r/RenPy

```

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:

Exception: Could not load the game. Perhaps the script changed in an incompatible way.

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "renpy/common/_layout/screen_main_menu.rpym", line 28, in script

python hide:

File "renpy/ast.py", line 1187, in execute

renpy.python.py_exec_bytecode(self.code.bytecode, self.hide, store=self.store)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/python.py", line 1273, in py_exec_bytecode

exec(bytecode, globals, locals)

~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/common/_layout/screen_main_menu.rpym", line 28, in <module>

python hide:

File "renpy/common/_layout/screen_main_menu.rpym", line 35, in _execute_python_hide

ui.interact()

~~~~~~~~~~~^^

File "renpy/ui.py", line 306, in interact

rv = renpy.game.interface.interact(roll_forward=roll_forward, **kwargs)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/core.py", line 2154, in interact

repeat, rv = self.interact_core(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^

preloads=preloads,

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

...<4 lines>...

**kwargs,

^^^^^^^^^

)

^

File "renpy/display/core.py", line 3248, in interact_core

rv = root_widget.event(ev, x, y, 0)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1281, in event

rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1281, in event

rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1281, in event

rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/screen.py", line 805, in event

rv = self.child.event(ev, x, y, st)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1281, in event

rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1510, in event

rv = super(Window, self).event(ev, x, y, st)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 273, in event

rv = d.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, st)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1281, in event

rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1510, in event

rv = super(Window, self).event(ev, x, y, st)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 273, in event

rv = d.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, st)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1281, in event

rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 273, in event

rv = d.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, st)

~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/behavior.py", line 1185, in event

return handle_click(self.clicked)

~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/behavior.py", line 1107, in handle_click

rv = run(action)

~~~^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/display/behavior.py", line 411, in run

return action(*args, **kwargs)

~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/common/00action_file.rpy", line 499, in __call__

renpy.load(fn)

~~~~~~~~~~^^^^

File "renpy/loadsave.py", line 638, in load

log.unfreeze(roots, label="_after_load")

~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

File "renpy/rollback.py", line 1099, in unfreeze

raise Exception("Could not load the game. Perhaps the script changed in an incompatible way.")

Exception: Could not load the game. Perhaps the script changed in an incompatible way.

Linux-6.17.0-35-generic-x86_64-with-glibc2.39 x86_64

Ren'Py 8.5.2.26010301

That ending 1.02

Sun Jul 5 22:49:38 2026

```

I'm making a dress up game. You press a left or right arrow to change your fairy wings. The left arrow decreases the variable by one, the right arrow increases by one. The variable number determines which wings are shown in game.

The arrows

This is the screen code that makes the arrows work.

screen wings_category_screen():


    add "nf_dressup/menu/menu_wings_border.png"


    # Wing Buttons
    imagebutton:
        idle "wings_arrow_for"
        hover "wings_arrow_for_h"
        focus_mask True
        action [SetVariable("nf_current_wings", nf_current_wings + 1)] # add 1 to variable each click


    imagebutton:
        idle "wings_arrow_back"
        hover "wings_arrow_back_h"
        focus_mask True
        action [SetVariable("nf_current_wings", nf_current_wings - 1)] # minus 1 to variable each click

The wings are then shown using an elif statement. (Maybe inefficient)

screen nf_character_wings ():
    if nf_current_wings == 1:
        add "nf_wings1"
    elif nf_current_wings == 2:
        add "nf_wings2"
    elif nf_current_wings == 3:
        add "nf_wings3"
    elif nf_current_wings == 4:
        add "nf_wings4"
    elif nf_current_wings == 5:
        add "nf_wings5"
    elif nf_current_wings == 6:
        add "nf_wings6"
    elif nf_current_wings == 7:
        add "nf_wings7"
    elif nf_current_wings == 8:
        add "nf_wings8"
    elif nf_current_wings == 9:
        add "nf_wings9"
    elif nf_current_wings == 10:
        add "nf_wings10"
    else:
        pass

This works fine, until I want the variable to reset to 1. I tried adding this to my elif statement:

elif nf_current_wings == 11:

$ nf_current_wings = 1

But then the variable gets stuck at 1 and cannot change when the arrows are clicked anymore. How do I get my variable to reset to one, so my wings options can "loop" around to the beginning? I want my maximum variable to be 11. Once 11 is reached, it resets to 1.

I'm getting the error
File "game/script.rpy", line 77: ATL statement contains two expressions in a row; is one of them misspelled property? If not, separate them with pass.

add "character" →align (0.5, 0.0)

Does anyone know how to fix it? I am not really a programmer and was following a tutorial. The error refers to the first line in "scene character_customization:" but it might be elsewhere as it usually is...

init python:
    def customize_character(type, direction):
        global skin_color
        global hair_color
        global eye_color
        global shirt_color


        if direction == "right":
            if type == "skin":
                if skin_colors.index(skin_color) < len(skin_colors) - 1:
                    skin_color = skin_colors[skin_colors.index(skin_color) + 1]
                else:
                    skin_color = skin_colors[0]
            if type == "hair":
                if hair_colors.index(hair_color) < len(hair_colors) - 1:
                    hair_color = hair_colors[hair_colors.index(hair_color) + 1]
                else:
                    hair_color = hair_colors[0]
            if type == "eyes":
                if eye_colors.index(eye_color) < len(eye_colors) - 1:
                    eye_color = eye_colors[eye_colors.index(eye_color) + 1]
                else:
                    eye_color = eye_colors[0]
            if type == "shirt":
                if shirt_colors.index(shirt_color) < len(shirt_colors) - 1:
                    shirt_color = shirt_colors[shirt_colors.index(shirt_color) + 1]
                else:
                    shirt_color = shirt_colors[0]
        elif direction == "left":
            if type == "skin":
                if skin_colors.index(skin_color) > 0:
                    skin_color = skin_colors[skin_colors.index(skin_color) - 1]
                else:
                    skin_color = skin_colors[-1]
            if type == "hair":
                if hair_colors.index(hair_color) > 0:
                    hair_color = hair_colors[hair_colors.index(hair_color) - 1]
                else:
                    hair_color = hair_colors[-1]
            if type == "eyes":
                if eye_colors.index(eye_color) > 0:
                    eye_color = eye_colors[eye_colors.index(eye_color) - 1]
                else:
                    eye_color = eye_colors[-1]
            if type == "shirt":
                if shirt_colors.index(shirt_color) > 0:
                    shirt_color = shirt_colors[shirt_colors.index(shirt_color) - 1]
                else:
                    shirt_color = shirt_colors[-1]


        renpy.retain_after_load()
           


image character = Composite(
    (600, 600),
    (0, 0), "Charactercustomizer/hair-long-[hair_color]-back.png",
    (0, 0), "Charactercustomizer/body-skin-[skin_color].png",
    (0, 0), "Charactercustomizer/eyecolor-[eye_color].png",
    (0, 0), "Charactercustomizer/shirt-[shirt_color].png",
    (0, 0), "Charactercustomizer/hair-long-[hair_color]-front.png"
)


transform half_size:
    zoom 0.5


transform character_transform:
    align(0.0, 0.7)


transform arrows:
    anchor(0.5, 0.5)
    on hover:
        zoom 1.05
    on idle: 
        zoom 1.0


scene character_customization:
    add "character" align (0.5, 0.0)
    #hair
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/arrow-right.png" 
        align(0.7, 0.3) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "hair", direction = "right") 
        at arrows
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/arrow-left.png" 
        align(0.3, 0.3) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "hair", direction = "left") 
        at arrows
    #skin
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/arrow-right.png" 
        align(0.7, 0.4) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "skin", direction = "right") 
        at arrows
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/arrow-left.png" 
        align(0.3, 0.4) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "skin", direction = "left") 
        at arrows
    #eyes
    imagebutton: 
        idle "UI/arrow-right.png" 
        align(0.7, 0.5) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "eyes", direction = "right") 
        at arrows
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/arrow-left.png" 
        align(0.3, 0.5) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "eyes", direction = "left") 
        at arrows
    #shirt
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/arrow-right.png" 
        align(0.7, 0.6) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "shirt", direction = "right") 
        at arrows
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/arrow-left.png" 
        align(0.3, 0.6) 
        action Function(customize_character, type = "shirt", direction = "left") 
        at arrows



label scene_1: 
    scene background
    show character at character_transform
    c "This is a custom character."


screen start_screen:
    image "Backgrounds/background.png"
    imagebutton:
        idle "UI/start-button-idle.png" 
        hover "UI/start-button-hover.png" 
        align(0.5, 0.9) 
        action Jump("scene_1")
    hbox:
        align(0.5, 0.1)
        text "Character name:" size 18 color "#000000" yalign 0.5 outlines[(absolute(2), "#ffffff", 0, 0)]
        frame:
            background "#ffffff" 
            yalign 0.5
            input value VariableInputValue("character_name") minwidth 150 length 10


    use character_customization


define character_name = ""
define c = character(name = "character_name", dynamic = True)
    


label start:
    $skin_colors = ["light", "medium", "dark"]
    $hair_colors = ["blonde", "brown", "black"]
    $eye_colors = ["brown", "blue", "green"]
    $shirt_colors = ["blue", "green", "pink"]


    $skin_color = skin_colors[0]
    $hair_color = hair_colors[0]
    $eye_color = eye_colors[0]
    $shirt_color = shirt_colors[0]
    
    call screen start_screen
    return

Hello, I'm new to making visual novels and have only worked on 3d games in unity previously. Now I'm trying to decide how to make my first visual novel and renpy seems really great, but i couldn't figure out if the following things would be possible:

1. I have learned so far that if you want something to happen when an image is clicked, you can use an Image Button. Can this Image Button be animated? So for example i want a bird flying across the screen and the player can click it as it is moving to trigger dialog, how would I do that? (To be clear I don't mean the bird flapping its wings, I mean it traveling across the screen)

2. Is there a way to import animation data from a software like blender, not rendered as an mp4 but as an object with key frames? So if that bird from the previous example was flying complicated patterns across the screen I wouldn't want to do that in renpy, I would animate it in blender but the bird still needs to be clickable, is that possible?

Thank you! :D

How do I do that?

I am investigating the actual needs of the Ren'Py developer community regarding professional-grade development tools. After benchmarking the current landscape—which is often limited to basic systems (UI, chat, inventory, relationship stats) derived from community snippets (LemmaSoft) or free, poorly documented source code—I have identified a significant gap for 'plug-and-play' professional solutions.

With this in mind, I want to identify which types of complex frameworks or modules would be viable for monetization. What tools are valuable enough to justify a purchase, and what pricing model would be acceptable for a framework that is easily adaptable, well-documented, and modular?

To help narrow down your development focus, which area of Ren'Py development do you find most frustrating or time-consuming to implement: technical integrations (Steam/Cloud/Saves, other ?), core gameplay mechanics (inventories/scheduling/stats/other ?), or UI/UX and visual system scalability?

Hello again! I'm back with more help needed. I'm a complete beginner in code, so please word it for me like I'm five. I'm currently trying to add a video (in webm) format as the background of my VN, but no matter how I write it out, my game says:

"could not load image 'images/bg_loopable.webm' (webm files are not supported by Ren'Py): error('Unsupported image format')

This is what the code currently looks like in my declare file (my video file's name is bg_loopable.webm), though I've gone through several iterations of this based on other advice online.

image bg_loopable = Movie(play = "images/movies/bg_loopable.webm")
show bg_loopable at truecenter
pause

And in my main script, it is supposed to be triggered by:

    screen test:
        add "bg_loopable"

I would also ideally like for shorter, non-looping clips to play when certain dialogue is chosen, so if anyone can give suggestions on how to trigger those as well, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any help you're able to provide, I really appreciate it!

I've had the crazy idea of adding a repeating, scrolling strip layer to the background of a scene, and then change its colour at random intervals. I have the following:

init python:
    import random
    fogcolours = [
        "#4040ff",
        "#00e0e0",
        "#e0f000",
        "#e800e8",
        "#00f0c8",
        "#f08000",
    ]


    def randomfog(st, at):
        fogshiftcolor = random.choice(fogcolours)
        d = Transform (
            "carbg/smokey strip.webp",
            matrixcolor=TintMatrix(fogshiftcolor)
        )
        return d, random.uniform(0.5, 6.0)


image repeatingcolourfog:
    DynamicDisplayable(randomfog)
    xoffset 0
    linear 2.0 xoffset -2624
    repeat

But each change to the colour restarts the animation and, while it's not overly obvious unless you're looking for it, I'd prefer the colour change to happen without popping the animation back to the beginning each time.

Is that possible?

Like the title says!! I am wondering if anyone has any tips on making a horror visual novel? Like any scripts I can follow to make jumpscares, or various things like that. I apologize for my vagueness, I'm just open to any script tutorials. Any recommendations on tutorials or general advice is so so so appreciated. Please!! Thank you.

Should I declare class instances outside of init python: or label: blocks at the highest scope? Everywhere I look this up I get conflicting information on what I should do.

For more specifics when I declare a class instance at the highest scope on file I keep all my variables on in the game folder as:

default newClass = class()

I am unable to reference newClass outside of the highest scope. Any changes done to it at the module level seem to be forgotten when referenced in a label: or screen: block.

But when I declare the class instance within a label: block I can reference it anywhere. And it appears to save and not break on rollback. But if this will be trouble in the future I'd rather fix it now and not way down the line.

Is that the correct way to be doing it or should they be declared at the highest scope? Should I not have a separate file for all of my variables, classes, etc.?

PLS HELP IF U CAN, SRY IM A YAPPER.

GOAL:

After all buttons are clicked, it moves to story_3. It's for an interactive clean up scene in my game.

Hello! I am stuck in an issue, and this is for a game jam. I am trying to make it that after clicking the image buttons (All of them or specific ones like tt1 and tt2 and tt3 and tt4:) Then it moves to next label which I would call lets say uhhh story_3.

But I tried to do it that maybe it does if not tt1: (Or like etc) and maybe add else: it would work? But I want the buttons to disappear, so Im using showifs. BUT THEN AGAIN Im still a little newbie when it comes to renpy. So this is kind of puzzling to me. If I move my default tt1 or tt2(SO ON-) Outside of the screen, it gets an error since I have that togglescreenvariable. SO AAAAAAAA HELP ME PLS. Anyways still searching but any help is great!

Also this script is just how it works so far, but please like- help with making it that it moves to label story_3.

Here's the script since it's pretty long.

screen penthouse_cleanup1():


    default tt1 = True
    default tt2 = True
    default tt3 = True
    default tt4 = True
    default tt5 = True
    default tt6 = True


    add "bg home"


    showif tt1:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.64
            ypos 0.8
            at zoomedsmall
            auto "cardboard_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt1")



    showif tt2:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.5
            ypos 0.45
            at zoomedtinyy
            auto "cardboard1_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt2")



    showif tt3:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.2
            ypos 0.8
            at zoomedtinyy
            auto "paper_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt3")



    showif tt4:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.3
            ypos 0.6
            at zoomedtiny
            auto "spill_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt4")


    showif tt5:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.673
            ypos 0.57
            at zoomedtinyy1
            auto "blood_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt5")screen penthouse_cleanup1():


    default tt1 = True
    default tt2 = True
    default tt3 = True
    default tt4 = True
    default tt5 = True
    default tt6 = True


    add "bg home"


    showif tt1:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.64
            ypos 0.8
            at zoomedsmall
            auto "cardboard_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt1")



    showif tt2:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.5
            ypos 0.45
            at zoomedtinyy
            auto "cardboard1_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt2")



    showif tt3:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.2
            ypos 0.8
            at zoomedtinyy
            auto "paper_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt3")



    showif tt4:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.3
            ypos 0.6
            at zoomedtiny
            auto "spill_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt4")


    showif tt5:
        imagebutton:
            yanchor 0.5
            xanchor 0.5
            xpos 0.673
            ypos 0.57
            at zoomedtinyy1
            auto "blood_%s.png"
            action ToggleScreenVariable("tt5")