Description Guidelines
Principles to consider when you are writing a codex entry.
Many of our users feel stuck when they begin writing codex entries. With so much possibility at your fingertips, where do you start? Whilst this is not a comprehensive list, hopefully it will help you make an informed decision about what to include in your entries.
Start simple; cheaper/small context AI models cling to data that you provide. If after a few generations of prose you find that a character’s eye colour is always being mentioned, then remove this information and place it in the notes. Likewise, if the way they speak is prominent, add it in.
You could also place these bits of information into a codex detail that is set as not seen by the AI.
As a rule of thumb, start out with the smallest codex that gives you what you need, to save on token costs.
It does not make a huge difference if you write your codex entry as a giant paragraph or under headings, save for your own ease of reading. Feel free to experiment with what makes you happy, but don’t get bogged down on the perfect form set-up. Perfection is the enemy of done.
Keep additional information in the notes section of the codex. We recommend to also add physical descriptions in here, as the AI likes to pick up things like “green hair” and mentions them every time it can (see point A).
Avoid putting spoilers into your codex entry; the AI will use the information it finds in the Codex to enhance its understanding of your story.
In the same vein, only include information you actually want including in the prose generated. This might mean you need to change your codex entry as you write. You can also use progressions to achieve this.