Coding with Ray: First Build Released!

Making a visual novel should be fun. But sometimes coding makes it miserable, especially when you are a beginner.

I have spent the last two years tinkering with Ren’Py. The basic tutorial is great for starting out, but once you want more, you have to dig through the wiki for hours. And it’s not even guaranteed that everything will work well! Sometimes things still break and behave weirdly. Many times I thought, “I wish there was a better walkthrough.”

Since I mostly work with short projects, I have to make a fresh start quite often. That’s why I like to make plugin scripts. Having ready-to-use codes that can be used in multiple projects makes my life easier, and I thought, why not share it with other people while I’m at it?

You might have seen my Instant GUI Customize pack, a plugin to overhaul the basic Ren’Py GUI. The feedback has been positive. Some MayWolf 2025 entries even used it, which made me very happy. However, after some reflections, I think it’s still not beginner-friendly enough. The features were there, but my explanations were not doing enough work. People could install it, sure, but using it to its full potential? I don’t think so.

That is why I’m making this project. Coding with Ray is me slowing down, showing my work, and turning those plugins into a proper learning path. I’m building it as a guided walkthrough for my scripts and also as a place to cover topics that the Ren’Py tutorial introduces but doesn’t dig into deeply.

Because this is meant to feel fun, I brought in a guide. Ren’Py has Eileen, so I have Ray here, my very first VN character!

In this project, Ray will explain things in a way that beginners would (hopefully) understand. The modules have illustrations that help you visualize concepts, show where each line of code goes and what it changes. It also has free practice assets so you can try the code right away and see the result on screen.

While this project is geared towards beginners, more advanced developers can still get some value. You can just opt to grab the ready-to-use scripts. When you want to understand the choices behind the code, the walkthroughs are there to back you up.

CONTENT

So what is covered in the project so far?

For the first release, I focused on LayeredImage. I think it is a core setup step that a lot of people skip, either because they couldn’t find a “walkthrough for beginners” or because it seems too complicated for the payoff. My experience has been the opposite. Once you get comfortable with it, you unlock a lot of flexibility. I know there is no single “right way to code”, but I do want to show how wide the possibilities are so you can decide what fits your style.

At the end of the day, I don’t think there is a “right way” to code. It’s up to each individual whether to use it or not. However, I at least want to show its wide capability.

Alongside that, I included two small VFX scripts: a cursor parallax effect and a flashlight effect. I think both of these are good small packages that can be used to create fun scenes. There are just so many potential scenarios you can play around with it.

NEXT STEP

Currently, my first priority is to integrate my Instant GUI Customize pack into the project. That means, the next build will cover the topics on overhauling GUI (main menu, game menu, quick menu, and dialogue box).

That said, I’m open to doing another topic as well. Visit my Patreon page if you want to drop suggestions!

That’s about it for now. Keep making furry stuff! See ya around~