Learn more about the node editor.
The node editor is part of the Makinom editor and is used to create schematics and formulas.
While this documentation focuses on schematics, most of the features are also available in formulas (unless mentioned otherwise).
The node editor is separated into 2 parts – the settings area and the node grid. The position of the settings area when editing schematics can be changed in the Makinom editor (Editor > Editor Settings) by the Schematic Editor Menu.
The settings area displays the settings of the currently selected node.
When editing schematics, the settings area also displays the editor help and buttons to create new schematics or open existing scematics. At the bottom of the editor you’ll find buttons to save or delete the schematic asset instead of the project save buttons. When using Save Schematic As … you can save an existing schematic using a new name.
The node grid is used to add, move, connect and delete nodes. At the top of the node grid, you can see a button bar that is used to manage the nodes – you can also do this with the context menu (right mouse click).
You can navigate on the grid by clicking and dragging the scroll wheel (or middle mouse button).
The button bar contains functionality to manage your nodes.
From left to right, the buttons are:
Looking for a specific node? Use the search bar to highlight nodes!
You can zoom in/out using the zoom slider in the button bar or the scroll wheel.
The node layer selection is located at the right side of the button bar. You can use node layers to bring order into your schematic by separating them on different layers.
The node layer popup also allows adding new nodes by selecting Add New Node. You can change the name of a layer by clicking on the Rename Layer button on the right side of the popup – this changes the node layer popup into a text field. To stop editing the name, click on the Rename Layer button again.
To remove a layer, click on the Remove Layer button – this will remove the layer and all nodes (and layer gates) to it.
To connect nodes between layers, you can add Layer Gate nodes.
A Layer Gate node is visible on both layers that are connected by it. On the layer the connection starts, a Gate Entry node is displayed. On the layer the connection the connection ends, a Gate Exit node is displayed.
You can also move nodes and node changes between layers using the context menu.
Double clicking on a Gate Entry or Gate Exit title will take you to the layer it connects to.
A node consists of 3 parts – title, info and slots.
To change a node’s settings, select it by clicking on it. The settings area will display the node’s settings.
You might have noticed the small checkbox in the upper right corner of the node – this allows you to quickly enable or disable the node (the checkbox can be turned on/off in the button bar).
Nodes are connected by clicking and holding the left mouse button on a slot. Drag the line on another node and release the mouse button above the node. You can also double click on a slot and click on another node to connect them.
Connections can be removed through the context menu when right clicking on a slot and selecting Remove Connection.
The context menu is opened by a click on the right/context mouse button. Depending on where you’ve clicked, you will have different options available.
Like the all other popups, the node editor’s context menu is also searchable.
Right clicking on the grid will allow:
Right clicking on a node (title/info) will allow:
Right clicking on a slot will allow:
You can use box selection to select multiple nodes.
Using Shift+Click also lets you select multiple nodes.
Use Node Groups to bring order into your node-chaos. You can also put groups into groups, into groups, into groups …
You can add or remove nodes (and groups) to/from groups by holding CTRL while dragging them – or use the context menu.
There are several keyboard shortcuts available:
Want to know what your running schematics are doing? Try live debugging them and see which nodes are executed, the values they’re using and which variable changes they cause.
Debug information will be collected when the Makinom editor is open while playing. You can also enable Auto Debug Schematics in Editor > Editor Settings > Node Editor Settings to always collect the debug information, even if the editor is closed.
Debugging is only used when playing in the Unity editor, i.e. built games are not impacted by it.
You can directly start debugging a machine’s schematic by clicking on the Edit Schematic button in the machine’s inspector while it’s running. Having a schematic open in the node editor will also list all available running or already stopped schematics that are using the same schematic asset.
See the image (and explanations) below for more details on the debugging features.
You can also change the schematic while it’s running, e.g. changing a connection or adding/removing nodes. This’ll change all schematics that use the same asset, not just the one you’re currently debugging. To make the changes permanent, you need to save the schematic.
Please note that exiting play mode (i.e. stopping the game in the Unity editor) will lead to losing the debug values once you open a different schematic asset.
