newbie asks: how to make a game look like "this"

[Mariie01]

like the topic says i am very new and i don't understand any code but i do draw for a while i have been wanting to make a vn but mostly just for aesthetic purposes. I have been looking around but how can i make a vn with this sort of style?







i don't know if i was clear while using the examples but i want to make the game have stats and such on the sides while the "actual game" is inside "a box" if that makes sense but i have no idea where to start

[Ocelot]

There are quite a few ways to do that. You can simply show images in correct places, you can create screens in specific positions and show images there.
You can use layer resising feature and use them later as you normally would (IIRC that feature was added specifically to emulate these games).

[rayminator]

all that can be done by using call/screens/class/def and that but first thing to do is to start slow and don't rush

learn:
python: there a lot of video and documentation online
styling: there a lot of video and documentation online
renpy: there a lot of video and documentation online

start:
small project (so you can get comfortable with renpy by only using choices/jump/call)
medium project (so you can get comfortable with renpy by only using choices/jump/call/screens)
large project (so you can get comfortable with renpy by only using choices/jump/call/screens/class/def and so on)
major project (you should be comfortable to do anything with renpy by now)

if this is your first time working with python and renpy

if you have played around with css and php you can use that knowledge with python but it is slightly different but almost the same concept

[m_from_space]

Since you never did anything with Ren'Py before I recommend downloading the stable version. It includes a tutorial project called "The Tutorial" which explains a lot of stuff about renpy script. You can do many things with very basic python code like defining or changing variables and do the rest with the renpy script language. Just try it out!

[Syrale]

For more specific advice, this might also help:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20699#p266459

[Mariie01]

after reading the comments i have a better view on how to do this thank you everyone who took your time and commented

[lsf22]

I'm digging those Nec PC-98 era looks. If you want a good source of Ren'py tutorials you should check out these following Youtube channels for their Ren'py tutorials:

VimislikArt: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWnLn- ... enIY80KIPw
GDT: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameDeveloperTraining/videos
Zeil Learnings: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDTudD ... pxiR-hLiOg

If you can find a Ren'py game with open resources you should be able to learn from it and be able to see how the code/scripts work. Some of these might be in the form of a upcoming indie game demo

Probably a bit off-topic but maybe it would help if you can set up a NEC PC-98001 emulator and play some of those games to see if that's what you want. You might learn what you can use from those games if you're lucky to find English translated versions of those game. The remaster of Princess Maker 2 is similar to that style and is more accessible.

A good pixel-art drawing software might make things easier to get your art assets to that art style, I only know of Aseprite
Aseprite link: https://www.aseprite.org/

That is Princess Maker 2 Refine, a remastered version that is on steam, the original goes back to the NEC PC-98 I believe.

[Mariie01]

I'm digging those Nec PC-98 era looks. If you want a good source of Ren'py tutorials you should check out these following Youtube channels for their Ren'py tutorials:

VimislikArt: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWnLn- ... enIY80KIPw
GDT: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameDeveloperTraining/videos
Zeil Learnings: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDTudD ... pxiR-hLiOg

If you can find a Ren'py game with open resources you should be able to learn from it and be able to see how the code/scripts work. Some of these might be in the form of a upcoming indie game demo

Probably a bit off-topic but maybe it would help if you can set up a NEC PC-98001 emulator and play some of those games to see if that's what you want. You might learn what you can use from those games if you're lucky to find English translated versions of those game. The remaster of Princess Maker 2 is similar to that style and is more accessible.

A good pixel-art drawing software might make things easier to get your art assets to that art style, I only know of Aseprite
Aseprite link: https://www.aseprite.org/

That is Princess Maker 2 Refine, a remastered version that is on steam, the original goes back to the NEC PC-98 I believe.

Oh yes i love princess maker 2 aesthetic it was this that inspired me to pick up renpy! and yes thank you for the links so far i asked around and i managed to do a statbox, a side image and some other simple stuff like changing fonts

[lsf22]

I have some resources you can check out for game making that are free.

Free and open source software (FOSS):

For Drawings and Images:
Gimp ( Image manipulation software)
Krita ( Drawing software that is available for other platforms)
Inkscape (Really good for logos and vector images once you get the hang of it)

Music:
LMMS (DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)) I use this one mostly, it's available on other platforms as well, I think even on arm64 Linux distros as well
Audacity - Audio Editor (is audio editor and audio recorder, cross-platform availability)

No copyright or Public domain resources:
FontSpace https://www.fontspace.com/ (Has many no copyright and free fonts for you to use)
SoundBible https://soundbible.com/ (Public Domain sound effects)
RawPixel https://www.rawpixel.com/public-domain (Public Domain images)
Pexels https://www.pexels.com/ (Public Domain free images and videos)
MixKit https://mixkit.co/ (Free and No royalty sounds, musics and videos)

online tools:
https://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_hexadecimal.asp (Useful for picking out hex coded colors)
https://www.december.com/html/spec/color3hex4.html (For picking out triple Hex color codes, which is used by flash effects you define in renpy)

As for Nec PC-9801 font I found one from FontSpace.com that is 100% free
https://www.fontspace.com/nine-eight-ze ... ont-f25386

If I have anything else to add for resources I might edit this post and update it

[Mariie01]

I have some resources you can check out for game making that are free.

Free and open source software (FOSS):

For Drawings and Images:
Gimp ( Image manipulation software)
Krita ( Drawing software that is available for other platforms)
Inkscape (Really good for logos and vector images once you get the hang of it)

Music:
LMMS (DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)) I use this one mostly, it's available on other platforms as well, I think even on arm64 Linux distros as well
Audacity - Audio Editor (is audio editor and audio recorder, cross-platform availability)

No copyright or Public domain resources:
FontSpace https://www.fontspace.com/ (Has many no copyright and free fonts for you to use)
SoundBible https://soundbible.com/ (Public Domain sound effects)
RawPixel https://www.rawpixel.com/public-domain (Public Domain images)
Pexels https://www.pexels.com/ (Public Domain free images and videos)
MixKit https://mixkit.co/ (Free and No royalty sounds, musics and videos)

online tools:
https://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_hexadecimal.asp (Useful for picking out hex coded colors)
https://www.december.com/html/spec/color3hex4.html (For picking out triple Hex color codes, which is used by flash effects you define in renpy)

As for Nec PC-9801 font I found one from FontSpace.com that is 100% free
https://www.fontspace.com/nine-eight-ze ... ont-f25386

If I have anything else to add for resources I might edit this post and update it

oh wow thank you these are amazing i never knew of those, i actually somehow managed to make a prototype somewhat that i shared on the renpy discord this will be very useful later on thank you once again!:D