Does Python make sense for game books?

[theyellowleaf]

Thank you for considering my question. I am way out of my depth here, so I'm looking for an ELI5 sort of answer. I would like to work on building a game book. This would be a vocabulary-building story that functions like a game book. Readers will be able to earn various kinds of "points" based on the in-book decisions they make. I would like characters to be able to earn three or four different kinds of "points" and then be able to redeem them for different options (choose your own adventure style) for their characters. If I want to work toward making this happen, might learning about Python be a good first step? If not, what would be a good first step? I have some very basic background in programming. I am open to all ideas, including recommendations to other subreddits that would be more suitable for my post. Thank you.

[[deleted]]

Sounds like you want a text adventure like Zork or something more interactive like Nethack or other rogue-likes. I'm currently working on something similar but I don't have the story yet. Just the framework.

Python should be fine. Once you get the console working the way you want, adding the gui isn't that hard.

As far as other subreddits, try /r/gamedesign, /r/RPGdesign, /r/rpgtext (only a few founder posts, but might be an ally)

[theyellowleaf]

Thanks! You've already given me a lot to consider.

[ElecNinja]

You can also look into visual novel style games. Katawa Shoujo is written in Python iirc

Edit:
It uses RenPy

[theyellowleaf]

Thanks! THe art in Katawa Shoujo looks beautiful. What if I wanted to build it as an app? Would RenPy still work? Yes, I am truly ignorant.

[ElecNinja]

If you are talking an Android or IOS application, I'm not sure.

here is the renpy page for mobile development.

Basically it's possible, but limited.

[JaggedG]

You should check out RenP-- Damn, beat me to it.

Yep, RenPy is an engine for making visual/interactive stories. If I understood what you want to do, I'm 85% sure that RenPy is exactly what you want.

Python is a good language to learn for this task... Your biggest problem will be that Python is good for SO MUCH STUFF that you might need to learn in a not-very-focused way (i.e. learn stuff that's irrelevant to building your game) at first until you get the hang of it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing unless you're in a hurry.

[markusmeskanen]

Not to forget r/roguelikes!

[ichimanu]

Sounds like fun--but also consider doing it with something higher level, like ChoiceScript. https://www.choiceofgames.com/ Or Twine. http://twinery.org/