Short answer: Forge is the workspace where you build your visual novel - and it's built inside the running game. The default view, the Stage, is not a preview window next to an editor: it is the same player your readers get, running your story while you edit it. Click Narration mode to rewrite a line in place, drag a character to move them, click any event to be at that exact moment. Around the stage sit an event timeline, a set of dock panels, and your episodes and scenes, and you can switch to a text view, a Story Map, or a split layout whenever those suit the job better. Everything runs in the browser - there is nothing to install.
The layout
Forge is one persistent workspace:
- Top bar - your project's name on the left, the view switch in the center, and the working controls on the right: the playback control (Live / Paused plus Start over), the save indicator, Undo (with Redo beside it in Theme and Menu), a money menu for trying your paywalls as a reader would (shown when purchases are enabled), pop-out windows, a feedback button that sends a bug report or note about the project to the Vizno team, settings, and the Launch menu (Preview, Share, and Publish).
- Event timeline (left) - every event in the current scene as a card: dialogue, backgrounds, music, choices, effects, and more. Click any event and the stage shows exactly that moment.
- Dock (right) - tabbed panels for everything that surrounds your script (see below).
- Episode bar and scene strip (bottom) - your episodes and scenes laid out in order, so moving between scenes is one click.
- The stage (center) - the running game itself. This is where the views swap.
The views
The switch in the top bar moves between six views, and switching never loses your place - whatever you had selected stays selected.
- Stage (default) - the live game as your editing canvas. See How do I edit my game while it's playing?.
- Script - your whole story as Folio text in a full editor, with autocomplete, hover help, and a rename that updates every scene at once.
- Story Map - a flowchart of your whole story: every scene is a card and arrows show every route the story can take.
- Split - the Stage plus a drawer holding Script or Story Map, stacked or side by side; drag the divider to resize. All stage editing keeps working while the drawer is open.
- Theme - restyle everything your readers see around the story (text box, name plate, dialogue, choices, HUD, game menus) on a live preview.
- Menu - the title-screen editor, for designing your game's main menu.
The dock tabs
- Sprites - the Sprite Manager: every character's stage art, expressions, entrances, and idle motion in one place.
- Variables - create and manage the story variables that track your reader's choices and stats.
- Assets - your project's images, audio, and video: browse, upload, and organize without leaving Forge.
- Aldus - the AI writing assistant: ask for help, and approve or reject each change it proposes. Ask it where anything is on this screen, and Show me walks you to the real control, one highlighted step at a time.
- Money - prices, passes, memberships, and every lock in your story, plus a way to try them as a reader.
- Problems - every warning and error in your project in one plain-language list, with a jump straight to the spot that needs attention.
- Guide - the writing guide, open to your chapter, on projects that have one.
Ask Aldus to show you
Ask Aldus about anything on this screen in your own words, like "where do I change the background?" It answers in a sentence with a short card. Press Show me and it walks the real screen on your own project: the page dims, whatever needs opening opens, and each control lights up in turn.
A tour only points. It never changes your story. When a step needs something you have to do yourself, like adding an event, picking a value, choosing a file or typing a name, it lights that up, waits for you, and carries on afterward. If it can't find something on your screen it says so and offers Try again. Press Done or Esc to leave at any time.
Nothing to install, nothing to save
Forge runs entirely in the browser - no downloads, no engine to set up, and no build step between you and your game. Edits also save themselves moments after you make them; see Why is there no Save button in Forge?.
Importing from Ren'Py
A Vizno Ren'Py project opens in its own Forge: your Ren'Py scripts beside the running game. Your first hour with your Ren'Py game covers it. This article describes Forge for Vizno Native projects, including ones made by the older Folio importer.