Ren'Py 8.2.1 "64bit Sensation"

was released on March 4, 2024. The main downloads of Ren'Py 8.2.1 are:

Download SDK 7z.exe - 108 MiB Download SDK dmg - 135 MiB Download SDK tar.bz2 - 132 MiB
Download SDK zip - 139 MiB
Download ARM Linux (Raspberry Pi and Chromebook) SDK tar.bz2 - 151 MiB

You only need to download one of these files. Each contains the full Ren'Py software development kit, with everything needed to develop Ren'Py games for the Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms; the Ren'Py tutorial; and "The Question", an example game.

Ren'Py is free to download and use for commercial and non-commercial purposes. It may be modified and distributed under the terms of its license.

Additional Downloads. When necessary, the Ren'Py SDK will automatically download additional packages, such as text editors and Android/iOS support. These packages are available for direct download at the bottom of this page.

Announcement

I'm happy to announce Ren'Py 8.2.1, the first fix release for Ren'Py 8.2.

Ren'Py 8.2 is a major release of Ren'Py, containing new features, fixes, and improvements. It is recommended for all new games, and it's strongly recommended that existing games update to Ren'Py 8.

Ren'Py 8.2 and Ren'Py 7.7 are joint releases that add many new features, fixes, and improvements to Ren'Py. Some of the most important are:

  • For 8.2 only, integration with the Harfbuzz text shaping library, which supports more languages and more complex text shaping than Ren'Py supported before. This adds support for Brahmic/Indic scripts, with an appropriate font.
  • Support for displaying Emoji in color, simply by typing it into your game. 🎉
  • Support for OpenType variable fonts.
  • Improvements to the text interpolation system to allow expressions to be used, similar to Python's f-strings.
  • The ability to show multiple speech bubbles at once, and to have speech bubbles animate in and out.
  • Changes to Transform and ATL Transforms to be able to (in most cases) interpolate between absolute and relative positions.
  • A new HTTPS/HTTP fetch function that properly pauses Ren'Py as the fetch occurs, and works with the web platform.
  • Several new accessibility properties.
  • Improvements to loading translations. Loading translations is roughly 2/3rds faster, and it's possible to defer loading translations for languages not in use.
  • The ability to specify a transition that runs after each sequence of scene, show, and hide statements.
  • A modernization of the Android build process, which now can use (and requires) the supported Java 21.
  • The ability to create an Android game that can download its data from a web server, allowing the creation of games that are more than 2GB in size.
  • Improvements and fixes to Web support, especially fullscreen modes.
  • A complete rewrite of the Ren'Py updater to use a new format that works better with modern web servers.

But with so many changes, it's hard to list them all. For a full list, see the changelog.

There is two behavior changes I want to call out:

  • The first is that Ren'Py 7.7 and 8.2 will attempt to remember and restore the window position, so you can expect that it may pop up in the last place you left it.
  • The second is that config.gl2 is now ignored, and the only way to use the soon-to-be removed first-generation GL renderer is for the player to select it.

Downloads of Ren'Py 8.2.1 can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/release/8.2.1

A full list of changes to Ren'Py can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/changelog.html

A list of changes that may require you to update your game can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/incompatible.html

Please also check out the credits and list of sponsors.

Pending Deprecations

The original OpenGL renderer will be removed after May 2024.

Support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 will be dropped after May 2024.

Credits

Ren'Py 8.2.1 is brought to you by:

  • Abdul
  • Andy_kl
  • Asriel Senna
  • Ayowel
  • Bas Couwenberg
  • Brainos
  • Daniel Brookman
  • Denys
  • Dipesh Aggarwal
  • Do10HM
  • Elckarow
  • Gouvernathor
  • Helmut K. C. Tessarek
  • ImJustAQ
  • JamiesonC
  • Joseph Boyd
  • Joshua Fehler
  • KagariSoft-Dev
  • Kassy
  • Lezalith
  • Mal Graty
  • Michael
  • Minger0
  • Morgan Willcock
  • Moshibit
  • OleSTEEP
  • Tichq
  • Vladya
  • Zout141
  • brainos233
  • iivusly
  • jsfehler
  • kyouryuukunn
  • midgethetree
  • shawna-p
  • symegac
  • the66F95
  • zedraxlo
  • ねゆんせ

everyone who's tested this release, and myself, Tom "PyTom" Rothamel.

Editor Downloads

When first asked to edit a file, the Ren'Py launcher will prompt you to download and install an editor. As this may fail if your Internet connection is unreliable, the editors can be downloaded separately. To install, extract the contents of the editor archive to the Ren'Py directory.

VS Code: Editor, Ren'Py Language extension.
To use a VS Code installed outside Ren'Py, select the "Visual Studio Code (System)" editor.

Android and iOS Support

When building Android packages, iOS packages, or web distributions, Ren'Py will prompt you to download RAPT (Ren'Py Android Packaging Tool), Renios (Ren'Py iOS Support), or Renpyweb (Web Platform Support). As these downloads may fail if your Internet connection is unreliable, these packages can be downloaded separately. To install, extract the contents of the archive to the Ren'Py directory. (Place the "rapt", "renios", or "web" directory into the "renpy-8.2.1" directory.)

Android Support (RAPT): renpy-8.2.1-rapt.zip
iOS Support (Renios): renpy-8.2.1-renios.zip
Web Platform Support (Renpyweb): renpy-8.2.1-web.zip

Additional Downloads

Ren'Py Source Code: renpy-8.2.1-source.tar.bz2
Contains the source code of the Ren'Py distribution without any binary components.
Pygame_SDL2 Source Code: pygame_sdl2-2.1.0+renpy8.2.1.tar.gz
Contains the source code for the version of pygame_sdl2 required to run this version of Ren'Py. This may be newer than any released version of pygame_sdl2.
Other Dependencies: https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/license.html
Ren'Py contains free software licensed under a number of licenses, including the GNU Lesser General Public License. A full list of software and links to git repositories from which the software can be downloaded is linked above.
Checksums: checksums.txt
Checksums for the various files making up the Ren'Py distribution.

We also maintain a complete list of releases.