ChatMe: A chat simulator and story creator

[AStoryTeller]

 

This is a copy of my F95 post: 

I have been seeing more and more games in the theme of a phone. I always wanted more of them since I find the experience to be fun.

Hence, I decided to create one myself. However that wasn't enough. I want more and more stories, but most people don't want to create a game from scratch every time to tell their stories. Thus, the ChatMe "app" was created. Aside from a story player, it is also a way for people to create a chat based story without coding.

This "game" is essential a story creator for people to share their own.

It is still in its testing stage, a 0.1v if you will.

I cannot post any links yet because this is a fresh account, but I will provide some images to show off what is possible at its current stage.

Created with the Godot engine and I plan to feature both SFW and NSFW stories.

If anyone is interested let me know, I plan to setup a discord server where we can host the custom stories so people can share their own. I am excited to see what people will make.

 

Download: PC, MAC, Linux 

Features:

Spoiler

# ChatMe feature overview
## Player experience
- Portrait 9:16 layout for desktop and Android.
- Messenger-style story library and chats.
- Simulated status bar using the system clock.
- Circular contact portraits and contact profiles.
- Contact gallery for sent images and videos.
- Full-screen uncropped image viewing and in-chat video playback.
- Blurred static-photo download and unblur interaction.
- Text, static image, GIF, MP4, and WebM events.
- Pulsing three-dot typing animation.
- Per-character typing speed and message-length timing.
- Smart auto-scroll: follows new messages only when already near the bottom.
- Story-time breaks with offline/online status and optional skip.
- Branching replies, multiple endings, and persistent progress.
- Quiet unread counts; blue badges for all-ages stories and adult-colored badges for 18+ stories.
- Per-story player color customization with restoration of the author's theme.
## Story library
- Conversation-style list with avatar, latest message/media summary, time, creator, tag, rating, and unread count.
- Newly installed custom stories can arrive like new conversations.
- Automatic scanning of built-in and custom story folders.
- Library `+` menu for creating, installing, or opening the custom-story folder.
- Direct ZIP and `.chatme` installation without manual extraction.
- Secure temporary extraction with path, type, and size checks followed by automatic cleanup.
- Data-only package validation and rejection of executable/unsupported files.
- Clear RAR conversion guidance until a safe decoder is bundled.
- Confirmation before replacing an installed story version.
- Contact profiles accessible from the library and chat.
## No-code creator
- Automatic draft restoration.
- Story metadata, creator tag, main tag, and 18+ label.
- Contact identity, biography, profile picture, status, and typing speed.
- Scene creation/deletion and event reordering.
- Messages, media, pauses, and time breaks.
- Reply choices linked to destination scenes and named endings.
- Validation, saving, and immediate preview.
- Portable packages under `Documents/ChatMe/chats`.
- Six appearance presets, individual palette controls, choice colors, and optional background images.
## Package safety
Community stories are declarative data and media rather than executable scripts. A package contains `story.json` and media files, making downloads easier to inspect and isolate.
## Current boundaries
- Animated profile pictures remain on the backlog.

- There is no built-in online catalogue or automatic downloader yet.
- Relationship variables and conditional routes are planned for the next update.

Spoiler

# Creating a ChatMe story
This walkthrough uses ChatMe's no-code creator. You do not need to edit JSON.
## 1. Open the creator
From the story library, press **+** in the top-right corner and choose **Create a story**. The same menu can install a downloaded story or open the stories folder. Installed stories appear as conversations with a contact picture, latest message, creator tag, main tag, rating, and unread state.

 

ChatMe restores an unfinished draft automatically.
## 2. Enter story details
 

 

In **Story**, enter:
- **Title:** public story name.
- **Unique ID:** a stable ID such as `yourname.story_name`. Do not reuse another story's ID.
- **Creator name:** shown in the library.
- **Main tag:** one short label such as `mystery`, `romance`, or `horror`.
- **Description:** longer story summary.
- **18+ label:** adds the adult badge.
- **Starting scene:** the first scene played.
## 3. Create the contact

 

 

In **Contact**, set the name, initial, status, biography, and typing speed. Typing speed is characters per second; lower values make the typing animation last longer.
Use **+ Upload profile picture** for a PNG, JPG, WEBP, or SVG portrait. It is copied into the saved package.
## 4. Build scenes and branches

 

 

A scene contains ordered events followed by replies or an ending.
### Events
- **Add message:** send the text in the editor.
- **+ Add media:** add a photo, GIF, MP4, or WebM with an optional caption.
- **Add pause:** insert a short real-time delay.
- **Add break:** represent the contact being away. Story minutes control the displayed time break; real seconds control the playtest wait.
- **↑ / ↓:** reorder an event.
- **×:** remove an event.
Static photos initially appear blurred behind a download button. Pressing it briefly loads and reveals the photo. Press the revealed image to open it full-screen.
### Branches
Under **Reply choices**, write the player's reply, choose its destination, and press **+**. Every choice must lead to an existing scene.
To create a scene, enter a unique scene ID beside the selector and press **+**. Prefer readable IDs such as `ask_about_photo` or `good_ending`.
Enter an **Ending** title when a scene should finish the story.
## 5. Style the chat

 

 

In **Appearance**, you can:
- Choose Classic Green, Ocean Blue, Midnight Purple, Crimson, Rose, or Warm Orange.
- Customize both headers, the chat background, incoming and outgoing bubbles, choice buttons, choice text, and accents.
- Upload an optional background image.
- Pick a quick reply-button color.
The creator's appearance travels with the package. Players can still create a private local override.
## 6. Validate and preview
Press **Validate & save**. Creator stories are written under:
`Documents/ChatMe/chats/<story-folder>/`
A typical package is:
```text
story-folder/
├── story.json
└── images/
├── profile.png
├── background.webp
├── scene-photo.jpg
└── scene-video.webm
```
Press **Preview** to save, validate, and immediately play.

 

 

Test every branch, media attachment, time break, and ending. New messages follow the bottom only while the player has not intentionally scrolled upward.
## 7. Player-side colors
Players can press **⋮** during a chat to customize that conversation.
 

 

Their palette is stored locally per story. **Restore story theme** returns to the creator's original design.
## Installing a downloaded story
Press **+ → Install custom story**, then select a ZIP/`.chatme` archive or the package's extracted `story.json`. ChatMe securely extracts archives to temporary storage, validates the complete folder, rejects unsafe paths and executable or unsupported files, asks before updating an existing story, and copies it into `Documents/ChatMe/chats`. Temporary extracted files are removed afterward.
RAR cannot currently be decoded safely by stock Godot. Selecting a RAR explains that it must be repacked as ZIP; `.chatme` is simply a ZIP package with a clearer extension. A newly installed story then arrives in the library with an unread badge.
Use **+ → Open stories folder** for manual folder installation or troubleshooting.

 

 

Previews: 
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[AStoryTeller]

I can't edit my post for some reason, ignore the links above. There was a bug and I rebuilt the app. 

Download: PC, MAC, Linux

[AStoryTeller]

Discord link: https://discord.gg/jT6CDZjt