Re: patch for relationships. I'm new to Ren'Py but it looks like the reason the patch that was posted requires a game restart is because the relationships are defined in the "nameinput" label which only runs after all code is loaded and a game is started.
Other games I've looked at have this kind of variable defined in an "init" section. Patches then define only a new init section which runs later (I made mine init+99) and overrides the values set in the earlier init.
First time I tried this (moving the initial definitions to an init section in script.rpy and adding my own patch.rpy with "init+99: ...") it seemed I still had to restart, but on subsequent attempts with repeated changes to only my patch file, I got the new values from a save. The save was made
after restarting with the new code. Looks like it won't work with old saves. I don't know why this should be the case but I tested multiple times and my new saves load (after a game restart) with whatever latest value I have in my patch file. Saves from before I moved the variables to an init section in script.rpy still show "childhood friend."
Either way I think values like this are better defined in an init section than in the start label. It would mean going forward a patch won't require updating with every new game version in case of changes in script.rpy.
This is the change I made in script.rpy:
Code:
init:
$ Dad = "Bob"
$ Mum = "Elizabeth"
$ sister = "childhood friend"
$ brother = "best friend"
$ parents = "guardians"
label nameinput:
code...
(code that was here to set relationship values moved up to init section)
code...
And then my patch is simply:
Code:
init+99:
$ Dad = "The Hulk"
$ Mum = "Black Widow"
$ sister = "Captain Marvel"
$ brother = "Iron Man"
$ parents = "The Avengers"