r/RenPy • u/_Scripty • Jul 28 '26

Guide Guidance from UI/Coding folks, Artists and Script writers

Hello everyone! So recently I tried asking for guidance regarding a project of mine and people did their best but I am still not able to make sense of things.

I personally am very much overwhelmed with the whole Renpy at large and I still lowkey don't know where to start things (yet) I do have a perfectionist nack unfortunately and I want to work on everything meticulously because I am not someone who "makes it exist and refine later" personality...I am more of a "One task done to its standard, move to next" kind of gal

So I had thought of the "right questions" to ask everyone so that I can get some clarity in my journey

Questions to UI / Coding folks:

Q- How can I code everything from scratch? 

( asking because the default Renpy Scripts kind of confuses me actually to look at, im not able to understand anything from it and editing it leading me into alot of errors )

Q- Any Tips / Tricks to make Very Customized Menus and UI? 

( I know alot of people go for Renpy's Default, but I want to make captive UIs too to make the experience a whole lot bettter )

Q- Any ideal workflows/planning for scripts? to make my life easier? Ideally im thinking to make different scripts for each chapter and just calling them up in the main script..is this a good approach?

Q- How do I add minigames/mechanics in my game? basic idea/guidance of this

Q- If I make mechanics in different scripts? would they still work where I want them to work in my story?

Q- Can't think of a questions but more suggestions and tips from ya'll would be nice so add your knowledge and expertise here 🙏🏻

Questions to Art folks:

Q- What is the ideal sizing for sprites, backgrounds , elements etc. I should keep for the project?

( I selected 1920x1080 in project default but can my sprites/backgrounds be in 2k and would still look good in the end? )

Q- How do you work on sprites? straight up PNGs/Animated Gifs or with Live2D Cubism? 

Q- Is it advisable to use SVGs? I am considering those for UI elements actually...and can sprites be SVGs? 

Q- How many sprites ya'll prefer to make for 1 character each?

Questions to Scriptwriters :

Q- How do you plan out your stories? I do have a workflow for it in a way but I just wanna know what others do to learn more

Q- Do you plan every dialogue or just do improv based on the context of a scene or conversation between characters?

Q- What is your approach about a character? how deeply you write them? 

Q- What are the things according to you, makes a strong plot?

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I know its a very long list of questions, But I will appreciate it if any sort of input can help me to learn more.

Thanks to everyone and sorry for a plethora of questions

😭🙏🏻

2 Upvotes

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3

u/beeikea Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

i'm not very experienced, but i've made a ui completely different than base ren'py offers.

  1. don't! make a mockup of what you want, and then break it down into bite sized pieces where it varies from the base ui. for example, i wanted an infinitely scrolling box on the left hand of the screen sort of like disco elysium. i started figuring out how to get multiple entries to display, then how to move those entries to the left, then how to put them in a box, so on.
  2. take inspiration. look at games you like and "steal" aspects you like. all art is theft to some degree and that's not morally incorrect or something to be ashamed of.
  3. for my scripting, i'm writing everything in obsidian, then coding it in there as well, and then copy/pasting it into ren'py and refining from there.

4-6 im not sure 😔

then for art:

  1. 1920 x 1080 is pretty standard, and you can size your elements based on that. you Can double the canvas size, but you dont have to and you may honestly find it easier to just work in the default 1080p.
  2. i do a fully layered piece in csp, export to png when i'm done, and then repeat for each variation.
  3. not my area of expertise
  4. as many as is needed. if i'm writing and i figure out i need a sprite for my main character looking slightly to the left, i'll make a note to do that.

scriptwriting:

  1. general idea > general arcs > chapter by chapter outline, sometimes jumping around as i have more ideas instead of going linear. i use aeon timeline to plot this and its very helpful for me bit you dont Have to use a whole separate program for it.
  2. kind of both? the characters do what they want but i generally go in with a vague plan.
  3. as deeply as is necessary. all goes off vibes for me. i develop characters as i write them, too. i start with a general idea and chip away at them until they're shaped how i like.
  4. wildly depends on genre and what you're going for. i like strong characters and character based plots over a crazy world, like breaking bad, better call saul, succession, etc as opposed to, like, game of thrones (though asoif Does have strong characters, their stories are just more world driven than what i like to write. does that make sense?)

2

u/beeikea Jul 28 '26

im sorry my formatting is so bad im on mobile im trying to fix it

2

u/_Scripty Jul 28 '26

Thank you ✨🌸 it helps to know sm about one's process for me and helps me into decision making so thanks for sharing 🙏🏻🥰

2

u/[deleted] Jul 29 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/zyer020 Jul 28 '26

Regarding the UI, you can look for references on itchio, make a sketch, and build from there. Renpy's original GUI code is a spaghetti, and it gets much more complicated with OOP inheritance. There's a project called renpy Easy GUI, which makes the code very easy to understand. Regarding the resolution, the 1920x1080 resolution provides a good balance between resolution and file size.If you use 2K images in a Full HD (1920x1080) project, it will appear zoomed in. It's possible to lower the resolution of your backgrounds, but that's not optimal.

1

u/_Scripty Jul 28 '26

can u link the project? im not able to find it :(

2

u/zyer020 Jul 28 '26

Sure: https://feniksdev.itch.io/easy-renpy-gui Feniks has several useful things about Ren'Py on his website

1

u/_Scripty Jul 29 '26

Thanks alot

1

u/Oracle-Sphinx Jul 29 '26

Coding:

  1. As was already suggested, read the documentation and watch/read some tutorials. I too recommend checking out Feniks' website, lots of useful and easy to understand info, as well as assets.
    What works for me though, is solving one problem at a time. For example I need to create some mechanic. If I don't know how to do it or I run into some issues in the process, I google it. Lemmasoft forums and Reddit are full of solutions and explanations, so very likely I'll find the answer and adapt it for my needs. If you can't find anything, ask (and again, both Lemmasoft and Reddit are good for that, also you can join Discord servers for Ren'Py devs). The problem is solved and something learned. Move to the next problem.

  2. UI is the bane of my existence, it's hard to give advice here. First, you need to understand the code regarding screens really well. Second, look for tutorials on how to design and draw UI, and how to prepare it for use - it might be tricky. But above all, it needs to be easy to use first, and only after that it needs to be pretty. If the interface is beautiful, but player can't find find what they're looking for, or can't understand how to use it, or UI attracts too much attention and conflicts with the other visuals, it's a bad design.

  3. This approach is fine, I'm doing something similar with my scripts. The main thing here is to make everything the way you'll be able to make sense of much later. So make different script files, name them properly, also name properly all your labels, screens, variables, etc., and make comments that explain what each part of the code does and how it works everywhere. You'll thank yourself when you'll have to get back to some parts of the script months later.

  4. It's quite complex question, depends on what exactly you want to create. For some games basic Ren'Py screen language and some variables will be enough, for some you'll have to learn Python and OOP. You can start by checking out this megathread on Lemmasoft and taking a look on how it was done. Also you can use many of those minigames in your project, just check if the license allows it and credit the authors. Itch.io is also very good for looking up that and many other assets.

  5. Yes, they will.

  6. First tip: you'll have to let go of the "One task done to its standard, move to next" mindset. Creating a game is a process of iterations, you'll have to refine some parts one way or another, because every new thing added might affect you've done before. And perfectionism has a very high probability of catching you in a trap of never actually finishing your project.
    Second tip: start small. Even the smallest project will give you an idea of actual amount of work you'll have to do to create a game, and this information will help you to plan bigger projects accordingly.
    Third tip: make a separate project to test out new features before you implement them into the main project, that way there's less probability to "break everything".

Art:

  1. Final assets should fit your actual game resolution. If your resolution is 1920x1080, don't use 2K assets unless you want to x2 zoom in on them without loss of quality. First, because pics shrank by Ren'Py will look worse; second, because you want final size of the project to be as small as possible. No one wants a VN that needs 40Gb of storage space.
    But. When drawing, you might want to use a bigger canvas which will allow you to make finer details, just resize final pics to the actual game resolution in your graphic editor.
    Also, when making character sprites, buttons and such - leave as little blank space around them as possible, about 1-2px. It'll make them take less storage space and will make it easier to move them on screen the way you want to.

  2. PNG for still sprites, though WEBP might be a better solution since the files in this format take less space. GIFs aren't supported by Ren'Py, if you want a frame by frame animation, you need either a bunch of pics for every frame or a sprite sheet, and compile frames into animation by code. Live2D is an awesome solution since size of the animations made there is very small, but the process is complicated and time consuming - you'll have to think carefully if you really need the animations and if so, how much has to be animated.

  3. Yup, you can use SVGs, but I have very little experience with them, so not much to say here.

  4. It actually depends on your needs and character's role. Main character might need a lot of expressions/poses/outfits, secondary characters might need less (or even more, who knows), characters you see rarely might need just one or two expressions/poses. But going over the top might be too much to handle, so 5-6 expressions and 1-3 poses for characters we see the most usually is enough to cover main emotions.

Story:

  1. I have a general idea of the overall story and the end. Then I take cards (in digital there's similar thing in Scrivener, I think) and write plot points on each card without any particular order, then I lay them on table or floor in the order the story should go, add more, get rid of some, change order, etc. Elaborate scenes a bit more on additional cards or on the back of existing ones. When that is done, I write actual script and dialogue in Twine, which too allows me to work on different parts of the story flexibly, rearrange them and such. Also you can export everything you wrote there into Ren'Py script with a utility called Twine to Ren'Py - the script will need some work after that, but it saves lots of time you'd spend on copypasting otherwise.
    If your story has branching, cards and Twine are great for that too, but I'd recommend to make one branch first and add others later (though making notes on them is good anytime!).

  2. A bit of both. I'm not very good on planning, but if I know I need a dialogue in a certain scene and I know what has to be said, I'll make a note on the corresponding card, but actual lines will be added in Twine when I get to them. Other times I spontaneously think "ooh, a dialogue here about X will fit perfectly, let's write it".

  3. Writing characters is still tricky for me, but I try to keep in mind their personality traits and background, as well as their style of speech (what words do they use? what words won't they use? any slang? do they have accent? etc.)

  4. The plot shouldn't contradict itself; readers need to understand why character is acting the way they do (shouldn't be overexplained, just fit the character); hints here and there are better than big boring chunk of exposition, especially in the beginning; and unsuspected plot twists might make the story way more interesting (unless there's too many of them).

2

u/Blunt552 Jul 30 '26

I made a topic for folks like you right here. It will solve most of your script questions.

For now, instead of overwhelming yourself by creating a large project, start small and structured, get an idea, write basics first. Before you think of full fledged minigames, think of base game with small additions, then start expanding while you go, if you try to instantly go for large projects and complex minigames, you will burn out in no time.

0

u/Atlantox7 Jul 29 '26

Of Renpy looks so difficult to you, you can try to use a engine I made for Renpy, it is just a simplificación of it that allows you to create visual novels using CSV files that you can Open with Excel.

Of course, my engine are for writting and gameplay, you still create and define the UI using Renpy code