The Master Timeline & Your Path
One segment per branch, how the bar shows the path you chose, and how to walk the whole scenario.
Where the Master Bar Is
The master timeline is the thin bar that sits directly above the bottom panel (above the branch timeline strip, or above the scenario tree when the tree is showing). It is a single bar spanning the whole scenario, and it appears as soon as the scenario has more than one branch.
Where a branch's timeline shows one branch in seconds, the master bar shows every branch on your path, one after another. The two always stay in sync: moving one moves the other.
One Equal Segment per Branch — Not a Clock
The bar is divided into one equal segment per branch. It has no seconds and no time axis anywhere on it: the segments are the same width even when the branches have completely different lengths.
- A 5-second branch and a 30-second branch get the same-sized segment.
- Inside a segment, the position is a plain fraction of that branch — the branch is normalised to its own length.
- So the bar answers "which branch, and how far through it", never "what time is it".
Reading a Segment
- Each segment carries a small number (its place along the path) and the branch name.
- The segment you are currently on is highlighted; the ones already behind you are dimmed.
- The handle — a thin white line with a dot — shows the exact position inside the current segment.
The Handle — Walking the Scenario
Pull the handle and you walk the whole scenario across branches:
- The branch under the handle is loaded, and the scenario tree follows to that branch.
- The playhead lands at fraction × that branch's own length — the normalisation step that lets branches of different lengths share the same sized segment.
- Dragging the bar takes over from any playback or walk in progress, because you are driving time yourself.
The handle is derived from the live playhead, not stored, so it is one position seen two ways: scrub the normal timeline or play a branch and this bar moves on its own; drag this bar and the timeline moves.
Switching Branch Keeps Your Place
Selecting a different branch hands the playhead's normalised position over rather than rewinding it:
half way through the branch you are leaving is half way through the branch you arrive in. If one branch is 25 s
long and the next is 20 s, switching at the half-way point takes you from 00:12.5 to
00:10 — the same moment in the play, in a different number of seconds.
The handle follows from that, so it keeps its place inside the new branch's segment instead of snapping back to that segment's start. It stays put for the same reason when you click the branch that is already open.
The Path You Have Chosen
The segments show the path you have chosen, from the root outwards: at each split it is the branch you picked, and the default (priority order 1) wherever you have not picked one. It is never re-derived from priority alone, so walking up and down the tree, playing through it, or reopening a branch cannot make the bar fall back to the default path.
Your Picks Are In-Session Only
- Picks are kept per sibling set: one choice for each split in the tree.
- They live only in the current session and are never saved with the scenario.
- A freshly loaded scenario therefore starts from the defaults — the bar shows the order-1 path until you pick your own branches.
Master Bar vs a Branch's Timeline
| Master bar | Branch timeline (the strip) | |
|---|---|---|
| Shows | The whole scenario — every branch on your path | One branch — the one you opened |
| Segments | One equal segment per branch | Real seconds on a ruler, with tracks and keys |
| Times | No times — segments are equal regardless of length | Times shown as MM:SS.CC |
| Moving it | Walks across branches, loading each one | Scrubs time inside the open branch |
Read on: Branches & the Scenario Tree → Animation & Playback.