inklewriter lives again!
We're hugely delighted to announce that inklewriter, our free, write-as-you-go tool for sketching interactive fiction, is BACK - stable, free to use, and now open-source!
Read the interactive press release!
(For existing users: this is a new version with a new database. You'll need a new account; and you'll need to import any story data from the previous version manually. Details on how to do that are below.)
So what's new?
After over a year in shutdown mode, inklewriter has been given a new lease of life by an amazing team of open-source developers. Inklewriter is now stable on modern browsers - and it's also open-source, and of course, still free to use.
(Note, if you're interested in ink, our scripting language for IF, please check here!)
The new version is at inklewriter.com, and this is now the main branch of inklewriter. (But we'll keep the old version around for a while, to ensure you have time to copy across your story data.)
What is inklewriter?
Inklewriter is a write-as-you-play tool for creating and sharing branching stories. It aims to provide a way for anyone to start writing an interactive story, with no set-up and no barrier to getting started.
It's not as powerful as ink, our scripting language for game development - but it's fast to use, unfussy, and intuitively laid out.
It's been used by writers, game developers, schools and universities since its launch in 2012.
So what's happening?
inklewriter began as a free web project when inkle was first founded. But with web-technology always changing, it became impossible for us to maintain it.
Enter the open-source community, who have produced a full port of inklewriter to modern web-tech.
This means inklewriter is now fully stable once more, and better yet, it's going to be maintained in the foreseeable future.
The new version is available now. If you've never tried inklewriter before, you can start now. Otherwise, read on...
I had an account. What happens to my stories?
The new version of inklewriter will start afresh. That means you'll need to make a new account to start writing.
Old stories will have to be imported out of the old database and into the new one, but the process should be fast and easy. You can start importing now:
- Head to the legacy version of inklewriter (which we'll be keeping around for the time being)
- Log in, open the story you want to import, and click the share button.
- Type ".json" onto the end of the URL that it gives you, paste it into the address bar and press enter to get your data.
- Example: http://oldinklewriter.inklestudios.com/stories/musgraveritual.json
- Open in another tab the new version of inklewriter at inklewriter.com.
- You'll need to first register a new account on the new version to import your story
- Once logged in, click on the import link.
- Copy the JSON data from your story, and paste it into the text area of the import box, and click Import.
- Next click on the "open" link: your story should be here, ready to open.
We imported our Sherlock Holmes example, "The Musgrave Ritual"... and it took about ten seconds.
I've found a bug. Where can I get help?
The project is hosted on GitHub here. You can report issues - and collaborate on future development - there.
Logins and privacy
Logins to inklewriter are email addresses; these are stored in a secure database, and are never viwed / shared / sold.
If you require a higher level of privacy, however, as inklewriter is now open-source you'll be able to host your own inklewriter service, if you wish.
That said, please do not use a high-value password for your inklewriter account. Security on the internet can never be fully guaranteed.
Thank you!
We're really excited for this; inklewriter was an early experiment for us in making responsive interactive fiction accessible to anyone, without the need to be confusing.
We've frequently used inklewriter ourselves for quick prototypes and sketches, and we're over the moon that it's getting a new lease of life in the open source community.
Credits
We're enormously grateful to the team behind the project:
... and you can contact them directly.
Happy inklewriting!