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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Happy end of the month. This month's Ren'Py developer update is up, covering the self-voicing updates, the new renpy.get_user_age_function (and why it usually doesn't work), and more.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I'd have liked the high end to be a bit faster, but most synthesizers break down around 3x. On the web platform, the limit is a bit under 2x for the same reason. 2/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Ren'Py has gained a self-voicing speed slider as part of the accessibility menu. It lets you set the speed of self voicing from about 1.0x to 3.0x normal. (On some platforms, the adjustment works a bit differently, but that's the intended range.) 1/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

This also shows off a new system font that's been added. Using the new system font, Ren'Py will display Chinese and Japanese in system and error messages as characters, rather than tofu squares. 2/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Ren'Py 8.6 will have a new option to select the voice used for self-voicing from the voices that are available on the user's device or web browser. (Depending on the platform.) It's going to be one more setting available on the shift+A accessibility menu. 1/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Short, usually a line or two. I mean, I'm quite aware of what is and isn't allowed - gave talk about GPL compliance in 1998 or 1999.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

A big piece of guidance in my use of models is sticking to what Steam clearly allows.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Pretty sure. There's a similar feature in the consumer version, and before that I only used the completions feature - and I limit what I accept to fairly straightforward non-creative things. It's very similar to, say, looking at books or stack overflow.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I don't know how I'd use LLMs to come up with ideas, to be honest - like, that's just alien to me, to the point where suggesting it seems confused. (Not saying you are, like like - I don't get what that would mean.)

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

25% is prompting. I'll tell it things like "Break this function up into these functions." "Here's a compiler error, figure it out and let me know the cause." "Here's a list of C functions, rename them in this way." etc. It does it, I check the results.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Sure. I'd say something like 75% is just the predictive complete feature. I type, it guesses what I'll type next, and if it's what I was planning to type, I accept it.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I'm aware of OpenCode, just haven't figured out how to make it work for me. I honestly don't use LLMs enough that token cost matters much.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I come at it from a different angle - I can evaluate if the changes the LLM produces to my codebase are quality, but can't do that for art, music, etc.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

That's a fair criticism. I'd say 5 years ago there wasn't any pushback - copilot felt like any other code completion tool - and by the time there was it was ingrained enough it was obvious it would blow up.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Honestly, came pretty close to doing an implementation for april fools day one year, but ran out of time to pull it off.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Letting people add it themselves was the reason I added the websocket module to the build.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Like that phrase -"spicy autocomplete". It's not too bad of a description of what's actually going on.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Depending on how close it is, I'd either modify it by hand, revert it and re-run with better instructions, or just revert it and go back to manual programming. It's an efficiency tool, not a panacea. It's an emotionless tool, so I don't hesitate to reject it.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Honestly, I use it because I like the code review interface copilot provides inside vs code - I care about making sure I fully understand everything generated. Does opencode have that?

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Honestly, my only defense is that I was a bit of a coward. When I started, LLM use wasn't a big deal. And I'm usually a non-confrontational person, so it was easier to just not mention it rather than deal with, well, the last 24 hours or so.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I've been using this technology for half a decade now - so why would the uncertainly manifest now, when there's a demonstrated history? You mentioned you're fine with the project over that time.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

No need to be remorseful, not confused, not hurt. Honestly it's pretty nice to have this conversation rather than not. I'm getting a decent amount of support in private, and I appreciate that. And if the way I use LLMs isn't acceptable to some, it seems more honest to let them know.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Been trying, since for a lot of reasons I think local is better than corporate, but haven't had much success with the results so far.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

As far as I understand it, Steam's "We are aware that many modern game development environments have AI powered tools built into them. Efficiency gains through the use of these tools is not the focus of this section." exactly covers how we use language models in Ren'Py.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

...the change. Vibe coding is producing something you don't 100% fully understand, so that if someone asks you for a rationale for the change, you can't provide one (or it's at too high of a level).

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

A great question. github.com/renpy/renpy-... Last night, had a problem getting Ren'Py to compile for the iOS simulator. Asked copilot to look into it, and it generated a change that disabled the assembly. Makes sense, and is the same solution I used to get this working on web, so I accepted...

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I massively dislike the term "AI". It's a marketing term that implies some sort of big difference from things that came before, when there isn't one.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Honestly? I grew up watching Star Trek. The whole point of that show is that technology can be used responsibly, to enable people. I'm hoping you can see this in that light. Vibe-coding hurts people, but so does the hair-shirt approach.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Removing tedium is part of it, not going to lie. But the problem is that tedium made it hard to keep up with the constant stream of fixes that's needed to keep things going, and work on new features.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

There have been some misconceptions about Ren'Py being vibe coded, and I wanted to get out in front of them.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

The difference is basically making sure you have a complete understanding of what's going into your project. That's the difference between using efficiency tools that are beneficial, and winding up with a codebase you don't understand and can't support. 2/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I use language models to develop Ren'Py, and have since Github copilot came out in beta in 2021. Before that I've used other tools (code completion, etc.) I don't vibe code Ren'Py, though - that's not something you do if you want a project you can maintain. 1/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Don't worry about it, I mentioned it on the Patreon a while back. I've mostly been trying to figure out how to word what we accept (basically, 100% human understood code) with what we don't (vibe coding).

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I do use LLMs, don't do vibe coding. The difference is that I make sure I 100% understand everything that goes into Ren'Py.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Just got to see SDL3 Ren'Py run on Android for the first time, only to immediately realize that there was no way to stop it from running.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Downloads of Ren'Py 8.5.3 can be found at: www.renpy.org/releas... A full list of changes to Ren'Py can be found at: www.renpy.org/doc/ht... A list of changes that may require you to update your game can be found at: www.renpy.org/doc/ht... 2/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

I'd like to announce Ren'Py 8.5.3, a fix release of Ren'Py 8.5. This release fixes multiple issues, adds small features, and improves documentation. It also adds and updates translations of the tutorial game. Ren'Py now supports and requires Live2D 5.3 when Live2D is in use. 1/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I've updated the Ren'Py 8.5.3 prerelease to version 8.5.3.26051007. It's very close to being finished, I think. Check it out at: www.renpy.org/releas...

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

A full list of changes to Ren'Py can be found at: www.renpy.org/dev-do... A list of changes that may require you to update your game can be found at: www.renpy.org/dev-do... 2/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

I've made a prerelease of Ren'Py 8.5.3, a fix release for Ren'Py 8.5. This largely consists of fixes, but this release also includes a few minor features. Downloads of 8.5.3 can be found at: www.renpy.org/releas... 1/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Before and after from Muscle Bluff Prison, the iron pumping sim where it was reported in: 2/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Just dealt with an issue that's been irking me (and Ren'Py) since it was reported in February. The sort where you know something is going wrong, but have no idea what to change to fix it... until you do. Hell of a feeling to see the fix after all this time. 1/2

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Artemis II just splashed down, safely. This has, for me, been amazing. For my entire life, Apollo was something done by a generation (the lost generation, mostly) that we couldn't equal. But now my generation and the younger generation sent people to the moon.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

www.youtube.com/watc... Earth is about to set behind the moon from Artemis II's perspective.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

There needs to be a medal for the person who realized you could put a camera at the end of the Orion solar panels, and wave the panels around to see the astronauts looking out the window.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

This morning, I added a progress bar to Ren'Py Sync, so you can gain confidence your upload or download is in progress.

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Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

And since I forgot to post it, here's the usual cropped postcard image.

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