Adding and Editing Nodes

Overview

Adding nodes to a graph can be done in several different ways, depending on whether or not an entity or a component node should be added. Any entity in a level, except brushes or portals, can be added to a graph.

Entity nodes always operate on a specific instance of an entity in the level.

Component nodes are independent from entities and need entities only as a target on which to perform certain actions. The target of a node can be reassigned and changed as often as necessary.

Entity Nodes

To add an entity node, select an entity and open the graph where you want to add the entity. Next, open the graph context menu by right-clicking the main editing pane.

Select Add Selected Entity to insert the entity node at the position of the mouse pointer.

This procedure works only if an entity has been selected. There is also the context menu option, Add Graph Default Entity, which always adds the entity to which the graph is attached.

Component Nodes

Component nodes can be added from within the graph and don't require any selected entity. There are three ways to add these nodes, the context menu, the component node list window and the QuickSearchNode (Shortcut: Q).

In the example below, an Entity:EntityPos node will be added.

To add a new component node, open the context menu by right-clicking the main editing pane, and then select Add Node. A long list of sub-folders will be displayed, and a node can be selected from any folder.

Select Entity to open the folder with the entity-related component nodes. Select EntityPos to complete the procedure.

The new Entity:EntityPos node will now be placed in the graph at the position of the mouse pointer.

QuickSearch

With the QuickSearchNode feature you can use the shortcut Q to create a dummy node with a little search window (see image below). The default node is the Misc:Start node.

While typing in the name of a node or part of a node name it will display the first node that was found and the number of search results below the search window (similar to the component list window search feature).

With the Up / Down keys it is possible to cycle through the search results if more than one node was found. After pressing Enter or clicking somewhere in the flowgraph view the found node will be created. By pressing Esc it is possible to cancel the node creation.

Deleting Nodes

To delete a node, open the node context menu by right-clicking the node, and then select Delete. Alternatively, a node can be deleted by selecting it and pressing the Delete key. Once a node has been deleted, all the connected links are also automatically removed.

Moving and Arranging Nodes

Nodes can be moved around by dragging them to the main editing pane. Multiple nodes can be selected by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking all the nodes that need to be selected.

Alternatively, the mouse can be used to pull a box around all the nodes that need to be selected. The links between the selected nodes will be moved when the nodes are moved, and they will also automatically rearrange themselves.

Copying Nodes

To copy one or more nodes, select the nodes that need to be copied and open the node context menu. Do this by right-clicking any node, and then select Copy. All nodes, including the connecting links, will now be copied to the clipboard.

The nodes can be pasted from the clipboard to a graph by selecting Paste in the graph context menu. The Paste with Links option will paste the nodes from the clipboard, including all the connecting links.

Shortcuts can also be used: Holding down Ctrl and pressing C copies the selected nodes, while holding down Ctrl and pressing V pastes them. Holding down Ctrl and Shift and pressing V pastes the nodes, including the links.