Learn the system by building with it.

Import Storyteller 3 from the Unity Package Manager into the Unity project where you want to use it. Storyteller 3 is designed to function as a self-contained Unity asset and does not require another external tool in order to create and manage stories.

1. Open Unity's Package Manager.
2. Locate Storyteller 3 in your available assets.
3. Download and import the package into the project.
4. Allow Unity to finish compiling before opening Storyteller for the first time.

Game Bridge is included with Storyteller 3. You do not need to install a separate runtime package before following the authoring sections of this guide.

Launch Storyteller from Tools > Storyteller > Storyteller Studio. When the Storyteller window opens, click New Story in the upper-left corner.

1. Choose a folder if you want to control where the Story asset is saved.
2. Give the Story a name, or leave the name unchanged to create New Story.
3. Press Create. If no folder is selected, Storyteller can create the Story using its normal project location.

What the New Story information is for

The New Story window lets you establish the creative context for the project. This can include information such as the story's year, genre, overview, tone, setting, theme, plot, summary, target audience, narrative style, art style, art medium, and color palette.

You do not need to perfect all of this before creating the project. The same story-level information is available later from the Story's Settings window, so it can evolve as the project develops. Think of these fields as shared context for your story rather than a form that must be completed before you can work.

Create a Scene

Scenes divide the Story into manageable sections. From the upper-right area of the canvas, open Project Manager > Go To Scene Manager > Add New Scene.

Double-click a Scene to open it. You can also double-click the Scene name to rename it. Once the Scene is open, the canvas becomes the workspace where you build that part of the story.

Create your first node chain

Hold CTRL + Left Click on an empty area of the canvas to open the Node creation menu, then choose the node you want to add. For a first test, begin with a Character Node. Character Nodes are important because they establish a character's chain of events.

When a node is selected, its editable data appears in the Properties window. The exact properties change with the node type.

The Timeline

As nodes are connected into character chains, those nodes are also represented in the Timeline. The Timeline gives you a chronological view of the active story path instead of only the spatial view of the canvas. Timed nodes can show information such as start time, delay, duration and their position in the character's sequence, while route-aware views help you understand how alternate paths affect the flow.

The Canvas answers “what is connected to what?” while the Timeline helps answer “when does this happen?”

Characters and environments give the connected nodes around them context. They are more than labels on a graph: both can carry reusable information that follows the story into later tools and, when bridged, into runtime data.

Character Nodes

A Character Node identifies the character responsible for a chain of events. Character data can include the character's name and biography as well as deeper profile information, personality data, imagery and voice samples. You can keep the profile lightweight for minor characters and add detail only where it is useful.

Dialogue and other nodes connected through that character's chain can inherit the relationship to the character, which is why beginning with a Character Node makes the flow easier to understand.

Environment Nodes

An Environment Node describes where the following part of the chain is taking place. Environment information can describe the location, mood, physical appearance, history, culture, architecture, time of day, season, weather, lighting and other details, along with an environment image.

When an Environment Node becomes active in a chain, the connected nodes that follow are understood to occur in that environment until another Environment Node changes it. This lets you establish a location once instead of repeating the same information on every dialogue or action.

A straight chain is useful for learning Storyteller, but stories often need decisions, alternate outcomes and paths that later return to a shared sequence. Route Nodes are the main authoring tool for those branches.

Connect a Route Node where the story should split, then connect its outputs to the different branches. Each branch can contain its own dialogue, actions, environments and additional routes. Storyteller 3 supports Route structures with multiple outputs, allowing a single decision point to lead into several possible paths.

Links, loops and convergence

Link Nodes help connect sections of the graph without drawing an impractically long connector across the canvas. They can also participate in time skips and looping structures. Routes can be used with these structures to decide when a loop continues, exits, or returns to another part of the story.

When different branches should return to the same continuation, build the graph so those paths converge back into a shared sequence rather than duplicating the remainder of the story.

Where conditions fit

The Route defines the possible structure. At runtime, Game Bridge conditions can decide whether a route, event or interaction should be available based on the current game state. This separation is useful: Storyteller describes the narrative possibilities, while Game Bridge connects those possibilities to gameplay rules.

Storyteller can store the same story content in multiple languages. A Story has a language list, one language can act as the default/source language, and localized node data is kept aligned with that list.

Start by adding the languages the project actually needs. Write and review the default language first, then fill the translated values manually or use Storyteller's optional translation tools. Dialogue text, accompanying actions and route titles are examples of content that can have language-specific versions.

Translation can be performed on focused selections instead of forcing you to translate an entire project every time. This makes it practical to translate a scene or selected nodes as that part of the story becomes ready.

Storyteller is not limited to written dialogue. Media can be attached to the parts of the story where it is useful, allowing the same narrative data to act as both a writing tool and a lightweight production reference.

Dialogue Nodes can carry localized dialogue, voice recordings, sound effects and storyboard imagery. Action Nodes can use storyboard images and sound effects to show or reinforce what is happening. Characters can also hold voice samples, while Environment Nodes can use images to visually define locations.

On the Timeline, audio-aware timing can help you understand how dialogue and actions fit together. This is particularly useful for cinematic conversations, visual-novel style scenes, timed sequences and any interaction where pacing matters.

You do not need to add media to every node. Use it where the visual or audio reference communicates something the text alone does not.

Game Bridge is included with Storyteller 3. Storyteller is where you author the story; Game Bridge is the set of runtime systems that lets Unity use that authored data during play.

The central runtime asset is SceneData. When you use the Game Bridge editor to Push To Scene Data, the relevant Storyteller scene is converted into runtime-friendly node data. That SceneData can include the connected node set, characters, languages and other information needed by the interaction system.

1. Create or select the SceneData that will receive the Storyteller scene.
2. Use Game Bridge's editor tools to push the authored scene into that SceneData.
3. Add/configure an Interaction component in the gameplay scene.
4. Connect the required characters or interactable objects for the interaction.
5. Trigger the interaction from gameplay and connect your own UI to the dialogue, route and event data you want to present.

Game Bridge does not force one dialogue-box design. The same story can drive a traditional dialogue window, scrolling history, overhead chat bubbles, phone-message UI, cinematic subtitles or another presentation built for your game.

Once the basic interaction is working, Game Bridge includes systems for projects that need to remember what has happened and restore game state later.

History

The History system can retain information about processed story events. History entries can identify the scene, character, node type, displayed text, route information, timing, participants and other runtime context. This makes it useful for features such as conversation logs, recap screens, debugging, or game logic that needs to know what the player has already experienced.

Saving

The included SaveManager is a generalized JSON persistence system. Save targets are processed in an ordered list, allowing game objects, components and ScriptableObjects to participate in the save/load pipeline. Multiple save slots and lifecycle options can be used when the project needs them.

This runtime save system is separate from saving the Storyteller Story asset in the Unity Editor. Storyteller stores authored project data; the SaveManager is for the state of the game while it is being played.

Advanced structures

As the project grows, Game Bridge can combine routes, runtime conditions, link/loop structures, history and saved state to create interactions that react to previous choices instead of always replaying the same path.