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Coding Fatale
Coding Fatale

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Adding Splash Screens in Ren'Py

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
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

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.

Resources

RenPy splashscreen documentation

Top comments (2)

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dm1trr1y profile image
dm1trr1y • Edited

Hi, i need some help. I want the transition to the menu to be smooth after the splash screen. If I use WITH then there is a sharp jump. How to fix?

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codefatale profile image
Coding Fatale

You can define a custom fade or dissolve transitions.