Story Settings

The Story Settings page is where you configure the metadata, presentation options and administrative settings for your story.

It brings together all settings that define how the story is identified, presented in the marketplace, shared with collaborators, exported or maintained over time.

The page is divided into collapsible sections. Each section focuses on a specific aspect of the story, such as general metadata, visual presentation, marketplace information, collaboration or export.

Changes are saved per section, so you only need to save the part you edited.

Use the preview controls in the Design and Marketplace sections to check the game menu and marketplace presentation without creating a release.

Use this page when you want to:

• update the story title, story language, available translations or Dream Type
• define author and credit information
• customize the menu and credits screen appearance
• prepare the story for the marketplace
• classify the story with age groups, content warnings and AI usage
• set up experimental video generation
• invite collaborators and manage permissions
• create a downloadable export
• archive or delete the story when needed

The General section defines the core identity of your story.

Here you can configure:

• Title: The main name of your story. Choose a short and recognizable title, as it will appear throughout the editor and later in the marketplace.
• Language: The main language of the story content. This helps Dreamers understand what language the story was originally prepared in and allows the marketplace to filter stories by language.
• Translations: The translated story languages Dreamers can choose from when playing. Only add languages that have been prepared and reviewed for the story.
• Dream Type: The emotional archetype that best describes the overall tone of the story. Talescape uses Dream Types as its primary classification system for discovery and presentation.

Story language is separate from the Talescape interface language. A Dreamer can keep the app menus in one language while reading your story in another available language. For details, see Translations.

This section is usually the first one you configure when creating a new story, because these values define how the project is identified across the editor and the platform.

The Credits section defines how authorship and contributions are displayed.

It contains two fields:

• Author: The public-facing author name shown with the story. This can be an individual name, a studio name or a collective identity.
• Credits: A free-text area for acknowledgments and contributor listings. You can include writers, illustrators, composers, testers, translators or any other collaborators you wish to credit. If you prefer to present the story under a single public identity, you can use the Author field and list detailed contributions in Credits.

Credits for used asset packs will be added automatically at the end of your credits.

The Design section controls the visual presentation of your story’s menu and credits screens. These settings influence the first impression players have before the story begins and help create a consistent visual identity.

The Theme defines the overall visual style used by the story player. It determines the color palette, typography and general tone of menus and interface elements.

Available themes include:

• Neutral: Dark ink and slate surfaces with a muted blue accent.
• Daydream: Soft lilac and mauve tones.
• Echo: Warm brown and parchment tones.
• Vision: Deep teal and sea-glass tones.
• Nightmare: Charcoal surfaces with dark red accents.

Each theme includes predefined fonts and colors that shape the overall tone of the interface.

Menu Style

The Menu Style controls how the main menu is arranged on the screen. It determines the position of the title and menu options relative to the background image.

Available layouts include:

• Centered: The title and menu options are placed in the center of the screen. This layout works well for balanced compositions and keeps the interface visually symmetrical.
• Bottom: The title remains centered while the menu options appear at the bottom of the screen. This layout leaves more space for background artwork in the upper portion of the screen.
• Left: The menu panel is placed on the left side of the screen. This style creates a more structured interface and works well when the background image has visual focus on the right side.
• Right: The menu panel is positioned on the right side of the screen. This is useful when the main visual focus of the background image is on the left.

Menu and Credits Media

In addition to the layout settings, you can also customize the visual and audio elements of the menu and credits screens.

• Menu Image: Background image shown in the main menu.
• Menu Music: Background music played while the player is in the menu.
• Credits Image: Background image shown on the credits screen.
• Credits Music: Music played during the credits.

All of these elements are optional, but they can significantly improve the atmosphere and presentation of your story.

The Asset Packs section lists all asset packs currently imported into the story.

From here you can:

• review all imported asset packs
• open pack details
• attach license documentation when required

Some asset packs include usage restrictions or licensing requirements. If this applies, the interface displays a warning so you can review the license terms.

For externally licensed assets, attaching the correct license file can be required for paid publication or later review. A screenshot of your purchase is enough.

If no asset packs have been imported yet, this section will show an empty state.

The Marketplace section defines how your story appears in the public marketplace, on the website and in the stories overview. It includes the text, tags and images that help readers discover it.

This section contains the written summary that introduces your story to readers.

• Description: The main summary of the story. This text appears on the story page and explains the narrative, setting or central conflict. Maximum 1000 characters.
• Teaser: A shorter promotional summary used in compact views such as listings or previews. Maximum 255 characters.

The Description should give readers a clear idea of the story and its themes, while the Teaser should quickly communicate the premise and tone.

Tags help readers discover your story through search, filtering and recommendation systems.

• Emotions: Up to 5 tags describing the emotional tone the story aims to evoke.
• Genres: Up to 5 tags describing the narrative style or genre of the story.
• Topics: Up to 5 tags describing themes, subject matter or ideas explored in the story.

At least one tag is required in each category.

Using accurate tags improves discoverability and helps readers find stories that match their interests and emotional expectations.

Images define the visual presentation of your story in the marketplace.

• Thumbnail: The primary image used in listing views and story cards. Required.
• Header: A larger banner image displayed on the story page. Optional.
• Screenshots: Up to 10 images showcasing scenes, characters or environments from the story. Required.

Strong visuals help readers quickly understand the style and atmosphere of the story before they start playing.

The Videos section is an experimental tool for creating promotional videos from your story page media.

Video generation is still in testing. Rendering may take some time, and results can vary depending on the screenshots, music and story presentation you provide. You are welcome to try it and share feedback so the feature can improve over time.

You can configure:

• Template: The visual style used for generated videos. For now, only Neutral is available.
• Music: Background music used in the rendered video.
• Music Volume: The volume level for the selected music.
• Intro Image: Optional image shown at the start of a trailer.
• Screenshots: Ordered images used throughout the video. Screenshot captions are optional and are shown with their respective screenshot.

Trailer intro text is generated automatically from the story title, Dream Type and author name.

Use Create Video to request a trailer and Create Short to request a short version. Save your video settings before creating a video. Once a trailer or short already exists, the matching create button is disabled until that video is deleted.

Generated videos appear as preview cards below the settings. Use the refresh button to reload their status, then download or delete completed videos from the preview card.

Configure content warnings and audience restrictions.

Age Group

• All Ages No violence or mature themes.
• Teen (13+) Mild conflict or fantasy violence.
• Mature (16+) Moderate violence or mature themes.
• Adult (18+) Strong language or intensity; no explicit sexual content.

Content Warnings

Mark any relevant themes in your story (e.g., violence, death, horror, discrimination).

AI Usage Disclosure

Talescape promotes transparency about the creative process. If generative AI played a significant creative role in your story, enable AI Usage and describe that involvement in the AI Disclosure field.

Use the disclosure text to explain what AI helped create or transform, such as drafted dialogue, generated images, voices, music, sound effects or translations. A clear description gives Dreamers and moderators the actual context.

You do not need to enable AI Usage for minor or purely technical assistance, such as spell-checking, grammar suggestions, background removal, audio cleanup or upscaling, unless that assistance created original story material.

Examples:

• Yes: You used ChatGPT to draft dialogue and then edited it yourself.
• Yes: You generated background art with Stable Diffusion or music with Suno.
• Yes: You translated the full story with DeepL or GPT and made minor corrections afterward.
• No: You only used AI for proofreading, noise reduction or resizing artwork.

This disclosure helps readers and moderators understand how AI was used.

The Collaborators section allows multiple creators to work on the same story.

From here you can:

• invite collaborators by searching for users
• remove collaborators
• assign editing permissions for different parts of the editor

Each permission controls access to a specific part of the story editor.

• Scenes: Create, edit and organize scenes and their layout.
• Characters: Create and modify characters used in the story.
• Dialogues: Write and edit dialogue lines, choices and branching conversations.
• Events: Create and modify events that control story logic and triggers.
• Items: Manage interactive items that can appear in scenes or inventories.
• Media: Upload organize and manage images, audio and other media files.
• Timers: Create and modify timers used for time based mechanics.
• Variables: Create and modify variables used to track story state and player choices.
• Achievements: Create and configure achievements that can be unlocked by players.

Some permissions are fixed:

• Preview access is always enabled.
• Story Settings remain reserved for the owner.

The story owner is clearly marked and always retains full control.

If a collaborator has not yet accepted the invitation or completed account verification, the interface will indicate that state. This section also shows the current collaborator count and, if applicable, the account’s collaborator limit.

The Export section allows you to generate a downloadable archive of your story. This archive serves as a backup and ensures that stories can be preserved outside the platform if necessary.

Exports include all story data and eligible licensed media assets used in the project. Files without valid licensing are not included. Asset pack files remain subject to their own license restrictions and are not made available as reusable raw files outside Talescape.

Exports are created in the background and remain available for 4 hours. After that time the archive expires and a new export must be generated.

This system also supports Talescape’s long term preservation policies and ensures that stories can be recovered if one of the platform’s Contingency Plans is ever executed.

The Maintenance section contains administrative actions for the story.

Depending on the story’s status, you can either:

• Delete Story: Permanently remove the story from the system.
• Archive Story: Disable active development and remove the story from normal editing workflows while preserving its data.

The available option depends on whether the story has been purchased:

• Stories without active purchases can be permanently deleted.
• Stories with existing purchases cannot be deleted and must be archived instead.

Archiving ensures that Dreamers who already own the story can continue to access it.

Use this section carefully, as these actions affect the long-term availability of the story.