Ren'Py Starting my game project after years lurking here. Anyway need advice.

[darkshaw]

The idea of the game is a Doomer self-improvement simulator with dating mechanics based on interaction stats similar to rogue like evolution.

Am still stuck at planning the UI and thinking the mechanics. Don't mind the current art (is just demo content tough wanted something similar).
Will try a hybrid solution for art drawing with AI. But need to figure how to produce consistent results. Still a noob.
If you have advice about this will thank you is my biggest headache.
Yes the stats are still bit confusing need to think a bit that also.
Anyway does the UI look too clunky?
Also i want to try to dev this in Renpy cause i want the game easily modable and an fast prototyping solution.
But is it? or are there better options?

Finally would you play this game. Is it an interesting concept?
Right also how should i advertise this?

 

[anne O'nymous]

Also i want to try to dev this in Renpy cause i want the game easily modable and an fast prototyping solution.
But is it? or are there better options?

For what you want to do, Ren'Py is the best solution.
Both easy to use and learn, and powerful enough for the game to adapt without for you to effectively duplicate everything ; write a scene once, and if you did it write it will apply to all the context. By example if you decide that the girl will dress less and less conservatively the more she's in love, you just need something like:

init python:

    def clothesType():
        if girl_love < 5:
            return "conservative"
        elif girl_love < 15:
            return "sexy"
        else:
            return "slutty"

label whatever:

    scene coffeeShopBackground
    show expression "girlSittingCoffee_{}".format( clothesType() )
    MC "Hello, how are you"
    GIRL "Fine, and happy to see you"
    [...]

If the girl have less that 5 love, the image shown to the player will be "girlSittingCoffee_conservative". If she have between 5 and 14 love, it will be "girlSittingCoffee_sexy". And if she have more than 14 love, it will be "girlSittingCoffee_slutty".

It's obviously possible to do the same with Unity, by example, but you'll have to write the code to handle this beforehand, while Ren'Py provide it natively.

You can also take a look at my signature, there's a How-To that cover the dynamism you want to put in your game.

 

[Affogado]

I might consider a shorter, less sim-like game to get comfortable with Ren'Py, first - even if it's something you never share. Get your workflow set. Get a taste so you know what you're in for, before you commit to anything.

 

[StormcloakSBTTN]

I recommend giving some giving out some beta tests, you are not the best critic for your game, because you made it haha

 

[darkshaw]

I might consider a shorter, less sim-like game to get comfortable with Ren'Py, first - even if it's something you never share. Get your workflow set. Get a taste so you know what you're in for, before you commit to anything.

This game is not about length as is very little story based. Is about mechanics and rogue like gameplay... So yes will need to test stuff first.

 

[Lerd0]

View attachment 3167085
The idea of the game is a Doomer self-improvement simulator with dating mechanics based on interaction stats similar to rogue like evolution.

Am still stuck at planning the UI and thinking the mechanics. Don't mind the current art (is just demo content tough wanted something similar).
Will try a hybrid solution for art drawing with AI. But need to figure how to produce consistent results. Still a noob.
If you have advice about this will thank you is my biggest headache.
Yes the stats are still bit confusing need to think a bit that also.
Anyway does the UI look too clunky?
Also i want to try to dev this in Renpy cause i want the game easily modable and an fast prototyping solution.
But is it? or are there better options?

Finally would you play this game. Is it an interesting concept?
Right also how should i advertise this?

..id' play it.....
..good luck.....throw me a link.....when u got smth.....

 

[darkshaw]

For what you want to do, Ren'Py is the best solution.
Both easy to use and learn, and powerful enough for the game to adapt without for you to effectively duplicate everything ; write a scene once, and if you did it write it will apply to all the context. By example if you decide that the girl will dress less and less conservatively the more she's in love, you just need something like:

init python:

    def clothesType():
        if girl_love < 5:
            return "conservative"
        elif girl_love < 15:
            return "sexy"
        else:
            return "slutty"

label whatever:

    scene coffeeShopBackground
    show expression "girlSittingCoffee_{}".format( clothesType() )
    MC "Hello, how are you"
    GIRL "Fine, and happy to see you"
    [...]

If the girl have less that 5 love, the image shown to the player will be "girlSittingCoffee_conservative". If she have between 5 and 14 love, it will be "girlSittingCoffee_sexy". And if she have more than 14 love, it will be "girlSittingCoffee_slutty".

It's obviously possible to do the same with Unity, by example, but you'll have to write the code to handle this beforehand, while Ren'Py provide it natively.

You can also take a look at my signature, there's a How-To that cover the dynamism you want to put in your game.

Thanks this is good advice.

 

[darkshaw]

I recommend giving some giving out some beta tests, you are not the best critic for your game, because you made it haha

Yes will do that.

 

[darkshaw]

..id' play it.....
..good luck.....throw me a link.....when u got smth.....

Thanks fren

 

[aereton]

Yes the stats are still bit confusing need to think a bit that also.
Anyway does the UI look too clunky?

I like the comic style, UIs tend to be too clean and too monotone these days so it's nice to see projects going back to stylized interfaces. Of course that's just my subjective opinion.
You could maybe jumble around the positioning of elements a bit, HUDs or UIs such as this always should get you pay attention to the most important sections at the first glance. I don't have any specific pointers but I'd recommend to try out a

You must be registered to see the links

and see if you can improve on that point with iteration and mix-n-match ideas.

I like the colour composition in your example image. I wouldn't change too much about that.

Also i want to try to dev this in Renpy cause i want the game easily modable and an fast prototyping solution.
But is it? or are there better options?

Renpy is certainly a viable option. Python is quite beginner friendly, and you will have to get at least a little bit into scripting to get these management mechanics in. Other options would have you create everything from scratch while Renpy gives you at least its VN mechanics to jumpstart from there. (I mean, if you were to use an engine like Unity for example, you'd have create dialogue systems first and how to stage scene data etc...) I never worked with Renpy in a meaningful way but even then I know there are quite a lot of resources for you from other developers to copy or learn from for the kind of things you want to do.

Finally would you play this game. Is it an interesting concept?
Right also how should i advertise this?

For me that depends on what kind of tags you are planning (maybe kinda important to think about as early as possible), but in general it sounds interesting. You shouldn't lean too heavily on the memes like Wojaks though, as it can make the experience look like a somewhat "cheap" parody that doesn't have much meat to its bones. Again, just my subjective POV though.

For advertising it, I would first try to go for a proof-of-concept, try to give the players of your first version a good glimpse on what you plan to do, doesn't have to have all the mechanics already in 100% but a decent chunk of it. As you are planning a management type game you should focus on systems over content first, implement your systems with only a bit of example content first and then go from there for the next releases. Try to go for a solid hour of playtime for the first release.
Once you have a little bit WIP to show off that you're proud of, consider opening a dev thread in the Programming, Development & Art section of the forum here. When you gather a little bit of engagement consider additionally going for your own little community corner like a discord server for example, those first few "zealots" (negative word I know but it often is what it is and I don't mean anything bad by it) are important in solidifying a following. If people see a dev that is engaging with players, communicates the development process often and updates the game at least a few times a year, you will already have a decent leg to stand on and puts you above at least 70% of DOA projects on here.

Godspeed!

 

[Affogado]

This game is not about length as is very little story based. Is about mechanics and rogue like gameplay... So yes will need to test stuff first.

I didn't mean length of the game, I meant length of the code. More than testing, get the experience of finishing a simple game in your toolkit before you launch into something complex. My advice is to make a short, simple, very basic Ren'Py game from start to finish, from idea to polish, so you can settle on a workflow that's comfortable to you.

Outline a short story with a few choices.
Implement that in the code.
Make or otherwise source all the art assets you need.

Maybe make it a prelude or something. Super short, but containing all the basic elements. Resist the urge to make it more complicated after the planning stage; that way lies madness.

After you have finished "a game" every project becomes easier because you know what you're doing, and you better understand the limits of what you can do with the tools you have.

 

[darkshaw]

I understand completely what you mean. But am not able to do it like you said not cause am presumptuous or anything like that. But im not able to focus on stuff i don't find stimulating and this stops my creativity and even ability to learn. I usually learn by trial and error overcomplicating stuff and then dumbing it down then complicating it again and only for projects am passionate about. Also it doesn't need to contain all features from the start.. Will upgrade it as the projects develops. My biggest headache isn't the dev part for now but the art.

 

[darkshaw]

I like the comic style, UIs tend to be too clean and too monotone these days so it's nice to see projects going back to stylized interfaces. Of course that's just my subjective opinion.
You could maybe jumble around the positioning of elements a bit, HUDs or UIs such as this always should get you pay attention to the most important sections at the first glance. I don't have any specific pointers but I'd recommend to try out a

You must be registered to see the links

and see if you can improve on that point with iteration and mix-n-match ideas.

I like the colour composition in your example image. I wouldn't change too much about that.



Renpy is certainly a viable option. Python is quite beginner friendly, and you will have to get at least a little bit into scripting to get these management mechanics in. Other options would have you create everything from scratch while Renpy gives you at least its VN mechanics to jumpstart from there. (I mean, if you were to use an engine like Unity for example, you'd have create dialogue systems first and how to stage scene data etc...) I never worked with Renpy in a meaningful way but even then I know there are quite a lot of resources for you from other developers to copy or learn from for the kind of things you want to do.



For me that depends on what kind of tags you are planning (maybe kinda important to think about as early as possible), but in general it sounds interesting. You shouldn't lean too heavily on the memes like Wojaks though, as it can make the experience look like a somewhat "cheap" parody that doesn't have much meat to its bones. Again, just my subjective POV though.

For advertising it, I would first try to go for a proof-of-concept, try to give the players of your first version a good glimpse on what you plan to do, doesn't have to have all the mechanics already in 100% but a decent chunk of it. As you are planning a management type game you should focus on systems over content first, implement your systems with only a bit of example content first and then go from there for the next releases. Try to go for a solid hour of playtime for the first release.
Once you have a little bit WIP to show off that you're proud of, consider opening a dev thread in the Programming, Development & Art section of the forum here. When you gather a little bit of engagement consider additionally going for your own little community corner like a discord server for example, those first few "zealots" (negative word I know but it often is what it is and I don't mean anything bad by it) are important in solidifying a following. If people see a dev that is engaging with players, communicates the development process often and updates the game at least a few times a year, you will already have a decent leg to stand on and puts you above at least 70% of DOA projects on here.

Godspeed!

Thanks for the long response. It is quite useful.

Will try to have a demo ready with the basic mechanics and then open a discord and the dev thread. As for the Wojack meme planned to give a bit of the vibe cause the game is a bit in the genre but still refine the art and the memes or dialogs. Just dunno yet the direction of the artstyle as am still a noob artist and am planning to integrate stable diffusion in some way in the project

 

[darkshaw]

Some Improvements in the UI but still looks clunky to me. Do you have an idea how to improve it?

 

[aereton]

View attachment 3174566


Some Improvements in the UI but still looks clunky to me. Do you have an idea how to improve it?

Consider adjusting the height and bringing the two panels marked with red in-line with the other top panels (marked in green). Makes the top elements more clear in communicating to the user that these are all persistent stats to keep an eye on.

Also, something pretty minor but on your dialogue options make sure that either you are using icons for every option or none at all. Design consistency is key. You could consider using more general icons instead of specific ones for each individual option if you want ("direct actions", "speech", etc).

 

[darkshaw]

Consider adjusting the height and bringing the two panels marked with red in-line with the other top panels (marked in green). Makes the top elements more clear in communicating to the user that these are all persistent stats to keep an eye on.

Also, something pretty minor but on your dialogue options make sure that either you are using icons for every option or none at all. Design consistency is key. You could consider using more general icons instead of specific ones for each individual option if you want ("direct actions", "speech", etc).

View attachment 3175948

Thanks will try this now. The only thing am not sure is if i want to add other elements in the top middle panel. Like moodlets.

 

[darkshaw]

Improved a bit. Now will prototype other screens. Is it better?