https://github.com/eloyer/stepwise
Open source, one-button storytelling.
https://github.com/eloyer/stepwise
javascript jquery-plugin music storytelling unity
Last synced: 6 months ago
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Open source, one-button storytelling.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/eloyer/stepwise
- Owner: eloyer
- License: other
- Created: 2013-04-28T22:22:16.000Z (over 12 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2023-10-22T18:49:17.000Z (almost 2 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-03-16T18:02:44.675Z (7 months ago)
- Topics: javascript, jquery-plugin, music, storytelling, unity
- Language: JavaScript
- Homepage:
- Size: 13.2 MB
- Stars: 18
- Watchers: 2
- Forks: 1
- Open Issues: 1
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE.txt
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Stepwise
NOTE: This repo supports the initial, Google Sheets-powered version of Stepworks (aka "[Stepworks Classic](https://step.works/index.php/site_2023/classic)"), which is no longer being developed. The current version is called [Stepworks Studio](https://step.works/index.php/site/stepworks-studio), and these days, I am in development on a [third version](https://opertoon.com/blog/building-the-next-stepworks) of Stepworks, which will focus on interactive comics.
>"Press SPACE BAR to continue."
>"Click to continue."
>"Tap to continue."
These actions are like turning pages in a book. They're digital ways of saying "next, please." They carry an element of suspense, because we don't know exactly what we're going to get next, but also an element of performance, because while the author controls the "what," we control the "when."
Stepwise is about building artful experiences around this simple mechanic of suspense and performance.
How many digital reading experiences do we have each day that boil down to single repeated actions that deliver new content each time? Social media feeds, e-books, digital comics, one-button games...
...and what would happen if that mechanic was abstracted from all of those particular forms, and put to work explicitly for storytelling purposes? If discrete steps could represent characters and their acts of speech, thought, or song. Narration. Date and time. Geolocation. Weather. Rhythm. Melody. Repetition. Randomness.
This is what Stepwise does. Because it's simple, it can easily be used to power a wide range of experiences. Because it's standardized, content from one experience can easily be reused in another.
Most interactive stories operate at the scale of plot mechanics: "Should this character do X or Y?" with the results apparent over the course of minutes or hours. Stepwise operates at the scale of musical performance: "When does it feel right to move ahead?" with the results apparent in seconds.
Stepwise is a multimodal content sequencer—a library for one-button storytelling.
## Powered by Stepwise
+ [Stepworks](http://step.works), a collection of experiments in one-button storytelling
+ [Strange Rain 2.0](http://opertoon.com/strange-rain/) for Apple TV, which uses the Unity version of the library
## How does it work?
Simple. Call the plugin with the content you want to display in steps, and the DOM element where you want it to be displayed:
```javascript
$("div#output").stepwise("1 2 3 4");
```
Now, whenever a key is pressed or `
` is clicked, `` will be successively updated with `1`, `2`, `3`, and `4`.
[View demo on CodePen](http://codepen.io/eloyer/pen/XdxKMm)
## Stepwise XML
Stepwise content is delivered in [Stepwise XML](https://github.com/eloyer/stepwise/wiki/Stepwise-XML-Reference) format (though the library will also various other input formats that it parses into Stepwise XML, as in the string example above). Here's a "hello world" example:
```xml
Hello world
Hello,
world.
```
[View demo on CodePen](http://codepen.io/eloyer/pen/KzBbMW)
## Where can I use Stepwise?
Currently the library includes both a jQuery plugin and a Unity client. The development of additional clients is welcomed and encouraged.
## How can I learn more?
Explore these links from the wiki:
- [Getting started with the Stepwise jQuery plugin](https://github.com/eloyer/stepwise/wiki/Getting-started-with-the-Stepwise-jQuery-plugin)
- [Getting started with Stepwise for Unity](https://github.com/eloyer/stepwise/wiki/Getting-started-with-Stepwise-for-Unity)
- [Stepwise XML Reference](https://github.com/eloyer/stepwise/wiki/Stepwise-XML-Reference)
## License
Stepwise is released under an MIT License.