Using the Skald Language

Skald Language is the expressive text and logic system behind Skald. It combines rich text formatting with embedded expressions to create dynamic, interactive narratives.

Overview

The language consists of three interconnected systems:

1. Rich Text Language — Formatting and structured text for dialogue and descriptions
2. Expressions — Logical conditions and arithmetic calculations
3. Assignments — Variable updates and state changes

Quick Reference

Rich Text Language

Rich text is used for character dialogue, player choices and descriptions. It supports:

• Plain text — Naturally written text
• Tags — Apply styles like colours and formatting. Not to be confused with dialogue tags
• Mentions — Reference characters and lore dynamically
• Templates — Embedded expressions for dynamic content

Plain Text

Write natural language directly:

Hello there! It is nice to meet you.

Tags

Use square brackets to apply styling or set attributes:

Mentions

Use the @ symbol to reference characters or lore items dynamically:

Oh, hi, @John!
Look at this cool @Stick I found!

Mentions can also have custom applications in your game project. For example, you could use them for tooltips to show character descriptions or custom text.

Templates

Embed expressions using curly braces:

You have {health} health points remaining.
You found {itemsCount} items.
The door is {isOpen ? "open" : "locked"}.

Templates evaluate expressions and insert the result:

{health < 100 ? "Damaged" : "Healthy"}
{health + 10} healing applied.

Expressions

Expressions are used in conditions, player choice preconditions, and assignments. They support arithmetic, comparison, and logical operations.

Expressions support strings, floats, integers, and booleans.

Expressions are used in Assignment Nodes, and Conditional Nodes but also in the Preconditionals that are used in Player Choice Nodes

Operators

Arithmetic

Type Mismatches

Type mismatches cause errors. For example:

// Error: Cannot compare string to number
'hello' == 42 // ❌ Error

// Valid: Same types
'hello' == 'world' // ✅ Valid (will evaluate to 'false')
10 == 10 // ✅ Valid (will evaluate to 'true')

See more about errors in Errors

String Concatination

string can use the + operator to combine strings. This means that He is + drunk evaluates to He is drunk.

Comparison

Logical

Ternary

You can use conditional expressions with ? :

health > 75 ? "You are healthy" : "You need healing"

Full syntax:

condition ? then : else

If/Then/Else

Alternative ternary syntax with keywords:

if (score >= 100) then showTitleScreen else showMenu

Parentheses

Use parentheses to control evaluation order:

(a + b) * c
d - (e + f)

Assignments

You assign expressions to variables using the = operator. This will assign the value on the right side to the variable on the left side.

health = 100

isOpen = false

You can perform operations on the right side of assignments that will be evaluated before the value is applied to the variable.

score = 100+100

You can use multiple variables in assignments.

score = playerPoints * multiplier

score + health = 100

How To Assign

• Use = for assignment
• Can assign any valid expression
• Variables must exist in the project's variable list
• Types must match the variable's declared type
• Evaluations follow standard orders of operations

Errors

Errors come in multiple forms. All errors are highlighted in the inspector as red squiggles.

Hovering with the mouse will show the error message, as seen here:

For the above example, isOpen has not been defined in the variables list.

Best Practices

1. Use parentheses — Improves readability with complex operations
2. Good naming — Use clear names for variables (flower_color is more descriptive than fc)
3. Avoid "magic numbers" — Use named variables where possible instead of hard-coded values