New Features

Readers can now add a review or comment to your story.  Readers can add a comment when they have performed more than 20 actions or have completed the story.

IS now supports social login.  Use your favorite social login ID to create an account with IS.

Improved language translation - IS can now translate multiple languages to your own language from within the library.

Save and load story files directly from device storage into the IS reader (via your reading list).

New Features

Google Translate support:  Have your interactive story or text adventure read in over 90 different languages.

Text to speech support:  Now your browser can read your story to you. The number of voices, languages and availability is browser dependent.

Story editor comments:  Text enclosed by parentheses {} in any scene, event, outcome, item or object description will only be displayed in the story editor.

Interactive Map:  The story reader now auto generates a map as you play the text adventure.  The map generator can optionally take cues from your story text by using the words north, south, southeast etc. in your action or outcome descriptions.  You can also use the new editor comments feature to give the directions.  For example the outcome to 'go stairs' could be 'You apprehensively walk down the stairs {north} into the basement.'

The Interactive features of the map are available in both the reader and the editor.  You can click on any map node for a current scene description.  The map can also be used to conveniently navigate through your interactive world.  In the editor you can use the map to quickly find and edit another scene.

New Features

Rating of story now appears below input bar after performing 20 actions.

Number of votes is now displayed next to the story rating.

Simple responses can now be grouped to items and objects.  Actions defined in the main narrative still take precedence.

Item/object responses can be made generic for a given verb.

Unused verbs (entire story) are no longer presented to the reader in 'Normal' play difficulty.

Hidden items can now be used in action requirements.

Introduced new command actions:

::item responses off

::object responses off

Disables all responses grouped with items or objects.

::puzzle casual

::puzzle easy

::puzzle normal

Overrides readers puzzle difficulty setting.

Bug fixes

Actions with a scene object cannot be copied into another scene.

New features

Integrated social media links.

Quick add action option in play test mode.

A new titles category in the Library. Quickly find the latest stories.

Hubbub grub video tutorial ( https://youtu.be/PUjiomPlBnM ).

Bug fixes

Truncate non specific actions to 32 characters in drop down lists.

Fixed crash when bookmarking a redo action.

Click or tap the scene / event title in the editor.

Short answer:

An object is attached to a scene, an item is attached to an inventory.

Long answer:

An object is associated with an implicit action within a scene, whereas an item is associated with an inventory. An object appears in the noun list of the parser when the associated implicit action comes into scope (you have reached the corresponding scene/event in the narrative in which the action can be applied). An item appears in the noun list of the parser when the item is in the active inventory.

An example would be "open door with key"; 'door' would be declared as an object and 'key' as an item. The parser would list 'door' as an option when the implicit action is in scope, however it will not list key unless the item 'key' is in the inventory. Thus the reader cannot perform the action 'open door with key' until they have acquired the key, however they do know that something can be done with 'door'.

Interactive Story supports multiple inventories.  This mechanism allows for multiple characters or disparate scenes in a narrative.  Each inventory is given a unique name. Each scene can be associated with an inventory name. The default inventory name is 'main'.  By default items will be placed into or removed from the inventory associated with the current scene.

To create a new inventory or to associate an inventory with a scene, click on the scene title in the story editor.

You can place or remove an item from a particular inventory by preceding the item name with a full colon and the inventory name.

For example, to place the item 'apple' into the 'snowwhite' inventory you would add the item name as follows:

:snowwhite apple

Command items are special items you can add to the readers inventory to control the logic of the story engine.

To create a command item precede the item name with a double double colon (::).  The command is active when the item is placed into the inventory (hidden item by default).

List of Command Items

::implicit actions off

Disables all implicit actions

::explicit actions off

Disables all explicit actions

::story actions off

Disables story-wide actions (actions valid for all scenes)

::scene actions off

Disables scene-wide actions (actions valid for all events in a scene).

::event actions only

Only actions defined in the current event will be available to the reader.

::end story

Will end the story.

::rewind story

will rewind the story back to the opening scene/event

::rewind scene: scene_name

will rewind the nominated scene back to the first event for that scene

::rewind scene: scene_name event: event_name

will reset all actions in the nominated event for the given scene.

::item responses off

::object responses off

Disables all responses grouped with items or objects.

::puzzle casual

::puzzle easy

::puzzle normal

Overrides readers puzzle difficulty setting.

1. Login - improved library guest login process.

2. Load Story - second object in an implicit action now loads correctly.

Interactive Story provides two types of actions: explicit and implicit.

Explicit actions are displayed directly to the reader and this is the classical approach for interactive fiction. The reader must select one of the actions in order to progress the story. Explicit actions can be descriptive and usually offer a choice in the direction of the narative.

Implicit actions offer an indirect approach for story progression, where the reader must construct the next course of action based on clues in the narrative. An implicit action consists of a verb applied to a scene object or inventory item with an optional preposition applied to a different object or item. For example "open door" or "open door with key". To progress the story, the reader must select from a list of verbs, prepositions, objects and items and construct a possible course of action. This approach provides a greater level of immersion for the reader, providing a sense of authorship to the narrative.

Interactive Story automatically determines when an implicit command is valid based upon the items in the readers inventory and the objects associated with the current scene.

Due to the free form nature of implicit commands, it is possible for the reader to construct an action that is illogical or has not been considered by the author. This nonsensical input will illicit a default "Nothing happens" response. You can also provide your own responses to nonsensical input by selecting "Nonsensical" from the verb list. These responses can have all the properties of a normal action, allowing for an alternate narrative to unfold if the reader is unable to guess the correct course of action. The responses will be played in the order they are defined in the IS editor. You can use the ^ button to change the ordering within an event group.

Interactive Story allows for plot diversion through the use of "remembered scenes".  An action can remember the current scene before calling another scene.  The called scene (or scenes) can then return to the last remembered scene.

This mechanism allows for sub-plots to occur at anytime within a narrative.  For example, examining an item in the inventory triggers a flashback.

Interactive Story allows for scene variations triggered by items in the inventory and by previous actions.  A reader returning to a scene may encounter a change in description based on the items held in the inventory (such as a torch or lantern).