[Solved] Defining and calling custom functions in game and screens

[ComputerArt.Club]

I have a lot of repetition in my games, and to reduce the code and make things more efficient and make it easier to change large sections at once, I would like to learn how to do functions in game and in screens.

For example I'd like to make a function here with say, two or three arguments, that would create a screen that replaces all instances of those arguments. E.g.

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screen find1: # the screen name might be made irrelevant by a function
    add "background"
    text _("Where is the [argument 1]?") xalign 0.5 yalign 0.03
    imagebutton:
            idle "[argument 1]"
            xalign 0.5
            ypos 1000
            action Return("[argument 1]") # assets would be named appropriately

    imagebutton:
            idle "[argument 2]"
            xalign 0.5
            ypos 800
            action Return("[argument 2]")

And then how would I call it?

Similarly, can I do something in the script like call a function with arguments that replace the image names and certain text with the arguments?

Like:

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show [argument 1]
show [argument 2]
voice "prefix[argument 1]" # I suppose there might be instances where prefixes or suffixes would be necessary.
call screen [argument 1] # Basically, the arguments would be used in a variety of situations.
if result =="[argument 1]"
	"Well done! You found the [argument 1]"
	jump found [argument 1]

Basically, I am an elementary school teacher and a father and I want my games to target younger readers, so there is a lot of repetition. My understanding is that the best way to manage such repetition would be to use functions. Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions or ideas?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[ComputerArt.Club]

Checked the patreon entry on creator defined statements and the wiki and a the two threads here that I could find on defining custom functions, and the tutorial on mad libs but still haven’t figured it out, none of them seem to be tackling the same type of problem :/

[xavimat]

Creator defined statements are too advanced stuff for this, relatively simple, question.
I haven't understood exactly what you need. But I guess some of these can be useful for you:

1. You can use labels and call them to repeat some renpy code. Labels will behave similar to functions. You can pass arguments to them too. At he end of the label put return to return to the point where you called the label.

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default myvar = 1
label start:
    while myvar < 5:
        call somelabel(myvar)
        $ myvar += 1
    "End of game."
    return
    
label somelabel(myvar2):
    "Count" "I count to [myvar2]. Hahahahahaha."
    return
    

2. You can use "expression" with variables and call, jump, show:

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$ myvar = "somestring"
show expression myvar  
call expression myvar
jump expression myvar 

3. You can use variables inside screens to add images, define imagebuttons, and use if/elif/else statements so your screen will do exactly what you want. You can also call your screens with arguments that will be used as local variables to the screen.

4. You usually don't need interpolation for many things you have shown in your example code:

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if myvar == othervar # not myvar == "[othervar]"
idle myvar # not idle "[myvar]"
Return(myvar). # not Return("[myvar]")

5. You can use also python functions, but usually they are better for calculations (although they can also show images and screens, use say lines and nearly everything that labels can do, but in less readable code).

The best way to achieve what you want depends on your specific needs. There are many ways of doing the same thing, it depends on the "big pictures" to give you useful answers. I suggest you to break down your question in small ones, to get better answers.

[Alex]

I have a lot of repetition in my games, and to reduce the code and make things more efficient and make it easier to change large sections at once, I would like to learn how to do functions in game and in screens. ...

As xavimat said "The best way to achieve what you want depends on your specific needs.".
Some other thing that might help you.
1. If you need some similar screens with different content, you could create a screen and fill it with the staff (arguments) from a list, like

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image img_1 = "img_1.png" # etc.

screen find(): # the same screen will be shown in different parts of game
    add "background"
    
    for item in my_list:
        if item["to_find"]:
            $ goal_name = item["txt"]
    
        imagebutton:
                idle item["img"]
                xalign 0.5
                pos item["pos"]
                if item["to_find"]:
                    action Return("win")
                else:
                    action Return("lose")
                sensitive can_click

    text _("Where is the [goal_name]?") xalign 0.5 yalign 0.03


    
# The game starts here.

label start:
    "..."
    $ my_list = [ {"img":"img_1", "txt":"argument 1", "pos":(100, 100), "to_find":True},
    {"img":"img_2", "txt":"argument 2", "pos":(200, 200), "to_find":False},
    {"img":"img_3", "txt":"argument 3", "pos":(800, 500), "to_find":False},
    ]
    "Let's play a game..."
    call my_game
    "Ok."
    
    $ my_list = [ {"img":"img_1", "txt":"argument 1", "pos":(100, 100), "to_find":False},
    {"img":"img_3", "txt":"argument 3", "pos":(800, 500), "to_find":True},
    ]
    
    "And once again..."
    call my_game
    "Great!"
    return
    
    
    
label my_game:
    $ can_click = False
    
    show screen find

    label my_loop:
        $ can_click = True
        $ res = ui.interact()
        $ can_click = False
        if res == "win":
            "Well done!"
            hide screen find
        else:
            "Nope... Try again."
            jump my_loop
        
    return

2. You can use python equivalents of Ren'Py statements to pass values to them from variables.

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$ renpy.jump(var_label_name)
$ renpy.show(var_img_name)

3. You can create some functions and use them as an action for buttons, etc. using Function action - https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/screen_a ... l#Function

4. You can create your own actions for buttons - copy/paste code for existing action from renpy_folder/renpy/common/00action_xxx.rpy, give this action an unique name and customize it the way you like.

[ComputerArt.Club]

Thank you Alex and Xavimat. Alex, your first example looks like what I was hoping for.
Do you think it will be possible for me to translate the arguments? Is there anything I should do to flat it for translation?

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label start:
    "..."
    $ my_list = [ {"img":"img_1", "txt":"argument 1", "pos":(100, 100), "to_find":True},
    {"img":"img_2", "txt":"argument 2", "pos":(200, 200), "to_find":False},
    {"img":"img_3", "txt":"argument 3", "pos":(800, 500), "to_find":False},
    ]
    "Let's play a game..."
    call my_game

will "argument 1" "argument 2" and "argument 3" show up for translation? Thank you again for all your help!!!

[ComputerArt.Club]

1. If you need some similar screens with different content, you could create a screen and fill it with the staff (arguments) from a list, like

Code: Select all

image img_1 = "img_1.png" # etc.

screen find(): # the same screen will be shown in different parts of game
    add "background"
    
    for item in my_list:
        if item["to_find"]:
            $ goal_name = item["txt"]
    
        imagebutton:
                idle item["img"]
                xalign 0.5
                pos item["pos"]
                if item["to_find"]:
                    action Return("win")
                else:
                    action Return("lose")
                sensitive can_click

    text _("Where is the [goal_name]?") xalign 0.5 yalign 0.03


    
# The game starts here.

label start:
    "..."
    $ my_list = [ {"img":"img_1", "txt":"argument 1", "pos":(100, 100), "to_find":True},
    {"img":"img_2", "txt":"argument 2", "pos":(200, 200), "to_find":False},
    {"img":"img_3", "txt":"argument 3", "pos":(800, 500), "to_find":False},
    ]
    "Let's play a game..."
    call my_game
    "Ok."
    
    $ my_list = [ {"img":"img_1", "txt":"argument 1", "pos":(100, 100), "to_find":False},
    {"img":"img_3", "txt":"argument 3", "pos":(800, 500), "to_find":True},
    ]
    
    "And once again..."
    call my_game
    "Great!"
    return

Thank you!!!! I really appreciate your hard work! Modified and tried this out and it is working very well so far, doing exactly what I was hoping to do. I will test again later to see whether I can get the arguments for text fields in screens to translate.

Thank you Xavimat for your time, too. I really appreciate it.

[ComputerArt.Club]

With a little further modification it looks like I have it working for translation!

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$ my_list = [{"txt":_("example1"), ...

put the text in parenthesis with the underscore before it as in screens and it will be marked for translation.
Thank you everyone!