mysterious messenger

A messenger program with many features such as phone calls, text messages, chatrooms, emails, and Visual Novel sections. This is an ongoing project intended to give me practice experimenting with the Ren'Py engine and its capabilities. I maintain a Mysterious Messenger Discord to facilitate discussion, bug reports, and update announcements. You can also find extensive documentation on the program hosted on Read the Docs.

Getting Started

• If you want to run this code, you will need to download the Ren'Py engine: https://www.renpy.org/
• As of 2024-10-26 (the time of this update) the version of Ren'Py used on the main branch is 8.0.3. The code is also intended to be compatible on 7.5+, but it is recommended to use Ren'Py 8+ for best performance. Only the latest code on the master branch works on the latest engine version; the current release, v3.3.0, requires the line define config.search_prefixes += [ "images/" ] be added somewhere (e.g. in options.rpy) for 8.1 to work. For 8.2+ to work, the keyword argument retain=False must be added to the definition for my_adv in game/01_mysme_engine/vn_mode.rpy. 8.3 has not yet been extensively tested.
• Download or clone the most recent release into your Ren'Py Projects Directory and unzip it into its own folder. If you don't know what it is, you can change it from the Ren'Py launcher via preferences -> Projects Directory.
• Refresh your Projects list and you should see mysterious-messenger listed
• Save the Script Generator spreadsheet somewhere you can find it later
• The images and sound files used in this project are not included in the repository. Please contact me directly if you would like to request the assets for personal use.

Getting the Program Running

If you've set up everything properly, from the Ren'Py Launcher you should be able to select the project you created from the column on the left and hit 'Launch Project'. If you don't have the images/sound files, you will likely run into several "not found" errors until you've created your own replacements; otherwise, you should be able to go ahead and type in your desired name for the protagonist and check out the "Tutorial Day", which will walk you through some of the available features in the program.

Creating your own chatrooms

Included in the repository is a file called Script Generator.xlsx. The repository also includes a wiki which contains most of the information you'll need to get started. The spreadsheet file has an instruction tab and a several templates to facilitate turning dialogue into readable code for the program. Once you've filled out the template sheet correctly, you can simply copy-paste the code into the program and add in any outstanding features, such as choice menus or background music.

Built With

• Ren'Py - The engine used

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank the following people for their contribution to this project:

• CheruAngelic for giving me permission to use her art in this program
• Manami for letting me use their art edits
• mvngx.gif for contributing many of the assets used in the program
• Rom for contributing additional art for Vanderwood
• The people of the Lemma Soft forums and Ren’Py Discord for many tutorials, answers, and resources
• RenpyTom for assistance in fixing some of the errors and animation issues I ran into

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