Explorer
Shows your story structure. Use it to select the story, chapters, scenes, variables, characters, assets, sprite assets, and poses.
Editor Tour
The editor is built around one loop: choose something, edit its Properties, preview the result, then fix any warnings before you test the installed runtime.
You do not need to learn every panel before writing. Start with Explorer, Properties, and Preview. The other panels become useful as your story grows.
Main panels
Section titled “Main panels”Properties
Shows the fields for the selected item. This is where you name things, connect flow, choose assets, and resolve warnings.
Preview
Plays a fast authoring preview of the selected route. It is best for checking pacing, text, choices, and presentation while you write.
Story Map
Shows project, chapter, and scene flow visually. Use it when a route is hard to understand from the Explorer alone.
Output
Shows compile results, warnings, and status messages. Open it when something does not preview or install as expected.
Explorer tabs
Section titled “Explorer tabs”Chapters, scenes, and nodes live here as an outline. Most writing work starts in this tab. The Story Map panel shows the same story as a connected graph.
Variables live here. Use them for player names, route flags, scores, and other story state.
Characters live here. Dialog speakers, portrait defaults, and scroll sound defaults come from these entries.
Story assets and sprite assets live here. This is where you check whether an image or sound is available to nodes.
| Menu | Use it for |
|---|---|
| File | Install or update the runtime, save the project, open editor settings, load a saved project, or create a new project from a blank template or demo. |
| Edit | Undo or redo project changes. Select an item and open its context menu to cut, copy, paste, rename, or delete it when that action is supported. |
| Story | Compile the project and import story assets. |
| Insert | Add chapters, scenes, variables, characters, nodes, sprite assets, and sprite poses. |
| Preview | Start or stop preview, step backward or forward, toggle autoplay, and mute or unmute Preview audio. |
| View | Change theme, preview size, workspace preset, split layout, and panel visibility. |
Use File > Settings for editor display settings such as Appearance, Show Node Types, Show IDs, Render Size, Studio Undo History, Allow Extensions, and Reset Layout.
Workspace presets
Section titled “Workspace presets”| Preset | Best for |
|---|---|
| Balanced Workspace | Keeping the full editor visible with the default split. |
| Authoring Workspace | Giving Explorer and Properties more room while you edit graph and field details. |
| Preview Workspace | Giving Preview more room while keeping the editor nearby. |
| Minimal Workspace | Focusing on Preview with side panels hidden. |
You can always use View > Reset Split Layout if the editor gets cramped.
Panels can be moved and docked against the workspace or another panel. Use a panel’s context menu to change its dock position or reset it when arranging your workspace.
The main editor window restores the open or closed state saved by Studio when the plugin loads.
A normal editing loop
Section titled “A normal editing loop”- Select a chapter, scene, node, variable, character, or asset in Explorer.
- Edit its fields in Properties.
- Fix warnings on the path you want to test.
- Compile the project.
- Start Preview or use Preview From Here on a node.
- Open Output if compile or preview reports a problem.
The payoff is speed. Once you know which panel answers which question, most story edits become a short loop instead of a hunt through the whole plugin.