Note: While I show common macros and markup in the examples below, Thomas Michael Edwards has done a great job documenting the full set of macros and functionality available to SugarCube users.
Table of Contents
- Headers
- Text Elements
- Bulleted and numbered items
- Using <<set>> macro
- Combining <<set>> and <<if>> macros
- Using either() and random() functions
- Using a dataset (object literal)
- Using a datamap (object literal with properties)
- Using <<print>>
Headers
Just like in the underlining HTML, Twine also supports all five different levels of headers. To create a header, you include the exclamation point (“!”) in front of some selection of text and match the number with the level wanted. For example, a single hash is for <h1> element, but five would be for a <h5> element.
Markup
Result
Text Elements
To mark some selection of text to be emphasis (italicized), bolded, or otherwise set apart requires some special markup symbols in Twine.
Markup
Result
Bulleted and Numbered items
To have Twine produce bulleted or numbered items, some selection of text needs to have a single asterisk (“*“) before them for top-level and two or more asterisks for indented items. For numbered items, use a hash (“#”) for top-level and two or more hashes for indented items.
Markup
Result
Using the <<set>> macro
The Set Macro is one of the most powerful and common macros found in Twine. In order to save (“set”) some value, the Set Macro is used.
Markup
Result
Combining the <<set> and <<if> macros
In most cases of using variables in Twine, you will want to first “set” some value and then, at some later point, conditionally act from testing the value. In Twine, you can combine the Set Macro with an If Macro to test is some condition is “true.” For example, if a value “is” strictly the same as another or if some other comparison results in a “true” statement. (See the extended list of SugarCube comparison keywords for greater detail of what can be used in conditional statements.)
Markup
Result
Using either() and random() functions
In some cases, you will want Twine to choose some value for you. If you want Twine to pick a single value between some fixed, existing set, the Either Macro will work. For those times when you want Twine to pick a random value between two positive numbers, the Random Macro will work.
Markup
Result
Using a dataset (object literal)
When using the Harlowe Story Format, there is a (dataset: ) macro for directly creating a set of data. SugarCube does not have this layer of abstraction. Instead, it allows you to use JavaScript directly to achieve the same effect of having a container of different data by creating an object literal and adding properties to it as needed.
In the following example, we can replicate the “is in” functionality from Harlowe through adding properties to an object and setting their value to “true”. When adding items to the bag, we set them to “true”; if we need to remove them, we could set their value to “false” (or “undefined”).
Markup
Result
Using a datamap (object literal with properties)
When using the Harlowe Story Format, there is a (datamap: ) macro for directly creating a map of key-value pairs. SugarCube does not have this layer of abstraction. Instead, it allows you to use JavaScript directly to achieve the same effect of having a container of different data by creating an object literal and adding properties to it as needed.
In the following example, we set an object literal to have the properties of “strength”, “wisdom”, and “will” to initial values. Then, we test one of those values and, finally, increase one using a secondary Set Macro statement.
Markup
Result
Using <<print>>
While variables can be used directly in any passage, sometimes you may want Twine to dynamically display some content that contains other markup. For those cases, you can use the Print Macro to have Twine “print” the result of some combination of macro calls, expressions, or JavaScript.
Markup
Result
Digital Ephemera 