Tips for releasing

[cloudyssky]

Okay so I am getting close to finishing up my first VN, which of course means I'm close to releasing my first VN. So what steps can I take to make release a good one? For example...
-How can I give my VN an .exe rather then just having people copy and paste code and such into Ren'Py?
-If I can get my game to have an .exe, how can I make that multi-platform (Macs, Windows, Linux)
Any oher tips for making a good release?

[IceD]

Ok... For starters, Ren'Py has the "Build Distributions" option. This will create all of the needed distributions. Then... You can also grab an install system for windows, such as NSIS and make an installer. I hope you didn't gave a developer version of a game to people ever before ! Anyway, the most important thing for you is to test the game thoroughly before release This will propably save ourselves (and you, honestly only you!) from any potential problems

For the rest (I'm immiting the installer, you can just build distributions as and release it as a stand-alone "no need to install" program)... A proper game should have at least a readme file, help file would be even greater addition, especially if made well (at least formatted html file). You should also create icons, both for the application (that top left small thingie) as well as the distribution (for the desktop and start menu shortcuts), so the finished product may look more proffesional (and it should, dangit). And don't forget to credit people for the stuff, especially if it was from public domain - it isn't a "must" but all those people will propably feel better with it

[sake-bento]

Addendum to IceD's answer:

If you want an actual .exe file that installs the game all cool-like, use NSIS. This only works for Windows, though, as Macs don't exactly use .exe files. You'd have to make the .exe for only Windows and then release a separate Mac build.

If what you're aiming for is a single file that everyone can download, there is a universal build option in the "Build Distributions" section of Ren'py. It'll just be a zip file, but I'm pretty sure most people here are fine with that (I personally prefer it...).

[Selvaria]

You should also create icons, both for the application (that top left small thingie) as well as the distribution (for the desktop and start menu shortcuts), so the finished product may look more proffesional (and it should, dangit).

Hi, I'm new in here and I also want to ask something.
How do you change the icon for the application (top left)? I already read the manual but still don't understand.
Thank you.

[Jake]

How do you change the icon for the application (top left)? I already read the manual but still don't understand.

There's a pair of configuration variables: config.window_icon and config.windows_icon.

The first one - config.window_icon - is an image that gets used in Linux and on the Mac, which - as described by the manual - should be "a large image, with 8-bit alpha". A 32-bit/'truecolour' PNG file is probably ideal, IIRC icons I've seen used in Mac applications before have been 256x256 or 512x512, even.

The second one - config.windows_icon - is the image that gets used for the icon under Windows. Again quoting from the manual, this should be "a 32x32 image with 1-bit alpha". This means transparency is either on or off, there's no partly-transparent pixels in the file, so save your graphic as something like an 8-bit/'paletted' PNG or a GIF with transparency or something like that.

It's a good idea to set both of these even if you personally only run on Windows; Ren'Py can produce builds for Linux and Mac from your Windows machine, so if you set both variables people on those other platforms also get an icon. ;-)

[Selvaria]

There's a pair of configuration variables: config.window_icon and config.windows_icon.

Where can I find those configuration? I can't find it in options.rpy.

[Jake]

Where can I find those configuration? I can't find it in options.rpy.

Ah, sorry - I forgot to mention. Just add a line or two to options.rpy with:

Code: Select all

    config.window_icon = "myIcon.png"
    config.windows_icon = "myIcon.gif"

with whatever your images are called. You can add them more or less anywhere, but personally I'd put them around line 27 (just under the config.window_title line) or right at the end, so you can find them easily.

Just make sure that they're indented to exactly the same indent as the previous line, and it should be fine.

[Selvaria]

Nice, it's working.
Thank you very much for the help Jake, it's really help me a lot ^^