Other Functions and Variables — Ren'Py Documentation

# Other Functions and Variables

We're in the process of migrating the documentation over to a new tool. As not every page has been migrated yet, this exists to document new functionality that has no other place to go.

## Ren'Py Version

`renpy.` `version`(tuple=False)

  If tuple is false, returns a string containing "Ren'Py ", followed by the current version of Ren'Py.

  If tuple is true, returns a tuple giving each component of the version as an integer.

`renpy.version_string`

  The version number of Ren'Py, as a string of the form "Ren'Py 1.2.3.456".

`renpy.version_only`

  The version number of Ren'Py, without the Ren'Py prefix. A string of the form "1.2.3.456".

`renpy.version_tuple`

  The version number of Ren'Py, as a tuple of the form (1, 2, 3, 456).

`renpy.version_name`

  A human readable version name, of the form "Example Version."

`renpy.license`

  A string giving license text that should be included in a game's about screen.

## Platform Detection

Ren'Py includes a number of variables that are set based on which platform it's running on.

`renpy.windows`

  Has a true value when running on Windows.

`renpy.macintosh`

  Has a true value when running on macOS.

`renpy.linux`

  Has a true value when running on Linux or other POSIX-like operating systems.

`renpy.android`

  Has a true value when running on Android.

`renpy.ios`

  Has a true value when running on iOS.

`renpy.emscripten`

  Has a true value when running in the browser.

`renpy.mobile`

  Has a true value when running on Android or iOS or in the browser.

These are only set when running on the actual devices, not when running on in the emulators. These are more intended for use in platform-specific Python. For display layout, use screen variants.

## Memory Profiling

`renpy.` `diff_memory`(update=True, skip_constants=False)

  Profiles objects, surface, and texture memory use by Ren'Py and the game. Writes (to memory.txt and stdout) the difference in memory usage from the last time this function was called with update true.

  The accounting is by names in the store and in the Ren'Py implementation that the memory is reachable from. If an object is reachable from more than one name, it's assigned to the name it's most directly reachable from.

  skip_constants
    If True, the profiler will skip scanning of large Ren'Py's containers, that are intended to be immutable after startup.

  As it has to scan all memory used by Ren'Py, this function may take a long time to complete.

`renpy.` `profile_memory`(fraction=1.0, minimum=0, skip_constants=False)

  Profiles object, surface, and texture memory use by Ren'Py and the game. Writes an accounting of memory use by to the memory.txt file and stdout.

  The accounting is by names in the store and in the Ren'Py implementation that the memory is reachable from. If an object is reachable from more than one name, it's assigned to the name it's most directly reachable from.

  fraction
    The fraction of the total memory usage to show. 1.0 will show all memory usage, .9 will show the top 90%.
  minimum
    If a name is accounted less than minimum bytes of memory, it will not be printed.
  skip_constants
    If True, the profiler will skip scanning of large Ren'Py's containers, that are intended to be immutable after startup.

  As it has to scan all memory used by Ren'Py, this function may take a long time to complete.

`renpy.` `profile_rollback`()

  Profiles memory used by the rollback system. Writes (to memory.txt and stdout) the memory used by the rollback system. This tries to account for rollback memory used by various store variables, as well as by internal aspects of the rollback system.

## Contexts

`renpy.` `context`()

  Returns an object that is unique to the current context. The object is copied when entering a new context, but changes to the copy do not change the original.

  The object is saved and participates in rollback.

`renpy.` `context_nesting_level`()

  Returns the nesting level of the current context. This is 0 for the outermost context (the context that is saved, loaded, and rolled-back), and is non-zero in other contexts, such as menu and replay contexts.

## renpy.random

This object is a random number generator that implements the Python random number generation interface. Randomness can be generated by calling the various methods this object exposes. See the Python documentation for the full list, but the most useful are:

- `renpy.random.random()`

Return the next random floating point number in the range (0.0, 1.0).

- `renpy.random.randint(a, b)`

Return a random integer such that a <= N <= b.

- `renpy.random.choice(seq)`

Return a random element from the non-empty sequence seq.

- `renpy.random.shuffle(seq)`

Shuffles the elements of the sequence seq in place. This does not return a list, but changes an existing one.

Unlike the standard Python random number generator, this object cooperates with rollback, generating the same numbers regardless of how many times we rollback. It should be used instead of the standard Python random module.

    # return a random float between 0 and 1
    $ randfloat = renpy.random.random()

    # return a random integer between 1 and 20
    $ d20roll = renpy.random.randint(1, 20)

    # return a random element from a list
    $ randfruit = renpy.random.choice(['apple', 'orange', 'plum'])

- `renpy.random.Random(seed=None)`

Returns a new random number generator object separate from the main one, seeded with the specified value if provided.

## SDL

These functions let you use the Python ctypes module to call functions in the SDL dll. There are no guarantees as to the version of SDL2 that's included with Ren'Py, including which features will or will not be compiled in. These functions may fail on platforms that can otherwise run Ren'Py, and so it's important to check for None before proceeding.

`renpy.` `get_sdl_dll`()

  This returns a ctypes.cdll object that refers to the library that contains the instance of SDL2 that Ren'Py is using.

  If this can not be done, None is returned.

`renpy.` `get_sdl_window_pointer`()

  Returns a pointer (of type ctypes.c_void_p) to the main window, or None if the main window is not displayed, or some other problem occurs.

    init python:

        import ctypes

        def get_window_position():
            """
            Retrieves the position of the window from SDL2.  Returns
            the (x, y) of the upper left corner of the window, or
            (0, 0) if it's not known.
            """

            sdl = renpy.get_sdl_dll()

            if sdl is None:
                return (0, 0)

            win = renpy.get_sdl_window_pointer()

            if win is None:
                return (0, 0)

            SDL_GetWindowPosition = sdl.SDL_GetWindowPosition

            x = ctypes.c_int()
            y = ctypes.c_int()

            SDL_GetWindowPosition(win, ctypes.byref(x), ctypes.byref(y))

## Miscellaneous

`renpy.` `add_layer`(layer, above=None, below=None, menu_clear=True)

  Adds a new layer to the screen. If the layer already exists, this function does nothing.

  One of behind or above must be given.

  layer
    A string giving the name of the new layer to add.
  above
    If not None, a string giving the name of a layer the new layer will be placed above.
  below
    If not None, a string giving the name of a layer the new layer will be placed below.
  menu_clear
    If true, this layer will be cleared when entering the game menu context, and restored when leaving the

`renpy.` `add_python_directory`(path)

  Adds path to the list of paths searched for Python modules and packages. The path should be a string relative to the game directory. This must be called before an import statement.

`renpy.` `add_to_all_stores`(name, value)

  Adds the value by the name to all creator defined namespaces. If the name already exist in that namespace - do nothing for it.

  This function may only be run from inside an init block. It is an error to run this function once the game has started.

`renpy.` `call_stack_depth`()

  Returns the depth of the call stack of the current context - the number of calls that have run without being returned from or popped from the call stack.

`renpy.` `choice_for_skipping`()

  Tells Ren'Py that a choice is coming up soon. This currently has two effects:

  - If Ren'Py is skipping, and the Skip After Choices preferences is set to stop skipping, skipping is terminated.
  - An auto-save is triggered.

`renpy.` `clear_game_runtime`()

  Resets the game runtime counter.

`renpy.` `clear_keymap_cache`()

  Clears the keymap cache. This allows changes to `config.keymap` to take effect without restarting Ren'Py.

`renpy.` `context_dynamic`(*vars)

  This can be given one or more variable names as arguments. This makes the variables dynamically scoped to the current context. The variables will be reset to their original value when the call returns.

  An example call is:

      $ renpy.context_dynamic("x", "y", "z")

`renpy.` `count_dialogue_blocks`()

  Returns the number of dialogue blocks in the game's original language.

`renpy.` `count_newly_seen_dialogue_blocks`()

  Returns the number of dialogue blocks the user has seen for the first time during this session.

`renpy.` `count_seen_dialogue_blocks`()

  Returns the number of dialogue blocks the user has seen in any play-through of the current game.

`renpy.` `display_notify`(message)

  The default implementation of `renpy.notify()`.

`renpy.` `dynamic`(*vars, **kwargs)

  This can be given one or more variable names as arguments. This makes the variables dynamically scoped to the current call. The variables will be reset to their original value when the call returns.

  If the variables are given as keyword arguments, the value of the argument is assigned to the variable name.

  Example calls are:

      $ renpy.dynamic("x", "y", "z")
      $ renpy.dynamic(players=2, score=0)

`renpy.` `flush_cache_file`(fn)

  This flushes all image cache entries that refer to the file fn. This may be called when an image file changes on disk to force Ren'Py to use the new version.

`renpy.` `focus_coordinates`()

  This attempts to find the coordinates of the currently-focused displayable. If it can, it will return them as a (x, y, w, h) tuple. If not, it will return a (None, None, None, None) tuple.

`renpy.` `force_autosave`(take_screenshot=False, block=False)

  Forces a background autosave to occur.

  take_screenshot
    If True, a new screenshot will be taken. If False, the existing screenshot will be used.
  block
    If True, blocks until the autosave completes.

`renpy.` `force_full_redraw`()

  Forces the screen to be redrawn in full. Call this after using pygame to redraw the screen directly.

`renpy.` `free_memory`()

  Attempts to free some memory. Useful before running a renpygame-based minigame.

`renpy.` `full_restart`(transition=False, label=u'_invoke_main_menu', target=u'_main_menu', save=False)

  Causes Ren'Py to restart, returning the user to the main menu.

  transition
    If given, the transition to run, or None to not run a transition. False uses `config.end_game_transition`.
  save
    If true, the game is saved in `_quit_slot` before Ren'Py restarts and returns the user to the main menu.

`renpy.` `get_adjustment`(bar_value)

  Given bar_value, a `BarValue`, returns the `ui.adjustment()` if uses. The adjustment has the following to attributes defined:

  `value`

    The current value of the bar.

  `range`

    The current range of the bar.

`renpy.` `get_autoreload`()

  Gets the autoreload flag.

`renpy.` `get_game_runtime`()

  Returns the game runtime counter.

  The game runtime counter counts the number of seconds that have elapsed while waiting for user input in the top-level context. (It does not count time spent in the main or game menus.)

`renpy.` `get_image_load_log`(age=None)

  A generator that yields a log of image loading activity. For the last 100 image loads, this returns:

  - The time the image was loaded (in seconds since the epoch).
  - The filename of the image that was loaded.
  - A boolean that is true if the image was preloaded, and false if the game stalled to load it.

  The entries are ordered from newest to oldest.

  age
    If not None, only images that have been loaded in the past age seconds are included.

  The image load log is only kept if config.developer = True.

`renpy.` `get_mouse_name`(interaction=False)

  Returns the name of the mouse that should be shown.

  interaction
    If true, get a mouse name that is based on the type of interaction occuring. (This is rarely useful.)

`renpy.` `get_mouse_pos`()

  Returns an (x, y) tuple giving the location of the mouse pointer or the current touch location. If the device does not support a mouse and is not currently being touched, x and y are numbers, but not meaningful.

`renpy.` `get_physical_size`()

  Returns the size of the physical window.

`renpy.` `get_refresh_rate`(precision=5)

  Returns the refresh rate of the current screen, as a floating-point number of frames per second.

  precision

    The raw data Ren'Py gets is number of frames per second, rounded down. This means that a monitor that runs at 59.95 frames per second will be reported at 59 fps. The precision argument reduces the precision of this reading, such that the only valid readings are multiples of the precision.

    Since all monitor framerates tend to be multiples of 5 (25, 30, 60, 75, and 120), this likely will improve accuracy. Setting precision to 1 disables this.

`renpy.` `get_renderer_info`()

  Returns a dictionary, giving information about the renderer Ren'Py is currently using. Defined keys are:

  `"renderer"`
    A string giving the name of the renderer that is in use.
  `"resizable"`
    True if and only if the window is resizable.
  `"additive"`
    True if and only if the renderer supports additive blending.
  `"model"`
    Present and true if model-based rendering is supported.

  Other, renderer-specific, keys may also exist. The dictionary should be treated as immutable. This should only be called once the display has been started (that is, after the init phase has finished).

`renpy.` `get_say_attributes`()

  Gets the attributes associated with the current say statement, or None if no attributes are associated with this statement.

  This is only valid when executing or predicting a say statement.

`renpy.` `get_skipping`()

  Returns "slow" if the Ren'Py is skipping, "fast" if Ren'Py is fast skipping, and None if it is not skipping.

`renpy.` `get_transition`(layer=None)

  Gets the transition for layer, or the entire scene if layer is None. This returns the transition that is queued up to run during the next interaction, or None if no such transition exists.

`renpy.` `iconify`()

  Iconifies the game.

`renpy.` `invoke_in_thread`(fn, *args, **kwargs)

  Invokes the function fn in a background thread, passing it the provided arguments and keyword arguments. Restarts the interaction once the thread returns.

  This function creates a daemon thread, which will be automatically stopped when Ren'Py is shutting down.

  This thread is very limited in what it can do with the Ren'Py API. Changing store variables is allowed, as is calling the `renpy.queue_event()` function. Most other portions of the Ren'Py API are expected to be called from the main thread.

  The primary use of this function is to place accesss to a web API in a second thread, and then update variables with the results of that call, by storing the result in variables and then relying on the interaction restart to cause screens to display those variables.

`renpy.` `is_init_phase`()

  Returns True if Ren'Py is currently executing init code, or False otherwise.

`renpy.` `is_mouse_visible`()

  Returns True if the mouse cursor is visible, False otherwise.

`renpy.` `is_seen`(ever=True)

  Returns true if the current line has been seen by the player.

  If ever is true, we check to see if the line has ever been seen by the player. If false, we check if the line has been seen in the current play-through.

`renpy.` `is_skipping`()

  Returns True if Ren'Py is currently skipping (in fast or slow skip mode), or False otherwise.

`renpy.` `is_start_interact`()

  Returns true if restart_interaction has not been called during the current interaction. This can be used to determine if the interaction is just being started, or has been restarted.

`renpy.` `language_tailor`(chars, cls)

  This can be used to override the line breaking class of a character. For example, the linebreaking class of a character can be set to ID to treat it as an ideograph, which allows breaks before and after that character.

  chars
    A string containing each of the characters to tailor.
  cls
    A string giving a character class. This should be one of the classes defined in Table 1 of UAX #14: Unicode Line Breaking Algorithm.

`renpy.` `load_module`(name, **kwargs)

  This loads the Ren'Py module named name. A Ren'Py module consists of Ren'Py script that is loaded into the usual (store) namespace, contained in a file named name.rpym or name.rpymc. If a .rpym file exists, and is newer than the corresponding .rpymc file, it is loaded and a new .rpymc file is created.

  All of the init blocks (and other init-phase code) in the module are run before this function returns. An error is raised if the module name cannot be found, or is ambiguous.

  Module loading may only occur from inside an init block.

`renpy.` `load_string`(s, filename=u'<string>')

  Loads s as Ren'Py script that can be called.

  Returns the name of the first statement in s.

  filename is the name of the filename that statements in the string will appear to be from.

`renpy.` `maximum_framerate`(t)

  Forces Ren'Py to draw the screen at the maximum framerate for t seconds. If t is None, cancels the maximum framerate request.

`renpy.` `munge`(name, filename=None)

  Munges name, which must begin with __.

  filename
    The filename the name is munged into. If None, the name is munged into the filename containing the call to this function.

`renpy.` `not_infinite_loop`(delay)

  Resets the infinite loop detection timer to delay seconds.

`renpy.` `notify`(message)

  Causes Ren'Py to display the message using the notify screen. By default, this will cause the message to be dissolved in, displayed for two seconds, and dissolved out again.

  This is useful for actions that otherwise wouldn't produce feedback, like screenshots or quicksaves.

  Only one notification is displayed at a time. If a second notification is displayed, the first notification is replaced.

  This function just calls `config.notify`, allowing its implementation to be replaced by assigning a new function to that variable.

`renpy.` `pause`(delay=None, hard=False)

  Causes Ren'Py to pause. Returns true if the user clicked to end the pause, or false if the pause timed out or was skipped.

  delay
    If given, the number of seconds Ren'Py should pause for.
  hard

    This must be given as a keyword argument. When True, Ren'Py may prevent the user from clicking to interrupt the pause. If the player enables skipping, the hard pause will be skipped. There may be other circumstances where the hard pause ends early or prevents Ren'Py from operating properly, these will not be treated as bugs.

    In general, using hard pauses is rude. When the user clicks to advance the game, it's an explicit request - the user wishes the game to advance. To override that request is to assume you understand what the player wants more than the player does.

    Calling renpy.pause guarantees that whatever is on the screen will be displayed for at least one frame, and hence has been shown to the player.

    tl;dr - Don't use renpy.pause with hard=True.

`renpy.` `pop_call`()

  Pops the current call from the call stack, without returning to the location.

  This can be used if a label that is called decides not to return to its caller.

`renpy.` `queue_event`(name, up=False, **kwargs)

  Queues an event with the given name. Name should be one of the event names in `config.keymap`, or a list of such names.

  up
    This should be false when the event begins (for example, when a keyboard button is pressed.) It should be true when the event ends (when the button is released.)

  The event is queued at the time this function is called. This function will not work to replace an event with another - doing so will change event order. (Use `config.keymap` instead.)

  This method is threadsafe.

`renpy.` `quit`(relaunch=False, status=0, save=False)

  This causes Ren'Py to exit entirely.

  relaunch
    If true, Ren'Py will run a second copy of itself before quitting.
  status
    The status code Ren'Py will return to the operating system. Generally, 0 is success, and positive integers are failure.
  save
    If true, the game is saved in `_quit_slot` before Ren'Py terminates.

`renpy.` `quit_event`()

  Triggers a quit event, as if the player clicked the quit button in the window chrome.

`renpy.` `reload_script`()

  Causes Ren'Py to save the game, reload the script, and then load the save.

`renpy.` `reset_physical_size`()

  Attempts to set the size of the physical window to the specified values in renpy.config. (That is, screen_width and screen_height.) This has the side effect of taking the screen out of fullscreen mode.

`renpy.` `restart_interaction`()

  Restarts the current interaction. Among other things, this displays images added to the scene, re-evaluates screens, and starts any queued transitions.

  This only does anything when called from within an interaction (for example, from an action). Outside an interaction, this function has no effect.

`renpy.` `screenshot`(filename)

  Saves a screenshot in filename.

  Returns True if the screenshot was saved successfully, False if saving failed for some reason.

  The `config.screenshot_pattern` and `_screenshot_pattern` variables control the file the screenshot is saved in.

`renpy.` `screenshot_to_bytes`(size)

  Returns a screenshot as a bytes object, that can be passed to im.Data(). The bytes will be a png-format image, such that:

      $ data = renpy.screenshot_to_bytes((640, 360))
      show expression im.Data(data, "screenshot.png"):
          align (0, 0)

  Will show the image. The bytes objects returned can be stored in save files and persistent data. However, these may be large, and care should be taken to not include too many.

  size
    The size the screenshot will be resized to. If None, the screenshot will be resized, and hence will be the size of the player's window, without any letterbars.

  This function may be slow, and so it's intended for save-like screenshots, and not realtime effects.

`renpy.` `scry`()

  Returns the scry object for the current statement.

  The scry object tells Ren'Py about things that must be true in the future of the current statement. Right now, the scry object has one field:

  `nvl_clear`
    Is true if an `nvl clear` statement will execute before the next interaction.

`renpy.` `set_autoreload`(autoreload)

  Sets the autoreload flag, which determines if the game will be automatically reloaded after file changes. Autoreload will not be fully enabled until the game is reloaded with `renpy.utter_restart()`.

`renpy.` `set_mouse_pos`(x, y, duration=0)

  Jump the mouse pointer to the location given by arguments x and y. If the device does not have a mouse pointer, this does nothing.

  duration
    The time it will take to perform the move, in seconds. During this time, the mouse may be unresponsive.

`renpy.` `set_physical_size`(size)

  Attempts to set the size of the physical window to size. This has the side effect of taking the screen out of fullscreen mode.

`renpy.` `shown_window`()

  Call this to indicate that the window has been shown. This interacts with the "window show" statement, which shows an empty window whenever this functions has not been called during an interaction.

`renpy.` `split_properties`(properties, *prefixes)

  Splits up properties into multiple dictionaries, one per prefix. This function checks each key in properties against each prefix, in turn. When a prefix matches, the prefix is stripped from the key, and the resulting key is mapped to the value in the corresponding dictionary.

  If no prefix matches, an exception is thrown. (The empty string, "", can be used as the last prefix to create a catch-all dictionary.)

  For example, this splits properties beginning with text from those that do not:

      text_properties, button_properties = renpy.split_properties(properties, "text_", "")

`renpy.` `substitute`(s, scope=None, translate=True)

  Applies translation and new-style formatting to the string s.

  scope
    If not None, a scope which is used in formatting, in addition to the default store.
  translate
    Determines if translation occurs.

  Returns the translated and formatted string.

`renpy.` `transition`(trans, layer=None, always=False)

  Sets the transition that will be used during the next interaction.

  layer
    The layer the transition applies to. If None, the transition applies to the entire scene.
  always
    If false, this respects the transition preference. If true, the transition is always run.

`renpy.` `vibrate`(duration)

  Causes the device to vibrate for duration seconds. Currently, this is only supported on Android.

`layout.` `yesno_screen`(message, yes=None, no=None)

  This causes the a yes/no prompt screen with the given message to be displayed. The screen will be hidden when the user hits yes or no.

  message
    The message that will be displayed.
  yes
    An action that is run when the user chooses yes.
  no
    An action that is run when the user chooses no.