Choice¶
Choices are the core building blocks of your CYOA. They are dynamic visual elements which can take on a number of forms. A choice can be a selectable widget the player can pick, a paragraph of text describing the lore of the story you're shaping, or a simple image intended only for visual flair. In this section we will learn how to add and edit choices.
Adding A Choice¶
Let's begin by adding a choice. To add a choice, you must first add add a grid. Once you have created a grid, select the ADD CHOICE button above the grid you intend to add your choice to.
Properties Panel¶
To reveal the choice properties panel, simply click on the choice you wish to edit.
General Settings¶
Prefab¶
Prefabs are updatable templates you can use to easily manage the design of elements throughout your project. You can adjust choice properties after a prefab has been assigned, and may later reset individual choice properties back to the prefab default. Unchanged properties will remain in sync with the parent prefab as you make changes to it.
If you would like to learn how to create and apply prefabs to your choices, it is recommended you check out this section on Prefabs.
Type¶
As noted at the beginning, choices are dynamic elements which can take on a number of forms. A choice can be a selectable widget the player can pick, a paragraph of text describing the lore of the story you're shaping, or a simple image intended only for visual flair.
Choice Type Example¶
Below, you can see what the various choice types look like with default settings.
Example
A standard choice.
Example
A choice with a horizontal layout. Image on the left, and dialog on the right.
Example
A choice with a horizontal layout. Image on the right, and dialog on the left.
Example
A text element, with no image. Text elements can still feature background frames. The text element is useful when constructing large blocks of dialog.
Example
A standalone image element with no dialog. Note, image elements can have frames.
Title¶
- Title of the choice.
Dialog¶
- Dialog of the choice.
Padding¶
- Adjust the padding of text within its frame.
Is Selected on Initialize?¶
Specify if the choice should be automatically selected at start-up. Note, in order for this to work, all choice conditions must be met. Useful for setting default selections. TRUE = Choice will be selected on initialize.
Is Selectable by Player?¶
Specify if the choice is selectable by the player. You should set this to FALSE for any UI elements you do not want to be highlighted by the player.
Max Select Count¶
Note: This feature is currently under development.
Specify the maximum number of times this choice can be selected. When this number is greater than 1, the + and – buttons are revealed.
Position¶
How do you position choices in a grid? When working with the grid system you need to understand you are working with cells.
Note
This Layout Example will be added to the guide. Here's a link for now.
- Row: The row index of the grid cell this choice is in.
- Row Span: The number of row cells this choice span across.
- Column: The column index of the grid cell this choice is in.
- Column Span: The number of grid columns this choice spans across.
Example
To create a layout like this, your choices would need to have the following properties:
| Choice | Row | Column | Row Span | Column Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choice 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Choice 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Choice 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
While it can take some getting used to, grids allow you to create some poretty unique layouts.
Tip
If you find this workflow difficult, you can always create a grid for each row in your CYOA. This is less performant, however it can make managing complex layouts a little easier.