Rebuilding Wunderverse for Real Storytelling
The first version of Wunderverse was written in Objective-C and was only available for the iPad. I thought it was a pretty good first attempt at what I had wanted it to be, but it had some issues. It was more of a prototype. A proof-of-concept.
The focus of Version 5—a complete re-write of the original app—was to turn Wunderverse into something much more serious for interactive story telling.
Making it Available on the Mac
The first big step was to make the iOS app available on the Mac. This was important because it would give story builders all the benefits of creating adventures in a full desktop environment — including easier and faster story editing, a larger Story Map editor and, of course, easy access to dictionaries, note organizers, web browsers, and all the other tools you often rely on when writing. To do this, a complete UI library was developed so that the same code could be used for both Mac and iOS.
A Redesigned Story Map Editor
The Story Map editor was completely re-designed, too, to bring all of the control over building adventure stories into one fun, integrated space.
With the new Map, and its open-ended rules system of over 75 unique elements for influencing gameplay, story builders have a fully integrated storytelling environment that gives them surprising freedom for creating interactive stories.
From the Story Map, adventures can be created with all sorts of obstacles and challenges for players to overcome as they explore — all based on the actions they take, what they are carrying, their current condition, their skills and abilities, random chance, and a myriad of other things that make going on quests so much fun.
In-line Story Text Editing
Editing and tweaking story text is one of the things you do most when creating an adventure. With Version 5, you can tap on any of your text in Preview Mode to edit it in place.
This makes it super quick and easy to adjust and edit your story as you see it in action.
A New, Open Data Format
Behind the scenes, Version 5 was built on a completely new and flexible data format that makes it much easier for new story features to be added in the future.
New Events, Outcomes, and Conditions
Many of the core building blocks for adventures (the Events, Outcomes, and Conditions) have been improved, enhanced or augmented with new options, too. Like the new Special Effects outcome. Plus, with the new data format, adding new building blocks will be simple.
iCloud Syncing and Backups
Version 5 uses iCloud to sync work across all your Apple devices. You can work on your adventure from your Mac. Then when you grab your iPad to head out to the coffee shop or to meet up with friends, your latest changes will be available for you to continue where you left off.
Version 5 also has a new Archives feature that lets story builders make incremental achieves of their stories as they work on them. That way they can switch back to earlier revisions if needed.
Easy Sharing
Once an adventure is ready for players to explore, Version 5 gives story builders a simple way to share with friends using iCloud Sharing.
Publishing Adventures for Everyone
Even better, Version 5 gives adventure builders the ability to publish their work for everyone in the Wunderverse community to play. It’s as simple as tapping the Share button and choosing share “With Everyone!”
Creating (and Playing) on the iPhone Too
An iPhone version was always in the plans when Wunderverse was first created, but only to make it a story player without editing features. With the brand new common interface library created for Version 5, the iPhone versions can have the same tools to make tweaks and edits to stories there, too. It is a small screen to work from, but it makes it nice for quick edits when you don’t have access to your Mac or iPad.
A Complete User Manual
An official iBooks Travel Guide has also been created to help make traveling and creating adventures in the Wunderverse easier. This guide is free and available now.
What’s Next
Version 5 of Wunderverse is a now a foundation ready for the future, with lots of room to grow. It’s a platform that can expand with lots of new features to come.