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To start off my fresh account, I've compiled a few Ren'Py tips into a bite-sized format! I've been programming in Ren'Py since 2018 and spent a ton of time working with it for all sorts of projects. Here are some less-common bits of knowledge ✨ #vndev #visualnovel #gamedev #renpy

Starting with one I see confused all the time: the special variable `main_menu` is True when you are *not currently in a save file*. Once you've started a new game or loaded one, main_menu will be False. Until then, it's True.

Another special variable is `_menu`. It's True if you're in the "menu context" - so, when you're on the preferences screen, save/load, main menu, etc. This is most useful if you have a screen accessed both in-game or manually through the menu screens, and you need to know which is which.

A feature that was added in v8.2 is the `position` type. It takes two arguments, an absolute and a relative value e.g. `position(1.0, -10)`. This can be used anywhere you'd normally use either a float or an integer, such as for `xpos` or `ysize`.

It adds the two together, so `xpos position(1.0, -10)` positions the item at 100% of the available space, -10 (e.g. if the available space was 1920, this would put the xpos at 1920-10 = 1910). Extremely useful for offsetting positions or sizes a bit from the edge or center without using `offset`.