Today, we'll be looking at two tools that can be used for branching dialogue and story creation (Twine and inklewriter). Writing out branching dialogue, which is used in Skyrim, can be quite difficult when using conventional tools like Word or Google Docs. At best, you have a nice, neat system with numbering. But even then, there can be significant issues. Numbering gets screwed up, the text is shoved into the corner as the numbered list grows longer, you have difficulty navigating. Both Twine and inklewriter are great tools for branching creation, and are a LOT easier than traditional text editors.

inklewriter is completely free to sign up for, and allows you to start writing immediately, without any email verification required. This'll allow you to go straight into the Write interface:

It's quite neat and easy to work with. Streamlined and simple is always good in my book. In the bottom left, you can see the basic text editing options. They allow for bolded and italicized text as well as images.

It's generally easy to figure out how the program works - you start with some paper, and every time you press Enter a new, linked page is created. From there, you can add options as you wish. Each option allows you to go to a new page to choose how that option branches out. Writing is easy and convenient, and you can always go back to the beginning.

However, there are a few other interfaces you can look through. You've got the Map, first of all, which is super nice. It allows you to see an overview of what you've got together so far:

You can also move to each different part just by clicking on it with the map. I did notice a bug though - if you try to click on End or Link on one of the rectangles, it causes my tab to go gray and I can't click on anything in it anymore. This is just an indicator of one of the bugs inkle has. I noticed a few other functions that caused it to go gray as well. It IS still in Beta.

Then you've got your Contents section, which is a bit more technical and allows you to see all the different parts of your document, as well as search it.

Finally, you have the Read section which allows you to see how your document will be seen and read by others, such as an implementer of your dialogue.

I think Inkle is a great tool, but it IS a bit buggy currently and it might be a bit harder for the implementer as, unless they're given access to the writing part of your document, they can't see the Map. This means that they can't see the overview, and have to click through as if it were an interactive story.

Please note that I did not test the downloadable version, just the web version. I'll update this once I have. I believe the desktop version will have many more features and ease of use.

Twine starts out with a bit of a tutorial as soon as you begin. It tells you some basic info, and then you can go straight to the story-writing area, which looks simple and beautiful.

The interface for creating stories is grid like and simple as well.

It was very easy to use, and did seem quite simple. I did notice a few issues with it, however. One, there was no easy way for you to link passages together. You could add a link between to passages in the interface. You have to do it in the text. Furthermore, doing it in the text creates a new passage altogether, so you can't link to previously created ones, just create new ones if you want to link them. It wasn't all that hard to work around, however.

Secondly, there are no text editing options readily available. They must be done through tags in the text, which is alright but not quite as easy. No shortcuts.

However, you can share it in the more "techy" format, which is easier for those trying to implement your story. You can use the Publish to File button:

And then the other person can use Import from File in the Stories window. They could also open up your story straight from the file in "story" form, but that's not necessary.