Talebench

What’s new

What changed in Talebench, a section per day, newest first.

The top bar now leads with your character, your things and the map, each one tap away; going back, Skip, Auto and Hide text stand quieter beside them (on a phone Skip and Auto are in Settings). · 23 changes

Updates that day: A new opponent: the standard dice fight · The things you use most in the top bar · Defend die against die · Foes ahead in the crawler · Dice battles that show who attacks · Made for desktop or phone; calmer battles · Languages on the title screen · Settings like a game’s · Menu pages with icons · An inventory screen like a game’s · The bag in your style, the slots on the figure · A game-like inventory · Demo buttons in their game’s letters · Your reply stays in view · Endings found as cards · A calmer ending and a clean picture · Cleaner options and fewer false warnings · A story map you can read from far out · 24 dungeon tiles in the library · Dungeon tiles made with AI · No dead ends in the dark · The view stays while a trap waits · Victory in sight · Bumping into walls · A larger dungeon map · Foes that belong in the corridor · Bells, altars and wells in the corridor · Traps in plain sight · The crawler’s screen in one frame

Playing

  • The top bar now leads with your character, your things and the map, each one tap away; going back, Skip, Auto and Hide text stand quieter beside them (on a phone Skip and Auto are in Settings). New projects start without going back a choice; switch it on under Settings, Player options.
  • Endings found now shows a card per ending: the ones you found with their picture and name, the others as locked cards, so you see how many are left. The same on the title screen, in the menu and under an ending.
  • A dark dungeon cell whose way back is shut (after a one-way drop) now lets the party feel its way on instead of leaving nothing to choose, and the view in the dark is black. In Deepwatch’s Cisterns a party without light could get stuck there.
  • On a dungeon crawler’s screen, a foe walking the floor is now drawn into the corridor itself, in the same coarse pixels and torchlight as the walls, instead of a painting laid over it; what lies at your feet hides less of what stands ahead.
  • On a dungeon crawler’s screen, a trap or check that waits before your next step now shows its name, what you need and its Roll button right in the message line under the pad, and afterwards tells how it went.
  • In a dungeon on the crawler’s screen, the view, the party, the compass, the pad and the message line now stand together in one dark frame in the dungeon’s colours, with a larger view and a message line that no longer jumps in width from step to step. On a wide screen the party, the pad and the message line stand beside the view, as in classic dungeon crawlers.
  • In a dungeon seen from inside, foes walking ahead now show up to three cells away, as tall as a figure and smaller with each cell, lit so they never vanish in the dark or behind a chest.
  • A game in more than one language shows its languages on the title screen, each in its own words; one click plays the game in it.
  • In the settings, every yes or no is now a switch in the game’s colour, the volumes fill their slider, and under Text speed a line shows how fast text will appear.
  • The menu’s pages now show an icon above their names, in even rows; on a phone every page is in view instead of a row that scrolled sideways and hid Saves.
  • Carrying a thing to the menu’s top or bottom edge scrolls it, so a chest or saddlebags out of view can be reached.
  • After you answer with your own words, the story now scrolls on so the new lines and Continue are in view; Continue was left under the window’s edge.
  • While a line is still appearing, Continue stands dimmed (pressing it shows the whole line) and lights up once the line is complete.
  • Notices that come in a row (a thing gained, a codeword, a new entry) now share one box, a line each, instead of stacking over the picture; the same thing twice reads “+ Torch ×2”.
  • The ending screen no longer shows Skip, Auto and Hide text, which do nothing there.
  • Hide text now shows the scene’s picture alone, without the dark panel behind the text.
  • The row of carried things over a scene appears only where an option uses a thing.
  • On a phone, a dot, diamond or arrow before the options now stands alone and centred; the option’s number showed beside it as well.
  • When a trap or check waits on a dungeon crawler’s screen, the view now stays in sight together with its Roll instead of scrolling away.
  • After a battle in a dungeon on the crawler’s screen, the victory and what each one won now come into view instead of staying below the dungeon’s panel.
  • In a dungeon seen from inside, a key toward a wall or a way that is not open now gives the view a short bump instead of doing nothing (not with “Reduce motion”).
  • The opened map of a dungeon floor now fills the screen on a wide window: a small floor is drawn with large cells instead of a little grid in the middle.
  • On the crawler’s screen the view stays in sight after every step instead of the page following the options, the screen fits a low window with the first option under it, and a party of four stands in two even rows on a phone.

In a dungeon seen from inside, a chest, a lever or a trap on the cell the party stands on is now drawn at the foot of the picture, so you see what you are standing at. · 15 changes

Updates that day: Your own wall pictures in the preview · The small map in its corner · What lies at your feet · Make camp from the message line · Finds in the message line · Your own pictures for dungeon walls · Battles in the corridor · Make your own dungeon walls · Your party beside the corridor · Things in the corridor · Textured dungeon corridors · A crawler’s pad and compass · The whole map, also from inside · Every field named · Chests worth opening · A cell’s own things first · A dungeon map that explains itself · A diary at hand

Playing

  • In a dungeon seen from inside, a chest, a lever or a trap on the cell the party stands on is now drawn at the foot of the picture, so you see what you are standing at.
  • On a crawler’s screen, where the party may make camp, “Make camp” waits at the end of the message line under the pad, right where your thumb is.
  • On a crawler’s screen, what you just found or what just happened is told in the message line under the pad too, until you take the next step.
  • On a crawler’s screen, the party stands under the view: each member’s portrait, name, health and what they hold in their hands. A click on a member opens their equipment.
  • Seen from inside, what stands in a dungeon is drawn as a picture in the corridor: a chest, a lever, stairs, spikes, a pit, a campfire, a way out, lit like the walls around them.
  • Dungeons seen from inside now have textured walls, floors and ceilings: stone blocks with moss and cracks, crypt bricks, cave rock, planks, metal plates, darker the further they are, warm by torchlight or cold. Every look is made for you, no pictures needed.
  • Dungeons seen from inside get the screen of a classic crawler: a compass that turns with the party and a six-way pad under the view to turn, step forward and back, and step aside. Q and E turn, A and D step aside, W and S walk.
  • In a dungeon seen from inside, “Map” opens the whole floor again, large and in the middle of the screen; it had shrunk into the screen’s corner, and in Firefox it stayed empty.
  • In a dungeon seen from inside, the small map now sits in the picture’s top right corner on wide screens too; it stood beside the picture.
  • A spinner lies on the floor as a ring instead of standing like a portal, and the game says the floor turns there.
  • The words of the cell you stand on sit in a framed line under the pad.
  • Foes walking a dungeon stand in the corridor as their battle picture, so a wolf looks like a wolf, smaller the further away it is.
  • After stepping back, the options and the view now keep the way the party faces.
  • Seen from inside, a chest or a foe one step ahead stands in the middle of its cell instead of far down the corridor.
  • In the example “The Ember Road”, the courier’s diary stays at hand once you take it, and a page appears in it at Emberfall’s gate.

Crossing a room in a dungeon, the party walks the shortest way through it: a trap, a battle or a scene on the way happens where it stands, before the party gets where it was going. · 12 changes

Updates that day: Walking through rooms · Rooms bigger than a cell · A roomier dungeon editor · Foes that walk the dungeon · Deepwatch, a dungeon crawl to play · Spinners, pits, pressure plates and dungeon sounds · The whole dungeon map, and moving by hand · Dungeons from inside, on paper and with secrets · Dungeons to explore

Playing

  • Crossing a room in a dungeon, the party walks the shortest way through it: a trap, a battle or a scene on the way happens where it stands, before the party gets where it was going.
  • A new demo, Deepwatch: choose four of six adventurers and take them down five floors of an old watch-hold to light its beacon again — keys, secret walls, traps, a spinner, levers, a found map, a camp and a boss. In English and German.
  • In a dungeon, N opens the whole map with every floor as far as it was explored. A click on the next cell walks there; on a phone, swipe or use the arrow pad.
  • Seen from inside, a room looks like a hall: its floor goes on to the sides instead of looking like side passages.
  • In a room the arrow keys take its way out on that side.
  • The Deepwatch example’s armoury and well room are rooms now.
  • In Deepwatch, a bone patrol and a hungry crawler now walk the deepest floor.
  • A dungeon told in words only no longer shows its map. The way back in a dungeon is now called “Go back”, so it is not confused with the top bar’s “Step back”.
  • Games with dungeons load faster: their engine is about 50 KB smaller.
  • The demos walk dungeons: the Crystal of Aster’s galleries with secrets and traps, the Sunken Choir’s crypt from inside, the Iron Hill’s old workings in words.
  • Stories without dungeons load as fast as before dungeons came.
  • The Crystal of Aster: the Old Galleries below the Hollowdeep, a dungeon on two floors.

When saving a version, renaming or deleting a file, a comment, a note or a style does not go through, the editor says so and keeps what you typed. · 3 changes

Updates that day: Clearer when something goes wrong · Losing need not end the game · Lines in any order, names that read · Settings that fit, weapons that count · Quicker pages, sturdier library · A library that stays quick · A readable menu in every look · Clear dice over any scene · A steady sidebar · Tab when you type fast

Playing

  • The menu shows a character’s list by its entries’ names; on a fixed screen a battle no longer shows a strip of the scene below it.
  • On a phone, the settings fit the screen in every language: a long label puts its control on the line below. Buttons and dice in a dice battle are big enough to tap.
  • In the game’s menu and settings, the open tab, the group titles and the paler secondary text now read clearly in every look, also on a light grey page with a dark style.

The story map of a long story opens again in seconds: with hundreds of passages it could stay on “Placing the passages…”. · 2 changes

Updates that day: Big stories stay quick · Fairer armour hints · Conversations as deep as you like · Every line readable · Portraits as you framed them · Safer translation scripts · Translations and files through the API · Planned battles fit a laptop; decks checked more closely · No two of the same name in your lists · One click for two of the same name; Strength shown in the throw · Pictures in any language; two versions of one person stay apart

Playing

  • Deep into a long story, each new line comes at once again.
  • Skip read text also skips the sound of a way taken before; holding Ctrl skips it too.

Text that appears word by word: one click or tap on the story shows the whole line at once, and the next one goes on. · 2 changes

Updates that day: Sounds from a description in any language · See every visit in the preview · One tap shows the whole line · Only if a choice was made · Play takes the keyboard into the game · Undo that says what it undoes · Copy, a level in between, and where an option leads · Dice battles that hold still on a phone · The dialogue editor as a grid · Dice battles that stay in place · Combinations with a look of their own · Dice effects shown as intended · Game cards that tell more · Tidy game cards · The start page knows you · Health that only counts down · Dice battles that read cleanly

Playing

  • Text that appears word by word: one click or tap on the story shows the whole line at once, and the next one goes on. A double-click shows the line without skipping past it.
  • Hide text now hides the dialogue box and its frame too, so nothing covers the picture.

Dice battles come alive: the dice tumble into the tray, knock into each other and settle with a wobble; you hear the shake, the roll on wood or felt, the clacks and a sting for every combination. · 2 changes

Updates that day: Faster, smoother dice rounds · A steady story map · Clearer dice battles on every screen · Dice that roll on a tray · Your saves in your account, combinations in defence · Fairer and clearer dice battles · A tidier dialogue editor · Dice that feel real · Your turn in the dice tray · Weapons and shields, a dialogue editor · Dice that land one by one, and skills paid with a die · Aim high, middle or low · Counter attacks

Playing

  • Players can sign in from a game’s menu: their saves are kept in their account and wait on every device. Saves already in the browser can be taken along. My games in the library shows where to continue, your ratings and what you follow. Creators can switch it off per game in Publish.
  • Games without dice battles load less: the dice code now comes only with games that use it (about 42 KB less for the engine and 23 KB less for the player).

Games load faster: the game engine is smaller for every game, and stories with a journal or a clock now load the small story engine, about 150 KB less. · 5 changes

Updates that day: A run of three · See the throw you face · Hidden dice · Replies that stay, found at once · Options to passages you already have · Dice tricks · Real dice, and who starts · Defend with your own dice · Gentler critical throws · Your own throw in the log · Dice battles to try · Lighter games, keys for your own tools · Games that remember, pages that invite · A lore book that fills itself · Fights that end without a fall · Fights that belong to their scene · Larger text on large screens, quicker shared links · A map that stays put, and a first game without surprises

Playing

  • Games load faster: the game engine is smaller for every game, and stories with a journal or a clock now load the small story engine, about 150 KB less.
  • Playing, a marked word opens a small card with its entry by tap, click or Enter, without stopping the story; a short note tells you when a new entry was added. The look decides how "Marked words" show: underlined, dotted, framed, coloured or not marked at all.
  • Games that keep values offer "Forget progress across playthroughs" under the saves, to start truly fresh. The printed book gets an "Across adventures" box to keep when you begin again.
  • A shared game link opens faster, also when many people open it at once.
  • The player's top bar stays one row with "Make camp" shown, the camp's things are in one column, and the Stats page shows a value like the status line.

Continue after closing the page goes on at the line you were reading, with the scene's picture behind it, and replies you already asked stay asked. · 4 changes

Updates that day: The writing view in your words, and a book you can play · Games that pick up where you left them · Writing that never loses a word · Projects come first, and come back · The map keeps still · Saved battles go on · Help for the new ways of writing · Writing on, faster

Playing

  • Continue after closing the page goes on at the line you were reading, with the scene's picture behind it, and replies you already asked stay asked.
  • Route planning on a phone uses the game's own buttons, the zoom covers no names, and "No way leads there." stands right by the place.
  • A save made at a question or a character's creation still loads after you change and republish the game.
  • A number too large to show now shows as 0 in the game instead of a strange word.

An option that draws from a deck can Show as options: up to a number of fitting cards appear as options of their own, each with its Option text. · 5 changes

Updates that day: More from a deck · A steadier test play · Every look, clean at every size · Decks and lists · Recordings from the studio · Options that scroll show it · Planned turns and combos · Finished looks and “I want…”

Playing

  • Buttons with words fit on one row on a phone, and the menu button no longer says its name twice.
  • Games load a little faster: the game engine got smaller.
  • Boxes that come in with a movement stay drawn afterwards, even on a busy computer.
  • When a game’s options do not all fit their place on a small screen, the last visible one fades at the edge instead of being cut in half, and scrolling shows the rest; with the keyboard, the chosen option always shows whole.
  • Cleaner screens in many looks: bars and titles stay inside the window, Continue stands by its text, options close up before they scroll, names stay readable on light and dark pages.

Look in pictures: every area of Look — picture and layout, text, title screen, battles, top bar and menus, sounds — starts with a few pictured choices; a line on top says how your game looks in plain words. · 4 changes

Updates that day: Look in pictures, a battle in three steps · Conversations inside a passage, and a manuscript · A book that always prints · Updates you do not notice · Battles that fit, a full-screen test play · What you test is what players see · Battles on every page layout · Cleaner screens at every size

Playing

  • The Sunken Choir has a frame of worn, sea-stained stone with bronze studs.
  • Long games stay quick: a new line appears at once again, also with hundreds of lines on screen.
  • Options never cover a character standing in the picture or their name; on wide windows they stand beside the picture, otherwise below it — the picture keeps its size when they come, also on a phone held sideways.
  • The echo of the option you took stays in the story’s column, and Undo last choice lines up with the options.

Ask for help: a new button beside Help answers “how do I…?” questions in a few steps, each with Show me, which opens the right place and marks the field. · 10 changes

Updates that day: Battles in the middle of the picture · Smaller pictures, smaller dialogue — if you like · Your first battle, step by step · Your heroes show in battle · The help answers in full · Ask for help while you make your game · Whole lines, a fourth cursor set, a smaller story engine · Phones read from the top, new cursor sets, steadier stories · Lighter games, AI activity and a calmer simple view · Easier to read, fairer statistics, a calmer editor · Frames for the dialogue box, and clearer settings · Cursors, sharing to the library and seeing every screen size

Playing

  • With justified text, a page of a fixed box now always ends on a whole line, and the ▼ never covers a word.
  • Full-screen pictures fill the window, name plates stay clear of Continue, foes show their names, and screen readers read every word whole.
  • A fixed screen’s box now shows whole lines only: no half line peeks out at the bottom before the next page.
  • Story games load an even smaller engine.
  • On a phone, a fixed screen keeps its boxes still and turns pages from the start of a line, with a clear sign when there is more — the text box gets more room on small screens.
  • Story games now also download the smaller engine, and a game that needs more always plays on the full one.
  • A value at the start of a sentence gets a capital letter in the game’s language.
  • Published games load only the engine parts they use: a plain choice story starts with about a fifth less to download.
  • On big screens the fixed screen’s buttons grow with the text; several lines of one speaker share one box.
  • The fixed screen: weather and tint over the whole window, a box as wide as its text, readable hints under the options. The story map takes your first click only once its passages stand.