Hi everybody,

I'm making a Half-Life 2 mod and I've already got a story, but it's quite complicated write it in standard word-processing softwares (like OpenOffice, Microsoft Word...). I already tried some screenwriting software, but they don't fit my needs, because I can easily write the dialogues between the characters, but I can't see their connections.

In summary, I'd like something similar to Chat Mapper or articy:draft, but for free, since I can't buy anything.

So, do you have any suggestions?

Several people have asked this before, and this needs to be an FAQ. Until it's made an FAQ, I recommend scouring past discussions for what was said before.

If you have very specific needs for this and you can't find a program that satisfies them, you could make one yourself.
There will be moderate technical skills required for this, but past this obstacle, you're free to do exactly what you need.

A few programming tools that you can use to build GUI software:

- http://wxlua.sourceforge.net/
- http://www.wxpython.org/what.php
- http://qt-project.org/wiki/PySide
- http://fpgui.sourceforge.net/index.shtml
- http://blitzbasic.com/Products/_index_.php (Look for the freeware "BlitzPlus" program)
- http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/downloads#d-2010-express (Visual Basic 2010 Express)

A few programming tools that you can use to build GUI software:

?? He was asking about software that already exists for mapping interactive/branching dialogue. You're giving him programming environments he can use to "build GUI software"?

A few programming tools that you can use to build GUI software:

?? He was asking about software that already exists for mapping interactive/branching dialogue. You're giving him programming environments he can use to "build GUI software"?

Well, actually I can program, but if I did as Kryzon said my project would have been delayed too long, and sincerely I don't have time nor ideas on how to do that...

Frontback, I recommend you dig through past topics. Lots of past discussions on your question. I hope you find something suitable for your needs. Good luck!

I've been looking at building such a piece of software but it is just in the pre-design stage and I have no idea when I will actually have time to work on it. Everyone seems to want a tool like this but a good one doesn't seem to exist. Until one does come along I'm afraid there isn't a great solution.

I've tried flash cards, excel, word documents, wiki type solutions, primitive ui's. The best I can suggest is that you use a parseable text document. Come up with a simple text based encoding scheme that allows you to quickly write scenes in that can also be used by a parser in your game engine to render those scenes.

For example:

C1:Cat

C2:Jackal

C3:The Hunter

1|Opening

The rain fell steadily along the cold city streets. [[Cat]] ran as fast as her legs could carry her into the darkness of the nearest alley.

--She was alone and scared.--2.1

--[[Jackal]] was just behind her urging her forward. --3.1

--No matter how fast she ran or how far she could never out run [[the hunter]].--4.1

2.1|Alone

The alley reeked of human waste and filth. Why did they ruin everything around them? Why did they hate her kind so much? She was so tired of being alone.

--[item:pendant] Her mothers pendant shone with a strange light. One [[Cat]] had never seen before. It seemed to be guiding her towards a barren patch of wall. -- 2.1.1

--A nearby door had been left a jar, perhaps at last she might find somewhere dry and warm to spend the night. -- 2.1.2

--It was too risky she had to push on maybe the rain would stop eventually. -- 2.1.3

I wrote one a long time ago back when I was a tools programmer for a company. It ended up being a visual tree with nodes containing dialog, with it branching based upon various things like whether you had Party member X, or you chose a certain dialog option. But with an option to export a more traditional hollywood like script given a set of dialog choices and a set of party members.

Two choices that I don't see listed here are below. Please be aware that both come with a bit of a learning curve, but are extremely useful once you've understood how to navigate them:

Scrivener - (Mac and Windows) - http://literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php - This is used by an array of individuals, including professional script/book writers. It's a pretty amazing product for strictly writing/brainstorming/research.

ConnectedText (Windows Only) - http://www.connectedtext.com/index.php - This is a desktop wiki application that has a bit of a higher learning curve than that of Scrivener, but it's what I use for both analytics at work and for my world building. It's more programmatic-based than Scrivener, which adds to the higher learning curve.