# What is an exploration?

Explorations are interactive scenes powered by artificial intelligence where players can freely explore a location, interact with their environment, and discover clues. Unlike standard steps where the reader chooses from predefined options, explorations offer total freedom: the player can type whatever they want and the AI reacts accordingly.

An immersive experience

Explorations transform your story into an experience close to a role-playing game. The reader truly becomes an actor in the scene and can discover hidden elements by being creative.

# Creating an exploration

Creating an exploration requires three essential elements: a scene description that sets the stage, AI instructions that define the desired behavior, and objectives that the player must achieve.

Describe the scene

Write a detailed description of the location or situation. This description will be presented to the player at the beginning of the exploration and will serve as context for the AI.

Write AI instructions

Write precise instructions to guide the AI's behavior: what objects are present, what interactions are possible, what secrets can be discovered.

Define objectives

Specify the objectives the player must achieve to complete the exploration. The AI will automatically detect when objectives are fulfilled.

Capture à venirCreating an exploration

The exploration creation form with its three essential components.

# Linking an exploration to a step

An exploration is linked to a step via the explorationId field. When the reader reaches this step, the exploration triggers automatically and interactive mode activates. The step contains the narrative context that introduces the exploration scene.

Icon in the step list

Steps linked to an exploration display a compass icon in the step list, allowing you to quickly identify them among your standard steps.

# Exploration triggers

Explorations can unlock characters or elements based on the player's actions during the exploration. For example, if the player discovers a hidden object, the corresponding element can be automatically added to their inventory. If the player meets an NPC, the character's profile can be unlocked in the encyclopedia.

Element unlocking — Automatically add items to the player's inventory when they discover them during the exploration.
Character unlocking — Make a character's profile accessible when the player meets them for the first time.
Variable modification — Update story variables based on the player's discoveries.

# Testing an exploration

The exploration test view allows authors to test their explorations before publishing. You can interact with the AI exactly as a reader would, verify that objectives are correctly detected, and adjust instructions if needed.

# Reader experience

During reading, the exploration presents itself as an immersive chat interface. The reader sees the scene description and can freely type their actions. The AI responds by describing the results of their actions and the evolution of the scene. Completed objectives are displayed as they are achieved.

Reader-side exploration — The exploration interface as seen by the reader during reading.

# Hint system

If the player is stuck, the AI can provide progressive hints to help them reach their objectives. The hint system is configured in the exploration instructions and can range from a subtle hint to a more explicit indication depending on the player's number of attempts.

Design balanced explorations

A good exploration offers enough freedom to be interesting, but objectives clear enough so the player doesn't feel lost. Always test your explorations with different approaches.