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To start off my fresh account, I've compiled a few Ren'Py tips into a bite-sized format! I've been programming in Ren'Py since 2018 and spent a ton of time working with it for all sorts of projects. Here are some less-common bits of knowledge ✨ #vndev #visualnovel #gamedev #renpy

Starting with one I see confused all the time: the special variable `main_menu` is True when you are *not currently in a save file*. Once you've started a new game or loaded one, main_menu will be False. Until then, it's True.

It is NOT a variable checking "you are on the main menu screen specifically" - to do that, use `if renpy.get_screen("main_menu")`. In short: can you hit Return to return to gameplay? Then `main_menu` is False. Otherwise, it's True.

A feature that was added in v8.2 is the `position` type. It takes two arguments, an absolute and a relative value e.g. `position(1.0, -10)`. This can be used anywhere you'd normally use either a float or an integer, such as for `xpos` or `ysize`.

It adds the two together, so `xpos position(1.0, -10)` positions the item at 100% of the available space, -10 (e.g. if the available space was 1920, this would put the xpos at 1920-10 = 1910). Extremely useful for offsetting positions or sizes a bit from the edge or center without using `offset`.

Does it bother you that the Window button in the default preferences screen is never highlighted, even when the game is not fullscreen? This is a quirk of how that button action checks if it's selected - technically, it's only highlighted if the window is exactly the game dimensions (e.g. 1920x1080)