Plotopolis documentation

Here are features you can use when writing your story.

Note: Below, we assume you will be writing it in Twine, or another .twee-compatible app. You can also explore the docs in the interactive 'About Plotopolis' game (and download that .twee file as an example). Have questions about the technical aspects? Reach out to us. And of course, if we accept your piece or proposal, we are happy to work with you on the technical details!

Plotopolis imports Twine (.twee file) games. Since we are concerned with publishing to multiple chat platforms, we handle only basic Twine functionality. Here's what we've implemented so far, and which you can use when writing your piece.

• Artwork
  Each passage can have an image (jpg, png, gif, webp). Please insert it in Twine via an img tag like you normally would. (we can talk about where the images are hosted after acceptance)
• Rewind
  Using the 'rewind' command, a reader can back out of any passage. (No need to augment your piece, this comes standard)
• The Metric
  (optional) We can incorporate one numeric variable all the way through. It can be used to track a status (hunger, coins, sanity, whatever you like). Every passage may alter the metric. The Metric be also be changed when a reader uses the 'Rewind' command (by incrementing the metric up or down). In your Twine passages, define (or change) your metric like so:

  (set: $myVar = 5) //set the metric to 5
  (set: $myVar = $myVar - 1) //decrement the metric
  

  (Where $myVar is the name of your metric).
• Jump Thread
  (optional) A jump thread is a Twine thread that is not connected to the rest of the story. It is used together with The Metric. If The Metric hits a certain threshold of your choosing, readers are automatically sent to the Jump Thread. (eg: Sanity hits 0, or Cash hits 100, or Life hits 0, whatever you want...)
• Wildcard pass-thru - If you prefix a passage-name with an asterisk-hyphen, eg: [[*-continue]] then ANY answer the reader replies with will automatically proceed to the next passage (and they won't see or need to select a specific choice). This is great for sequential pieces in which you want to mimic a more conversational style. example:

  Do you like cheese?
  

  > Not really. why..?
  

  *-continue
  Cheese says a lot about a person. Anyway, as I was saying, the key is not on the premises.
  

  The reader's answer automatically took them to the passage entitled *-continue regardless of the answer. It will not record the reader's answer, however. It's to allow longer passages to be broken into more conversational sections, which are better for chat.
• Start & End
  Every story must start with a passage titled 'start' and end with a passage titled 'end'. (Typically all end-branches should point to a final end passage, which is where you'll put your credits.)
• Passages and keywords
  Each passage may be navigated by typing the name of that passage - alternately, readers may type a number representing the order of the choices.

  Which direction would you like to go?
  Go East
  Go West
  

  > 2
  

  You went west!
  

  It's worth noting that we are somewhat lenient on keyword entry. In the case above, if a reader wrote 'go weet', would also 'Go West'. Take note so that you don't name two passage choices too similarly.
• Export
  Here's a quick video on how to export your game as a Twee file.