So here we are. Actually putting out an .exe that can actually be run by other people. While this is by no means a large program, or a finished program, or even necessarily a good program... it is something.

I've had the concept for this story bouncing around in my head since around 2012 when I began writing a book called "The Mars Function" for National November Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Over the years since I've picked up and put down this story it's evolved into a screenplay, a game, a web-series, and now a Visual Novel. I think the visual novel format plays better to my creative process. As I come up with new and interesting ideas for my world or story I can implement them either as branching paths or optional asides. I hope to make a fully fledged long-form story with a half-dozen unique endings using this creative process.

This release is called a "Demo" in the sense that it is a tech demo and preview into a few characters from the story. It's not a finished piece of software, and the story is not fully written yet. This demo is only a few minutes long but represents over 50 hours of active development. Originally I planned on using Tyrano Builder to make the game since I already owned it, but after compiling my notes and project files for the story elements of The Mars Function I discovered the Ren'Py tool. At first I wasn't sure about it since it seemed like it might be somewhat involved to get working, but once I took a look at the documentation it all clicked. It's right in the name. This thing is running on-top of Python.

Eureka moment.  Here's some backstory:

I have been coding my whole life at this point. I originally fiddled with Visual Basic as a kid making small useless programs for fun. This was the gateway for me into the world of programming. I soon found myself learning how to use Batch, HTML, CSS, Java, JavaScript, PHP, and all that fun stuff. While most of it was hacky nonsense it did help me coast through my high school's Computer Programming and Network Management courses. When it came time to go to college I ended up choosing a Application Development program at my local community college. The very first semester we learned... Python. (and Java/J2E, C++, webdev, and how to build computers and networks, and all that too)

I think the hardest part for me in that first year was wrapping my head around how simplistic python was. I was so used to Java at that point that the unstructured seeming Python was almost barbaric. But either way I picked up on it, and came to enjoy it quite a bit precisely because it was so intuitive. I guess that's why it's so popular... AND that is likely why it is used for the guts of Ren'Py.

Well, anyway.

I discovered how simple Ren'Py was to get started in and decided to make this Demo. I wanted to ensure that I would be able to both 1. convert my writing into the visual novel format and 2.  to actually code in Ren'Py. I'm so glad that I started working on this project like this because I have learned so much about using Ren'Py and making the process streamlined for when I make the actual full game. Now that I have this demo to a working state with most aspects of a visual novel implemented or trialed, I am going back to the word documents and getting the main storyline fleshed out.

Wish me luck!

- Babs
(Devevloper)