Updated: September 11, 2024
IMPORTANT information about the 64-bit version of Dramatica Story Expert
The current version of Dramatica Story Expert is 5.3.1, is a 32bit application, and does NOT run on versions of MacOS higher than 10.14 (Mojave).
OVERVIEW:
We're currently upgrading Dramatica Story Expert 5.3 to work with all 64-bit versions of MacOS, including the latest ones like Sequoia. The project has taken longer than we anticipated, largely because the app's original user interface, built over 20 years ago, isn't compatible with modern systems. Although the core story engine is in great shape, updating the interface while ensuring older files still work has been a real challenge. We're almost done with the hardest part and hope to deliver a modern, user-friendly version soon. Thanks for your patience!
CURRENT STATUS (as of 9-11-24):
We are actively working on an upgrade to Dramatica Story Expert 5.3 that will run on all 64-bit versions of MacOS 10.15 (Catalina) through MacOS 15.x (Sequoia). We understand this has taken far longer than we anticipated. Although we’ve made major progress recently, we do not publish an ETA because any ETA we published before would have been way off the mark. However, if you want to understand more about what we’re doing, see below:
Why Does Dramatica Story Expert Need to Be Rewritten?
- Dramatica Story Expert 5.3 is a 32-bit app and therefore compatible with MacOS 10.10 through 10.14 (Mojave), but is not compatible with MacOS 10.15 and above, including MacOS Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, or Catalina because they only run 64-bit applications.
Why is the Rewrite Taking So Long?
- Development on the 64-bit version of Dramatica Story Expert had been delayed by the extraordinary porting time for the 64-bit version of Movie Magic Screenwriter 6.7. That work is nearly finished, and Dramatica development has been underway full time for quite a while. Fortunately, the Dramatica Story Expert rewrite gets to benefit from much of the technology developed during the development of the 64-bit version of Screenwriter.
- By way of explanation, Dramatica is a very sophisticated piece of software that was 10-15 years ahead of its time when we originally wrote it. It uses a complex custom framework for user interface that was developed over twenty years ago. This UI framework is the portion of Dramatica Story Expert that is no longer compatible with modern versions of MacOS. While the Dramatica story engine software code itself is very cleanly written and modern, the incompatible user interface code has been very difficult to disentangle.
- Part of our rewriote process is that we desperately wanted to preserve everyone’s older Story Expert files. In order to do that, we have needed to carefully replicate the same software used to produce those files. That part of the process has been excruciatingly difficult, but recently we have had success being able to open older Dramatica .dsf and .dr5 document!
- We have been focused on porting the hardest part of Dramatica Story Expert: its underlying Story Engine. We are nearly complete with that, and hope that once that big task is completed we will be able to quickly re-create a modern UI for a number of different software platforms. Of course, getting Mac users back up and running is our top priority.
Rest assured we will notify all current users once we have even the earliest version of the program running and in a usable state. The new version will use the same serial number as Dramatica Story Expert 5.3, so the new version will be, essentially, free to all existing users.
Best Regards,
Stephen Greenfield
President
Write Brothers, Inc.
Comments
6 comments
Is there any update on the Catalina Dramatica Pro support update? I realize that times are difficult but it's been close to 6 months.
Is there an ETA on when we can expect to be able to use this software again? It says above that a Catalina-compatible version would be released last summer.
Still no E.T.A., though it will still be awhile. We've made good progress but have prioritized the 64-bit version of Movie Magic Screenwriter, which is in alpha testing now. Fortunately, much of the work done for Screenwriter is directly beneficial to the 64-bit version of Dramatica Story Expert. It also appears that MacOS 11 "Big Sur" is not a problem for our new versions of Screenwriter and Dramatica.
IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE CATALINA! WHERE IS THE UPDATE!???? This delay is UNACCEPTABLE for Mac Users and the Virtual Box alternative is complicated and unreliable.
Any chance of an update on how long it's going to be now? Even a ball park figure for an Alpha version would be useful at this stage. Before the end of the year? The end of 2021?
Have to add my +1 here. We understand there are challenges, small team, etc. And we want to continue supporting you. Dramatica is remarkable software with passionate users. But this has gone far beyond a reasonable amount of time for users and customers to wait.
Please respond with an update and any information/timeline.
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