World Database

TaleNode includes a world-building database for cataloging items, locations, lore entries, and other game world entities. Use it to organize your game's universe alongside your dialogue trees.

Overview

World entities are standalone data records that describe things in your game world — weapons, cities, historical events, important characters, or any custom category. Each entity has a name, category, description, tags, and key-value properties.

Managing Entities

Open the World DB panel via View > World Database in the menu bar. The panel appears as a dockable tab.

Category Filter

Use the Filter dropdown at the top to show only entities of a specific category, or select All to see everything.

Adding an Entity

Click + Add Entity to create a new entity. It starts as an Item by default.

Field	Type	Description
Name	String	Entity name (e.g., "Iron Sword", "Riverwood")
Category	Enum	Item, Location, Lore, or Character
Description	String	Detailed description or lore text
Tags	List	Comma-separated tags for filtering
Properties	Key-Value	Custom properties (e.g., damage = 15, population = 500)

Editing an Entity

Each entity has a collapsible section in the World DB panel:

• Name: Click to edit the entity name
• Category: Use the dropdown to change the category
• Description: Click to edit the multiline description
• Properties: Each property is a key-value pair. Click either field to edit

Adding Properties

Click + Property within an entity to add a new key-value property. Properties are freeform — use them for whatever metadata your game needs:

• damage = 15
• weight = 2.5
• rarity = legendary
• region = Northern Mountains

Removing Entities and Properties

• Click X next to a property to remove it
• Click Delete Entity at the bottom of an entity's section to remove the entire entity

Categories

Category	Use Case
Item	Weapons, armor, consumables, quest items, key items
Location	Cities, dungeons, points of interest, shops
Lore	Historical events, legends, in-world books, notes
Character	NPCs, factions, organizations (separate from dialogue characters)

Export

World entities are included in the JSON export:

{
  "world_entities": [
    {
      "name": "Iron Sword",
      "category": "Item",
      "description": "A basic iron sword.",
      "tags": ["weapon", "starter"],
      "properties": [
        { "key": "damage", "value": "15" },
        { "key": "weight", "value": "2.5" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Riverwood",
      "category": "Location",
      "description": "A small village by the river.",
      "properties": [
        { "key": "population", "value": "50" },
        { "key": "region", "value": "Whiterun Hold" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

The world_entities array is omitted when no entities are defined. The description, tags, and properties fields are omitted when empty.

Runtime Integration

Your game engine should:

1. Load the world_entities array at startup
2. Index entities by name or category for quick lookup
3. Use properties to populate UI (item stats, location descriptions, etc.)
4. Reference entity names from dialogue text or Event node actions

Tips

Tip

Use tags to create cross-cutting categories. An entity can be both a "quest_item" and a "weapon", making it easy to filter in your game's inventory UI.

Tip

Properties are string-based. Parse numeric values in your game engine as needed (e.g., parseInt("15") for damage).

Tip

Use the Category filter to focus on one type at a time when your database grows large.