Featured Ren'Py Games

[DaFool]

This is what we currently have:

Code: Select all

<random>
{{random/Moonlight Walks}}
----
{{random/Starlight Episode Zero}}
----
{{random/renaiblogger}}
----
{{random/Real Life}}
----
{{random/Songs of Araiah}}
----
{{random/Katawa Shoujo Act One}}
</random>

<random>
{{random/Ori, Ochi, Onoe.}}
----
{{random/Summer Session}}
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{{random/Magical Boutique}}
----
{{random/Elven Relations}}
</random>

The top bunch is more VN-focused, the bottom bunch more python-focused.

The page for creating the bigger screenshot blurb is as follows:

Code: Select all

http://www.renpy.org/wiki/Template:random/Name_of_your_Game

Try it with one of the games above to see an example.

So if you really feel about your game feel free to create a random blurb on it.

But only sysops can change the Home Page to point to these random pages.

Apart from the games already listed, here are the new nominations (I only skimmed this thread again, so might have missed something, feel free to add)

Tying Threads
Winter Shard
Starlit Sky
Dream Savior Gakuen
The Rutabega
Heileen
Spirited Heart
and I might add Science Girls!

(if you think commercial games are starting to dominate, that's what you get for expecting commercial quality)

[PyTom]

Here's my list:

Moonlight Walks 2.0.
Ori, Ochi, Onoe. (if remade to use a modern version of Ren'Py).
Elven Relations.
Magical Boutique.
Starlit Sky.
Time's Tear.
Starlight Ep. 0.
Summer Session.
Songs of Ariah.
Daemonophilia.
KS Ep 1.
Science Girls.

[Guest]

B&W still out? What happened to Garden Society Kykuit and Metropolitan Blues?

[PyTom]

I think there's something of a bias against B&W, yes... less so in GSK's case, as I think it makes better use of black and white. But there are a few other things in play here:

I don't want to feature games made with very old versions of Ren'Py. (I don't recall, offhand, if either of these games has been remade.)

I'd like to spread games out throughout time, rather than only featuring the older games that everyone has played.

To some extent, my criteria was "if I wanted to introduce someone to EVNs made using Ren'Py, what would I show them today". I probably wouldn't show them MB, because the art was a bit limited in that game. (IIRC, we had to keep the text box up all the time, since it didn't extend below the girl's neck.) I'm also not a huge fan of GSK as an intro game, because it introduces the characters, sets up a relationship, and ends.

[mikey]

Ori, Ochi, Onoe. (if remade to use a modern version of Ren'Py).

From my side O3 is done and it's a closed project, it's really unlikely I will return to it in any form. (This isn't meant to say anything more, it's just a fact.)

[Vatina]

Here are mine:

Moonlight Walks 2.0.
Magical Boutique.
Starlight Ep. 0.
Winter Shard
Dream Chasers

[Jake]

I'm still not sure what the point of this 'featured games list' is.

Is it supposed to give people an idea of what can be done in Ren'Py? If that's the case, then really - isn't that what the demo's for? It seems pointless, in that case.

Alternatively, is it just supposed to be an advertisement to promote and popularise Ren'Py itself by showing things which might entice people to start using it? In which case, which people? Are you looking for the titles which have the most mainstream appeal to get the most people interested in the engine with no other concerns? The titles which would stand a chance of convincing VN skeptics that the format isn't just dating sims and porn? The titles which are likely to appeal to people who are in turn more likely to actually complete games themselves? I'd suggest different things in each case, and I'd certainly be careful to leave some particular things off the list in some cases.


Scanning down the list of Ren'Py titles and picking out the ones which I actually played and thought were a cut above the average for one reason or another (whatever you take that to mean), taking out anything which would offend sensitive prime-time American sensibilities to get a simple first-pass list, I get:

Ori, Ochi, Onoe (Nice all-round presentation, polish.)
Lucy's Revenge (Great presentation, humour.)
Magical Boutique (Uses Ren'Py to create a management sim.)
Cell Phone Love Letter (Extensive interface customisation.)
Starlit Sky (Nice writing.)
Winter Shard (Good example of how to branch a story well.)
Starlight Ep. 0 (Nice presentation, cute writing... and it worked on it's own despite strictly being an intro to something bigger.)
Tying Threads (Nice writing, BnW->Colour effect worked well.)
Heart of Fire (Total customisation into RPG-battle game, extensive interface customisation.)
Summer Session (Polished implementation of dating sim-style game.)
Songs of Araiah (Nicely presented, decent writing.)
Katawa Shoujo Act 1 (Excellent presentation.)
Science Girls! (Total customisation into RPG-battle game, decent presentation.)

There's some titles that I'd have suggested, but would undoubtedly have been considered too risqué. There's certainly some stuff I've heard good things about but haven't played and thus missed off my list.

That said, there's also several games I would suggest really shouldn't be on such a list, whatever the goal:

Moonlight Walks (Either version; it's just... bland and sterile. It makes an excellent demo game to show people how to write simple scripts, but it's really not anything to show off the engine or scene with in any capacity.)
Dream Saviour Gakuen (This game is a crime against grammar. Forget the content, which I know some don't like either, it's just hard to read.)
The Rutabega (Really, either Samu-kun's correct in accusing Wintermoon of trolling, there, or Wintermoon's standards are a lot lower than his posts suggest. It's not atrocious, by any means, but the presentation is detached, the writing isn't great by any stretch of the imagination and there's no sound whatsoever.)

[Wintermoon]

The Rutabega (Really, either Samu-kun's correct in accusing Wintermoon of trolling, there, or Wintermoon's standards are a lot lower than his posts suggest. It's not atrocious, by any means, but the presentation is detached, the writing isn't great by any stretch of the imagination and there's no sound whatsoever.)

To defend my choice: I've said before that I'm willing to forgive any number of flaws if there's something I really like, and I really like the concept of "The Rutabega". It's truly unique among Ren'Py games. Plus, it's very short, which I consider a huge bonus. Other VNs may have a better payoff in the end, but they make you read through pages and pages of introduction first. Reading "The Rutabega" takes like one minute, and I think that's a minute well spent.

By all means, don't feature it if you don't like it or if it doesn't meet your requirements, but I'd rather not be called a troll just because my tastes differ from those of the majority.

[sooty15]

Troll...

there seems to be alot of this going around...

[Ren]

One game I absolutely have to mention - even if it will never end in the list - is The Fucking Question. It has one of the nicest interfaces and there were quite a number of things that made me go in awe of what you could do with the engine. Plus, it's got Mugen's art!

(I don't want to insist, but... maybe with a warning screen or something before the download page?)

That said, there's also several games I would suggest really shouldn't be on such a list, whatever the goal:

Moonlight Walks (Either version; it's just... bland and sterile. It makes an excellent demo game to show people how to write simple scripts, but it's really not anything to show off the engine or scene with in any capacity.)
Dream Saviour Gakuen (This game is a crime against grammar. Forget the content, which I know some don't like either, it's just hard to read.)
The Rutabega (Really, either Samu-kun's correct in accusing Wintermoon of trolling, there, or Wintermoon's standards are a lot lower than his posts suggest. It's not atrocious, by any means, but the presentation is detached, the writing isn't great by any stretch of the imagination and there's no sound whatsoever.)

I agree with each one of those, as you know since we've discussed about it. Unless we have to feature MW because it's the software's creator's game, I really don't see anything for which it stands out.
DSG has more than just atrocious grammar and I suspect it could even scare some people away.

(Seriously, is TFQ worse when we talk about a game where a loathsome coach sexually harasses a student in one of the endings? I might be an exception, but I found it disturbing)

I don't know about Wintermoon's intention, but I must admit I took it as a joke when I saw the proposal for the Rutabega. Probably there was just a misunderstanding, it's easy in internet forums. :3
That said: no, I wouldn't feature it at all. There are other games I wouldn't personally put in the list, but this is definitely enough of a NO to have to say it.

My list would be:

Tying threads (the story was very engaging);
Magical boutique (it shows quite some tricks the engine can do, and the characters are also appealing);
Katawa shoujo (mostly on a technical and graphical point of view);
Cell phone love letter (quite a nice customisation of the interface, and I liked what Scout did with the way the endings work);

[Nour93]

Okay so...to start with i need help with the language... I KEEP GETTING ERRORS...next...no matter how many times i look through the tutorials i cant understand them (them being the in game tutorial and the Ren'Py wiki tutoial) Is There Anyone Who Can Help Me Understand this stuff?

[LVUER]

How about Memo? The story is ok (though lacking in some areas and ending), the characters are quite ok, the music ... is no comment there, but the most important is the art! Customized interface (one of the most extensive customization in RenPy), fully original hand-drawn BG, lots of CG and sprite (and it's Doomfest art, you know the quality).

I guess in the end, what it really shines in is the art and interface departments.