Scene Designer v2

Scene Designer v2 is a focused browser-based authoring and testing tool for small deterministic scenes. It is built for scenes that mix tone events and dialogue events, with an editor workflow that stays narrow: author the scene, choose the active dialogue variant to test, inspect the resolved consequence, validate the result, and export portable JSON.

The app is local-first. Editing happens in the browser, seeded example scenes are included for exploration, and JSON import/export is the current way to move scene data in and out.

What It Does

• Creates and edits mixed scenes containing tone events and dialogue events
• Loads seeded example scenes for inspection and testing
• Authors multiple dialogue variants per dialogue event
• Chooses one active dialogue variant for deterministic testing
• Resolves dialogue consequences locally and shows:
  • selected variant
  • resolved text
  • interpretation
  • state delta
  • cue outputs
• Validates unified scene data before export
• Imports and exports unified scene JSON

What It Is Not

• Not a branching narrative runtime
• Not a collaborative cloud editor
• Not a timeline playback tool or cinematic sequencer
• Not a general-purpose dialogue engine workbench beyond the specific tone + dialogue scene contract used here
• Not persistent by default outside the browser session unless you export your scene JSON

Core Workflow

1. Open a seeded example scene or create a new scene.
2. Rename the scene and edit scene metadata.
3. Add tone events and dialogue events to the authored scene.
4. For dialogue events, author one or more variants.
5. Choose the active variant for testing.
6. Inspect the resolved consequence panel for the selected dialogue event.
7. Review validation results for the active scene.
8. Export the active scene as unified scene JSON.

Quick Start

Install

npm install

Run The App

npm run dev

Then open the local Vite URL shown in your terminal.

Build

npm run build

Typecheck

npm run typecheck

Walkthrough

1. Open one of the built-in scenes or click New Scene to start from an empty draft.
2. Edit the scene metadata first so the title, scene ID, and description match what you want to author.
3. Add a tone event to establish or shift the emotional context of the scene.
4. Add a dialogue event, then click it in the middle column to load its editor in the inspector.
5. Author one or more dialogue variants for that event.
6. Choose the active variant for testing from the dialogue event controls.
7. Review the resolved consequence panel to inspect the selected variant, resolved text, interpretation, state delta, and cue outputs.
8. Use the readiness panel to see what still needs to be finished before export, then export the active scene as unified scene JSON.

For a fuller field-by-field example, see WALKTHROUGH.md.

Screenshots

Soft Refusal Overview

Deflection Tone Editor

Variant Authoring Detail

Import / Export Panel

Current Scope And Limitations

• Scene state is edited in browser memory.
• Import/export is the current portability and save workflow.
• Event reorder uses explicit move controls rather than drag-and-drop.
• Validation is surfaced in a dedicated panel rather than inline at every field.
• The tool focuses on deterministic local consequence resolution for authored dialogue variants; it does not simulate larger runtime systems beyond the current scene contract.

License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

See LICENSE or the official license text at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Contact

For questions about this project, contact the project maintainer or the person who shared this build with you.