ink, the open source scripting language that powers branching narratives for Inkle games like The sky, Pendragon, and many more, is now out of beta with a handful of new features to showcase.

This big milestone means Ink now includes the ability to switch between and track the impact of multiple simultaneous in-game conversations on each other, as well as some smaller features like a dark mode, improved syntax highlighting, and improvements to Unity integration.

Even with the ink now at version 1.0, Inkle says it will continue to be usable for free as long as they are able to support it.

Inkle released an open source beta of the tool in 2016, aiming for the free project to act as “Word for Interactive Fiction,” in Inkle’s words, and allow IF authors to create stories from more fluid way. than the other options allow.

“Tune in when you need it, seamlessly join the flow, track status, and vary what’s written based on what’s gone before – without the need for planning, layout or structuring. “Up front. Organize your content when you know what shape it wants to take, not before,” explains a blog post.

This blog post, which you can find here, traces the evolution of Ink over the years, which includes highlights of its community-led feature development and how Inkle himself shaped the ink during its beta period.