Extensions and the interface (HUD)

What extensions are

An extension is a ready-made mechanic you install into a novella whole: its own steps in the Actions block, its own conditions, its own window for the reader. They live in the Ext. tab, which is always visible. Right now there are two: Inventory and Quest journal.

Once installed, the extension card gets an Enabled box, a Settings section and a list of items or quests. Remove… offers two ways: “Disable, keep the data” — you can switch it back on any time — or “Remove and wipe” — the data goes, and steps that reference the extension stay broken. Only the novella owner can do the second.

Gender no longer needs an extension of its own: choosing it is built into the editor. Turn it on in the Novella tab, under “Looks, outfits & gender”, with the “Gender to pick (She | He)” box on the hero. Gender only stays in the Ext. list for novellas where it was switched off earlier, so there’s a place to switch it back on.

1. Open the Ext. tab in the left panel.
2. Press Install on the Inventory or Quest journal card.
3. Open Settings and decide whether you want a button on top of the screen, how the window looks and which notifications the reader gets.
4. Add the first item with the Item button or the first quest with the Quest button.

Inventory

The inventory holds items the reader finds and spends. An item has a name, a description, an emoji icon or a picture, and a category. Stackable gathers copies into one slot, and Max per stack caps how many. Hidden (quest flag) counts in conditions but never shows in the window. Import from library turns pictures into items in bulk: each becomes an item named after its file.

An item’s ID is set when you create it and never changes: steps, conditions and scripts refer to it.

The inventory button on top of the screen is off by default: people usually install the inventory for its steps and conditions, and a 🎒 for the reader is a separate decision. Without it, the Open inventory step opens the window. Settings also hold the number of columns and rows (24 slots at most), the window frame and the notification text — “Получен: …” (“Received: …”) by default.

You can make an object on stage pickable without any steps: right-click it, choose “Make a pickable item…” and pick the item. A tap from the reader puts it in the inventory and removes the object from the scene.

Quest journal

The journal holds quests the reader takes, completes or fails. A quest has a title, a description, an icon and an ID. A hidden quest doesn’t show in the journal — it’s a plot flag.

The journal’s steps are Start quest, Complete quest, Fail quest, Drop quest, Open journal and Close journal. The reader gets notifications “Новое задание: …” (“New quest: …”) and “Выполнено: …” (“Completed: …”), and you can change their text in Settings. Like the inventory, the journal button on top of the screen is off by default.

Steps and conditions in a scene

An installed extension adds its own list to the Basic tab of the Actions block: “＋ Inventory” or “＋ Quest journal”. Its steps are there — Give item, Take item, Start quest and so on. Open inventory has a “Wait for close” box: the timeline waits until the reader closes the window.

Checks go into conditions: the “if” button on a card and the Condition node gain Has item, Lacks item, Item count, Quest in progress, Quest completed, Quest failed and Quest status.

Switch an extension off and its steps turn grey in the editor, and for the reader they’re quietly skipped.

1. Install Inventory and add a “Key” item with the 🔑 icon.
2. In the scene where it’s found, add an Actions block and pick Give item → Key from “＋ Inventory”.
3. At the door, make two choice options. Give the first one Has item → Key via “if”, and the second Lacks item → Key.
4. Press Play and go through both paths.

The Interface tab (HUD)

The HUD is your own layer over every screen of the novella: pictures, buttons and labels the reader sees all the time. The Interface tab is hidden by default and appears once you tick “Advanced features”.

The top of the tab picks what you’re editing: “Whole novella” or the current chapter. A chapter inherits the novella’s HUD at first; “Make an own HUD” gives it its own, and “Return to inheriting” takes it away. Below is a 9:16 mini screen where you can drag elements with the mouse.

Everything else is in the “HUD editor” window. It has three buttons: Image from the library, Button zone — an invisible tap area — and Widget, a text plate in the novella’s frame. A widget’s text can include a variable: “Gold: {gold}” shows the current value of the gold variable. A selected element has a Click setting: Nothing, an extension action such as Toggle inventory, Send a signal, or Script (JS).

1. Open the Novella tab, the Gameplay section, and tick “Advanced features”.
2. Go to the Interface tab that appears and press “HUD editor”.
3. Press Widget and type text with a variable, for example “Gold: {gold}”.
4. Drag the widget into place and check it in Play.

Stats for the reader

You can show a variable to the reader. The “Variable settings” gear in the Vars tab (or a right-click on the row) opens a menu: “Notify on change” pops up a notice on every change, “Show in the player menu” adds a row to Stats in the player menu, and “Icon on choice options” puts the stat’s icon on options that change it.

“Icon and notification text…” in the same menu sets the stat’s icon: built-in, emoji, your own file, a library picture or a generated one. The Stat icons section below the variable list holds a shared reference and style, so generated icons look like one set.

Hearts are a character variable, “Hearts / affinity” — how they feel about the reader. They only show in the player menu after you tick “Show “hearts”” in the Gameplay section of the Novella tab. Next to it is the option to notify about affinity changes.

FAQ

There’s no Interface tab — where is it? It appears after you tick “Advanced features”: the Novella tab, the Gameplay section.

I installed the inventory but the reader has no 🎒 — why? The on-screen button is off by default. Turn it on in the inventory’s Settings, or open the window with the Open inventory step.

Can I change an item’s or a quest’s ID? No: steps, conditions and scripts refer to the ID, so it’s set once when you create it.

What happens if I remove an extension? “Disable, keep the data” keeps the items, settings and readers’ inventories. “Remove and wipe” erases everything, and steps and conditions that reference it stay broken — the editor shows how many there are beforehand.

Are there mini-games here? No, mini-games are scripts: ready-made ones sit in the script editor’s palette. See the “Scripts and mini-games” article.