FMV Builder
Authoring tool · FMV & visual novels
A studio for interactive films (FMV) and visual novels that grew out of the FMV-01 production: an NLE-style room of floating windows — bin, monitor, game, timeline, graph, properties — where the frame is edited right on the monitor. Scenes are graphs (Enter → Moments → End) linked by the project graph; seventeen mechanics — dialogue choices, QTE, hold, explore, items, evidence, phone, keypad, gaze — bind to moments, and variables and items are checked across every path. The HUD editor, timeline audio with waveforms, script-mode novels, project docs and an AI co-author (beta) cover the rest of the craft. Everything autosaves to the browser (IndexedDB) with version history and backups; the release desk validates the story and ships it as one updating link, a Web ZIP for itch.io or an Electron/Steam kit. Released and live with five demo projects at fmv-builder.vercel.app — the origin story is in the devlog, and the interactive film tools comparison places it among the alternatives.
Creator · Design · Development
Key features
One studio room for the whole film
Floating windows — bin, monitor, game, timeline, graph, properties — over one dark room. The frame is edited right on the monitor, windows drag and maximize, and the layout persists per project. Task: keep the entire film in sight and never get lost in files.
Branching without code
The project graph links scenes into the film; the scene graph is a spine Enter → Moments → End. Seventeen mechanics are placed from presets and bound to moments, and variables and items run through every path to flag impossible choices and unreachable scenes. Task: assemble forks as fast as the script is written.
Visual novels as first-class projects
A dedicated VN mode: a scene reads as a script (“Ira (angry): …”), characters carry expressions and looks, the timeline lays out lines, staging and interactions, and endings are real scenes in the graph. Task: take a novel from its first line to its finales without leaving the room.
The game’s interface lives on the frame
The HUD editor puts hero panels, weapons with ammo, meters, inventory and variable text right onto the frame — edited directly on the monitor with snapping. Each widget lives in its own scenes (whole game / an act / from a scene on), can wait for a condition, and has three looks plus test values. Task: give the player gauges and guns without leaving the film.
Hear what the timeline shows
Audio clips with waveforms sit on the timeline next to frames and interactions; the sound inspector previews the file, the mixer lives in the studio and the player, and act-and-film music carries across scenes without a break at the cut. Task: score the film where you cut it.
An AI co-author drafts, you apply
The agent (beta) edits the project from a plain-language task: a run builds a draft with a human-readable change list, the conversation continues with the selected scene in mind, and nothing touches the film until you press Apply. Works with DeepSeek, OpenAI, OpenRouter or a local Ollama. Task: delegate the mechanical writing, keep the authorship.
Story audit before release
The audit panel walks the whole story graph — dead ends, orphan scenes, scenes without art, empty scenes, broken targets — plus reading stats (scenes, branches, endings, text volume) and playtest coverage. Task: catch the holes before the audience does.
From the room to the player’s hands
The player adds a title screen, continue, endings found and saves; the release desk runs a preflight (dead ends, unreachable endings, lost files, weight), assembles the game page and publishes one updating link — plus embeds, a Web ZIP for itch.io (offline PWA) and an Electron kit for Steam. Task: ship the film, not a build pipeline.
- Bin hierarchy — acts, scenes, episodes; an Elements tab for characters, frames, video, audio, items and variables with usage tracking and file replace
- Project graph — drag links, arrange by story, collapse acts, groups and notes, minimap, player-path and entry-state checks
- Scene spine — Enter → Moments → End; captions, activities, audio and interactive presets bound to moments; in-frame editing on the monitor
- 17 interactive presets — dialogue choices, QTE, hold, explore, items, evidence, phone, keypad, gaze, soft deadlines, diegetic UI…
- HUD — hero panels, weapons with ammo, meters, inventory, variable text; per-scene scopes and show-if conditions, edited on the monitor
- Sound — waveforms on the timeline, sound inspector, mixer in studio and player, act and film music that bridges scenes without a break
- Story tools — branch duplication, project-wide search, shared cast, docs with scene mentions, audit (dead ends, orphans, broken targets), playtest coverage
- Local-first saves — IndexedDB autosave, version history, backups, tab sync, JSON export/import
- Release desk — preflight, game page, one updating link, embeds, Web ZIP (itch.io PWA), Electron/Steam kit
- AI agent (beta) — draft edits from a plain-language task, reviewable change list, one-step apply; DeepSeek / OpenAI / OpenRouter / Ollama