The map
The map on the left shows every node in the file as a box, with arrows showing where the story goes next. Click a box to open that node.
How it is laid out
Game start sits at the top. Each node sits under the node that first leads to it, in the order they appear in the file. Nodes that nothing leads to start their own column.
Each box shows the node’s name, its tags, how many lines it has, and marks for anything missing. Point at a box to see what is missing.
- Solid arrows place the nodes. Loops, and second ways in, are faint.
- A side trip (a hop, which comes back) has its own arrow style.
- Arrows into and out of the open node are highlighted.
Boxes that aren’t nodes
| Box | Means |
|---|---|
| Game start | The game starts the story here. |
| Map | The player reaches this node from your game’s map. |
| Game code | Your game’s code starts this node. |
| A file’s name | A jump into, or out to, another .yarn file. Click it to open that file. |
Tsumugi finds these in your game’s code. Point at one to see where.
Colours
| Colour | Means |
|---|---|
| Green | Done. |
| Red | Broken. The game would stop. |
| Purple | Needs code. |
| Amber | Needs art. |
| Grey, dashed | Empty: nothing written yet. |
| Pink, striped | No way in or out. Nothing leads here, and it leads nowhere. |
See Problems and checks.
Moving around
- Zoom with the buttons, or your mouse wheel or trackpad.
- The small map at the bottom right shows the whole story.
- Whole map (top left) switches to Leads here: only the nodes that lead to the open node, all the way back. Click again for Leads from here: the nodes it leads to.
- In a file with many nodes, the list button shows every node by name. Type to find one, then click it, or press Enter.
Arranging
Drag a box to move it. It snaps to a grid, and lines up with the boxes near it. Tsumugi remembers where you put each box.
Tidy the map (the grid button under the zoom buttons) puts every box back in its place.
Arrows can’t be drawn by dragging. Make a link by writing it: a jump, a hop or an option (Options, jumps and hops).
Right-click a box
- Tags: label the node, like Draft, To do, Needs review or Done, or your own. Type a new one under New tag….
- Colour on the map: give the box a colour, or No colour.
- Delete node… (Nodes and lines).
Tags and colours are saved in the node’s header in the file. Chatterbox ignores them, so they never reach the player, and everyone who opens the file sees them.
title: Harbour
tags: Draft, To do
color: amber
---Reached from
At the top of the open node, Reached from lists every way into it: each node that leads here, and the option the player picks to get here. Game start, Map and Game code mean the game itself leads here. Click a node’s name to open it.
Nothing yet means no way in. That node shows pink on the map, unless it leads somewhere.