What is Nylon?

Nylon is a Dialogue Sequencing Addon for the Godot Game Engine. Nylon provides code, resources, and systems, for implementing Dialogue into your Godot games, as well as an extensive template project from which you can start your development journey.

Nylon is targeted at two kinds of people:

Game Developers who already use Godot and want to add Deep Dialogue to their game.

Writers who want to make Interactive Fiction, but don't want to use half a UI and write JavaScript to get there. (I'm sure you know what I'm poking at here ;P)

Design Pillars

Nylon is built with a few design pillars in mind. The system grew and evolved as these pillars were discovered, poked at, and shaped into what they are now.

1. Designers, Design. Programmers, Program.

Nylon creates a boundary between the design and code space. Code is used to add Features, but isn't required to create Content. If you are a Writer, you Write and won't be asked to program.

2. Everything Is Custom

Nylon is made to be customized. Nothing is hidden, nothing is abstracted. If you can write code, Nylon aims to make it as easy for you to do so as possible.

Nylon also operates entirely within and using the Godot editor. You won't be wasting time implementing a new UI for your new feature. It'll just be there.

3. Deep Dialogue

Nylon makes the things I want to make. Games like Sunless Sea, Pillars of Eternity, Disco Elysium, and more. Deep, text heavy experiences that need to adapt not only to your choices, but to your environment as well. Where the lines between dialogue system and scripting get blurry.

4. Separate Logic and Presentation

Nylon is split between the Logical portion, which you use to design and write scenes with. And the visual portion, which the player sees and interacts with. Changing one will never require changing the other.

Nylon can and will look the way you want it to look. That part, is for you to decide wholly. (Though I do include some usable examples!) I don't want you to get stuck because Nylon can only ever look like <standard JRPG>. That'd be lame.

Features!

This is all the stuff you will find in the download!

Nylon-Core

Nylon-Core is the Nylon runtime. This is the core package of Code that integrates with the Godot editor to enable Nylon in your project. It's where the 4 pillars stand.

If you are a programmer, this will be your playground. Nylon-Core is explicitly built to be dissected and expanded upon should you need to. Nylon-Core consists of the following components and features:

• Nylon Autoload
• Type Templates
• Nylon Scene System
• Nylon Node Sequencer (This is what Nylon is all about!)
  • Nodes for sequencing text, events, game actions.
  • In a way this isn't too dissimilar from a Visual Scripting implementation.
  • The Text node displays text to the user
  • The Choice node displays a branching path
  • The SetFlag node sets a flag, and the Branch node will react to it!
  • Scenes and Sequences let you string together complex structures of nodes.
• Text Parser (Putting the Deep in Deep Dialogue!)
  • A template for parsing text for custom syntax to make your text smart!
  • {player|first_name} inserts the name of your player character
  • {char_a|height} the height of the first character in a scene
  • {rng|option_a|option_b} will randomly pick between options
  • And much much more.
• Test Reader
• Scene Specific Variable Storage
• Scene Contexts allow you to tell the Parser who and what is present in a Scene.
• NylonEditorHelper Plugin
  • An optional plugin that adds a BBCode text editor to the Godot engine.

Nylon-IFGame

The Nylon-IFGame is a fully runnable game. If you are a Writer looking for a *cough* Twine *cough* replacement, you can simply start writing and stringing together Nodes and Scenes! For programmers, this is where you find implementation examples and other goodies. Nylon-IFGame consists of the following components and features:

• Core Systems: Menus, App Settings, Save/Load, Sound/Music
• A NylonReader similar in design to those found in CRPGs like Pillars of Eternity or Interactive Fiction style games like Sunless Sea.
• Additional Nylon Nodes for handling Character and Narrative dialogue styles.

Still in development

Nylon is still in development, and I'd like to tell you what that means:

• Nylon is already being used in Games.
  • Two games, one of which is my own, the other I am hired to work on.
• Nylon-Core is feature "complete" but not entirely stable.
  • Code can still shift around, but I aim not to break anything! ;P
  • New things will be added over time!
• Nylon is missing documentation.
  • While there is a quick start guide, much of the nuance will require...
  • ...written and video tutorials. But I've not been able to make those yet.
• I am more than happy to take suggestions and feedback!
  • Got an idea? A complaint? Let me know.
• The price will go up.
  • When, if, Nylon reaches an official Version 1.0, I will bump the listed price.
  • This will require a certain feature stability, and proper documentation.
  • Sorry I gotta pay for my addiction to being alive.

System Requirements

The ability to run the Godot Game Engine. Version 4.2 and upwards on Windows, Mac, or Linux. Recommended: Vulkan 1.0 compatible hardware. Minimal: OpenGL 3.3 / OpenGL ES 3.0 compatible hardware.

Support & Community

Looking for help? Want to give feedback? Got questions before buying? Want to make a bug report?

-> Join us on Discord! <-

-> Read the Docs here! <-

Credits

Lead Development: Manuel 'TheDuriel' Fischer

Writing Assistance: Ramina

Rubber Duck: An anonymous Catboy Twink