▲ 9 r/interactivefiction+4 crossposts

Spec Kit Game Narrative Writing Preset

What is Spec Kit?

Spec Kit and the preset Game Narrative Writing is a free, open-source framework that applies structured software development principles to creative work. Instead of iterating in chaos, you spec-drive your project: define rules upfront, use those rules to coordinate with AI, and validate every step of the way.

What Does This Preset Do?

I built a Game Narrative Writing preset for Spec Kit that brings that rigor to branching narrative design. If you've ever:

  • Written a branching story and realized mid-draft that two branches should converge but don't
  • Spent hours tracking "NPC X should know Y by scene Z but doesn't"
  • Created a dialogue choice that feels meaningless (player choice, no consequence)
  • Built a quest tree so complex you can't remember what's reachable
  • Manually tested every branch combination by hand
  • Tried to export to multiple engines (SugarCube, Ink, Ren'py) and hit format friction
  • Planned also for point-and-click adventures

...this preset is for you.

Key Features

1. Full Narrative Pipeline (36 AI Commands)

  • Specify → Plan → Outline → Implement → Validate → Compile
  • AI drafts prose from your outlines, not from scratch
  • Gates on quality (e.g., won't draft a node until outline is APPROVED)

2. Constitution Governance

  • One constitution.md = single source of truth
  • Engine targets (SugarCube, Ink, Ren'py), POV modes, mechanic hooks, craft rules
  • Every node reads from it—no inconsistencies across 200-node projects

3. 13 Narrative Quality Validators Run automated checks on:

  • Player agency — Catches illusory choices (choice looks meaningful but doesn't branch)
  • Ending quality — All endings resolve the central question
  • Dialogue branching — Choices have distinct consequences
  • Information asymmetry — Player knows what they need to know to make informed decisions
  • State mapping — No dead-end variable combinations
  • Pacing — No info dumps, consistent beat spacing
  • Accessibility — Reading level, content warnings, WCAG contrast
  • Foreshadowing/Payoff — Clues planted before revelations
  • Subplots — Threads started, developed, resolved
  • Continuity — Cross-branch consistency checks
  • Complexity — Branch explosion warnings
  • Replayability — Measures unique content per playthrough
  • Secrets — Hidden content reachable and discoverable

4. Multi-POV Support

  • Single protagonist, dual parallel, rotating POV, ensemble casts
  • Trust state tracking per POV (e.g., "insider_trusts_hacker": 0–100)
  • Information asymmetry mapping ("what does each character know when?")

5. Dialogue Branching with Trust States

Guard: "What are you doing here?"

[if player_charisma > 50]
  "Can we work this out?" → [success] Guard becomes ally / [fail] Guard calls reinforcements

[if player_courage > 60]
  "Back off." → [success] Guard retreats / [fail] Combat initiated

[if player_deception > 50]
  "I'm authorized maintenance." → [success] Pass / [fail] Caught

Success/failure gated by player stats. Trust states modify NPC responses mid-conversation.

6. 11 Mechanic Hooks (Extensible) Flag, counter, visited, inventory, timer, trust, currency, npc_state, ending_condition, choice_memory, clue.

7. Multi-Engine Compilation

  • Draft once in shared format
  • Compile to SugarCube 2.x (Twine), Ink (Unity/Unreal/Godot), generic Markdown
  • Automatic mechanic hook translation (no manual <<set>> rewriting)
  • Theme application (dark/light/minimal CSS for SugarCube, HTML wrappers for Ink)

8. Series Bible Support

  • Game 1 ending → Game 2 starting state
  • Carry-over variables (evidence_secured, npc_alive, world_state)
  • Ending canon table (which endings are playable, which lock you out)

9. 24 Templates Characters, world-building, dialogue trees, node outlines, checklists, research logs, relationships, timelines, subplots, mysteries, foreshadowing, accessibility audits, endings, variables, mechanics, themes, glossaries, etc.

Example Workflow

# 1. Create your game constitution (engine targets, POV, tone)
speckit.constitution

# 2. Pitch your game idea
speckit.specify "A hacker discovers their trusted ally was a spy all along."

# 3. Build the story structure
speckit.plan

# 4. Generate node outlines (beat sheets)
speckit.outline --all

# 5. Draft all nodes from approved outlines
speckit.implement --all

# 6. Run validation suite
speckit.agency           # Catch illusory choices
speckit.endings          # Check ending closure
speckit.consequences     # Verify choice branching
speckit.continuity       # Cross-branch consistency
speckit.pacing           # Check for draggy sections
speckit.accessibility    # Reading level + warnings

# 7. Compile to playable output
speckit.compile --all-engines

# Output: story.html (playable in browser)

Why This Matters

For solo creators:

  • Cut narrative debugging time by 60% (automated validation instead of manual testing)
  • Multi-engine support without format rewriting
  • AI assists with prose drafting, you focus on structure and story

For narrative teams:

  • Constitution = shared rules, no back-and-forth clarification
  • Status dashboard shows node completion, branch coverage, variable declarations
  • Validation gates prevent bad branches from shipping

For interactive fiction writers:

  • Dialogue tree validation (no orphaned branches, unreachable choices)
  • Trust state mechanics built-in
  • Player agency checking (distinguishes "choice" from "cosmetic")

For story prototyping:

  • Before doing production for your game, build a running prototype for reviewers in early stages of the project

For educational use:

  • Teach narrative design principles systematically
  • Validate student work with objective metrics
  • Templates provide guardrails for first projects

The Stack

  • Free & open-source — MIT license, hosted on GitHub
  • Language-agnostic — Works with Markdown, Twee, Ink, Ren'py, etc. Planned for other engines, adventures
  • AI-powered — Drafts prose, suggests fixes, validates structure
  • Python + CLI — No subscription, works offline, extensible
  • Proven in production — Built for real game narrative teams

Links


Other Presets from the Same Author

This preset is part of a broader ecosystem of Spec Kit presets for narrative and creative work, all built on the same principles: spec-driven development, AI-assisted drafting, and automated quality validation.

Spec Kit Fiction Book Preset (incl. AudioBooks)

Same philosophy applied to novel and short story writing.

Features:

  • Constitution governance for tone, POV, genre conventions, pacing targets
  • 30+ AI commands: outline → scene summary → prose draft → revision → publication
  • Validators for:
    • Story structure — Three-act pacing, turning point placement, climax impact
    • Character arcs — Protagonist change, supporting character payoffs, ensemble balance
    • Prose quality — Sentence variety, passive voice, adverb density, filter words
    • Continuity — Timeline consistency, location details, character knowledge state
    • Dialogue authenticity — Voice consistency per character, info dump detection
    • Emotional pacing — Rising/falling tension, earned catharsis, tone shifts
    • Accessibility — Reading level, content warnings, sensitivity checks
  • Multi-format export: EPUB, PDF, Markdown (for agent submissions), Word (for publishers)
  • Series bible support (multi-book arcs, carry-over plot threads)
  • Research integration (embed citations, fact-check claims)
  • Templates for novel structure, character bibles, plot outlines, scene breakdowns
  • Support for Books and/or audiobooks with annotations (speakers, emotions, breaks etc.)

Spec Kit Screenwriting Preset

Same framework for film and television scripts.

Features:

  • Constitution for genre, act structure, page count targets, visual style notes
  • 28+ AI commands: logline → beat sheet → scene outline → dialogue draft → final script
  • Validators for:
    • Screenplay structure — Three-act timing, act breaks, scene length
    • Character consistency — Arc, dialogue register, motivation clarity
    • Dialogue efficiency — Subtext, exposition avoidance, distinct voices
    • Visual storytelling — Show-don't-tell, action line brevity, blocking clarity
    • Pacing — Page count targets, scene duration, cut timing
    • Series continuity — Episode arcs (single-episode payoff vs. season arc)
    • Production feasibility — Location reuse, cast size, effects budget flags
  • Multi-format export: Industry-standard screenplay (.fountain), PDF, production breakdown sheets
  • Series management: Season bibles, episode arcs, character episodic tracking
  • Shooting script generation (with numbering, revisions, department breakdowns)
  • Templates for screenplays, TV pilots, short films, series bibles, production schedules

Getting Involved

With these three preset you have comprehensive AI toolset to build long-form story, screenplays and narrative games which are consistent in structure, world building, character design and writing style.

Let me know you what you buid

  • GitHub discussions — Share ideas, vote on validator priorities
  • Early access — Beta-test presets as they ship
  • Contribute templates — Submit custom story structures, character frameworks, production templates

Same philosophy, broader canvas.

u/Stunning-Top-1076 — 4 months ago

I wrote an AI assistent tool for screenwriting and playwriting, it is not generating dialogs automatically. You control the creativity process in each step

The Screenwriting Preset is a comprehensive workflow for Spec-Driven Development of feature films, television (pilots, episodes, limited series), and stage plays. It adapts the Speckit methodology to the specific terminologies and structural requirements of professional scriptwriting.

1. Industry-Standard Scripting Support

  • Fountain Native: Fully supports the Fountain plain-text screenplay format for all drafting tasks.
  • Multi-Format Export: Built-in commands to export to .fountain.fdx (Final Draft XML), or .pdf.
  • Structure Frameworks: Pre-configured support for Three-Act structure, Save the Cat, TV Pilot frameworks, Network Episode (5-act/6-act), Cable/Streaming, and Stage Play layouts.

2. Comprehensive Development Workflow (Phase-Based)

The preset organizes the writing process into six distinct, logical phases:

  1. Development: Setting the "Constitution" (story bible), specifying the brief, and clarifying initial ideas.
  2. Structure: Building detailed structural plans, beat sheets, and performing pre-draft analysis.
  3. Drafting: Orderly generation of scenes based on a task list and detailed scene outlines.
  4. Revision: rigorous quality gates including automated checklists, continuity audits, and targeted polishing.
  5. Pitch: Generating professional submission materials like synopses, pitch documents, and coverage.
  6. Production: Final export for production or submission.

3. Intelligent Story Bible (The Constitution)

  • Defines the "DNA" of the script: format, medium, act structure, and craft rules.
  • Enforces consistency across all generated documents, from dialogue register to action line density.
  • Propagates style parameters and world rules to every scene drafted.

4. Advanced Structural Analysis

  • speckit.analyze: Checks for structural alignment between the spec and plan, ensuring act proportions and beat integrity are correct before writing begins.
  • speckit.pacing: Evaluates emotional tension arcs and scene length distributions using visual charts (Mermaid).
  • speckit.subplot: Specifically tracks and manages B-stories and C-stories, ensuring they have proper inciting incidents and resolutions.

5. Automated Quality Control & Auditing

  • Scene Checklists: Runs "unit tests" for screenwriting craft on every scene (formatting, dialogue quality, visual storytelling).
  • Continuity Engine: Audits character states, location consistency, timeline coherence, and world rule violations across all drafted files.
  • Format Audit: Ensures total compliance with slug line syntax, action line length, and industry-standard formatting rules.

6. Writer & Character Tools

  • Interactive Brainstorming: Topic-specific AI sessions that load existing context to help break story blocks.
  • Character Interviews: VO-ready AI interaction with characters to surface subtext and deepen profiles.
  • Roleplay Mode: Test character voices in improv sessions or multi-role scene readings.

7. Submission-Ready Deliverables

  • Pitch Documents: Automatically generates loglines, premises, tone/comps, and writer statements.
  • Automated Coverage: Performs self-coverage to provide a "Recommend/Consider/Pass" verdict with professional rationale.
  • Synopses: Generates versioned synopses (one-page or full act-by-act).

8. Workflow Guidance

  • speckit.help: Acts as a "Senior Script Editor" by scanning project files and recommending the next highest-value action for the writer.
reddit.com
u/Stunning-Top-1076 — 4 months ago