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This genre of games are called visual novels. Doki Doki was created with the Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine by the way.

ryukoposting 6mo ago
And it's also one of the most impressive displays of RenPy's capabilities you'll ever see. Plenty of games do amazing things with ren'py that you wouldn't think were possible just by looking at the dialogue DSL. Maps, HUDs, minigames, incredibly dynamic pathways through the game. But DDLC takes it to a different level, partly by looking so "normal" on its surface. In college I made some spare cash writing Ren'py games for some creatives online who had the writing and illustration chops, but needed programming help. At the time, DDLC was the model for great game design in Ren'Py. There are plenty of more technically impressive Ren'py games nowadays, but DDLC is still a terrific example of technical sophistication facilitating the story. Ren'py is awesome by the way. A tour de force of software design, in my opinion.
- crashabr 6mo ago
  Any examples of other impressive Ren'py showcases?
  - ryukoposting 6mo ago
    I personally helped develop a game with an entire inventory/crafting system, and an isometric map. Final product never saw the light of day, sadly. People have made some pretty slick turn-based combat systems. Some deck builders, others more spellcasting/mana oriented. And it's renpy so like 80% of the games are straight up porn, so I'm not naming a single one here lol.
  - TheDong 6mo ago
    "Analogue: A Hate Story" and its sequel do some technically interesting things, and they both also have interesting stories, I can recommend them. http://ahatestory.com/ http://ahatestory.com/
  - wincy 6mo ago
    I really enjoyed Roadwarden. Interesting take on an old fantasy genre and gave me “this is ancient history” vibes. I’m not usually into visual novels but beat this game. It’s available for under $3 right now, I am showing 20 hours played, totally worth it. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/
    - brendoelfrendo 6mo ago
      Wait a minute, Roadwarden was made in RenPy? That's awesome, I never would have guessed.
    - ryukoposting 6mo ago
      Wow, that's a very pretty game. Ren'py games usually have a certain, um, sheen to them, and this doesn't have that at all.
  - dataveg 6mo ago
    Misericorde is an amazing visual novel available on Steam or itch. All built by the author (Xeecee) in Ren’py - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708110/Misericorde_Volume_One/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708110/Misericorde_Volum...
- torginus 6mo ago
  Isn't RenPy basically a game engine under the hood? So if you have the programming chops, you can make anything with Python.
- mcmoor 6mo ago
  I've played it, but what's impressive about this game (technically)? I don't remember its implementation being anything special as opposed its plot.
  - JoshTriplett 6mo ago
    It does a lot of screwing with the interface and game data in ways most VNs do not.
  - dchftcs 6mo ago
    I think it's mainly in relation to the constraints of the game engine, and also that the game engine being flexible enough to enable the gimmicks. I haven't played DDLC and probably never will, but from what I've read about it, like games with similar core themes (not dating sim) it has some gimmicks that tend to stretch the capabilities of a closed-down game engine, sometimes requiring patches to the engine itself. In this case the game engine Renpy offers an extensive DSL that makes it easy to add story scenes, media and dialogues, but allows you to fall back to python to do some tricky things.
  - ryukoposting 6mo ago
    (SPOILERS) It breaks the fourth wall in unexpected, and deeply unsettling ways. As a gamer you take for granted that, at any moment, you can simply exit. The UI is a trustworthy boundary between the imagined world of a horror game, and the comfort of reality. In DDLC, you don't even feel safe on the title screen. Most ren'py games, even the very good ones, barely change the UI at all. Roadwarden doesn't look like a ren'py game at all... until you open the save menu, and then it looks exactly like a ren'py game. Having developed ren'py games, I can tell you why people avoid touching that part of the boilerplate code: it's the one part of ren'py where the abstractions aren't well thought out. It's very fragile. To me, that makes DDLC all the more impressive from a technical point of view. It warps and abuses the most rigid and uncooperative part of the engine, and to great narrative effect.
samrus 6mo ago
Yeah but its such a standout in there that i wouldnt even consider it part of that genre. It uses the same medium but does such crazy things with it that its nothing like any other visual novels
- Polycryptus 6mo ago
  I really can't agree, there are so many great VNs out there and DDLC only really stands out in that it plays heavily to the English-speaking world's preconceived notions of VNs as "nothing more than simple dating simulators"
- YurgenJurgensen 6mo ago
  DDLC is definitely not breaking its “baby’s first 電波ゲー” reputation in this thread.

And it's also one of the most impressive displays of RenPy's capabilities you'll ever see. Plenty of games do amazing things with ren'py that you wouldn't think were possible just by looking at the dialogue DSL. Maps, HUDs, minigames, incredibly dynamic pathways through the game. But DDLC takes it to a different level, partly by looking so "normal" on its surface. In college I made some spare cash writing Ren'py games for some creatives online who had the writing and illustration chops, but needed programming help. At the time, DDLC was the model for great game design in Ren'Py. There are plenty of more technically impressive Ren'py games nowadays, but DDLC is still a terrific example of technical sophistication facilitating the story. Ren'py is awesome by the way. A tour de force of software design, in my opinion.

crashabr 6mo ago
Any examples of other impressive Ren'py showcases?
- ryukoposting 6mo ago
  I personally helped develop a game with an entire inventory/crafting system, and an isometric map. Final product never saw the light of day, sadly. People have made some pretty slick turn-based combat systems. Some deck builders, others more spellcasting/mana oriented. And it's renpy so like 80% of the games are straight up porn, so I'm not naming a single one here lol.
- TheDong 6mo ago
  "Analogue: A Hate Story" and its sequel do some technically interesting things, and they both also have interesting stories, I can recommend them. http://ahatestory.com/ http://ahatestory.com/
- wincy 6mo ago
  I really enjoyed Roadwarden. Interesting take on an old fantasy genre and gave me “this is ancient history” vibes. I’m not usually into visual novels but beat this game. It’s available for under $3 right now, I am showing 20 hours played, totally worth it. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/
  - brendoelfrendo 6mo ago
    Wait a minute, Roadwarden was made in RenPy? That's awesome, I never would have guessed.
  - ryukoposting 6mo ago
    Wow, that's a very pretty game. Ren'py games usually have a certain, um, sheen to them, and this doesn't have that at all.
- dataveg 6mo ago
  Misericorde is an amazing visual novel available on Steam or itch. All built by the author (Xeecee) in Ren’py - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708110/Misericorde_Volume_One/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708110/Misericorde_Volum...
torginus 6mo ago
Isn't RenPy basically a game engine under the hood? So if you have the programming chops, you can make anything with Python.
mcmoor 6mo ago
I've played it, but what's impressive about this game (technically)? I don't remember its implementation being anything special as opposed its plot.
- JoshTriplett 6mo ago
  It does a lot of screwing with the interface and game data in ways most VNs do not.
- dchftcs 6mo ago
  I think it's mainly in relation to the constraints of the game engine, and also that the game engine being flexible enough to enable the gimmicks. I haven't played DDLC and probably never will, but from what I've read about it, like games with similar core themes (not dating sim) it has some gimmicks that tend to stretch the capabilities of a closed-down game engine, sometimes requiring patches to the engine itself. In this case the game engine Renpy offers an extensive DSL that makes it easy to add story scenes, media and dialogues, but allows you to fall back to python to do some tricky things.
- ryukoposting 6mo ago
  (SPOILERS) It breaks the fourth wall in unexpected, and deeply unsettling ways. As a gamer you take for granted that, at any moment, you can simply exit. The UI is a trustworthy boundary between the imagined world of a horror game, and the comfort of reality. In DDLC, you don't even feel safe on the title screen. Most ren'py games, even the very good ones, barely change the UI at all. Roadwarden doesn't look like a ren'py game at all... until you open the save menu, and then it looks exactly like a ren'py game. Having developed ren'py games, I can tell you why people avoid touching that part of the boilerplate code: it's the one part of ren'py where the abstractions aren't well thought out. It's very fragile. To me, that makes DDLC all the more impressive from a technical point of view. It warps and abuses the most rigid and uncooperative part of the engine, and to great narrative effect.

samrus 6mo ago

Yeah but its such a standout in there that i wouldnt even consider it part of that genre. It uses the same medium but does such crazy things with it that its nothing like any other visual novels

Polycryptus 6mo ago
I really can't agree, there are so many great VNs out there and DDLC only really stands out in that it plays heavily to the English-speaking world's preconceived notions of VNs as "nothing more than simple dating simulators"
YurgenJurgensen 6mo ago
DDLC is definitely not breaking its “baby’s first 電波ゲー” reputation in this thread.