Create and Publish an AU Interactive Story

What is AU Interactive?

AU Interactive turns selected Scenes from an AU Studio project into a reader-facing story with one or more episodes. Readers open a published story page, choose an available episode, and move through its scenes in the order or branches you create.

Your project remains the source of your Characters, social accounts, Scenes, and media. Adding a Scene to an episode creates a reference to that Scene; it does not duplicate or edit the original Scene. A published episode is a frozen release, so later project edits do not silently change what readers already opened.

Before you begin

• Create an AU Story project and add the Characters and Scenes you want to use.
• Review the Scenes, including their dialogue, media, account settings, and point of view. AU Interactive uses the saved source content as it is.
• Make sure the story details and selected Character profiles are suitable for public reading. Publishing makes the selected episode available to anyone with its public link.

1. Add your story details

Open your project’s AU Interactive area and choose Open Episodes & Story Flow. The setup begins at Story details.

Enter a reader-facing title, choose one category from the list, and write a synopsis. You can also add optional tags and choose an optional cover from your Media Assets or upload one with the image picker. Select Save & choose Characters to continue.

The title, category, synopsis, tags, and cover describe the public story page. The cover is optional; the story can be saved without one.

2. Choose Character introduction cards

On Character introductions, select the existing Characters you want readers to meet on the story page. These cards use the Character’s saved profile details and avatar. Selection is optional, and you can continue with no cards.

These choices affect the public introductions only. They do not filter which Scenes you can add to an episode or change Character identities, accounts, or source Scenes. When you publish, selected Character profile information and active social account profiles can be public; review them before publishing.

Select Save & continue to Episodes.

3. Create an episode from existing Scenes

In Episodes, create an episode and set its title and any available episode details. Open its Scene arrangement screen to browse the project’s Scene Library. Add references to the Scenes that belong in this episode, then use the ordering controls to arrange the reading sequence. You can reuse a Scene where appropriate; adding it does not move it in the project’s own Scene or Timeline order.

The numbered sequence is the straightforward way to make a linear episode. Readers encounter the selected Scenes in the order you save. To create choices and alternate routes, open Advanced branching for the episode.

4. Optional: add branching choices

Use Advanced branching when a reader should choose between paths. The Story Flow editor connects a start point to Scene, choice, and end points. A choice needs between two and four distinct labelled options. Each option leads to a target in the same episode.

The graph’s visual position and outline order are for editing; the connections determine what readers can reach. The episode must have one start, valid connections, no cycles, and a path from every node to an ending. Every node must be reachable from the start and able to reach an ending. Incomplete drafts can be saved for further work, but validation issues must be resolved before the episode is ready to publish.

If an episode already has custom branches, changing its linear sequence does not replace those connections silently. The sequence screen asks you to confirm before replacing custom connections and choices. Keep the existing flow if you want to continue editing its branches.

5. Save, validate, and preview

Save the episode before previewing it. The editor validates the saved draft and displays actionable messages when something needs attention. Resolve issues such as missing connections, unreachable scenes, or a path without an ending, then save again.

Choose Preview episode to open a private preview of the saved draft. Follow the episode as a reader and check the selected Scene content, order, choice labels, branches, and ending. Previewing does not publish the episode.

6. Publish the episode

When the preview is ready, return to the episode’s Preview & publish controls. Check I approve the selected content for public reading, then choose Publish episode. Publishing creates a new immutable release and makes it available through its public reader link.

Review the public content before confirming. A release includes the selected story presentation, Character introductions, episode graph, Scene snapshots, and copied media. Later edits to source Scenes or story details do not rewrite that release. Preview and publish a new release to share your updates. Readers who already started an earlier release can continue on the release they started; new starts and replays use the current published release.

What readers experience

Readers see the published story page and its published episodes. They can start an episode, continue through available Scenes, choose a labelled option at a branching point, and return to previously reached content using the reader’s navigation. Their progress is saved for their signed-in account or current guest session. A guest who loses that session may lose the ability to resume that guest run.

The reader only receives content included in the published release. Draft episodes and private previews are not part of the public story. At the end of an episode, the reader can move to the immediate next episode when it is published; otherwise, the story can show that more is coming without exposing unpublished episode content.

Common issues

I cannot open Episodes yet. Save Story details and Character introductions first. The setup steps unlock in order.

The episode is not ready to publish. Read the validation messages, repair the graph or source references they identify, and save again. A valid episode needs a complete route from its start to an ending.

A Scene looks different from what I expected. AU Interactive uses the saved source Scene and its existing identity, account, and point-of-view settings. Open that Scene in Author Studio to review or edit its source content, then save and preview a new episode release.

My new edits are not visible on the existing reader link. Published releases are snapshots. Preview and publish a new release to make the updated content available to new starts.

I want a simple reading order but see an existing custom flow warning. The episode has connections or choices that a linear sequence would replace. Continue in Advanced branching, or explicitly confirm replacement only if you intend to remove those branches.

A simple planning example

For a short mystery, add three existing Scenes to an episode in this order: the discovery, the first clue, and the reveal. If the reader should decide whether to question the witness or inspect the room, use Advanced branching to create two labelled options, route each to its Scene, and connect both paths to an ending. Preview both routes before publishing.