Audio & Ambience

Story Thyme now supports dedicated Ambience assets, allowing creators to layer environmental sounds such as birds, ocean waves, rain, crowds, and other ambient effects independently from background music.

• Added new Ambience resource category.
• Added Ambience upload support to the Dashboard.
• Added Ambience browsing, searching, and selection support.
• Added Ambience theme categories.
• Added Ambience assignment within the Story Editor.
• Added independent Ambience playback controls.
• Added Ambience looping support.
• Added Ambience volume controls.
• Audio and Ambience can now play simultaneously.

Audio Controls

Audio playback has been expanded with new volume and looping controls, allowing creators to fine-tune scene audio without requiring separate audio files.

• Added Audio volume slider (0%–100%).
• Added Ambience volume slider (0%–100%).
• Audio volume now transitions smoothly between frames.
• Ambience volume now transitions smoothly between frames.
• Added support for gradual audio fades using frame-to-frame volume changes.
• Transition Type now defaults to Crossfade.

Editor Improvements

The Story Editor has received several interface improvements to provide a more consistent editing experience across tabs.

• Standardized editor settings containers across tabs.
• Updated Audio tab layout for improved organization.
• Added Audio and Ambience status indicators.
• Added “No Audio Selected” notice when a frame has no audio.
• Added “No Ambience Selected” notice when a frame has no ambience.
• Improved audio asset selection styling consistency.

Resource Management

• Added Ambience asset cards and previews.
• Added Ambience icon support throughout the Dashboard.
• Added Ambience theme color support.
• Added Ambience asset counters and statistics support.
• Added Ambience support to resource assignment systems.
• Added Ambience support to editor previews and frame loading.

Upload System

Resource upload validation has been refactored to use centralized limits, reducing duplicated configuration and making future maintenance easier.

• Added centralized resource upload size configuration.
• Added Ambience upload validation.
• Added Ambience upload guidelines.
• Added Ambience file size limit of 2 MB.
• Reduced Sound Effect file size limit to 500 KB.
• Improved upload size consistency throughout the Dashboard.

Fixed

Several issues affecting story audio behavior and Story Map visualization have been resolved.

• Fixed an issue where Story Map merge points could appear visually misleading when branches of different lengths converged.
• Improved Story Map branch merge layout so shorter routes now extend naturally to the actual merge point.
• Fixed Story Map continuation flow after branch merges, improving readability for long and short route comparisons.
• Fixed an issue where Background Music volume changes could occur instantly instead of transitioning smoothly.
• Fixed an issue where Background Music volume could restore incorrectly after Sound Effect playback.
• Fixed several Theater and editor compatibility issues related to the new frame-based story data system.