Ren'Py Alternatives to dialogues on bottom covering the pictures

[anne O'nymous]

but i definitely had to think about it a lot before implementing and expected more negative feedback than i got. i expected people to hate my first game.

It wasn't a criticism, what Osanaiko said about it prove that it's not just a whim you had.

 

[L8ERALgames]

It wasn't a criticism, what Osanaiko said about it prove that it's not just a whim you had.

i never took it as criticism.

 

[FranceToast]

so long as things fit nicely on a screen and the UI is cohesive, i think most people get used to anything fairly quickly in a game.

Just tried out Shag the Hag-it takes a little getting used to, but you frame the images pretty nicely, and I can see some benefits to the more squareish aspect ratio for sex scenes. Intriguing!

 

[osanaiko]

Y'all should start a movement. Soon there will be dozens of you!

 

[L8ERALgames]

Just tried out Shag the Hag-it takes a little getting used to, but you frame the images pretty nicely, and I can see some benefits to the more squareish aspect ratio for sex scenes. Intriguing!

i find the sex scenes easier to fit more into the relative square than into the long narrow rectangle. also, with my newer games (reconnect is a better example than STH1), i like how characters can then flll the screen as much as possible.

someone here mentioned there's a lot of "empty" unused background int he long screen style and i kind of agree with that.

that's a personal thing, of course. i wouldn't want to tell anyone to follow my way of doing things and certainly don't think it's the BEST way. it's just worked for me.

 

[shabadu]

I think the obvious answer is that we need a return to our roots - a sort of Retro Revivalism, if you will. Can't cover up any of the action if all the images are windowed and separated by a thematic border from the text box!

 

[Gunizz]

Though, I have to ask...how does asking for alternatives for the dialogue box in Ren'py lead to a whole tangent about HTML/CSS/JS vs Python and how one is superior to the other?

I did not say anything about Python being "inferior", also because Python is a programming language not a markup or styling language. I never blamed Python. I just said that using content blocks and accurately defining the aspect with web design technologies (HTML+CSS+JS) is quite easy while in Ren'Py it seems much more complicated, and some things are not possible at all.

I find that in text heavy games (which I do prefer), I don't focus enough on the graphics when there is such a long bar of text on the bottom, and tend to tab thru the text.

That's the same experience and concern I have. With full screen CGI comics I tend to scan each single image, appreciate it and then focus on the text. While in RenPy with text on bottom I naturally tend to immediately focus on text and click after reading, like it's a book with a single sentence per page. I feel I am too immersed in the dialogues and less in the visual aspect. And that's a pity because the renderings in the VNs are often finely crafted and deserve more appreciation.
Also, as said before, the text overlaps important parts of the renderings, so I would have to constantly press H and that's very annoying, so I rarely do it.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I just said that using content blocks

Like Ren'Py do. Its screen building depend on a principle that fall back to the same logic than HTML's box model.

and accurately defining the aspect with web design technologies (HTML+CSS+JS)

Again like Ren'Py do. It don't rely on CSS, but its style system is near to the Cascade Style Sheet model.

is quite easy

And here, all web designers are laughing out loud.

while in Ren'Py it seems much more complicated, and some things are not possible at all.

And what are those impossible things ? So far everything you named is in fact possible...