WindowsError: [Error 267] The directory name is invalid when trying to use the script editor in the RenPy GUI

Question

I get this error everytime I try to use any of the editors in the Edit File area of the RenPy GUI. I am not very tech savvy so an ELI5 explanation would be greatly appreciated. A hearty thank you in advance.

The full traceback text is:

Before loading the script.
WindowsError: [Error 267] The directory name is invalid: u'C:\\games\\Ren-PyGames\\tutorial\\game\\script.rpy\\*.*'

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:
  File "renpy/bootstrap.py", line 326, in bootstrap
    renpy.main.main()
  File "renpy/main.py", line 358, in main
    for fn in os.listdir(dir):
WindowsError: [Error 267] The directory name is invalid: u'C:\\games\\Ren-PyGames\\tutorial\\game\\script.rpy\\*.*'

Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
Ren'Py 7.4.2.1292
 
Sat Mar  6 09:42:24 2021```

Answer 1

You can get this error if you have just downloaded Ren'Py and ran it, without extracting the zip. If so, right click and extract it so that Ren'Py persists in the disk.

But it seems you have a directory called script.rpy, which makes Ren'Py really confuse... renpy.rpy should be a file. You should check that.

I've seen this error before in groups playing with Doki Doki Mods.