Forked

Forked is a prototype system for scripting interactive narratives in DragonRuby.

Forked uses a simplified markup similar to markdown. It is intended to be simple to use, easy to learn for people without programming experience and to make it easier to focus on writing.

Additional functionality can be added by writing commands in Ruby.

What it lets you do:

• Write stories in a readable format with minimal distraction
• Player navigates to different parts of your story with button clicks
• Issue commands from within your story
• Premade commands available for non-programmers
• Custom commands are simple to create using Ruby
• Conditions allow allow you to control what the player sees
• Show or hide text based on conditions
• Show or hide buttons based on conditions
• Buttons can link to other parts of the story or run code

Getting started

Download or clone the project and run it in DragonRuby.

The default project is the user manual. Click here to see how it's built!

Quick Reference

Story title:

# Title

Chunk heading and ID:

## Heading Name {#chunk_id}`

Trigger and target:

Target a chunk by Chunk ID

[Trigger text](#target_id)

Target the following chunk in the story file:

[Trigger text](#)

Display an inactive trigger:

[Trigger text]()

Blockquote:

> This text is displayed as a blockquote.

Code Block:

~~~
# This text is displayed as code, in a monospace font with lines wrapped for length but otherwise without any changes.
~~~

Horizontal Rule:

---

Chunk action:

::
action
::

Trigger action:

[Trigger text](:
action
:)

Conditional text (string interpolation):

<:
condition
:>

Conditional text (show/hide text):

<:
condition
::
This text is displayed if the condition is true.
:>

Comment:

// this line is a comment

Formatting

Blockquotes:

> This text is inside a blockquote
> This text is inside the same blockquote

Code Blocks (not executable):

~~~
This text looks like code
~~~

Preformat

@@ any formatting in this line is ignored

Hard Wrap

Add a backslash \ at the end of a line to display the following line in the file to display as a new line in Forked (instead of continuing the same line).

This is the first line\
This is the second line

Available Actions

Bag: Inventory Management	(experimental)
bag_add item	adds an item to the player's inventory
bag_remove item	removes an item from the player's inventory
bag_has? item	true if the item is in the player's inventory or false if not
bag_clear	clear all items from the inventory

Memo: Storing Information	(experimental)
memo_add "memo name", "memo value"	Creates a new memo using the supplied name and storing the supplied value
memo_remove "memo name"	Deletes the named memo
memo_clear	Deletes all memos
memo_check "memo name"	Returns the value of the named memo

Wallet: Financial Management	(experimental)
wallet	Returns the amount of coins, dollars, schekels, etc. in the player's wallet
wallet_plus 10	Adds 10 to the player's wallet
wallet_minus 5	Removes 5 from the player's wallet
wallet_clear	Discards all the player's money

Timer: Time Management	(experimental)
timer_add "timer name", 10.seconds	Creates a new timer with the provided name and the provided duration. The duration can be given in ticks (1/60 seconds) or in seconds as shown here.
timer_remove "timer name"	Deletes the timer with the provided name
timer_check "timer name"	Returns the time remaining for the named timer (will keep counting down after reaching zero)
timer_seconds "timer name"	Returns the time remaining for the named timer in seconds (will stop counting down at zero)
timer_done? "timer name"	Returns true if the timer is complete

Counter: Number Tracking	(experimental)
counter_add "counter name", 5	Creates a new counter with the provided name and the (optional) provided duration
counter_remove "counter name"	Deletes the named counter
counter_up "counter name", 1	Increases the value of the named counter by the provided value (or by 1 if no value is provided)
counter_down "counter name", 1	Decreases the value of the named counter by the provided value (or by 1 if no value is provided)
counter_check "counter name"	Returns the value of the named counter
counter_clear	Deletes all stored counters

Background Image	(experimental)
background_image "sprites/bg_image.png"	Sets the story background to the provided image. It is recommended to put images in mygame/sprites. This action should only be used with conditional blocks (see manual).

Roll Dice	(experimental)
roll "2d6"	Returns the result of a dice roll with two, six sided dice. Any other numbers may be substituted. The first number represents the number of dice. The second number represents the number of sides for all rolled dice.

Headings	(experimental)
heading	Gets the text of the current heading
heading_set	Sets the text of the current heading

Navigation	(experimental)
jump "#chunk_id"	navigates to the chunk specified by #chunk_id
jump 3	navigates chunks in the story file relative to the current chunk (e.g. 3 chunks below the current chunk)
fall	navigates to the next chunk in the story file
jump	navigates to the previous chunk in the story file
history[-1]	Gets the chunk_id for the current chunk
history[-2]	Gets the chunk_id for the last visited chunk

Author Mode

Author mode provides some features that may be useful while writing your story. Note that the shortcut keys may change in the future.

Shortcuts	Action
Hold f and press u	Toggle Author Mode on or off. When author mode is active, a red square appears in the bottom left corner of the screen. The following shortcuts become available when Author Mode is on.
q	Display information sidebar. This displays the current chunk ID and the text of the current chunk heading.
n	Navigate to the following chunk in the story file until the last chunk is displayed.
h	Navigate to the preceding chunk in the story file until the first chunk is displayed.