Twine 2: Make Simple Games! Step-by-Step Masterclass Harlowe

Master the advanced link macro in Twine 2 Harlowe to create flexible buttons that go to a destination and trigger actions, save and change variables, disable buttons, and show content.

Learn the difference between global and local variables in Twine: global vars persist with the dollar, while local vars vanish after leaving a passage, reducing clutter.

Explore macro variants in Twine 2, focusing on the link go to variant to navigate passages, save code space, and memorize common patterns while testing that it works.

Learn to create and manage variables in Twine 2 using the set macro, making data persistent across passages with numbers, strings, and booleans such as money.

Learn to set variables in Twine 2 with random ranges and the either option, using random: to define a range (0 to 1000) or pick a value from a list.

Learn how to use the event macro in Twine 2 to trigger actions automatically when conditions are met, enabling fast, automatic transitions without overusing it.

Use the replace macro to dynamically overwrite hook content in Twine 2, enabling dynamic dialogues and games, while cautioning to manage live functions so they stop properly.

Demonstrates how to add a rerun button in Twine 2 (Harlowe) that calls a rerun macro on a target hook to reexecute code and update the shown value.

Learn to use data packets in a data map to set money as 1 or 1000, mapping to broke or rich, and ensure all values are handled to avoid errors.

Bind real-time values with the input macro to update a variable as you type. Use the meter macro to render a live health bar with color and alignment.

Optimize spacing in twine by applying collapse at the passage top to minimize space, preserve line breaks with HTML line breaks, and use partial collapse or reverse slash for formatting.

Learn to implement dynamic styles in Twine 2 by using variables and hooks to update text properties (size, color, opacity) in real time with live events.

Learn to adjust text size, color, and opacity in Twine 2, scale sizes from 1 to 3x, reduce opacity to 0.25, and combine effects for layered text styles.

Reveal hidden text by applying a hover style that changes color from transparent to white when the cursor passes over it, teaching practical hover interactions in Twine 2.

Install the audio entwine library by copying the chapter's text file into story JavaScript and the style sheet, then test a passage to confirm proper installation.

discover how to integrate sounds in twine by using the track column macro and the play when possible option, ensuring audio plays after the first user click.

Learn to retrigger sounds in Twine 2 with Harlowe by making a link repeatable, stopping any playing track, and restarting from the beginning on each click.

Learn to create seamless audio loops in Twine 2 using a custom live loop, set track duration, retrigger timing, and stop controls with a temporary variable to eliminate gaps.

Define playlists or groups in Twine 2, as background music, arrange sounds in sequence or parallel, then trigger playback and restart from the beginning for an immersive audio experience.

Enable shuffle mode with the playlist to rearrange tracks into a random order. Use the retrigger to play a track on each press and finish when all tracks have played.

Use groups to play sounds at once in Twine Harlowe. Create a group named victory, list sounds like click and door, and control it with mute, pause, stop, and loop.

Use real-time monitoring to trigger custom events based on whether a track is playing or not in Twine 2 Harlowe, with an option to handle muted tracks.

Master audio provides a global stop all for all tracks, acting as a panic button. Target the playing group to stop only currently playing tracks, offering precise global control.

Publish a Twine 2 game with dual audio formats for every file, providing mp3 and ogg (ogg vorbis) for online use and a second ogg version for browser compatibility.

Preloading keeps online audio ready to avoid silence when many tracks load. Use a loading screen to preload 50–60% of tracks, and preload default tracks with master audio preload.

Hide the bar by creating a passage named all config and setting show control to false. Set side bar start closed true, volume display false, preload true, mute on blur.

Reposition images in Twine with Harlowe methods, controlling vertical offset via line breaks or horizontal spacing with two-column layouts, and using HTML-like code and macros for opacity.

Learn absolute repositioning in Twine 2 Harlowe, converting pixel values to percentages and fixing a precise screen point so images stay in place across devices.

Learn how to switch images and videos in real time by building a reactive system that retargets media and replaces content when a target variable changes.

Install mousetrap to enable keyboard input in Twine 2, then create a jump hook and a repeat link, increment a jumps counter, and bind the enter key via JavaScript.

Prevent key repeats in Twine 2 by switching key down to key up and using a jump release with a link repeat.

Discover how to implement gamepad support with the spring library in your Twine 2 games. Copy the library into JavaScript to track button states, analog axes, triggers, and vibration intensity.

Test six pre-generated gamepad variables created by JavaScript, including the left stick (x2, y) and right stick, plus left and right triggers, updating from 0 to 1 in real time.

Learn to control gamepad vibration by toggling a pre-generated variable to 1 or 0, producing a 200-millisecond impulse. Trigger rhythmic vibrations with macros and buttons to react in dangerous environments.

Maximize numeric control in Twine 2 using rounding, abs, and sign checks. Clamp values to a range and manage decimals with floor-based scaling, then use a seed for consistent randomness.

Create header and footer passages to automate repetitive code across all passages in Twine. Place code in header to update money and in footer to display the new value.

Learn to set initial game conditions in Twine 2 Harlowe by creating a startup passage that runs at launch, set energy to 100, and enable debugging from any passage.

Bypass code in a Twine passage using the ignore macro, so the passage runs without that code; add notes in passages to explain x, y, and z.

Utilize the spreader to convert an array into individual values, print a random letter, and leverage the nth macro with a controllable index to place specific letters precisely.

Learn to use Twine 2's for loop (Harlowe) to process each array value, create a temporary array, print each value, and divide values by two before restoring.

Learn to maximize conditions in Twine 2 with Harlowe by building intricate if statements with multiple checks, using or logic, and contains for strings and arrays to trigger outcomes.

Learn how to convert numbers to strings and strings to numbers using str and num macros, with demonstrations of timing and math-ready values.

Learn how cloning versus referencing works in Twine 2 Harlowe by linking energy to target, using quotes to enable dynamic updates, and applying this to complex data structures.

Learn how to create and use custom macros in Twine 2 Harlowe to compress repeated content, using parentheses and square brackets to define and call reusable code blocks.

Learn to implement a typewriter effect in twine using script with customizable text, width, and blur. Tune per-character speed and use post-typing hook for dynamic content via a data map.

Use a dedicated typewriter passage and the display macro to host and auto-trigger other passages, offering a reusable, variable-driven approach for cleaner code.

Learn to implement a real-time timer in Twine using a raw time counter, modulo 60 for seconds, floor division for minutes, and mono-spaced, zero-padded display.

Learn to create musical and non-musical stingers in Twine 2 by syncing transitions to bar timing, using looped tracks, BPM calculations, and layered sounds for smooth state changes.

Export your twine game for online play by renaming the HTML to index, packaging media into a zip, and uploading to itch.io as a browser game with a loading screen.

Explore exporting offline versions of your Twine 2 game, using raw folders or wrappers like HTML wrapper and web two executable to build Windows projects with custom icons.