, the bigger the model on scene the harder for renpy to render it.

Can be expected to have an upgrade in the near future which will fix this problem?

[Imperf3kt]

Live2D and the libraries that support it are a very recent addition, it's still receiving optimisation and is expected to have minor bugs still.

It will most likely receive updates and improvements in the coming months.

[MaxLib]

Thanks for the answer Imperf3kt. The next update looks promising. I can't wait to try it.