Hi I'm very new to making games and I was wondering if anyone had some advice for where to get started with ren'py. I've been trying to look up tutorials but I think I've been looking in the wrong places. Any help would be really appreciated.
Ren'Py Where to get started with ren'py
- Thread starter pointnclicknoob
- Start date
- Jul 20, 2018
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- 1,152
I am guessing you are new to any form of coding and in that case I'd start off with a simple intro course for python to get a feel for the basics of coding and the thought process you need. It is not strictly necessary depending on the level of ambition you have but I feel it really helped me to understand why I'm doing things in Renpy.
Other than that there is an inbuilt tutorial that shows off a lot of basic and intermediate things you can do.
There are also a few tutorials on YouTube but they might not be fully up to date.
Other than that there is an inbuilt tutorial that shows off a lot of basic and intermediate things you can do.
There are also a few tutorials on YouTube but they might not be fully up to date.
Thank you! I'll take a look into that! Yeah I have basically zero knowledge of coding so I really feel like I'm in the deep end.
Just go to youtube and search renpy, there are dozens of relevant tuts.
Renpy is super easy for doing a basic image + dialogue style VN or KN. There's the possibility of doing much more like semi animated characters, minigames, inventory+shop systems etc, but that is where is gets complex. If you keep your game design and scope simple for your first project it should be fairly simple - most of the effort will go to getting the artwork organised and writing a competent sexy story.
Renpy official documentation is not helpful for a new learner, it's mainly written from the developer point of view / assumes lots of knowledge about how it all fits together.
For a super simple intro to the basic VN syntax, read through the script for "The Question" sample game included in the package.
Beyond that, Thundorn's youtube channel is pretty good.
"Ren'Py from beginner to advanced"
He's also got a "Renpy let's code" series that takes you through creation of a whole game.
Renpy official documentation is not helpful for a new learner, it's mainly written from the developer point of view / assumes lots of knowledge about how it all fits together.
For a super simple intro to the basic VN syntax, read through the script for "The Question" sample game included in the package.
Beyond that, Thundorn's youtube channel is pretty good.
"Ren'Py from beginner to advanced"
You must be registered to see the links
He's also got a "Renpy let's code" series that takes you through creation of a whole game.
This is by far the wisest choice - the biggest killer of first projects is being too ambitious.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy the journey!
I really appreciate it! I felt very discouraged but this actually made my day, thank you :')
- Sep 5, 2018
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I started from zero and it is really annoying. I have wanted to hurt my renpy program so many times when it condescendingly tells me line 4456 is a fucking mess go find out what you did wrong!
I did the renpy tutorial and then started stringing pictures together. From there I learned how to add sound effects and you go on and learn by doing.
Open the code of your favourite VNs and see what they do.
YouTube can be great just don't get flooded with information. Learn what you need when you need it. Or that's what I do
I did the renpy tutorial and then started stringing pictures together. From there I learned how to add sound effects and you go on and learn by doing.
Open the code of your favourite VNs and see what they do.
YouTube can be great just don't get flooded with information. Learn what you need when you need it. Or that's what I do
This is exactly what I think. There's nothing like hands on experience to begin to understand how it works. Sure, you'll hit road blocks, but then you research just enough to move forward. A lot of learning resources are much more helpful once you have some basic hands-on knowledge of the subject domain.
My other advice would be to avoid thinking that endless research is the same as progress. There's no point looking through and downloading 100s of daz assets if you are not going to use them for anything.
Progress conquers all. Even if you're tired, every day make sure you open the editor and add one more line of dialogue, pose one character in the next daz scene, postwork edit one image. If you are still not interested in continuing after 5 minutes, then stop and walk away. But 9 times out of 10 you get sucked in and end up working on it for an hour or more.
Last edited:
- Apr 13, 2021
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Play the tutorial that comes with RenPy. It's kind of useful as it explaines some real basic things.
Other than that, everyone already said what you could or should do.
RenPy isn't rocket science but it takes time to get used to it.
- Nov 27, 2019
- 1,102
- 5,428
The first day I started working in my project was the first time I ever looked at Ren’py. I have zero coding experience. But it’s one of those programs that lets you learn as you go. After a while, you begin to find things you want to do and are able to search for the terms you need to find and fix your script.
After a few basics, such as adding new screens, defining characters, and typing dialogue, it gets much easier.
After a few basics, such as adding new screens, defining characters, and typing dialogue, it gets much easier.