Scene Editor

The Scene Editor is where you build the visual and interactive layout of each scene. Here you can add and arrange elements such as text, images, triggers & items. Everything the player sees or interacts with. All changes are saved automatically and synced with your story’s cloud data.

Each scene has its own settings, which define its overall appearance and behavior.

• Background: The main image or video displayed behind all elements. Manage reusable files in the Media Library.
• Foreground: An optional image displayed above scene elements and characters. When a default-style dialogue uses the In scene layer, the foreground also appears above that dialogue.
• Title: The scene’s name, used internally and in navigation.
• Dimensions: Available only for detail scenes; defines overlay size.
• Music: Background track that starts when the scene is loaded.
• Atmosphere: Optional scene mood, visual ambience or environmental audio. You can use an Atmosphere Preset or define one just for this scene.

The scene editor toolbar can temporarily hide or show the foreground while you work. This does not remove the selected foreground image.

Importing Lighting and Atmosphere

A normal scene can import lighting or atmosphere settings from another normal scene in the same story. Use the import control in the scene's lighting settings to copy its lighting configuration. To copy an atmosphere, open the scene's atmosphere editor and use its import control. Select the source scene, review the copied settings and save them.

Scenes are composed of elements, each representing a visible or interactive object. You can add, move, resize or delete elements freely. All elements share the same base properties:

• Type: The element’s category (Image, Item, Trigger or Text). Cannot be changed after creation.
• Name: Internal name for referencing or identifying the element.
• Group: Optional tag for organizing and filtering elements inside the editor.
• Dimensions: Width and height of the element.
• Position: X and Y coordinates within the scene.
• Conditions: Rules determining when the element is visible. Default is always visible.

Elements can be positioned manually or via drag and drop. Resizing corners appear automatically when an element is selected.

You can view all elements inside a scene by using the elements list. There you can also hide certain elements if needed.

By default all elements are visible at the start of a scene. However, you might want to hide some elements initially and only show them under certain circumstances. For this you have two options:

1. Set the visibility of the element to false and update this state later via an event.
2. Define conditions under which the respective element should be shown.

Element animations add simple motion or opacity changes to a scene element without changing its layout. They are useful for drawing attention, adding ambient movement or making static scenes feel more alive.

You can configure animations in the element’s Advanced Settings after Transform. Each element can use one animation preset:

• None: No animation. This is the default for existing and newly created elements.
• Rotate: Spins the visual content around its center. Use direction to choose clockwise or counterclockwise movement.
• Blink: Fades the element down to a minimum opacity and back up again.
• Flicker: Randomly varies opacity for effects such as unstable lights, holograms or magical objects.
• Pulse: Gently scales the visual content up and down.
• Bob: Moves the visual content up and down by a configured distance.

The available controls depend on the selected preset:

• Speed: Controls how quickly the animation runs.
• Direction: Used by Rotate.
• Minimum Opacity: Used by Blink and Flicker.
• Scale: Used by Pulse.
• Distance: Used by Bob.

Animations affect the element’s visible content while preserving the element’s placement, visibility rules and interaction behavior. This means an interactable area stays fixed even when the visual content rotates, pulses or bobs.

Image elements display static or animated visuals inside a scene. They are commonly used to add characters, decorations or additional visual layers on top of the scene background.

• Image: Select the image or animation from the story’s media library.

Typical uses:

• Character portraits or full character sprites
• Environmental objects such as furniture or props
• Decorative overlays that should remain part of the element layer

Image elements maintain their aspect ratio by default but can be resized freely. Their visibility can be controlled through conditions or updated dynamically via events.

Exit elements allow the player to leave the current scene and move to another one. They are typically used to represent doors, pathways or navigation points.

• Target Scene: The scene that will load when the exit is activated.

Exit elements can be visible objects (for example a door) or invisible interaction zones placed over parts of the scene. Conditions can restrict access until certain requirements are met, such as possessing an item or completing a dialogue.

Detail elements open a detail scene, which acts as a focused overlay showing a closer view of a specific part of the main scene.

• Detail Scene: The scene that will appear when the element is activated.

Detail scenes are useful for interactions that require more space or attention than the main scene allows. Common examples include examining objects, solving puzzles or interacting with complex interfaces.

When the detail scene closes, the player returns to the original scene.

Character elements display characters within a scene and connect directly to the character system.

• Character: Select the character defined in the story settings.
• Pose: Choose one of the character’s available poses or expressions.

Characters can appear as full body sprites, portraits or layered elements depending on the story’s design. Their visibility and pose can be controlled through conditions and events, allowing characters to appear, disappear or change expression during gameplay.

Item elements represent collectible objects that can be added to the player’s inventory.

• Item: The linked item from the story’s item list.
• Amount: The quantity given when the item is collected.
• Image: Optional visual override used to display the item in the scene.

Item elements usually work together with interaction logic. When activated, they can grant items, trigger events or update variables. After collection, the element can disappear or change state depending on the configured actions.

Interact elements define direct interactions between the player and an object in the scene.

• Actions: Operations that are executed when the interaction occurs.
• Conditions: Rules determining whether the interaction is available.

Interact elements are commonly used for actions such as opening doors, activating mechanisms or triggering story events. They provide a flexible way to connect scene objects with the underlying event system.

Inspect elements allow the player to closely examine an object in the scene and receive additional information.

• Actions: Optional actions triggered after the inspection.
• Conditions: Rules controlling when the inspection becomes available.

Inspection is typically used to reveal descriptions, clues or narrative details about objects. It can also unlock new interactions or update variables after the player discovers something.

Text elements display dialogue, narration or informational text directly inside the scene.

• Text: The text content to display.
• Font Size / Line Height: Controls readability and spacing.
• Font Family / Style: Supports different fonts and formatting options.
• Text Color: Custom color selection.
• Alignment: Horizontal and vertical alignment inside the text box.

Typical uses include:

• Scene titles or location names
• Narrative descriptions
• Labels or hints for interactive objects

Text elements can be styled freely and combined with conditions to appear only at specific moments during the story.

Light elements define areas that remain visible when scene lighting is enabled. They are used together with the scene’s lighting settings to darken a scene while leaving selected areas revealed.

Scene lighting is configured in Scene Settings:

• Lighting Enabled: Turns the lighting overlay on or off for the scene.
• Lighting Tint: Defines the color of the overlay.
• Lighting Opacity: Defines how strong the overlay is.

Light elements support two types:

• Point: Reveals an oval or circular area.
• Spot: Reveals a cone-shaped area from a defined origin.

Light element controls:

• Color: Adds a color tint inside the revealed light area. White is neutral.
• Intensity: Controls how strongly the light cuts through the overlay.
• Softness: Controls how soft the light edge is.
• Dimensions: Define the size of the light area.
• Rotation: Applies to spot lights and rotated point lights.
• Opacity: Works together with intensity to reduce the light strength.

Light elements can use the same position, size, visibility, conditions, order and animation settings as other scene elements. They do not add colored light, shadows or occlusion.

You can:

• Drag & Drop elements anywhere in the scene.
• Rotate elements to fit your visual requirements.
• Resize elements using corner handles.
• Duplicate an element in the current scene.
• Copy an element to another scene in the story. The element settings are copied, but attached events are not.
• Delete elements at any time.

The editor automatically tracks changes and saves them in real time. Scene layout and element order are preserved when syncing with the cloud.

Use Move Scene on a scene card to place the scene in another chapter. Select the destination chapter and confirm the move.

If the scene is the source chapter's start or hub scene, that assignment is removed. The scene is also removed from scene stacks limited to the source chapter. Its events and actions remain attached, but chapter-specific links may need to be updated after the move. The destination chapter's start and hub scenes are not changed automatically.

Use the Scene Preview mode to test individual scenes. This lets you verify element positions, trigger conditions and visual composition before running the full story preview.