Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is Dai Novel?

Dai Novel is an AI world-building and interactive storytelling platform. You build a Codex and story paths, then you or someone else can play an illustrated story grounded in that world.

What is a Codex?

A Codex is the structured knowledge base for one world. It contains the premise, rules, entities, relations, phases, map, media, and presentation used during editing, publishing, and play.

Is Dai Novel only an AI story generator?

No. Dai Novel combines a World Editor, connected entities, relationship graphs, maps, World Phases, selective memory, illustrated play, publishing, discovery, and creator tools.

Does the world exist before I start playing?

Yes. The creator prepares history, rules, inhabitants, places, and story pressure in the Codex before the first choice.

Creating and editing

What is the difference between a blank and generated world?

A blank world starts with an empty Codex for manual or assisted editing. A generated world uses AI creation to prepare a larger initial draft. Both can be edited in the World Editor.

Should I build a large world before testing?

Usually not. Begin with a connected vertical slice: premise, two characters, places, a relationship, lightweight gameplay, a map, three phases, and starting scenes. Test the world before adding breadth.

Can I rename an entity ID?

You can, but IDs are used by relations, map markers, and other references. Change them carefully and review anything that pointed to the old ID.

When should a being be a Character instead of a Creature?

Use Character when it speaks, plans, has goals, and acts with full narrative agency. Use Creature for beasts or semi-sapient entities defined mainly by behavior and ecology.

Why can an entity not use my new stat?

Entity stat and gauge keys must first be defined under World Profile > Gameplay. Add the world-level vocabulary before assigning entity values.

AI assistance

Does World Helper overwrite my Codex automatically?

No. World Helper presents structured proposals for review. Inspect the result, apply what you want, and use Revert when an applied proposal is not correct.

What should I include in a World Helper request?

State the target, desired fields, constraints, and content that must be preserved. Attach the relevant entity or World Profile when possible.

Can World Helper build World Phases?

Yes. For a larger graph, use the Phase Architect workflow so the plan can be validated and applied in reviewable chunks.

World Phases

Is a World Phase the same as a chapter?

No. A phase describes a flexible narrative state and its progression conditions. Several generated scenes may occur inside one phase.

Why can an ending phase not have a next phase?

Entering an ending phase concludes the journey and removes further player choices. An outgoing edge would contradict that behavior, so ending nodes must be leaves.

Can the AI skip to any phase it wants?

The saved phase stays on the current phase or moves to one of its connected next phases. The scene written inside that phase can still vary.

Do World Phases remove player agency?

They control high-level narrative direction, not the exact scene solution. Players can reach a phase objective through different actions, relationships, discoveries, and consequences.

Play, memory, and images

Can I become anyone or anything?

You can choose a playable Main Character and act through them. Dai Novel's direction is that any meaningful role should be able to become a point of view, but play currently starts from selected viewpoint characters.

Does the story remember everything?

No. Dai Novel uses selective long-term memory. Important events, promises, and world-level truths can carry forward. Minor details may be compressed or dropped.

Are images guaranteed to stay consistent?

No. Scene art is reference-guided. It can reuse entity artwork, world style, current prose, and previous-scene context to improve continuity. Creators and players can retry a generation when it misses.

Publishing and growth

What is the difference between Save and Publish?

Save updates the working Codex. Publish creates a versioned snapshot that can be kept private or made available to readers.

Why is public publishing blocked?

Open the pre-publish checklist. In the editor, common causes include missing Main Character starting scenes, character images, gallery media, map placements, presentation text, or discovery categories. Private snapshots use a different set of checks.

Why does public publishing cost credits?

Public publishing currently costs 200 credits to run an AI moderation review. The review is charged even if it rejects the build because processing has already occurred.

Can I keep editing after publishing?

Yes. A snapshot records one version. Continue editing the working Codex and publish a later version when the next release is ready.

Can I make money from my worlds?

Creator income is coming soon. Creator credits can already be tracked from eligible play activity in published worlds. Cash withdrawals are not yet available, and USD amounts in the creator workspace are reference values. Public Data builds can be cloned; ordinary Public builds cannot currently be cloned.