Creating Quests

Quests track player progress through multi-stage objectives. They’re defined in YAML and advanced through dialogue effects, so this guide assumes you can already write a basic dialogue; Writing Dialogues covers that. In Doodle Studio, quests are edited under Quests in the project rail, and the quest effects below are available in the effect builder.

A quest has no logic of its own. The dialogue decides when a stage changes, and the quest file supplies the names and journal text for each stage. That split means one quest can be advanced from any number of conversations.

Defining a Quest

Each quest is one YAML file in content/quests/. The starter project ships this one as content/quests/odd_jobs.yaml:

id: odd_jobs
name: "Odd Jobs"
description: "The bartender mentioned someone at the market who could use a hand."
stages:
    - id: started
      description: "Marcus mentioned work at the market. I should talk to the merchant there."
    - id: talked_to_merchant
      description: "Elena needs a delivery watched. Time to head to the docks."
    - id: complete
      completesQuest: true
      description: "Job well done. Elena paid 50 gold for the trouble."

Each stage has an id and a description shown in the player’s journal. Set completesQuest: true on every stage that ends the quest; quests may have multiple endings.

Starting a Quest

Use SET questStage in a dialogue to start or advance a quest:

CHOICE Accept the job.
  SET questStage odd_jobs started
  SET trackedQuest odd_jobs
  ADD journalEntry odd_jobs_accepted
  NOTIFY New quest: Odd Jobs
  GOTO quest_details
END

Advancing Stages

Check the current stage with questAtStage and advance with SET questStage:

NODE check_progress
  IF questAtStage odd_jobs started
    GOTO quest_update
  END

NODE quest_update
  MERCHANT: The shipment should reach the docks by nightfall.
  SET questStage odd_jobs talked_to_merchant
  NOTIFY Quest updated: Odd Jobs

Completing a Quest

NODE quest_complete
  MERCHANT: The delivery arrived safely. Here is your payment.
  SET questStage odd_jobs complete
  ADD variable gold 50
  ADD variable reputation 10
  ADD relationship merchant 3
  NOTIFY Quest complete: Odd Jobs

  CHOICE Glad I could help.
    GOTO farewell
  END

Conditional Content Based on Quests

Show different dialogue options based on quest state:

CHOICE Ask about the merchant.
  REQUIRE questAtStage odd_jobs started
  GOTO merchant_info
END

Or hide content after quest completion:

CHOICE Ask whether Elena needs help.
  REQUIRE questStatus odd_jobs not_started
  GOTO offer_quest
END

questStatus checks whether a quest has not_started, is active, or is complete. Use questAtStage when a specific step matters.

Tracking a Quest

SET trackedQuest odd_jobs follows an active quest, while SET trackedQuest none clears it. Players can also track or stop tracking active quests in the built-in Journal. Tracking clears automatically when the quest completes.

Quest Display

The Journal separates active and completed quests. Each quest shows:

• Quest name and description
• Current stage description

A quest is not_started until it has a current stage, active while its current stage is non-completing, and complete when its current stage has completesQuest: true.

Below the quests, the same panel lists unlocked journal entries. See Journal Entries for writing them and the ADD journalEntry effect used above.

Check Your Work

Run npm run validate, or select Validate in Studio. It confirms that every SET questStage and questAtStage names an existing quest and stage. Then play the path: accept the quest, watch the notification appear, and open the Journal to see the stage description change as you progress. Studio’s Playtest can set quest stages directly, which makes testing later stages fast.

See Localization when the quest text needs to support another language.