StoryNexus: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 19:48, 16 September 2022

StoryNexus
Authoring system

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Developer	Failbetter Games
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StoryNexus was a web-based story authoring system by Failbetter Games, creators of the long-running web game Fallen London.

StoryNexus was a system designed to create choice-based narratives that existed, and were played, completely online. In 2013, a year after launch, it went into "hibernation mode"; in 2019, Failbetter prevented the creation of new stories, and in 2020 it removed all small and unpublished stories from their servers and disabled the authoring tools, preventing any further alterations to be made to game worlds. As of 2022, some of these large remaining stories were still playable, in a text-only format.

Structure

StoryNexus differed from most choice-based authoring systems in allowing an extensive list of variables (called qualities) to affect play, and providing a built-in card-drawing mechanism to add randomness to the story experience. The system allowed live editing, a monetization system, and the ability for authors to alter the CSS of their game and provide custom card art.

Qualities

Qualities were numerical variables that could represent all manner of things within a game world, with categories affecting where they are displayed in the interface, how they behave, report to the player when they change, and what text and icons they show at different levels. Qualities might represent money, health, progress through various plot lines, consumables to trigger a storylet, or even items for the player to equip within another slot quality to affect other qualities. For example, a shiny medal quality could be equipped into a lapel slot quality, giving a bonus to a confidence quality and a penalty to the modesty quality.

Storylets

Each game card, or storylet, was comprised of one Root Event with always-visible text, which commonly provided exposition for the situation presented on the card and/or an explanation of the choices to be made. Most cards then offered one or more branches, selectable choices for the player to make, each followed by results, which revealed the outcome of the choice and modified any qualities appropriately. Results could have separate default and success outcomes if the branch had a difficulty setting based on one or more of the qualities in effect, as well as optional rare default or rare success outcomes triggered based on a set percentage chance when the outcome of the difficulty challenge was success or failure.

Storylet cards could reside in any number of author-specified Decks, or be pinned to the screen to be always available. Cards could appear and disappear from the screen and from decks based on any quality requirements the author set for them, by a location selected by the author, or by setting (to change card availability without affecting the player's location). Within storylet cards, branches could be locked and un-selectable, or even entirely hidden from view, based on the current values of the player's various qualities.

StoryNexus also offered living stories, cards that could be triggered by player action, but delayed their results for a specified amount of real-world time before their effects were presented to the player via a StoryNexus alert or an email notification. These could be used for effects such as plants that take actual time to grow in-world, or correspondence the player could write and send with a real-world time delay before being answered.

Action economy

Each game was controlled by refreshable actions drawn from a pool of an author-specified size between 10 and 100. Actions refreshed over time, at a rate set by the author anywhere from one action every ten minutes to one every three hours. Choosing a branch on a pinned card cost one action. Drawing from any deck of cards cost one action, dealing up to three cards (for which the player qualified) into any of three slots open on the screen, which then would not cost actions to play. Cards could be specified as transient, meaning they would disappear when and if the player no longer qualified for them, and/or sticky or discardable, to control whether the player could get rid of a card without needing to first select a branch on it. Actions paced players, keeping them from blazing through content and preventing them from grinding their qualities up to maximum level without any trade-off.

Players could restore their actions within a game without waiting for them to refresh naturally by purchasing Nex with real-world money and spending this currency for an action refresh. Authors could choose to make certain branches within a storylet only selectable if the player spent a specified amount of Nex. In general, Failbetter recommended that StoryNexus worlds be free to play, with occasional premium branches locked behind Nex costs which provided significant benefit as a reward. Authors were paid a royalty percentage of any Nex spent in their world, disbursed into a PayPal account of the author's choosing.

Authoring

StoryNexus provided convenient ways to build new game content onto an existing world and keep it out of view from players (or locked but visible), while allowing the author and collaborators to beta test the content easily. The world tools also allowed an author to authorize multiple users to collaboratively edit or create content in a specific world.

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-'''StoryNexus''' is a web-based story [[authoring system]] by [[Failbetter Games]], creators of the long-running web game ''[[Fallen London]]''.
+'''StoryNexus''' was a web-based story [[authoring system]] by [[Failbetter Games]], creators of the long-running web game ''[[Fallen London]]''.
-StoryNexus is a system designed to create choice-based narratives that exist and are played completely online.  It differs from most choice-based authoring systems in that it allows an extensive list of variables, called ''qualities'' to affect play, and a card-drawing mechanism that allows the author to create a degree of randomness in the story experience.  The system allows live editing, a monetization system, and recently began allowing authors to modify the look of their games using CSS and customized card art using any image hosted on the web that is legal for the author to use.
+StoryNexus was a system designed to create choice-based narratives that existed, and were played, completely online. In 2013, a year after launch, it went into "hibernation mode"; in 2019, Failbetter prevented the creation of new stories, and in 2020 it removed all small and unpublished stories from their servers and disabled the authoring tools, preventing any further alterations to be made to game worlds. As of 2022, some of these large remaining stories were still playable, in a text-only format.
-Qualities are numerical variables that can represent all manner of things within a game world, and have categories that affect where they are displayed in the interface, and how they behave, report to the player when they change, and what text and icons they show at different levels.   Qualities might represent money the player earns, health the player has, progress through various plot lines, useable items that trigger a storylet, or even items that the player can equip within another ''slot'' quality that affects other qualities.  For example, a ''shiny medal'' quality can be equipped into a ''lapel'' slot quality that gives a bonus to a ''confidence'' quality and a penalty to the ''modesty'' quality.
+==Structure==
-The game cards, also called ''storylets'' are comprised of one Root Event, the text of which is always visible, and commonly serves as exposition for the situation presented on the card, and/or explanation of the choices to be made.  Each card then usually has one or more ''branches'' which are choices the player can make with buttons to activate them.  Each branch will also then have one or more ''results'' which reveal the outcome of the choice, and modify any qualities appropriately.  Results can have separate ''default'' and ''success'' outcomes if the branch has a difficulty setting based on one or more of the qualities in effect, and both default and success outcomes can have an additional ''rare default'' or ''rare success'' outcome that triggers based on a set percentage chance when the outcome of the difficulty challenge succeeds or fails.
+StoryNexus differed from most choice-based authoring systems in allowing an extensive list of variables (called ''qualities'') to affect play, and providing a built-in card-drawing mechanism to add randomness to the story experience.  The system allowed live editing, a monetization system, and the ability for authors to alter the CSS of their game and provide custom card art.
-Storylet Cards may reside in any number of ''Decks'' that the author creates, or be ''pinned'' to the screen where they are always available.  Cards may appear and disappear from the screen and from decks based on any quality requirements the author sets for them, by ''location'' that the author specifies, or by ''setting'', which allows the author to change card availability without affecting the player's location.  Within storylet cards, branches may be locked and un-selectable, or even hidden from view completely based on the value of qualities the player currently has.
+===Qualities===
+Qualities were numerical variables that could represent all manner of things within a game world, with categories affecting where they are displayed in the interface, how they behave, report to the player when they change, and what text and icons they show at different levels.   Qualities might represent money, health, progress through various plot lines, consumables to trigger a storylet, or even items for the player to equip within another ''slot'' quality to affect other qualities.  For example, a ''shiny medal'' quality could be equipped into a ''lapel'' slot quality, giving a bonus to a ''confidence'' quality and a penalty to the ''modesty'' quality.
-StoryNexus also provides ''living stories'' which are cards that can be triggered by player action, but delay their results for a specified amount of real-world time before their effects are presented to the player via a Storynexus alert or an email if the player chooses to be alerted by the game.  These can be used for effects such as plants that take actual time to grow in-world, or correspondence the player can write and send that provides a realistic delay before being answered.
+===Storylets===
+Each game card, or ''storylet'', was comprised of one Root Event with always-visible text, which commonly provided exposition for the situation presented on the card and/or an explanation of the choices to be made.  Most cards then offered one or more ''branches'', selectable choices for the player to make, each followed by ''results'', which revealed the outcome of the choice and modified any qualities appropriately.  Results could have separate ''default'' and ''success'' outcomes if the branch had a difficulty setting based on one or more of the qualities in effect, as well as optional ''rare default'' or ''rare success'' outcomes triggered based on a set percentage chance when the outcome of the difficulty challenge was success or failure.
-Each game also is controlled by refreshable ''actions'' which come from a pool the size of which the author specifies in increments between 10 and 100.  Actions refresh over time, the rate at which is also adjustable by the author in five increments of one action every 10 minutes to one action every 3 hours.  Choosing a branch on a pinned card costs one action.  Drawing from any deck of cards costs one action, and deals up to three cards that the player qualifies for, into any of three empty slots which are open on the screen, which then do not cost actions to play.  Cards can be specified as ''transient'' which means they will disappear when the player no longer qualifies for them, and/or may be set as ''sticky'' or ''discardable'' which controls if the player can get rid of a card without selecting a branch on it.  Actions pace players to keep them from tearing through content and from grinding their qualities up to maximum level without a trade-off.
+Storylet cards could reside in any number of author-specified ''Decks'', or be ''pinned'' to the screen to be always available.  Cards could appear and disappear from the screen and from decks based on any quality requirements the author set for them, by a ''location'' selected by the author, or by ''setting'' (to change card availability without affecting the player's location).  Within storylet cards, branches could be locked and un-selectable, or even entirely hidden from view, based on the current values of the player's various qualities.
-Players can restore their actions within a game without waiting for them to refresh naturally by purchasing ''Nex'' with real-world money and spending this currency for an action refresh.  Authors may also choose to make certain branches within a storylet only choosable if the player spends a set amount of Nex to play it.  In general, Failbetter recommends that StoryNexus worlds be free to play, with occasional premium Nex-required branches that provide significant benefit for choosing them.  Authors are paid a royalty percentage of any Nex spent in their world which are disbursed into a PayPal account of the author's choosing when their earned funds reaches a minimum goal.
+StoryNexus also offered ''living stories'', cards that could be triggered by player action, but delayed their results for a specified amount of real-world time before their effects were presented to the player via a StoryNexus alert or an email notification.  These could be used for effects such as plants that take actual time to grow in-world, or correspondence the player could write and send with a real-world time delay before being answered.
-StoryNexus also provides convenient ways to build new game content onto an existing world and keep it out of view from players (or tantalizingly locked but visible) while allowing the author and collaborators to beta test the content easily.  The world tools also allow an author to specify multiple users who may collaboratively edit or create content in a specific world as desired.
+===Action economy===
+Each game was controlled by refreshable ''actions'' drawn from a pool of an author-specified size between 10 and 100.  Actions refreshed over time, at a rate set by the author anywhere from one action every ten minutes to one every three hours.  Choosing a branch on a pinned card cost one action.  Drawing from any deck of cards cost one action, dealing up to three cards (for which the player qualified) into any of three slots open on the screen, which then would not cost actions to play.  Cards could be specified as ''transient'', meaning they would disappear when and if the player no longer qualified for them, and/or ''sticky'' or ''discardable'', to control whether the player could get rid of a card without needing to first select a branch on it.  Actions paced players, keeping them from blazing through content and preventing them from grinding their qualities up to maximum level without any trade-off.
+Players could restore their actions within a game without waiting for them to refresh naturally by purchasing ''Nex'' with real-world money and spending this currency for an action refresh.  Authors could choose to make certain branches within a storylet only selectable if the player spent a specified amount of Nex.  In general, Failbetter recommended that StoryNexus worlds be free to play, with occasional premium branches locked behind Nex costs which provided significant benefit as a reward.  Authors were paid a royalty percentage of any Nex spent in their world, disbursed into a PayPal account of the author's choosing.
+==Authoring==
+StoryNexus provided convenient ways to build new game content onto an existing world and keep it out of view from players (or locked but visible), while allowing the author and collaborators to beta test the content easily.  The world tools also allowed an author to authorize multiple users to collaboratively edit or create content in a specific world.
 ==Links==
 *[http://www.storynexus.com/s StoryNexus Website]
+*[https://community.failbettergames.com/t/storynexus-upcoming-changes-july-2020/19539 StoryNexus: Upcoming Changes, July 2020 (Failbetter Games Forums)]
 [[Category:Authoring system]] [[Category:StoryNexus]]
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