how to change characters names - SOLVED (kinda)
so to anyone wondering how to change the names of the other characters, I'm gonna leave this message here for you to find incase anyone was searching for it like I did.
the Dev made a great game here, however the names of the other characters other than the MC (main character) are fixed so the player can't change them. in order to change them you can either use Renpy (not what I used here so I can't be 100% sure) or use the [Ren'Py] UnRen.bat v0.91. basically run this program, press 1 and enter, this will extract the Rapa packages. once this is done exit the program and you will notice new files in your game folder.
please take note that any changes done to the game files is your own responsibility, the game Dev will not assist you with anything if you alter the game files in any way! you are also not allowed to upload any changed content made by the Dev without his permission!
also important... I didn't fully test this, as far as I can see everything works correctly. if you break anything that's on you, DO NOT PM THE DEV TEAM ABOUT THIS! if you require help you can message me privately, and only me. if I made a mistake I will assist you in fixing whatever it is you need and will edit this comment for future read.
let's start...
after using the UnRen.bat v0.91 program, you will go into the game folder and see a yellow folder called "script". inside it you will need 2 folders. one of them is called "data define" and the second one is "story"
the data define folder will have a RPY file that can be opened with notepad, it is called "data define". inside it you will see many lines, for example -
Chara_define" RPY file (opens in notepad) is the first one. inside you will see something like "define m = Character("Melissa",color="#e53cbb",window_top_padding=5,who_outlines=[(2, "#232323", 0, 0)])
we don't care about most of it, what we need to change is only the name "Melissa" or whatever character name you want to change. we do not touch the "define m" because this is how the game defines the character Mellisa in the game. changing the name here, let's say we change Melissa into "Cookie", her name title in the game will now be "cookie".
you do the above for each character you want to have a name change, you can use your real family and friends names if that's your thing. tho I would argue against it for your sanity...
the next folder we need is the "Story" yellow folder. inside this folder you will find many RPY files (once again can be opened with notepad) these are basically the scripts, the dialogue the different characters are using. the title of the characters is different because we changed it, but the other characters still call them by their original names as if unchanged. what you need to do now is enter let's say "Fiona" RPY file, and inside you will see her character dialogue. "Fiona" is the Mom in the incest version incase you were wondering.
you will see text like below...
syn "Hey {b}{i}[pname]{/b}{/i}, if some bad girls in the school troubles you, feel free to call me."
j "Oh, don't mind, these things won't happen."
f "So, how was campus life on the first day in this town?"
j "Yes, I met a lot of people, {b}{i}Principal May{/b}{/i}, {b}{i}Sarah{/b}{/i}, {b}{i}Chelsea{/b}{/i}."
j "Of course, and {b}{i}Claude{/b}{/i} and {b}{i}Ben{/b}{/i}."
syn"Who is {b}{i}Sarah{/b}{/i} and who is {b}{i}Chelsea{/b}{/i}?"
scene story01_fiona_06 with dissolve
if you go back to the define chara file you will know what j and f and syn means. these are letters our beloved Dev used to avoid using the full name of the characters, thus saving time on giving us faster glorious updates. in this case F means Fiona, syn means the character Syndra and J means the main character (the only character that you are allowed to change the name inside the game - man I wish I knew how to simply add a name change inside the game for other characters, but I'm not a coder of Renpy so... sorry. this would also probably take longer to do)
now in the example above where the J and F and Syn are talking to each other, the title names will appear as you change them. because the letters will now assign the names you selected in the chara_define (unless you didn't save it after making the changes :/) however the Dev in his infinite wisdom decided to use the full character names for the dialogue instead of the letters. so let's say if J wants to say "hello m", the game will make him say "hello cookie" because if you remember we change m assigned Melissa name into Cookie. however sometimes in the dialogue the Dev will not use the letters but instead the full name. in the above text example you can see that j is saying -
"Yes, I met a lot of people, {b}{i}Principal May{/b}{/i}, {b}{i}Sarah{/b}{/i}, {b}{i}Chelsea{/b}{/i}."
May and Sarah are character names, I am not sure why the dev didn't use the letters instead. even if you changed may and sarah names in the chara_define file, the character j will still call them may and sarah. this is because in the current Dialogue text we are viewing this is the text shown, in order to change may and sarah into whatever you want in the game, you will need to change their names here. however there is a lot of text here, so to search each name will take forever.
and this is where we have a problem, because the Dev choose to not use special defined letters but names instead. if you try to use ctrl+H and choose a selected name and then replace all with your new name. you will not only change the dialogue names that you want, but the coding itself (fade sarah etc...). and let's not forget that there isn't a single huge script of the entire plot, so if you did go and change name by name, and you still see the original names being used. this means there is a text file for that dialogue that you need to find in the "Story" yellow folder and change that one as well.
so basically you now have your answer, you can indead change all the character names. but you can't just do it automatically because it will break the script and crash the game since it will replace the exact same word (name you wanted to replace) because that same word was used in the coding itself, not just the dialogue. so to change the names one by one will take hours on hours...
and here I am asking the game Dev if there is a solution, after all the MC has a name change inside the game. what if instead using "show Fiona at left,mainchat" we use her assigned letter (that wasn't changed) will that work? and if so, why wasn't this done beforehand? feel free to correct me if I am wrong here, as I am not a renpy coder like yourself. also know that whatever the answer is, I have high respect for your amazing work.