It would be great if some of the many renpy games could be made available as Debian packages for Ubuntu.
I would like to propose some games to be included in the getdeb archives. Not only to make them playable for the average Ubuntu user as also to show what can be done with the Ren'Py game engine that is Open Source. The aim of the engine is to make it very simple to produce own games. Mostly in a japanese Visual Novel style which is basicly a text adventure with graphics.
I was asked by c_korn not to propose more than 5 pieces at once. Which is comletly understandable :) After looking at some games an testing them I would now like to split my proposal: Just two games that will probably be the most easy to package … and others as own proposals.
Please package TCAST and Moonlight Walks 2.0. The games will work at least with Oneric Ocelot on Ubuntu. Dependency: renpy
Other games will depend on other renpy versions (mostly earlier versions) and they will need their own Ren'Py engine to be included. The games I chose for proposal are able to show different aspects of Ren'Py. TCAST and Moonlight Walks 2.0 will show only basic aspects of what is possible with Ren'Py (which has nothing to do with the content).
General info about Ren'Py:
There is a package renpy available for Ubuntu since Hardy in Universe and for Debian since Squeeze. It already comes with docs and SDK (related packages are: renpy, python-renpy, renpy-demo, renpy-tutorial, renpy-doc, renpy-thequestion) but only with short introductions how the result may look (Look at the example 3minute game "The Question" available in Universe: renpy-thequestion).
As for today there will currently be more than 300 games based on this SDK that have been released as indipendant games and which do already run on Linux, but which will be hard to find for normal software-center users. Here is an (incomplete) list of today 250 games that have been released with a Linux executable: http://games.renpy.org/special/linux
==== Moonlight Walks 2.0 ====
Homepage: http://www.bishoujo.us/moonlight/
Download:
English Visual Novel by the creator of renpy with updated artwork by additional artists. Made with Ren'py Visual Novel engine by PyTom.
Content: It's the summer before you go away to college, and you're spending it visiting with your aunt and uncle on a small island in the Atlantic ocean. One night, while out taking pictures of the full moon, you meet a girl walking down the beach...
Visual Novel, Boy pursues Girl, Romance, Mystery, 8266 words, Different endings, All ages, Release 2.0 (2005-2009), English version, Open Source (own license)
Screenshot: http://games.renpy.org/site_media/media/screenshot/medium/screenshot0001.jpg
Moonlight Walks 2.0 is Open Source according to the author and may be redistributed.
The game works with newer versions of Ren'Py - Tested with the Natty version 6.10.2, the Ocelot version of renpy 6.12.2 and the current 6.13.0
Dependencies: renpy >= 6.8.1
"License
Copyright 2005-2009 PyTom/American Bishoujo
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
This Software may only be distributed under the name "Moonlight Walks" if the visual and audio output it presents in response to user input is unchanged. If such output is changed, then the Software must be distributed under a different name.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE."
==== TCAST (That Cheap And Sacred Thing) v1 ===
Download: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/download/file.php?id=9158&sid=fc352e8faabc4cee3fe59f258516084f
Description:
Award winning SciFi Visual Novel in English language without internal choices. Done by Carosene. Made with Ren'py Visual Novel engine.
Content: Only one person has ever told Autumn Godfrey "I love you." And that person wasn't even human—but Autumn's android playmate and babysitter, Elly. Something has happend that Autumn hasn't seen Elly since Autumn was seven, but now, with the help of Jude—an android prostitute with attitude—she might find out what happened all those years ago. Kinetic Visual Novel, Girl pursues Boy, Romance, Drama, 12,800 words, Age self suggestion16+ (sexual content (no nudity), violence), Release 1.0 (2011) Info: http://games.renpy.org/game/tcast.shtml
Screenshot: http://games.renpy.org/site_media/media/screenshot/TCASTscreenshot02.png
License: The author Carosene gave his permission by mail to package TCAST.
Dependencies: renpy >= 6.12.0
This game will need renpy 6.12.0 and above (It does not run with the Natty version 6.10.2 - should work with standard Oneric (6.12.2-1)) Tested also with renpy 6.13.0
==== Katawa Shoujo Act 1 (version 5) ====
Homepage: http://katawa-shoujo.com/
Download: http://dl.katawa-shoujo.com/a1v5/mirrors/%5B4ls%5D_katawa_shoujo_act1_v5_%5Blinux-x86%5D%5B97624142%5D.tar.bz2
Description:
Polished multi language Visual Novel developed by a group of artists under the name "Four Leaf Studios" between 2006 and 2011 with the Open Source game engine Ren'Py. Katawa Shoujo is set in the fictional Yamaku High School for disabled children, located somewhere in modern Japan. Hisao Nakai, a normal boy living a normal life, has his life turned upside down when a congenital heart defect forces him to move to a new school after a long hospitalization. Despite his difficulties, Hisao is on his way start his living again and discover new things, new personalities and new friendship. The game features five main paths with different endings. It is available in English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Traditional and Simplified Chinese.
Packaging:
Katawa Shoujo Act 1 version 5 will only run with its included renpy version and needs the full game engine which is included in the available download file. It has been tested and does not run with renpy 6.10 and before or 6.12.2 and above.
Screenshot: http://games.renpy.org/site_media/media/screenshot/screen_4.jpg
Additional note:
While Act 1 is sometimes called a demo for a full release together with Act 2 (which is still under development and will target a different age group) Act 1 has more content and game play than many other noncommercial complete games. It also has believable endings on Hisaos search to start a new life with new friends and gives a full and even polished impression.
License:
Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/