Disco Framework
Disco Framework is a Disco Elysium-inspired framework for the game engine Ren'Py. Made for those who would like to make Disco Elysium fangames and playable fanfics.
Created by the artist Katy133.
Features
Framework includes:
- A playable tutorial to walk you through the different features.
- Coloured text inspired by the Skills in Disco Elysium.
- Customised textbox.
- Animated health damage and morale damage.
- Animated stat raise effects.
- Animated success and fail checks.
- Dialogue choices with text that changes colour when you hover over each of them.
- Custom mouse cursor.
- Designed to minimise programming knowledge needed to make a game with the framework.
NEW! Version 1.2 includes:
- Random number generator for dice rolls.
- Skill system for passive rolls and levelling up.
- Modifiers with custom messages to buff/debuff rolls.
- Inventory and money system.
- Journal that can be updated.
- Character portraits with skill portraits and placeholder art.
- Interactive map/crime scene to search.
- Health and morale bars, along with death/game over scenes.
- Animated notifications for gaining items, tasks, money, and more.
- Clock system.
- Window icon (of a disco ball).
- Sound effects for the skills and user interface.
Requires a copy of the freeware engine Ren'Py.
Released under the CC-BY-NC-4.0 license.
Games that use this framework
Let me know if you make a game with this, I'd love to see it and showcase it.
FAQ
How do I use this framework?
Download and install Ren'Py. Create a New Project using the launcher. Open the project's folder. Replace the "game" folder with the Disco Framework game folder.
How do I edit .rpy files?
Download and install a script editor (Ren'Py recommends several free ones) and use the program to open and edit the .rpy files.
Can you add x?
I don't plan on adding additional content to the framework (I want to focus on my current projects), but please feel free to contact me if there's something you think Disco Elysium fangame devs would find jolly useful.
Why don't you include assets from Disco Elysium?
I specifically avoided using assets directly taken from the game to avoid copyright issues. Disco Elysium's assets are owned by studio ZA/UM.
Where can I find your Disco Elysium fanfics?
On AO3.
Support
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Version 1.2 ReleasedFeb 27, 2022
- Survery For Upcoming Version 1.2Dec 14, 2021
- Version 1.1 UpdateJul 14, 2021
Comments
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This is so sick!! Great work.
Amazing framework! Didn't expect to get so thoughtful and detailed template.
Just wanted to swing in and say thank you for this! I used the Disco Framework as a base for a game for class, and found it to be wildly helpful! Going to make some big changes as I move forward (to make my game feel more original and less of a clone of Disco Elysium) but I cannot possibly express enough just how helpful this was, especially as a beginner w/ Ren'py!
Thank you! It was a great tool. And I made a game with it. It will be free on Steam. PIGBLUE.
I'm glad you found the framework useful! Thank you for showing me your game's page, I'll link to it on Disco Framework's page to showcase it.
Absolutely amazing. Haven't even finished the game yet, but this has got me very excited. Thank you for sharing.
Oh my god, this is absolutely amazing. I can't wait to open it up! Fantastic work!
I used The Disco Framework in order to make Hoping This Finds You Well! It helped me to understand NVL mode and how to mechanically craft and implement a textbox which could function as a drag-and-drop item.
Honestly, I felt guilty for NOT using it to make a Disco Elysium-style game; this framework is so mechanically rigorous that I was itching to make something with stats and puzzles and I ended up starting up a new run of Disco Elysium itself. XD Just playing with the framework has got my mind buzzing with all kinds of new possibilities!
Thank you so much for making this and sharing it with everyone!
Thank you, I'm glad to hear that the framework has been useful!
I came back to this after a while and was wondering if there was a shortcut for character names? Using the original renpy format of defining a character then using their shortcut doesn't work with the text formatting. If some characters have a fairly long name it gets really tedious to always write them out in caps at the beginning of a sentence, same with the different feelings. E.g. I would want to be able to define ELECTROCHEMISTRY as EC then just use EC "- blabla"
Have you dealt with that issue before? And if so what was your workflow like?
Because the framework is designed for users new to programming, the character's names are written within the dialogue. While it is still possible to use Ren'Py's built-in definitions, extra steps would need to be taken to reformat the nametags so that they are placed correctly, as well as changing the indentation of the dialogue text. While I don't have the script that would make these needed changes, more information on indentation and nametags can be found in Ren'Py's documentation.
oh this whole thing is really useful for a project i want to make, thanks for this. one question though: is it possible to add some kind of transition and/or animation to the portraits?
them just popping in isn't the look im personally going for, but since portraits are character and need to be called on the same line as whatever text i want to put, i cant find a way to do this atm, though i am very new to renpy lmao. if you or anyone knows of a way, i'd really appreciate it. thank you!
Thank you. Yes, it is in theory possible to make any image element in the framework be animated or have a transition, since Ren'Py is python-based. I don't know what the script would be to add this in, but asking in Ren'Py-focused communities on Discord, forums, etc. should help you get info on how to accomplish the transition you want.
rip, thanks for the reply though. i'll check out those options too. thanks again for the framework!
what a great little project, really what I was looking for. One thing though... After showing how backgrounds are done, could you remove the blue bathtub and maybe show a single colored background instead? In combination with the font it's a bit off putting and, at least for me, harder too read in general.
Thank you for your feedback. I'll add that to a list for a potential update. In the meantime, an option to make the text more readable whilst playing through the framework is using the Accessibility options (which includes Font Override options, Text Size Scaling, and--if you are using the downloaded version of the framework in Ren'Py's Launcher, instead of the browser version--a High Contrast Text mode as well) in Ren'Py by pressing the hotkey "A" while the framework is running.
That's awesome to hear!! I'd love to see it. <3
Ahhhh thank you so much for doing this!
Wow, I've been struggling to put something like this together as a new Ren'Py user. So happy I found this, thank you!
What a great idea and tool ^^
This is really cool.