Story Creator
A downloadable tool for Windows
StoryDev Story Creator is an interactive story editor with the goal of providing easy-access tools for interactive story design. Unlike most editors, StoryDev puts writing first. Focus on your story and don't let code get in the way.
Features
- Design and create semi-linear interactive stories, using StoryScript syntax that is easy to understand and use.
- Add complexity by adding code, fall-through and conditional routes to make your story truly dynamic.
- Manage your data using a specific data-set and features, allowing for the creation of Items, Characters, and more.*
- Use a WYSIWYG interface with coding, allowing you to find database items quickly and efficiently without requiring extra work.
- Advanced Search capabilities - Filter on many different types of data for large datasets, allowing you to efficiently find data when you need it.
*Please note that none of the datasets included with StoryDev Beta does not have a template system or implementation details in place. You will be required to implement these features at the game level yourself.
History
StoryDev was first created as a result of needing a useful tool for interactive story development. After using other third-party tools, StoryDev was made in an effort to make interactive story writing easier.
Most other editors either go too far with visuals, or either goes too far with "just text". StoryDev is in between. The syntax language is written in the open source programming language, Haxe, allowing for easy deployment across multiple platforms, devices and target languages, using any backend you wish.
Additionally, the main goal of StoryDev Story Creator is to abstract logic and writing away from each other, while allowing teams of writers and coders to collaborate efficiently on any project, small to large.
Roadmap
Story Creator is undergoing an overhaul, of which can be followed on our YouTube channel. This means additional features will be implemented as we also work on our own video game, using Story Creator as the means for developing it.
This means a working copy of an overhaul will be in your hands soon, but it will require time and effort on our part.
In addition to the video series you can find on our YouTube channel, you will also find the following features will be implemented into the new and upcoming version of Story Creator:
- Custom scripts and scripting for more power over the development of your story.
- Create custom data sets and manage data that you wish to implement into your game.
- Extend automatically generated Data Forms from your custom data sets by adding custom code, allowing for greater flexibility.
- Export custom Data Sets, Forms and Code as extensions which can be redistributed. Import will also be available.
- Several Game Templates to exist with Story Creator.
- Setup Wizards for easy access to pre-requisites required to build and run your games.
Current Version
The current version of StoryDev allows for conversation editing, data management and other features. The most complete feature is the Conversation Editor, which allows you to create files for your stories.
These files can be included in any project written in Haxe. With the StoryScript library installed with Haxe, you can design a game befitting of your written story in StoryDev.
This, of course, requires programming skills and realise this will not be a tool for everyone. Naturally, we wish to fix this, hence our roadmap above.
If you wish to work with the current version, please consider reading our documentation:
- StoryScript - https://twinspire.bit.ai/docs/view/Urv4Iqd43pl6HUtp
- StoryDev (unfinished): https://twinspire.bit.ai/docs/view/29WfdvUQufVCXoIe
StoryDev Story Creator is open source and free. Our source code can be found on GitHub.
Hint: Press Ctrl+P in any context where code can be applied and the WYSIWYG Code Editor will appear.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Returning to Story Creator74 days ago
- Manage Timelines, Conversations and EventsJan 01, 2023
- Videos or Back to Text?Dec 18, 2022
- How to Make a Story Progress CorrectlyOct 04, 2022
- New Website and ThingsSep 25, 2022
- Change in CircumstancesMay 19, 2022
Comments
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Alright, buddy. This is round two of me leaving a comment, I'm so madly in love with this program as I've been throwing random characters into death matches and escape rooms, but I'm not too sure if I'm using all the stuff correctly. The gossip feature, I kind of just use it as a bookmark to see where all the characters are at and what things they were able to unlock for this simulation compared to the last simulation. Sometimes, characters were capable of solving riddles based on their intelligent and luck/roll of the dice.
I widely use the items in the game, have to resort to learning a little bit more about .JSON way to add even more items. I also haven't really touched the map feature yet, as I've been just using the conversation feature instead, having characters loop around and grind speak to level up on things...
Not only that, but I have run into a much smaller bug recently though as I have added too many traits to a few of my character's playable characters/players as the program refuses to remove them even though I'm not too sure what's keeping them there. I can't edit it away or delete it even when I am opening the file in .JSON to manually deleted, so they're just kind of chilling there....
That's interesting to hear. I wasn't expecting you to utilise much of the database system as much as you are.
When you delete traits it doesn't update the list, so unless you save the project there and then, it won't update the respective JSON files. Traits are considered separate data items compared to the characters themselves, as you've probably noticed.
Just bear in mind the changes being made to Story Creator... I will be updating the devlog where I will keep yourself and others up-to-date, but the database system you're used to is to be replaced as it's very niche and doesn't allow for any modifications. Not to mention the code has mostly been copied and pasted and not refactored the way it should be.
There were just too many problems with the codebase and I didn't think a lot of those things through at the time.
JSON files for saving data is not ideal for large projects and doesn't scale well, meaning that larger projects will take longer to load. So, ideally, I would migrate database functionality to an SQLite database for managing data with options to export the data to JSON format later if preferred.
If you want to keep the database options you have as they are, I will consider implementing "Mods" for this software in which everything that was there before can still be used, if you would prefer this.
No worries. I'm actually really excited to see what the newer version is going to look like and what I can mess around with. The joy is in fiddling with all the options that a software can do.
As long as it stays as a Interactive sim; You'll still have me as a loyal fan.
I love this. All I've been doing is sitting on my ideas and short stories. Having the first steps be made for me is great. It's like bouncing ideas off someone else, but it's just me from a day/week-o-ago. THANKS, MATE.
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it stop opening up after the third time i closeI'm glad you're making use of this! I didn't personally realise there is interest in this, but it's great you're having a blast with it.
I cannot reproduce this issue, however. Can you confirm the following:
For the Story Creator being launched into the background by Windows. I am not sure if it's not shown up in task manager...
.NET Framework might have been updated from I'm reading the blogs I read.
If you can, try and re-install .NET Framework 4.7.2 from here, uninstalling any previous versions. Please let me know if this works. Make sure to restart your computer before trying again.
thanks, I'll report back after work.
Sorry, even when I go back to a version of the .NET Framework, It’s still not opening the program anywhere.
I restarted twice for every version I could go back to. SOBBING
I will investigate what could cause this issue. I am unsure of any alternative solutions at present or what could cause this. I know other applications written in any other language can have similar issues, and it may be isolated to certain Windows related setups. Can you go into your Event Log and see if there are any issues there that Windows may have reported?
Also see if reinstalling Story Creator helps. It may be that a configuration file got corrupted the last time the app exited.