Tracking character approval of player

[MiaCorvere]

If I want to track how much a character likes the player, do I have to use persistent variables to store that data? My idea is that I have a variable for each character and depending on which dialogue options you pick, I add a number to that variable. If the number is high enough, you get a bonus dialogue option in some menus or extra scenes. But I'm a bit unsure how to define variables like that so that the progress is saved between play sessions

[m_from_space]

If I want to track how much a character likes the player, do I have to use persistent variables to store that data? My idea is that I have a variable for each character and depending on which dialogue options you pick, I add a number to that variable. If the number is high enough, you get a bonus dialogue option in some menus or extra scenes. But I'm a bit unsure how to define variables like that so that the progress is saved between play sessions

I think I should maybe make a simple guide regarding variables in Renpy soon.

No, you don't have to use a persistent variable for that. Persistent variables are useful for stuff outside of a game, like a gallery or achievements in the main menu. They "persist" even if you are not inside a game and are shared by all games (even those of different players on one pc or phone). So for example with a persistent variable you could count how often your game was started since the player installed it.

As for your question, just create a variable using default and Renpy will automatically save changes you made throughout the game. It will also set this variable to this default value every time a new game begins. Just think of "default" variables as variables per-game (per-save).

Code: Select all

# how much Eileen trusts the player
default eileen_trust = 0

Whenever you need a variable that won't change (and therefore doesn't need to be saved), use define instead. That's it. Only use default and define. Do not create variables within init python or init blocks.

[MiaCorvere]

Thank you, that helps a lot!