Operations and Effects

Change resources, flags and achievements, fire events and run custom operations with effects.

Operations and Effects

Effects are the changes your design makes — add gold, set a flag, fire an event. The same effects editor appears in every place that changes things: custom operations, the states, exits and outcomes of a system, and the Unlocks of achievements and entitlements.

Demo mode: the editors below are fully interactive, but nothing you do here is saved. Use Reset to restore the starting state.

Adding Effects

Below the list, one chip per kind of effect adds a row of that kind. A chip only appears when your project has elements of that kind:

• Resource — "Change resource": add to a resource, or set it to a value.
• Achievement — "Change achievement": change an achievement's value.
• Flag — "Change flag": set a flag to true or false.
• Event — "Fire event": fire an event.
• Custom op — "Run custom operation": run a custom operation.

Pick the element in the new row, then fill in the rest. A row keeps its kind: to change kind, remove it and add the one you meant. The example below adds 100 gold, then sets Tutorial Done to true — try adding another effect:

Add or Set To

A Resource or Achievement row has a toggle between + and =:

• + (Add) — the amount is added to the current value; use a negative amount to subtract. The result respects the element's At Min/Max setting — see Creating Resources.
• = (Set to) — "the value is written straight onto the element. It must land within the element’s Min/Max, or the action fails."

Constants are never offered here — nothing can change them.

Firing Events and Running Custom Operations

• An Event row "fires after": the event fires once all the other effects in the list have been applied, and moves every system waiting for it.
• A Custom op row "runs after" in the same way. If the custom operation's own conditions don't pass at that moment, it is skipped silently.

Order

Effects apply in order, top to bottom. Drag a row's grip to move it.

Operations in Systems

In a system, effects are grouped into operations. Each operation has its own Effects and, below them, its own Conditions: the operation runs only while its conditions pass — leave them empty to always run it. Add operations with + Add operation; they run top to bottom, and you can drag them into a different order too.

The example below spends 1 energy for 50 gold, but only while the player has energy left:

Next Steps

Continue to Element Flow to see how your elements connect.