Storyspace 2, “the most important Storyspace update in 10 years,” is now out for the Mac. It’s built on completely new code, is Power PC native, and Carbonized for Mac OS X.
Storyspace is a hypertext-writing environment from Eastgate Systems that’s well suited to creating large, complex hyperlinks. It can be used for everything from writing lab work to penning hyperfiction to creating a Web site. Some folks also use it as a flexible idea organizer. Storyspace is designed for the process of writing, according to the folks at Eastgate Systems. It emphasizes writing, linking, and organizing. And it gives you live graphic views of hypertext structures.
Each place in a Storyspace hypertext is a writing space that can contain text, pictures, and other media. To link two writing spaces together, just draw a line between them. For working with hierarchical structure, you can drag writing spaces inside other writing spaces to organize and reorganize your writing.
Storyspace gives authors and readers multiple ways of viewing and mapping the hypertext, to see both the hierarchical structure and the links. Charts, outlines, and maps are instantly available, and you can keep many views open at once. What’s more, Storyspace creates hypertexts that you are free to publish or redistribute without royalty.
In addition to standalone hypertexts, Storyspace can create hypertexts for use on the Web. You can make links with a mouse click, then use Storyspace’s tools to organize and link complex information. When you’re finished, Storyspace can translate your document into HTML, ready to use with other Web tools or to upload to a server.
Storyspace 2, which costs US$295, has several new features, including: customizable, template-based HTML export; improved typography, with an industry-standard text engine; new intuitive map views; streamlined sound and video support; drag-and-drop throughout; multiple undoes; contextual menus; and a new Storyspace reader. The update is also Mac only, though a Windows version is in the works.
If you’re interested in test-driving Storyspace 2, there’s a full trial download available on Eastgate’s Web site. You’ll need QuickTime 4 or later to use it. (Thanks to MacCentral reader, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, for the heads-up on the update.)