StoryFlow for Unreal Engine

The StoryFlow Unreal Engine plugin lets you import your StoryFlow projects directly into Unreal Engine 5 and run them as fully interactive dialogue systems in your game. Design your stories visually in the StoryFlow Editor, export as JSON, and bring them to life in Unreal with full Blueprint support.

What the Plugin Provides

The plugin is split into two modules:

• StoryFlowRuntime — The gameplay module that ships with your game. Contains the UStoryFlowComponent, the UStoryFlowSubsystem, data assets, and the full node execution runtime.
• StoryFlowEditor — An editor-only module for importing projects, resolving media assets, and live syncing with the StoryFlow Editor via WebSocket.

Features

• Full node graph execution — All 200+ node types from the StoryFlow Editor are supported, including branching, loops, type conversions, string operations, and array manipulation.
• Blueprint-first API — Every function, delegate, and data type is exposed to Blueprints. Build your entire dialogue UI without writing C++.
• Dialogue display — Rich dialogue state with title, text, character data, images, audio, options, and text blocks. Variable interpolation happens automatically.
• Characters — Full character support with names, portraits, and per-character variables. Character data is resolved and ready to display.
• Audio — Built-in dialogue audio playback with looping, reset, volume control, and sound class support. MP3 files are automatically decoded to WAV on import.
• Save & Load — Persist global variables, character state, and once-only option tracking across sessions with a simple slot-based API.
• Multiple scripts — Full support for runScript (with return) and runFlow (in-script macros) with call stack management.
• Live Sync — Connect to the StoryFlow Editor via WebSocket and see your changes reflected in Unreal in real time, without re-importing.
• Localization — Built-in string table system with language code lookup. Switch languages at runtime.

Architecture Overview

At the core of the plugin are three main classes:

• UStoryFlowSubsystem — A GameInstanceSubsystem that manages the project asset, shared global variables, runtime character copies, and once-only option tracking. It auto-loads from /Game/StoryFlow/SF_Project on startup.
• UStoryFlowComponent — An ActorComponent you add to any actor that needs to run dialogue. It handles script execution, broadcasts dialogue state updates, and provides Blueprint functions for controlling the dialogue flow.
• UStoryFlowDialogueWidget — An optional base UUserWidget you can extend in Blueprint for your dialogue UI. It auto-binds to a component and receives dialogue events.

Documentation Sections

Getting Started

• Installation — System requirements, plugin setup, and project configuration
• Quick Start — End-to-end tutorial from export to in-game dialogue

Core Concepts

• StoryFlow Component — The main runtime component, its properties, events, and lifecycle
• Displaying Dialogue — Reading dialogue state, building your UI, and variable interpolation
• Handling Choices — Options, input types, once-only options, and conditional visibility
• Variables — Types, scopes, Blueprint access, arrays, and reactive updates

Features

• Characters — Character data, portraits, per-character variables, and interpolation
• Audio — Dialogue audio playback, looping, format support, and component settings
• Images & Media — Image persistence, background images, and asset resolution
• Save & Load — Slot-based persistence with full state serialization
• Multiple Scripts — Script calls, flows, and call stack management

Advanced

• Live Sync — Real-time WebSocket connection with the StoryFlow Editor
• API Reference — Complete reference for all classes, structs, delegates, and functions