Ren'Py Minigames 101

Learn to build minigames in Ren'Py & Python by building a Rhythm Game from scratch

4.15 (28 reviews)

Udemy

platform

English

language

Game Development

What you will learn

Building minigames in Ren'Py

Creating custom displayables in Ren'Py

Why take this course?

Are you interested in game development and want to create engaging 2D minigames? Are you a Ren'Py developer looking to implement minigames in your projects? This is the course for you.

This course, Ren'Py Minigames 101, covers all the fundamentals you need to build your own minigame in Ren'Py.

We will develop a Rhythm Game from scratch and in this process, you will learn all the necessary Ren'Py and Python skills for working with Ren'Py's Creator-Defined Displayables.

In each lecture, we will make incremental changes to our code, and, at the end of every lecture, we will have a runnable Ren'Py project that shows tangible progress towards the final completed project.

Some topics that we will cover:

Ren'Py Screens
Ren'Py Creator-Defined Displayables
Rendering the game view
Implementing player controls with PyGame
Timing the music notes to any song with Python packages like Aubio and Librosa
Enhancing player experience with a Heads-Up Display (HUD) and other visual cues
Designing bonus features for the Rhythm Game

Some experience with Ren'Py, Python, and programming is strongly recommended. This course assumes Python knowledge including data structures (list, dictionaries), functions, and classes (Object-Oriented Programming).

If you need to brush up on your Python skills, check out my tailored Python for Ren'Py course on Udemy.

By the end of this course, you will:

Have implemented a rhythm game from scratch
Be able to build bonus features for the rhythm game if you wish
Have the skills to build your own minigame in Ren'Py and Python

Join me in this course to level up your programming and game development skills and develop a minigame for your next Ren'Py project!

Content

Introduction

How to Use the Course Material

Introduction to Screens and Displayables in Ren'Py

Implement Creator-Defined Displayables

Rendering the Game View

Render the game screen and the tracks on which notes will appear

Render the moving music notes

Time the music notes according to the custom music file

Generate beat maps using Aubio in Python

Generate beat maps using Librosa in Python

Play music and read the beat map files into Ren'Py

Detecting Player Interaction Events

Detect events with PyGame

Zoom in on the notes when they are within the hit threshold

Score hits and misses on a Heads-Up Display

Bonus Features, Course Recap and Conclusion

Adjust the difficulty level of the game

Other features: Pausing the minigame, finer-grained scoring, etc.

Course Conclusion and Resources

Screenshots

Reviews

Matthew

April 24, 2023

Some of the Python packages have changed which results in the code needing to be changed from the repository. The instructor was responsive and helpful.

Raul

November 14, 2022

Was a good learning experience, only reason I don't rate 5 stars is because on the most complicated parts was a bit difficult to keep up, and would had prefered a more torough explanation. Definitely not a course for begginers as it really assumes you have a solid grasp of python.

Amethyst

July 18, 2022

Going from Lynn's basic course to this minigame course, I was surprised by the jump in complexity. Once again, the pace is faster than I would have liked and it makes a lot of assumptions that you understand high-level concepts despite advertising itself as for "Beginner Python developers looking to create games". I don't believe that you can truly be a beginner Python developer and understand most of what happens in this course. On top of that, I had many issues downloading and installing the various programs needed to complete the course (none of which are listed as a prerequisite). I felt like asking for a refund multiple times during the course but hoped that things would become clearer if I continued. They didn't really and I kind of wish I hadn't even bothered to buy the program in the first place because I never truly learned anything. I also think that despite being called Ren'Py Minigames 101, the course may be too focused on the rhythm game-making process itself so that it doesn't translate well with knowing how to make other minigames. Overall, this course was a bigger disappointment than the previous one (which I found at least a good primer, though perhaps too basic for most people already familiar with the basics) and I walk away feeling as though I haven't actually learned anything.

Anastasia

March 10, 2022

I really love the course. though it's an advanced one. I have found the answers to many questions I had on Ren'Py, hope to see new masterpieces from the author ?

Gabriel

January 20, 2022

A quick, concise explanation of the necessary knowledge to do more complex minigames in the visual novel engine Ren'Py. Requisite knowledge of git, terminal, python and the engine is likely required, but it looks like Lynn offers a beginner course as well.

Cindy

July 26, 2021

Nice course! Lynn provided a good amount of scaffolding in each lecture to build up to the finished project. Would definitely recommend this course!

Michael

July 22, 2021

I'm creating a game with a minigame component and this is exactly the course I needed. Lynn breaks down step by step how to design and build a minigame and I learned a lot. The lectures struck a great balance between what to implement, how, and why.

Esteban

July 21, 2021

I do have a fair level of Python expertise, and if there's one thing I love, is to keep learning new things that I didn't even know how to create. And I'm doing exactly that, thanks to this course.

Candy

July 20, 2021

This course uses a bit more Python than I assumed so I'm glad took Lynn's last course on Python Basics for Ren'Py development. This course would be a little difficult without that one. Loved this course!

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