Adding Splash Screens in Ren'Py

#tutorial #gamedev #renpy

If you played any visual novels, you might have encountered a intro or cutscene before the game starts. A splash screen can be textual video, or image. Here's some reasons to add a splash screen:

Cutscenes
Introductions
Warnings
Loading screens

Splashscreen Uses

Visual novels can have an opening to show the characters along with some game footage or a prolouge in the beginning of a game. Splash screens can be inserted anywhere in the visual novel. For example, we want to inform the player that time has passed in the story. A textual splash screen can be used to illustrate the time skip in the story.

Another use is adding a warning or statement before the game starts. This can be a warning for a game that has sensitive subjects or has mature content. Having a warning serves a precuation and to inform the players about the content in the visual novel beforehand.

A loading screen can be a presplash. A presplash is an image when the engine starts up to launch the game. The game is loading into another stage has a loading screen image. Having a loading screen to transition between scenes in the game.

Simple text splashscreen

Let's add a text splashscreen that shows up in the beginning before the main menu. We want to inform the player that this is a demo and is not the full game.

label splashscreen:
    scene black

    show text "This is a demo. Final may game be subject to change." with dissolve
    with Pause(3)

    hide text with dissolve
    with Pause(1)

    return

To create the simple splashscreen, there is a black screen for the scene. We show the text on the screen for three seconds. The text dissolves and transitions into a fade.

What's next

Splashscreens can have a variety of uses to choose from when developing a visual novel. When creating a splashscreen, determine what is best for the game. The choice is up to you.