Changing styles
Use labels, color and clear connection paths to make a Machinations diagram easier to understand and share. A diagram should make its rules easy to read.
A diagram should make its rules easy to read. Once the Loot and Craft model works, adjust labels, colors and connections so another person can follow the path from collected materials to a house.
Make the model readable
Start with clear names for the important Pools, Sources and Converter. Use color to distinguish resource types only when it adds meaning; do not make color the only way to tell components apart. Keep connections from crossing labels or hiding a rule.
Style several components at once
Drag a selection box around the components on the canvas, then use the Formatting bar that appears above the selection when you point at it. Its Color swatch recolors all of them in one go, and on a connection the bar also has a Line width control. In Loot and Craft, give the House Pool a color of its own, because House is the number the whole model exists to produce.
To help you visualize your model:
- Rename your components, or at least the most important ones
- Color the components as you wish
- Increase or decrease the width of the components’ stroke
- Organize the connections in a way that they are not overlapping other components.