Ren'Py 8.3.1 "Second Star to the Right"

was released on September 7, 2024. The main downloads of Ren'Py 8.3.1 are:

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 the release of Ren'Py 8.3.1, a fix release that improves earlier versions of Ren'Py 8.3, and should be used for all new games.

Ren'Py 8.3 and Ren'Py 7.8 are joint releases that add many new features, fixes, and improvements to Ren'Py. The two biggest features are:

  • Audio Filters, a system for processing audio in real-time, allowing for effects like high-pass and low-pass filters, reverb, and more.
  • Text shaders, which allow GLSL shaders to be applied to text. These allow for many text effects that were not possible, and make it possible to replace the default typewriter slow-text effect with other options, like a moving dissolve.

Some of the other changes are:

  • Improvements to shaders, including shader-part local variables that make it easier to combine shaders.
  • Changes and improvements to the window statements to give better control over window management.
  • New functions that make it possible to screenshot displayable (for example, a layered image that contains a paper doll) and save that screenshot to a file.
  • Updated Steam support, including new support for the Steam Timeline.
  • Ren'Py's Android support now targets Android 15 (API Level 35).
  • Ren'Py's Android support now supports sizes of up to 4GB on Google Play.
  • Retained speech bubbles are now automatically cleared when appropriate.

As well as many other fixes, changes, and improvements. Please see the changelog for a complete list of changes.

Downloads of Ren'Py 8.3.1 can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/release/8.3.1

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 in the next major release.

Support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 will be dropped in the next major release.

Credits

Ren'Py 8.3.1 is brought to you by:

  • Abdul
  • Aleksandar Belic Aleksanchez
  • Alexandre Detiste
  • Andy_kl
  • Bas Couwenberg
  • Brainos
  • CensoredUsername
  • Chengtian He
  • Dipesh Aggarwal
  • Elckarow
  • Gouvernathor
  • HB38
  • ImJustAQ
  • Kassy
  • Kuro
  • Lent1
  • Mal Graty
  • OctoSpacc
  • OleSTEEP
  • Petr Abdulin
  • Ren'Py Bot
  • Tichq
  • Viktoras Agejevas
  • Zout141
  • do10HM
  • iivusly
  • kyouryuukunn
  • levicratic
  • luejerry
  • m-from-space
  • minger0
  • npckc
  • shawna-p
  • the66F95
  • veydzh3r

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-8.3.1" directory.)

Android Support (RAPT): renpy-8.3.1-rapt.zip
iOS Support (Renios): renpy-8.3.1-renios.zip
Web Platform Support (Renpyweb): renpy-8.3.1-web.zip

Additional Downloads

Ren'Py Source Code: renpy-8.3.1-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+renpy8.3.1.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.