DSE game in the works

[Icekiss]

GAME STATUS:
- initial day finished
- all of the initially available actions are fleshed out

game is attached to this post

Installation instructions:
1. make sure you have renpy installed in at least version 4.10
(can be found at http://www.bishoujo.us/renpy/ )
2. rename the "dse" folder you have within your renpy folder
3. extract one of the files attached to this post into your renpy folder
4. windows: run "run_dse.exe"
4. linux: run "python run_dse.py"

-----------------------------

Idea behind the game:

This isn't intended to become a game you play from start to finish to achieve a certain ending. It is intended to become a game you play for the enjoyment of playing it, instead. And to discover what you can do. Maybe like sim city
It is a simulation, and NOT primarily a dating simulation, although I do intend to add such content later on.
I am trying to make the game world as flexible as I possibly can, so that you can see small changes everywhere, based on what you have done.
I will provide all the game content under the GPL, so that whoever wants, is free to add onto it. The game system is dynamic enough to make it feasable for content from different persons to work together.

----------------------------

The main part of what I have isn't actual game content (yet), but the game engine.
I started with PyTom's dse customization of Ren'Py, but the only part of that which has stayed unchanged is the event engine.

I have added in the concepts of dates (as a time concept, not an activity ), actions, persons, relationships, occupations, locations, and (game) objects.
The engine is still very much in flux, but most of the functionality I want is sketched out.

I am opening a thread about it now to get people interested, and maybe even find someone willing to draw graphics for it. The game is heavily text based, and will stay this way. But while it doesn't need graphics, with Ren'Py, it is very easy to add them in, and they could improve immersion immensely (But I don't have a hand for drawing, and the game doesn't need them bad enough for me to try to draw them).

Graphics I would be interested in if someone feels the itch to make them (and is willing to release them under GPL):

Backgrounds:
-The characters room (gender neutral)
-The classroom (without students)
-The library (I think I have a good one here, so if styles don't clash, it can stay)
- living room (same as library)

Characters:
Tim, Lisa, Mom, Tina
with the following expressions: At least sad, happy and concerned/thinking. Additionally used would be angry (defaults to sad), sighing/unnerved (defaults to concerned), and very happy (defaults to happy)
I liked the the way portrays of the narrating characters were shown in "When I Rule The World" very much. So if someone is willing to do something similar for both the boy and the girl, with at least the three basic expressions (so 6 altogether), they would almost certainly get used.

Screensize is 800x600. The space for the background graphics would shrink if I do get portraits for the character.

---------------------------------------

The game, as it is now, is actually playable and bugfree as far as I can see without extensive testing. It will just become boring after a week of game time or so, because nothing much happens after the initial day... (this is not entirely true anymore)

[chronoluminaire]

Potentially useful photos for processing for the classroom (I didn't find these in time for WIRTW ): 1, 2. You can type in a keyword on the left to search for other photos. Each photo's usage conditions are different; those two can be freely used.

I'm likely to be starting work on a DSE-based game fairly soon, so I'd be very interested to see what you've come up with.

As for where to upload it: Possibly contact Eclipse or Py'Tom to see if they'd be willing to offer you some bandwidth on the renai.us domain? I'm not sure whether your project would fall under the usual remit of the site, though, since it's not an actual completed game yet... Maybe sign up for Gmail and just email it around as attachments? I can get you an invite

[PyTom]

You should also now be able to attach files to board posts, although I haven't really tested the new feature yet.

[Icekiss]

Thanks PyTom
I hadn't noticed that feature yet. I guess we will see how well it works...

@chronoluminaire:
Thanks for the link. I have registered myself at the site, and have already found a good and free replacement for my library picture. Will have to try out the program used in the other thread, and see whether I can get it to run under wine...
Feel free to poke around, and take any engine code you like. But I wasn't joking when I said things were still shifting around there. And the source code documentation definitely isn't up to par yet! (And there's probably quite a few bugs in there, too. The whole thing is only a few days old, after all. Please keep that in mind.)

PS: There are still two or three text lines from PyTom's demo game left over. Have no fear, they are only placeholders, and will get replaced. Although I find the "rolling cities into balls" line very cute, and am still trying to figure out what exactly it means. *smirk*

[Icekiss]

Update:
uploaded a new version in the first post. If that update worked, there should now be three backgrounds in the game: The diary, with filling color changed to black, a different (and free) picture for the library, and a background for the day planner (new). I'd say that where there are pictures, things look now decidedly more pleasing.
Apart from that, there was a lot of engine work behind the scenes. The source code documentation is slowly getting there. (I hope this helps chronoluminaire)
And last, and least , there are two new diary entries, mainly added to test a few features.

Well, I am looking forward to some feedback about the engine (or the characters, or the backgrounds...)

EDIT: And I have rewritten the last few lines left over from PyToms demo game.

[Icekiss]

Update:
Its been a month, but I have not been idle.

changes in this version (I should really start to number them):

Engine:
-Much more generalized action, Location, and Object classes. They now have a common base class (Nested), which holds most of the code
-Extensive unified condition framework, making it easy to define when certain actions or Locations are available
-Relationships, static and dynamic, and a lot of naming logic to go with it
-Occupations, who allow the NPCs to lead a life of their own
-lots of bug squashing, where ever I could spot them

User Visible:
-intelligent save names
-overlay, which can be maximized or minimized via mouse click, and the images to go with it
-help screens for the stats in day planning mode (accessible by clicking on a stat name)

Content:
-consequences for skipping school (beyond losing trust, which was already implemented)

-(and probably more things I just can't think of right now)

I still have ideas for the engine, and I won't say they will be small matters, but this is going somewhere. I already like this version much better - it looks sleeker.

It should also show Py'Tom that all my nagging is going somewhere, so maybe that's some consolation to him when he grows frustrated with me.

@PyTom: If you have the time, maybe you could tell me why rollback doesn't seem to work in a certain case. To avoid the (small) spoiler, I will send a PM.

As always, all kinds of comments are appreciated, be they artistical, technical, or just grammatical. I want to hear them all.

[Icekiss]

Small update:
-Added in a credits screen (accessible from the main menu)
-fixed an (uncritical) bug with occupations
-gave the thing a version number: 0.2.1 (visible in window title)
-fixed a few typos

So no reason to redownload for those that got the previous version (retroactivelly called 0.2)

The problem with rollback will be fixed in the next Ren'Py release - many thanks to PyTom. Until then, it's uncritical (I hope).

@PyTom: Is the way I have implemented the credits ok? I have tried to mirror the way the other menu screens are handled. It still feels a bit weird because I can save from the credits screen , but since I can't seem to do any mischief with it, I guess it works...

@all: I am still looking for a good photo I can process into a classroom picture (without people, please). Maker of the photo gets a mention in the credits.

[Megaman Z]

hmm... if only I could get a picture of a classroom... darnit! (my high school doesn't allow me to take a camera to school...)

[Icekiss]

Sounds weird. Why wouldn't they? Handys I can sort of understand (and out of the classroom, even they should be fine), but cameras? What the heck?
I'm not in school anymore, but I can't remember ever hearing of a rule like that...

Oh, and one thing about the photo: Sharp and distinct lines are better, since they make processing it easier.

[rioka]

That is a bit drastic, instituting a rule like that. What happens to the yearbook staff who generally walks around with a camera? And what about during events such as the school play, winter/summer music concerts, and so forth? That is absolutely rediculous. Someone should challenge that rule...

Anyways, sounds like you're making some headway Icekiss. Wonderful! I'm a tad busy at the moment but I hope to have a look at what you've done when I get the chance and provide some feedback. Keep up the good work! =)

[Kikered]

Well, there was a picture of a room that might pass for a classroom used for the "Photos to Lineart" tutorial found here.

Good luck with your DSE game!

[Icekiss]

Yes, I have seen it, but:
a) I need a photo I actually have permission to use.
b) I'd like a perspective from the students chair, so the picture shows what the character would see while siting in class and listening to the lecture. (again, except the people)

The whole thing will be used in a slightly abstract way of course, since I will use it for all kinds of school situations, and most of them won't have sitting the character in his chair.
But since I want one picture to represent all of those situations, this is what comes to mind when I hear the word "school".
After all, this is the view one has to endure for most of the time while there...

oh, and requirement c), although that one is fullfilled in the picture in the tutorial:
It has to be possible to insert other characters in the picture and have them look realistic, or at least sensible. That was a problem in the classroom picture used in "When I rule the world".
If the picture is bigger than 800x600, I can crop it, which would make fullfiling this last requirement easier.

Good luck with your DSE game!

Thanks for the good wishes. Comments would be even more appreciated. *hint*

[Megaman Z]

Sounds weird. Why wouldn't they? Handys I can sort of understand (and out of the classroom, even they should be fine), but cameras? What the heck?
I'm not in school anymore, but I can't remember ever hearing of a rule like that...

Oh, and one thing about the photo: Sharp and distinct lines are better, since they make processing it easier.

I never could figure that one out... oh, well. I think I can find some way to legally take some pictures. it may not be from my school, but I doubt that matters.

[Icekiss]

Update to 0.2.2:
-Fixed a crash in an obscure path choice. Was calling a function that had been renamed.
That's the problem with runtime languages like python: Unless the code is actually executed, there are a lot of things that will pass unnoticed...
(and a crash is reason enough for a new upload, I think)
-A warning: There are now two menu choices were you will see something like "%(variablename)s". This is an intended bug (as weird as that sounds). You get to see this because Ren'Py currently doesn't do variable evaluation in menu choices. But I've got the promise that it will be supported in Ren'Py 5.1 . And since this is only a tech demo, I don't think it is worthwile to circumvent the problem in the meantime.

@Megaman Z:
Thanks for helping. Lets see what you can come up with!

[Icekiss]

version 0.3 uploaded.

Improvements:
-Written and applied a naming convention.
Since I want it to be possible for others to add in event libraries, it should be clear which rules labelnames and global names have to follow, to avoid clashes.
All global variables and labels in basicEvents and initialEvents changed accordingly.
The rules are explained in "doc/development notes.txt"
-Introduced hidden periods around the visible ones. This allows for exacter modeling and answers such questions as: But are they really both at home that day for lunch?
Rewritten school skipping consequences to take this into account -> now much more generic.
-Unified code for List filters.
-Initial music handling code written, and 2 background music pieces added: diary and commute, both composed by shizeetv2.
-miscellaneous small stuff

There are now two downloads. One with midi files only, and one with both midi and ogg files (since the midi files take up only 15kb of space)

Unfortunately, for me playing with midis segfaults after a few seconds of music (but I DO hear them playing until then). I can play them in timidity without problems.
I'd appreciate feedback on whether that's the same for everyone, or a problem on my end.
(I won't tackle it either way until the promised sound library rewrite)

I hope I didn't overlook any crashes. Lots of renaming, after all...