[SOLVED] Story Engine Settings Report (Some Strangeness)

I just noticed that different storyforms affect the order of the settings listed in the Story Engine Settings Report (SES for short).

All SES reports seem to list the Character Dynamics and Plot Dynamics first… but after that, the order changes depending on the storyform. For my particular story, the MC story points are listed first (after the Character and Plot stuff), then the RS, then the OS, then the IC.

I was “spinning the model” earlier and going back to the SES report, which was when I noticed that other storyforms have the Throughlines listed in a different order. For example, I found a random storyform where in the SES, the OS is listed first, followed by the MC, etc…

To see this for yourself, load the “Star Wars” example file and look at the SES report. Then load the “A Clockwork Orange” example file, and again look at the SES report. The Throughlines are listed in a different order for each.

Does anyone know the significance of this?

Am I seeing Z, C, and X patterns in the way the SES report orders the Throughlines? If so, what does it mean?

Is Situation always first? Then Manipulation? Then Activty? Then Mind?

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Upon further investigation, the SES report always lists the Domains in this order: Situation, Manipulation, Activity, Fixed Attitude. It’s only the Throughlines (MC, IC, OS, RS) that change positions.

So, as it turns out, there is no greater significance to the order of the Throughlines as seen in the SES report.

Incidentally, there are only 8 possible ways the Throughlines can be ordered (in the SES specifically).

Key:
O = OS Througline
M = MC Throughline
I = IC Throughline
R = RS Throughline

The 8 possible orders are:

OIMR
OMIR
MORI
MROI
RMIO
RIMO
IROM
IORM

The outer 2 are always a dynamic pair, and so are the inner 2.

Mystery solved!

Haha, you beat me to it, by about a minute. :smiley:

They’re listed so that when you print it out they’re arranged like the model. No mystery to discover. (Summers almost over!)