The node-type packs

Every pack the Add node types library offers, in the library’s own order. How to add, update and restore a pack’s types is in managing node types; this page is what is on the shelf.

Type names are as the library’s cards show them. A type listed by more than one pack is the same type — adding it from either does the same thing. Its home is the first pack that lists it, and that is where the library’s search groups it; for the starter sets below, each type’s home is named in parentheses.

The packs

Pack	What it is for	Node types
Standard pack	The node types every new project starts with	Text · Board · Dialogue · Entry · Branch · Jump · Element · Code
Flow & logic	The structural nodes beside the line: hubs, gates, where a conversation begins, chance, endings	Hub · Gate · Interaction · Random branch · Question · Ending · Signal · Note · Beat
Dialogue, studio grade	The line, the choice and the check, for a writer used to large dialogue-driven games	Line · Speaks · Dialogue Line · Exchange · Choice · Skill check · Scripted check
Quests & objectives	Quest, objectives, outcome, with rewards and counters	Quest · Objective · Outcome · Reward choice
Choices, drawn otherwise	Choices drawn as pictures, a truth table, a ring of odds, or a loot roll that hands over its drops	Crossroads · Decision table · Chance · Loot roll · Histogram
Pictures & places	A line with its picture edge to edge, a place with doors on its map, a picture to examine, a deck of slides	Portrait · Location · Examine · Look around · Slideshow
Readouts & records	Where you stand with each side, a record drawn through its own view, what a chest holds	Standing · Dossier · Inventory
Encounters	Waves, a fight’s arc, fights on the plan, clocks and schedules, and the rules that react	Roster · Wave · Wave map · Arrivals · Wave as a sentence · Wave on a ruler · By the door · Fight in phases · Boss, by health · Reinforcements · The arc · Phase, by difficulty · Patrol · Ambush · Waves on one plan · Hold · Set piece · Countdown · Defend
NPC life	People who react: what a crowd says as you pass, where someone is at each hour, a companion who speaks up mid-scene	Barks · Cut-in · Routine
Input actions	The moves a player makes, ready to name in a line: keyboard and mouse, the three pads, and touch	None — it brings records, see below
Puzzles & world	The level’s own gameplay: puzzles, a trigger volume, a barrier and every way past it, a move taught before it is needed, a checkpoint	In order · Switches · Code lock · Matching · Collect · Trigger · Barrier · Teach · Checkpoint
Lookups	Cards that find where things are used — set and read, called, mentioned, linked, missing — on this board or across the project	Where used · State in / out · Scene cast · Cue sheet · To-do · Level manifest · Entity trail · Problems
Visual novel, start here	A speaker with a portrait, a place with its doors, a deck of slides and the endings	Dialogue (Standard) · Choice (Dialogue, studio grade) · Portrait, Location, Slideshow (Pictures & places) · Ending (Flow & logic)
Tabletop session	Checks, rolls, standing and what the party carries — the cards a game master reads	Skill check (Dialogue, studio grade) · Random branch (Flow & logic) · Standing, Inventory (Readouts & records) · Loot roll (Choices, drawn otherwise)
Mission board	Quests with their objectives and outcomes, the waves they trigger, and the Signals that call the game	Quest, Objective, Outcome (Quests & objectives) · Wave, Wave map (Encounters) · Signal (Flow & logic)
Interactive fiction	Prose, a crossroads of ways out, things to examine, a gate and an ending	Text (Standard) · Crossroads (Choices, drawn otherwise) · Examine, Look around (Pictures & places) · Gate, Ending (Flow & logic)

The last four are starter sets: every type in them lives in another pack too, gathered for one kind of project.

What a pack brings

A pack’s types can need things that are not node types — a definition a field points at, an enum a select offers, a variable a check writes. The pack brings them, or reuses yours when your project already has them. Packs not listed here bring nothing beyond their types.

Pack	Entity definitions	Enums	Variables	Commands
Standard pack	—	Trigger	—	—
Dialogue, studio grade	—	Emotion	Last roll · Check total · Check difficulty · Check passed	—
Quests & objectives	Faction	Quest state · Quest kind · Reward kind · Faction standing	Quests completed	—
Pictures & places	—	Emotion	—	—
NPC life	—	Bark moments	—	—
Input actions	Input action	Pad controls · Touch gestures	—	—
Puzzles & world	Door · Input action	Puzzle symbols · Actors · Barrier kinds · Pad controls · Touch gestures	—	Retry
Visual novel, start here	—	Emotion	—	—
Tabletop session	—	—	Last roll · Check total · Check difficulty · Check passed	—
Mission board	Faction	Quest kind · Reward kind · Faction standing	Quests completed	—

Interaction

The Interaction in Flow & logic is where a conversation with someone begins. It is an Entry and a Branch in one card, so a conversation board does not need both:

• With — the character the conversation is with, in the header.
• Cases — one row per way the conversation can open, first to last. Each row has a name (a label for you, such as 1 · First meeting), a when condition, and its own exit.
• otherwise — the exit taken when no case holds. Wire it to what a character says when there is nothing new, or leave it unwired when nothing should happen.

In Play the first case whose condition holds is taken at once: the player sees no menu and never sees a case’s name, and a case with an empty condition is skipped. Nothing can be wired into an Interaction, which is what makes it a way into its board; a conversation that loops goes back to a Hub placed after it. How to write a condition is in conditions.

Input actions

The Input actions pack holds no node type. It brings the Input action definition and 26 ready-made input action records, which land in a folder named Input actions at the root of the entity tree. A mention of one draws as a keycap, and Keys as in play mode’s Design tab shows it for each device — see play mode. Adding, updating and restoring those records is in managing node types.