Usage Guide (Unity Editor)
Use the system from the scene menu or directly through the created database.
Last updated
Use the system from the scene menu or directly through the created database.
Last updated
Open the Global Context object.
Fill the Global Context with general gamedesign information about your game. Filling out this form helps ensure the gameplay and narrative are more thoughtfully developed. Pay attention to the Key Plot Points section: define the main story beats the player is expected to go through. Indicate the relative significance of events. This arc serves as a guide for creating specific story points.
Once filled out, press "Export as HTML" button for visualization and external use. The plot point arc helps to track the dynamics of your game. Later, after the database is filled out, its data will also be included in this file.
The resulting file can be used as a game design document for working with the narrative and overall content of your game (not for commercial presentations). Its structure is based on a synthesis of well-known narrative and game design approaches. For example, it incorporates elements from:
Scott Rogers’ Game Design Document template (author of Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design)
The MDA framework by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek (Mechanics–Dynamics–Aesthetics)
Hemingway's Iceberg Theory (reflected in the top-down order of events, where the story begins on the surface and gradually unfolds and deepens with each step).
Open the Character Database object.
Fill the Selected Event section. This field is for creating a specific event within your story. Fill in the text field with a description of the event. Drag the sprite illustration into the illustration field. Define how this event affects the characters connected to the database (from -100 to +100, where the higher the value, the greater the impact, the minus and plus show how destructive or constructive it is, and impact 0 means the character doesn't know about the event). Expand the '+' next to the character's name to detail the character’s behavior during this event. When ready, click 'Save Event As New.
All events created are saved to the global timeline list below. Click on an item in the list to edit the event. Drag to reorder the events.
All events automatically form the matrix. Click 'Open Full Matrix View' to visually track the sequence of events and character development.
Set 'Descriptive View' to see the text descriptions of character behavior during each event. Use 'Numeric View' to see the exact impact values of events on each character. The matrix uses a black-and-white scale to clearly show which characters are currently in destructive (black) states and which are in constructive ones (white).
Click on an event node -⦿- to select it as current event and view its details and illustration right here. Drag the event node -⦿- to a new position to change the event sequence and see how it affects the characters.
Click on a character’s name to open character brain.
Click on the cell between a character and an event to edit the effect of that event on the selected character.
All characters connected to the database are automatically displayed on the board.
Set the board background and adjust its transparency to better visualize how characters are positioned on the map of your game world.
Use colors and character dot sizes to visualize their relative status (e.g., the bigger the dot, the stronger the boss).
Drag the character dots around the board to understand where each character is located and which side they’re on.
Click on the line between characters to view and edit their relationship.
New characters can also be created here.
Open the Character Brain object.
Fill in the general information about the character under the Memories section. Describe the character's personality traits and their priorities, outline the character's skills, their relationship with other characters, the arc they need to go through, and any associations linked to them. Filling out this form helps ensure the character becomes more dynamic and less one-dimensional.
In the Character Memories section, all events from the global timeline that the character is aware of (impact != 0) are displayed.
Just like in the global database, change the sequence of events (memories).
Click on an item in the list to edit the event.
Create a new event from within the character. It will add it to the global timeline, but by default, the event will not be known to other characters (no impact).
Once filled out, press "Export as HTML" button for visualization and external use. The resulting file can be used as a character sheet for in-depth work on the character, its development (or lack thereof), design and balance.
Once filled out, select any event and press "Export as TXT" button for external use. Exporting the event will account for the entire previous history and include the overall context in the file, allowing for a more thorough development of the current context within the full story. . For more detailed work with each character, use the Character Brain.
