The Game Name Name Game

[mikey]

Well, I still don't really know if generalizing Ren'Py is a good idea. All the arguments in favor of moving it away from an all-out game-oriented engine towards a more general audience are of course perfectly valid and I think basically, everyone is in their way, right.

However, personally, I like the word "game", I like the fact that there is a "demo game" and that Ren'Py encourages interactivity and making the strange gaming forms that are VNs, DSs and so on, so if I had to put in my vote, it would still be no to de-emphasizing games.

I would go for a second program, sort of legacy-free, call it something else (more versatile), even though its DNA would be 98% Ren'Py, it would just have blue paint. It could co-exist with Ren'Py, sharing documentation or so, but by having a different name, it would be more flexible and presentable to the public (since with Ren'Py one still has to explain too much about its main purpose and the associations of DS/VN with hentai are also very frequent). Plus, you could add features to the Multiversion that you wouldn't need in Ren'Py, and you wouldn't have to add very VN/DS specific features to the Multiversion either, even though you could add useful features to both of them.

Of course, feel free to dismiss this, as I have no clue how complicated this can get and effectivity is always an issue.

[musical74]

Quin: Don't worry about long posts. I think everyone here's had their shares of long posts, and 95% of the time it's in some ways better because we get a better feeling for how you feel about things.

I'm kind of torn on generalizing Ren'Py. On one hand, it might be a good idea because it will reach a larger audience, but at the same time, you don't want to have to compromise anything to get said audience. This PROBABLY wouldn't be an issue, but then, I'm not a game designer, so I don't know the technical side of what expanding Ren'Py to favor a larger audience would entail.

[PyTom]

What I'm now leaning towards is keeping the same names, but providing an extra that will move Ren'Py towards more neutral names. So dropping this extra in will translated "Start Game" to "Start", "Load Game" to "Load", and so on.

I will also add support for a "data" directory that will work the same as the "game" directory, as well as support for renaming "run_game.py" to "start.py", and ditto for the .exe files.

In this way, kinetic novels and other non-game works will be easily supported, while still retaining the focus of Ren'Py on visual novels and other game-like works.

[rioka]

What I'm now leaning towards is keeping the same names, but providing an extra that will move Ren'Py towards more neutral names. So dropping this extra in will translated "Start Game" to "Start", "Load Game" to "Load", and so on.

Sounds good to me. I actually prefer it. With GSK, I was planning on taking out the "Game" part in the options but finally decided to leave it in there due to time constraints (and by that time, I was just fixated on releasing the game that I forgot about it! <.<' ). Seriously, we all know what we're running. No need to be repetitive and express "Game" several times. Video games in general do NOT have "Game" next Start, Load, Continue, or even Options. The only exception would be "New Game". (Disclaimer: Argument not to be confused with the bigger picture of VN's being classed as games or not. )