(This is a shorthand version of the main release post on my own blog. )

DialogueForest is out! The reasoning behind this app is that I couldn't find a good tool to write medium-length branching dialogue for my burgeoning gamedev efforts.
Most tools are based on node graphs, which very quickly become unmanageable if you're trying to write a lot of text...

You can browse the source code here! The app is licensed under GPLv3.

I found out that tools like these are called Outliners - I recommend the following SE question if you're looking for other tools like this one. I notably looked at Scrivener for inspiration, but there's no way I was going to remake all of that...

I'm quite fond of the whole Dialogue Tree/Forest analogies, and wanted an icon that'd follow that kind of whimsy.

This one is very obviously inspired by the classic Mac Alert Icon with a dash of Whispy Woods -- I didn't think I had good enough 3D/Spline skills to make a "mascot" icon like all the cool guys do, but it turned out alright!

Compare it to this jank mockup I scribbled on last year's Hobonichi Techo:

This app is laid out in a very personal way since I mostly built it for my own use.

I did aim for a three-column layout voluntarily though -- Those layouts have gotten quite popular on macOS, but I've rarely seen them on Windows so far? Even though I think they totally work in WinUI.

It's been a fun experiment to try and design a featureful/"crammed" WinUI app - You really can get a lot going in modern Windows apps now, even without the Compact controls.

Rich Text support was both very easy thanks to included controls, and a massive pain because nobody really works with RTF anymore. 🫠
I went for a cross-platform core architecture style again for this, so a macOS version is certainly possible later down the line. I doubt I'll make one for something this niche though..