#therenpyhelpdesk

[renpyhelpdesk]

Still Alive

Hey guys, I know I haven’t updated in a while, but I wanted to let you know this blog is still alive. With coronavirus going on, and everyone stuck indoors, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands. 

There’s been a fair number of updates to Ren’Py since the last time I touched it, so I’ve spent the last few months re-familiarizing myself with the engine in preparation for restarting the blog. 

That being said, the last two basic tutorials will be posted to reflect how the new engine version handles sounds and compiling, instead of how it was handled the last time I worked with it, so those blog posts will be delayed. After they are updated, I’ll go back and update the other basic tutorials as needed, before moving on to the exciting stuff: teaching basic python and Ren’Py screen language.

I’ve gotten a lot questions over the intervening quiet period, and I’ll be answering them starting from the newest ones and working back in time(as is still relevant). The hope is that I’m answering questions people still need help with that way.

All in all, I look forward to getting the helpdesk back in working shape, and hearing your phone calls blowing up the metaphorical phone.

Here’s to a coding summer and a wonderful rest of the year.

[renpyhelpdesk]

I don't know if this blog is still active - I hope so, I've found so much good info here! I have a question that I just can't find in the regular documentation or on the lemmasoft forums. In menus, is it possible to use the AND and OR options that are available to conditionals in python? For example, show a menu option only if x AND y are true, or if either x OR y is true? Or do I have to write a python function for that and call it?

Hey there anon, thanks for phoning in!

You can in fact use “and” and “or” for menus, in fact I do it all the time. When you’re coding up your menu, make sure to tell it only to display an option IF a variable is true, or false, or more than X value. You would then continue the parameters by adding an “and” and then stating the second stipulation for displaying the option. 

Example:

menu:    “Do you wanna build a snowman?” if sisterhood > 15 and Trollyforget:        jump goawayanna    “I guess I should leave her alone.”:       jump talkwithpaintings

In this example the first option will only be displayed to a player if the sisterhood variable is over 15 AND the Trollyforget variable is *true*. You could do the same thing with “or” in the place of and. The second option will be displayed no matter what.

As a reminder, make sure the variables you are attempting to check are initialized before you try to test them with a conditional, if not you’ll get an error while playing through the game.

Thanks for calling, and remember, if you’re code won’t compile and you don’t know why? Who ya gonna call? :)