KEY VOCABULARY AND CONCEPTS FOR TWINE

This section will outline the key vocabulary and concepts which are pertinent to using Twine. These definitions (as well as further terminology) can be found in the glossary section of this book.

LINK: A link is what joins story sections together. It is represented in the graphical interface as a line with an arrow. The arrow point represents the direction of narrative flow. Links are one-way, but by creating multiple links you can create loops in the story.

MACRO: JavaScript file which changes the behaviours of the story. Can be used to implement transitions, locational settings and in-text mechanics.

PASSAGE: A passage is an individual story section which is represented in the graphical interface as a box.

TAG: A tag is applied to individual passages to provide conditional formatting which can be targeted with CSS. For example, you could use the tag GOLD, apply it to a passage and in your CSS specify that passages with this tag will have yellow text.

STORY: This is the combined total of your passages – the full extent of what your player can access.

STYLESHEET: special script passage which uses CSS to apply a styling (colour, spacing, etc) to the Twine document.