There is quite a bit of functionality that Tales supports that is not found on Episode. In this guide we’ll focus on how to port Episode syntax to Tales.

Basics

Command	Episode Example	Tales Example
Narration	NARRATOR (YOU)
The chicken crossed the road	The chicken crossed the road
Dialogue	@ANNA
Stop thief!	ANNA
Stop thief!
Text Substitution	Come with me, [FIRSTNAME]!	Come with me, {FIRSTNAME}!
Text Input
(Not yet supported, follow our example
for now)	input What's your first name?	What's your first
name?	Done (FIRSTNAME)	YOU
What's my first name?

Anna. [set: FIRSTNAME "Anna"]
Bobby. [set: FIRSTNAME "Bobby"] [join] |

Stage Directions ( )

| Location | EXT. PHILADELPHIA HOUSE - NIGHT with EFFECT DIM 60 with effect LIGHT SNOW | (location: EXT_PHILADELPHIA_HOUSE_NIGHT) | | --- | --- | --- | | Enter | @ANNA enters from stage left. @ANNA enters from stage left AND BOBBY enters from right to spot 1.361 225 | (enter: ANNA) (enter: ANNA, enter: BOBBY) | | Exit | @ANNA exits left @ANNA exits left in 2 AND BOBBY | (exit: ANNA) (exit: ANNA, exit: BOBBY) | | Emotion | ANNA (talk_flirt_charming) Well, how you doin'?

BOBBY (Hm, I'm thinking quite hard.) | ANNA (Flirty) Well, how you doin'?

BOBBY Hm, I'm thinking quite hard. | | Act | NARRATOR What choice to take? choice "Punch him in the face" { NARRATOR I punched him in the face } "Let it go" { NARRATOR I decided to let it go } | BOBBY What choice to take?

Punch him in the face. NARRATOR I punched him in the face.
Let it go. NARRATOR I decided to let it go. [join] | | Music | music music_mischief | (fx: sfx_suspense_theme -on) (fx: sfx_suspense_theme -off) | | SFX | sound scream_female | (fx: sfx_girl_scream) | | Transitions | @transition fade out black in 1.0 | (fx: vfx_fade_black_transition -queue) | | Beats | @pause for a beat | (fx: vfx_beat -queue) |

Styling

| Notice | readerMessage Anna is a love interest in this story. | <#notice> Anna is a love interest in this story. | | --- | --- | --- | | Bold | Don't you | bold |dare| reset |come near me again! | Don't you dare come near me again! | | Italic | Don't you | italic |dare| reset |come near me again! | Don't you dare come near me again! | | Color | Don't you | color:red |dare| -colored | come near me again! | Don't you <color="red">dare</color>come near me again! | | Underline | Don't you | underline |dare| reset |come near me again! | Don't you dare> come near me again! | | Strikethrough | Don't you | strikethrough |dare| reset |come near me again! | Don't you <s>dare</s> come near me again! |

Logic / Inventory [ ]

| Relationship Points | BOBBY +1 BOBBY +5 | [give: BOBBY] [give: BOBBY 5] | | --- | --- | --- | | Gain | gain magic_dust | [give: MAGIC_DUST] | | Costume | @ANNA changes into ROYAL | [set: ANNA.look.current ANNA.look.royal] | | Premium Choice | choice <PREMIUM> "Slap her!" { NARRATOR You slapped her! } | [premium: choice_slap][cost: $gem 10] Slap her! NARRATOR You slapped her! [join] | | If / Else | if (BOYFRIEND is "Bobby"){ goto kiss_bobby } else{ goto no_boyfriend } | [if: BOYFRIEND = "Bobby"] -> kiss_bobby

[else] -> no_boyfriend | | Jumps | goto label kiss_bobby | -> kiss_bobby | | Labels | label kiss_bobby | :kiss_bobby |

Scripting Comparison

Let’s look at a real world example. On the left you’ll see a script on Episode before it was ported to the Tales format on the right.

Episode (10k lines)

Tales (2k lines)

FAQ

Here are some common questions Episode writers have asked us lately…

Scripting

How do I set a default value for a variable?

You want to set a health bar to 10, or give the player some gold to spend? Read about -loadout in the variables section: Variables

Features

Do you have timed choices?

Not yet! We’ll be adding this feature in the future.