I think you misunderstand, Regardie, it isn't a money related issue, it is a scripting issue... meaning each game uses a different script and function calls based upon a user's needs...I was writing a reply to this and had a whole bunch of points to make and I threw it all away. My reason: even though the Ren'Py system is free, all the work that you do to make it into your game doesn't have to be free. I haven't looked into the license for Ren'Py, (mostly because I am lame and can't be bothered right now...) but it seems to support developing commercial products. So asking a developer to offer up the important bits that make their game work then seems unfair(?).
You are not creating Unreal engine or the like but you are trying to push the current engine in ways that might not have been envisioned when Ren'Py was created. This puts me in a weird place between wanting to make it easier for future developers to use your advances and protecting your intellectual property.
For example this is a sample of our script from Wicked Choices: Book 1...
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Those functions need to be installed within each "Chapter" of the game... while in the game it would have the MC say: "I can't stop thinking about Syrina" or whoever the MC has the highest relationship rating with... but, in someone else's game, they would have to rename all of the functions and names to work correctly per their needs... that is if they even had a need for it.
The point is, everything that is in Ren'Py is hand written code, it can't be simply cut and pasted in to another game and work per the other creator's wishes, as each has to be hand coded to work to that creator's needs or retasked to work correctly.
Sure, there are some codes out there that all of us share and use with each other, like an internal clock to provide a realtime count of time for within a game, but even that has to be imbedded within the other creator's code correctly or it won't function right or will create a "Rollback" error post within the game.
It isn't like the Sims or Skyrim where it can be modded... our framework is framework that is specific to the functions that are tasked to particular character names, history and databases and containers related to our game.
I don't have a problem at all if there is code base within our game that might help someone out, we've been known to provide that kind of thing to other creators... in fact, Palanto and Epadder often help other creators with codework that they need to work correctly for their own games, such as Philly_Games and GZone... the thing is, we don't mind helping people or letting people use our code if it helps them, but many creators have specific needs that require different code... so it isn't as simple as creating a template of code and letting people fill in the blanks as each need is different and Ren'Py is unforgiving.
Using a Template for us, is doable, as our needs never change... only the database of characters change for us, but we will always use the same code to track relationships between characters, as well as, players "Good", "Evil" and "Neutral" codebase and we'll also use the same locations titles and names in our location maps... plus our file directory structure is always the same.
Trust me, if there was a simple drag and drop solution for Ren'Py, I'd use it!! Heck, if there was, I wouldn't have freaked out when Palanto had to quit working on the project and never would've needed a programmer... but, sadly, Ren'Py doesn't work that way.
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