Ok, so let's talk about making people appear and talk. Ren'Py is build precisely for that, so getting that much done is pretty easy.
First, one needs to get the images to be used into the images folder in the game folder. I normally trim my captures, but today I have a slow render cooking in PS that doesn't allow me to use it, so accept my apologies for the unwanted view of my messy tabs.
Here you can see that I added the two characters speaking and the background. In this case is an animated background so you see the carpark movie in a .webm format. Ren@Py accepts a couple other formats, buy my free Movavi converter does this one ok, so I'm used to it. The normal formats like mp4 or mov are not happening so you'll probably need to get a converter too. Not ideal, but one doesn't need so many movies anyway.
Next step, in my Demo script file I'll declare the charters and the movie. Look at the first three line in the script:
First, you declare the variable which is like a shorthand for the name of the characters. Since one is going to be typing those names a million times, one tends you use just one letter, but you can also use the full name if that seems easier for you. Then you add some parameters, first one refers to how the person will be called in the name box (I use full capitals for all our names) and in the second parameter you state the tag which Ren'Py will use to find the images in the folder, That's why my guys are called "adrian neutral" and marjorie angry".
In a visual novel you'll be using lots of portraits of each character to depict their moods and reactions, they all start with that name you used for the tag and then whatever descriptive word makes some sense at the moment to use it. For example "marjorie angry".
Then you define the background, in this case a movie and at this point I'm using only two parameters, size which I don't really need if it's same as the movie I'm showing. The next parameter tells the video player to play which file and where to find it. Sometimes I need masks, for example if the borders of the movies are irregulars, but that happens seldom, so I apply it as needed.
Then you put start label, so Ren@Py knows where the game begins.
show is a command you will be using all the time, then you tell what is to be shown and where. By default the sprite will be center vertically and horizontally, but because I wanted to place them both on screen for a conversation I specified where the guys had to be shown.
Next thing to do is even more compact. You write the variable that represents the character and then the string which contains whatever he wants to say. Notice the quotation marks, you need to wrap the lines of your dialogues in quotation marks and you'll forget it (of course) and Ren'Py will not move a finger until you fix it. Eventually it becomes mechanical.
If you created a project, this is the time to fill the image folder and get your script working. Mine works and it's not too elegant in execution, but to make it more interesting is not as bad as you could imagine at this point.
If you compare the video which I showed above, with whatever you get, you'll notice that things are a lot more abrupt in the demo version. I normally slide the characters in and have a typewriter effect for the text, I feel it helps with that horrible feeling of getting a wall of text every time you click.
You'll also notice that my characters get lit when they are speaking and a bit darker when they are quiet, that's to help with the legibility.
Next post will deal with positioning and transitions and if I have the energy with the highlight effect, which in my opinion is helpful and pretty easy to do,
Now time for some online cards.
