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 a line to rewrite it 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, 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 Node, 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 (textbox, namebox, dialogue text, choices) 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.
- Problems - every warning and error in your project in one plain-language list, with a jump straight to the spot that needs attention.
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
If you brought in an existing Ren'Py project, it opens in Forge like any other project - same views, same timeline, same stage - with your scenes, sprites, and choices already in place.