Utilities Storyteller 2023. Dialogue , Interaction, and more (Unity Awards Nominee)

When considering buying a game development product. the questions you must first ask are

A) How much would it cost me in both time and money to instead outsource development of my own component.

B) Can I extend and modify the code to suit my own purposes.

Some answers for you.

1) Development time of a fully functions interaction system, with voiced content/ storyboards , sound effects etc can be create just by you in at leas 30 minutes if you want well structured content. outsourcing and development would take a few weeks or months if the system is being built from the ground up.

2) Yes, you can modify all of the code used in game. and you can create your own extensions. If you want hands on help then you will get that help.

On the AssetStore here

On the AssetStore here
email daimangou@gmail.com

view larger image FULL FEATURE SET

On the AssetStore here
email daimangou@gmail.com

Thank you very much

 

NOTE: This is an old definition and the system has exponentially changed

see first post

We have received several requests for BETA tests.
We have also been asked the very important question "Which are the advantages of this vs Fungus"

Our Answer to this :


"Its a far simpler and straightforward creation process than Fungus, twine and Articy draft. Its dedicated to the storytelling and storyboarding process while allowing you to do voiceover and text or combination of both add sound effects to actions and events.

In Storytellers Timeline window you can set delays , interaction time and change character interaction just by dragging an element in the timeline. simple Storyteller handles the complex processes internally.

We developed the full story for our 3D Game Misadvetures of pan. 60+ pages long story. with fully times dialogue and even a full game flow diagram which can give up to about 36 different gameplay scenarios. and all we have to do is switch and sample a scenario in storyteller is click a single button. we can then export all 36 of those scenarios as text if we want, with audio and picture. not just a text file.

Furthermore you can grab characters in your storyteller scene and watch their interactions with each other and make changes to the interaction in the timeline.

Storyteller also prevents loosely scripted characters, there are other system being added to prevent the kind of flaws we often see in stories.

The real target of your question will be our Game-Bridge extension for Storyteller in Unity.

With the Game-Bridge extension for unity , you will be able to import your fully timed story, and sample all your scenes or whatever you want to sample and use in game, with or without voiceover and text. Game-Bridge will have to do all the integration tasks and heavy lifting.

And the name is cooler haha "

 

Now on the Assetstore at 60% off the introductory price... because its in BETA. get it here

 

Hi, what will Game Bridge cost and when is this expected to launch please?

 

Free and in about 4 months time.

Update.Novermber 2018 Game bridge now allows us to pull storyteller data over intto the game but there is still much work to do.

 

Great, purchased!

 

You can view the updated info above.
The new version 2018.3 will be released soon.It is being reviewed by Unity at the moment.

 

game bridge is now running in my scene and it looks good
Storyteller has been improved to allows for time loops .

so you can create stories about time travel l and literally travel back in time in the story and change the past .... as I will show in the nest storyteller tutorial.

right now i'm working on the dialogue building aspect of Game bridge. it look fantastic .

 

version 2018.5 coming in about 14 days



UPDATE LIST

Added - Template system for creating templates of scenes . this is being used to provide customers with templates of story types like the Dating Sim template which i now included with the Storyteller.
Added - Screenshot system. This will automatically take a complete screenshot of your entire canvas and generate a large image from it.
Added - Time loop ability in link and route nodes.
- improved context menu
- improved node selector
Added - Game bridge trigger in context menu (wont launch the game bridge yet )
Added timeline character sample toggles.
Added BETA story sample editor for sampling character interactions.
Added - exit trigger for storyteller interface so that you can return to the main menu
Revamped - the temporary story data structure so that you will not lose your story data if you accidentally close unity and did not save your story
Added - Quick Node creation system

 

As an articy:draft user (since three years) the first look seems to be interesting. For me it's not really clear, what Storyteller is. Sorry. Is it a dedicated framework for storyboarding, planning storylines, collect characters and so on.

You spoke about Fungus - is it a whole subsystem, like "Fungus", "Game Creator" and others? Can I create whole games (incl. menü, save/load, dialogues, imagery, sound...) with Storyteller or do I plan it only?

I develop text adventures, 2d- and 3d-adventures and visual novels. So I used Fungus in the past, now dialogue system and Adventure Creator. Can Storyteller replace subsystems like Fungus or Dialogue System or other visual novel assets? Will there be any connection to Adventure creator for exporting dialogues?

Maybe you can make it clear.

 

I am recently learning that I am bad at explaining so i'm gonna take it slow.

Lets just say its a dedicated tool for creating :
- stories (linear, non-linear, epic, scripts, plays etc...)
- Dialogue
- storyboarding
- planning (game flow diagram etc)
- and more ...

Storyteller is only used to create this content. Our FREE Storyteller add-on , named Game Bridge which is currently still in BETA is what will allow you to use all your created dialogue, stories in your game (without coding)

Storyteller as it is now already make dialogue creation far more simple and faster than the tools you mentioned. However you will need to use Game Bridge to use the content you create in storyteller in your game scene.

Here is an example if a Dating sim template which comes with storyteller.
With game bridge I would be able to generate this entire dating sim story inside my game scene and begin playing through the dating sim.

 

As for the Game bridge. here is a shot of the interface.
This is still in beta.... well the Dialoguer is in beta the other two are in alpha.


Lets assume that we want to use our dating sim in our game. We just create a empty gameobject and then click "Dialoguer", select the dating sim project and it will be sent over into the Game scene.

So i can easily move my created stories and dialogue into the game scene but there is still a lot of work to do.

 

Storyteller update 2018.5.2 will be released in a few days.

Here are the Updates

-Mood tag for allowing you to add more personality to character dialogue and actions.
-New Colour picker because the Default unity colour picker is buggy
-Updated and new shortcut keys
- Updated Context menu
-Updated Screenshot system

Unity 5.4.6 and up release, Unity 2017.4 and up release, Unity 2018.3 and up release

Unity 2019 release will follow once unity 2019 is released.



Storyteller 2018.5.3 Release will have these updates

Better HTML exports (fix takes about a day or two)
Fixed hopping text for some text fields (fix takes less then 2 minutes)
Improved color picker (fix takes about 2 hours or so)


Storyteller 2018.6 Release will have these updates

New node , Abstract Node

 

Hi,
thanks for your information. Do you host a discord channel? Would be great to discus some things.

 

no, but I'll get that started and post the link here.

 

@TomTumbler https://discord.gg/a4QbPz8

 

@lightwaterjohn

there is a bit of a delay for thr game bridge completion bit.it does work so far. I'll keep posting updates.

 

Thanks. You should push your discord channel in all media channels (and your asset site, and connect site).

 

Update 2018.5.2 i now on the assetstore

Now with a dedicated Unity 5.4.6 and Up , 2017.4 and up, Unity 2018.2.6 and up build.

So you can now run on the older Unity 5.46 editor and all newer editors.

Unity 2019 build is already tested but will only be released once the official Unity 2019 is released.

Everyone is free to join the discord https://discord.gg/a4QbPz8


New short tutorial which will cover storyteller is being create at this very moment. My computer itself is very slow so please wait a while.

 

Recorded the new tutorial and surprise surprise the cursor wasn't moving in the recorded video.

so here is the slightly older version 2018.5 dating sim template update video

 

And here is a giant screenshot generated using the canvas screenshot system in Storyteller
Zoom in

 

Is anyone not seeing the UI properly when you first launch Storyteller ?

 

NEW TUTORIAL

 

Mac Users please send an email to daimangou@gmail.com for your patch to correct the Unity bug until unity fixes it.

UPDATE FOR MAC USERS

Stable build now complete and will be release in version 2018.3 in a few days.

 

Darn I just missed your Black Friday Sale (sucks to be me) any chance you'd reactive the sale for Cyber Monday today? Does StoryTeller now include Game bridge/Trigger Manager?

 

Unfortunately not, unity ultimately controls what assets go on sale.

Game bridge is still in Alpha, its a very very important tool so lots of care is being taken to not release it with crazy bugs. Trigger manages is a sub tool in game bridge. so when game bridge is released everything else comes with it.

 

Sorry I spammed your Discord with the same question earlier .

Greatly appreciate your dedication/time implementing this ingenious story building tool, and polishing the Game Bridge prior to release is completely understandable.

Q1: Can its exported html be edited outside of ST (because most of the best ideas occur while on the go) & have ST import those revisions (yields freedom to continue building the story when Unity isn't accessible)?

Q2: Will ST Game Bridge features attach to 3D scene game objects, Player and NPC's so I can fully utilize the story to drive the game's workflow or build processes as well as trigger interactions of conditions set by other tools?

Q3: Is there offline or online documentation available to read prior to purchasing?

Thanks.

 

new tutorial

 

no, but it is doable , i wont commit to implementing that anytime this year since there are quite a bit of other issue to work on but its something to look into.

Someone asked this a few days ago, and the answer to the first part of the question is yes, Game bridge currently attaches a "character" object with the character data from storyteller and Trigger manager will request a triggers (things that can start off a characters dialogue or action) and when the trigger is called .

For Example meeting a particular NPC then the data you set in the storyteller is used. Depending on how many branches are in your story the replies you give to a NPS or the replies a NPC gives to you will change the path of your story if you designed your story that way.

as for the second part of you question regarding other Assets. Part of the aim of game bridge is to allow for it to wait for external input and trigger functions based on what the input Game bridge wont be monolithic and require only storyteller data , also game bridge will come with the necessary source code exposed for you so see and modify if you want.

I don't have offline documentation (adding to list)

 

Hi @DaiMangou,

I've purchased StoryTeller and upon testing noticed there's no Text To Speech feature just a voice recorder (I should have noticed it wasn't a listed feature nor present in your videos prior to purchasing, my bad).

Do you plan on implementing TTS or will I be able to utilize a 3rd party tool like RT-Voice Pro to access character dialogues via the upcoming Game Bridge?

 

If there was one , it probably would sound too bad to ever be used , like many text to speech functions haha.

any text to speech is definitely best left to the users to implement, everyone have their own idea of how they want thteir character t sound etc. Though i'm not planning to; any text to speech function i add would sound quite bad .

Instead of text to speech , just write text and do voice over in storyteller. you can record voice clips in a few seconds in your dialogue nodes. Much better than a robotic sounding text to speech

 

UPDATE for Storyteller 2019

New zoom function has been added to the canvas to make getting a overview of the canvas simple.

A more finalized framework for game bridge to larch on to.
2019 will have better HTML export.
Updated color picker.
More detailed character, environment, scene, and settings area.
Faster canvas.
Updated Story Sample Editor(BETA)
Finalized Templates System
More Templates

 

Ironically robot sounding voices is exactly what my game development project is going for.

Currently ST's dialogue system is inaccessible within Unity's environment to other components and scripts so I'm praying that its Game Bridge will expose the text within each character's dialogue(in a user friendly no programming required kinda way) so that I may utilize a 3rd party TTS to perform runtime voice-overs, audio filters and lip-sync with ST's dynamic storytelling capabilities.

Spoiler: Just discovered a competitor that offers dialogue +TTS after purchasing StoryTeller...

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/dialogical-49521

All my interactive capabilities is reliant upon ST's forth coming Game Bridge but I'm hopeful I won't have to jump ship to that competitor because their UI is hard on my eyes!

 

correct, you don't have to code anything. none of the assets i release require coding unless the user wants to code.

i did use text to speech in a old game many years ago in Unity. it produced a robot sounding voice. all it required was just text input and nothing else. you can probably still find that code online.

That tool mixes the writing aspect with game logic. Storyteller stays away from that. game bridge is what handles logic.

 

Storyteller 2019 Overview Section Remake.


Rebuild canvas.



One of the most important parts of your story in storyteller is your character. We know that as time goes by character evolve. Storyteller needs to reflect all character changes that you want to make so a character history system is being added in 2019 also. this will allow you to really build a very strong character background and see your characters progress through the story in an even more dynamic way.

 

Hi, the asset looks absolutely amazing! But i have a few questions about it

To briefly explain,
I'm looking for a dialogue system that can be used in a top down survival game.

Suppose i had a top down camera and i needed to interact with Npc's while exploring.
Without going into the format of a visual novel,
Can i use this dialogue system to do that?

And can i use this system to effect the game world or talk to outside scripts?

For example,
if i want to speak to a character and ask him to open a door so the player can walk in.
Is there a way for this system to tell the game world, that the Npc needs to walk up and open the door?


I've tried using Fungus to some avail, but for the sheer volume of dialogue i'm going for Fungus gets really really laggy! D:
If i were to create a dialogue tree with a couple thousand dialogue chains would this system be able to handle it?

And thankyou for your time and effort making this, it really looks like an amazing piece of work!

 

you would create ALL your dialogue and actions in storyteller. the Game bridge will take all that interactions you write up in your storyteller scene and in game Route nodes from storyteller will ; in Game Bridge wait for a function trigger of whatever you choose (button click, colour change, mouse click ... anything that can trigger a function)

from that point the route you trigger befomes the route your NPC plays through

the kind of game or style dont matter. All that matters is that the storyteller content can be used by Game Bridge.

Remember this isn't a visual scripting asset so you will create your route function triggers as i mention above. the aim of the Game bridge is to take all stiryteller dats and make them game usable.

oh and I've never had thousands of connections in one scene. Storyteller allows you to place chunks of your story in scenes so its highly unlikely that you will ever have hundreds if nodes in any scene

 

UPDATE.

Evolving charactos and character history now added in Storyteller 2019.

this means , for example.

you can start out with your character as a child and throughout the story and across different scenes make your character evolve. have a new name, voice, face(picture) ... all character details can change over time.

 

for Storyteller 2019.

Mac shortcut keys have been updated

context menu will always be fully inside the canvas on small screens.

there are several more updates which i will mention later.

There are seven more major updates remaining until version 2019 is complete. then all focus will be on the game bridge

 

Great to know, so as I understand this a rough estimate to receive the working Game Bridge won't come until AFTER version 2019 is released?

 

correct. since more the character data structure is still undergoing changes. once the foundation is secure then i can continue building the bridge for it.

it would be a really bad idea for me to release any game bridge build before version 2019. That said , the first game bridge release will be beta with the Dialoguer tool

 

I'm currently in need for a way to write and revise my game story narrative aside of building my character dialogues within Story Teller without the need to switch outside of Unity.

I've discovered that I need to start over with a written story draft that I'll reference to build the game play & character dialogues (i.e. the book is not physically seen during game play on screen word for word but will serve as the entire game foundation from which everything is created).

 

hmm could you do a sketch of your idea and post it here :]

i have quite a lot of other user requests here that i am revising. if it is something that can work well then i can add it after version 2019. New tools have to go through lots of test to ensure that they don't break any part of Storyteller and that the content can be exported correctly and that it runs the same on Mac.

 

I know this is ugly but the attached screenshot represents a mock google doc story imported or Synced within StoryTeller.

 

Okay ,i understand. Also the editor looks a bit dark . Its one shade darker then the Unity dark skin on my screens . hmmm. i'll make the color the same as the Unity Dark skin. actually i already edited the colour for 2019

 

I hope that version 2019 will not be delayed too long. I finally want to create my game!!

 

So here is a screenshot of part of the new character data-set.



And you can have multiple data-sets for a single character . this reflects a characters evolution through the story.
The personality value are going to be left to users to decide how to use them. No specific use case will be added for personality. However Game Bridge still needs to pull in all of the character data sets so that the can be used if necessary.

I takes a while to get everything integrated properly so that when you use it you don't get tons of bugs

and i still have these to work on these for the version 2019 release:

Story Sample Editor has to be completed
Templates Editor to update
Updated Colour picker
Abstract Node Integration
Screenshot Options
Better HTML Export (export all data-sets)
New Templates for Users.

 

...and don't forget to change the color style of the UI into dark grey (unity plus theme).

 

The color of the editor is already updated for version 2019.

 

Voice sample clips per character history may be reduced from 36 to 18. maybe later i allow you to add voice clip sets.

I'll share the final decision here later on