The RenPy Training KN topic [Discussion of technical points]

[TrickWithAKnife]

Is it a KN? I've never been good with labels.
Anyway, if we are going to make this a reality, there are many technical aspects we need to discuss.

Please note, this thread is for the KN(?) that will give demonstrations and easy to follow instructions of Ren'Py's functions.
If there is an expanded VN on how to create a game, it will be a separate project.

First off, the window size needs to be the same for all the demos, to avoid any problems important them.

• The window size needs to be the same for all the demos, to avoid any problems important them.
  Is 800x600 too small? Need to keep in mind that some people use fairly old machines with a low screen resolution.
• Perhaps each new submission by you fine folks should be contained within its own .rpy file. Again, this will make compiling everything much easier.
• We need some visual resources that can be used by everyone who will make submissions. This will cut down on the file size dramatically.
• We will probably need other shared resources too, such as sounds and music.
• We need to figure out a logical, simple way to show the user the code that they are looking for. One idea I had was having 2 text boxes on screen at the same time sometimes: one for text and the other for code.
• I'm thinking maybe there should be menus throughout the instructions, so the user can skip things they already know, or jump to other relevant sections if needed.
• What are we going to call this? Something that makes to anyone.
• ? Please bombard this topic with questions or opinions.

[PyTom]

Is the goal of this to replace the current Ren'Py tutorial, or to make something standalone.

[TrickWithAKnife]

Option 2. This is more of a companion to the wiki.

But unless a lot of people are interested in contributing, it probably won't happen.

[Samu-kun]

You want the window size to be as big as possible. Try 1280x720 as a minimum. People with small monitors can always make the window smaller, but people with big monitors can't make the window bigger. Renpy will automatically reduce the window if it's bigger than the monitor resolution.

[mugenjohncel]

You want the window size to be as big as possible. Try 1280x720 as a minimum. People with small monitors can always make the window smaller, but people with big monitors can't make the window bigger. Renpy will automatically reduce the window if it's bigger than the monitor resolution.

I'm gonna go against this and say go with 800x600 or something slightly bigger like 1024x768... I know this is 2012 but not everyone has machines to play and process large resolution Ren'py games... yet... at least make it accessible to most people... Ren'py does scale things upward decently... I don't see "that much" difference when viewing an 800x600 image on my large 1920x1080 monitor (well... OK there is slight interpolation but not much)... Yes, renpy can scale down 1024x768 games to fit in the poor man's tiny 1024x768 screen but the processing overhead load is still the same as 1280x720 and that will hurt the poor man's computer that much who probably can barely display 1024x768...

The thing is... this project is meant to be a sort of universal tutorial for everyone then at least make it accessible to most people... or at least go with a mid sized resolution that will guarantee smooth playback on poor man's computer while being tolerable to the rich man's computer...

"POOF" (Disappears)

[Kuroneko_rg]

90% of the people I met with computers spent their whole money on buying a medium/high end PC. As a result, they ended with an old monitor
in the hope they were using it just in the time being. Only one of these people acquired a decent brand new full HD monitor, and it took him like 2 years or
more.
I'm not saying this is the same for everyone, but I think it is wiser to make things under the idea that the one using the software has the crappiest
equipment in the world.

[nyaatrap]

1366x768 (on which ren'py doesn't show 1280x720 dot by dot) is the most sold resolution by far. 1920x1080 comes next.
Anyway, none plays tutorial applications in full screen mode because they should be played along with a browser, a text editor, e.t.c.
Thus no need to be adjusted to a monitor, and better not to be wide windows which aren't good to work with other windows.

edit: In ren'py 6.14, config.gl_resize = False allows to show 1280x720 dot by dot on 1366x768.

[mugenjohncel]

Anyway, none plays tutorial applications in full screen mode because they should be played along with a browser, a text editor, e.t.c.

Yep!... More reason to go 800x600 or 1024x768

1366x768 (on which ren'py doesn't show 1280x720 properly) is the most sold resolution by far. 1920x1080 comes next.

Err... think about the poor guy on some third world country stuck on a Pentium4 with an integrated graphics on his mobo... you wouldn't want to leave the poor guy right?... I know they are getting rare but at least go with the assumption that everyone has crap specs... this way, the majority of the users who has decent specs will be guaranteed smooth playback...

"POOF" (Disappears)

[CaseyLoufek]

800x600 strikes me as a tad small. You either have to give up detail or deal with crowding. However 1024x768 seems to give me plenty of space to work and keeps images files smaller. We downscale a lot of images before using in game anyway, this way we can zoom in on a portrait in certain scenes without loss of detail.

Visual novels don't tend to use much processing power relative to other games thankfully. This means I'm not too worried about downscaling to support 800x600. The other side of the coin is that VNs are more likely to be played on lower end systems with smaller monitors, so I think making a game that won't go below 1280x720 is shooting yourself in the foot.

Also I think the mobile market is a good place to look to for the future and not everyone is going to have an HD device for awhile.

[fioricca]

Voting for 1024 x 768; it's neither too big nor too small, so it's perfect. Having multiple text boxes is a great idea, and the option to skip/navigate to wherever you like is a necessity!

Um -- not exactly a question, but to facilitate contribution, perhaps you could make a list of the topics you'd like to cover and then assign writers to it, instead of leaving it open-ended? It keeps things organised, and helps to eliminate the risk of two groups of people writing on the same topic. It would also help you to see what kind of graphics/resources you'll need, so users can contribute to that...