Arrow (Game Narrative Tool)

Narrative design tool for Godot using the noodle graph / node based editing interface.

On 20230327 I tested the idea of using this for my own games. There were two areas that I tested the program in: its intended use as a narrative tool and its unintended use for tracking quests.

For tracking narratives its OK. Each node has a unique ID which deals with updating the campaign files. You can store which ID the player was in (if they are in one) and return to that in the future. File format is pretty standard for Godot's noodle graph tool. There's a list of node IDs and their edge connections and a separate table to access each node.

Another test was using it to design quests mechanically. For this the lack of multiple outputs becomes a trouble. We have to use the dialogue/interact nodes to get multiple outputs. Then we use nodes to track quest step text, or choice nodes to set conditions. When we reach a choice node we clone the cursor and let them all individually track forward. It's not really built for this; there might be a way we can add custom nodes that makes this a little better.