The Mana Game Engine lets you add game-like structure on top of AI narration. The AI still writes every turn, but you decide the big story beats, how the story reacts when players do certain things, and which of your own images and videos appear at the right moment.
Three Tools, One Engine
Turn the engine on once, then use any of them, alone or together.
One Story, All Three Tools
A café first date, from the moment it starts to the walk home.
The story opens on its first node, whose scene direction asks for a light, slightly nervous mood while you two order. The Story Director passes that on to the narrator.
After the narration, an AI checks your question: “Clara sits down across from the player at the café table.” It answers Yes, so your drawing of Clara at the table appears on screen and unlocks in the player’s Gallery.
The trigger adds 1 to an affection variable and shows the player a short line: “Clara hides a smile behind her cup.”
The Story Director sees that the entry condition of Walk Home has happened and moves the story there. Entering the node runs its Rain Starts trigger, which switches the background to a rainy street.
Turning It On
- Open the Mana Game Engine tabPress New Story in the left menu, then open the Mana Game Engine tab in the setup menu, just before Recommended Settings.
- Switch it to EnabledPress Enabled next to the tab’s heading. While it says Disabled, the story is saved without any progression nodes, triggers, variables or in-game images and video.
- Build in the editorPress Create New, or Edit Triggers once something is saved. The editor opens in a new browser tab. Use the menu at its top left to switch between In-Game Images/Video, Triggers, Characters, Story Progression and Variables.
- SavePress Save in the editor, then return to your story setup. The tab now sums up what you built, for example “3 triggers · 2 story branches configured”.
- Add images and video (optional)The same tab has an In-Game Images/Video section further down, with its own Disabled / Enabled choice and Save button. Enabling it there turns on the Mana Game Engine too.
Editing Later
- A saved template: press Edit on its card under Your Stories > Templates, or Edit Template on its story page. Visual templates open the same setup menu with its Mana Game Engine tab. Text templates open the classic edit form, which has a Mana Game Engine section with the same Disabled / Enabled choice and Edit Triggers button.
- A story you are playing: open the in-game settings and press Edit Story. Visual stories show the Mana Game Engine tab. Text and Agent Mode stories open the classic edit form with its Mana Game Engine section.
- When you edit a story or template that is already saved, the editor’s Save writes your changes to it right away. If you are playing a copy of your own template, Mana first asks whether the changes are for this story only or for the template too.
Good To Know
Players don’t set anything up. The engine runs while they play, and any /commands you add show up when they type / in the message box.
Each play-through copies your setup when it starts. Editing a template later changes new play-throughs, not ones already in progress.
Most triggers cost nothing extra. Questions the AI answers after each narration, from In-Game Images/Video or the Check Story Context action, are billed to the player like the NPC status check.
Stories with progression nodes add a Story Director step to every turn, which costs players a few more coins. They play in Realism mode only.
Images and videos show in visual stories only, since text stories have no image area. Each story can hold up to 50 MB of uploaded images and video.
Questions
Do I have to use all three tools?
No. Turn the Mana Game Engine on and use only what your story needs: a few triggers, a handful of in-game images, a full set of progression nodes, or any mix of them.
Does the AI still write the story?
Yes. The narrator still writes every turn. Progression nodes steer where the story goes, triggers add rules and moments you wrote yourself, and In-Game Images/Video decides when to show your art.
What happens if I switch it back to Disabled?
The story is saved without its progression nodes, triggers, variables and in-game images and video. On a new story your work stays in the draft until you save the story, so you can switch back. On a story or template that is already saved, saving with Disabled removes it.
Will changing my template update stories people are already playing?
No. Each play-through gets its own copy of your setup when the player starts it, so your changes reach new play-throughs only.