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Game Interface

Welcome to the heart of the PUM Companion app: the in-game interface. This is where your adventure unfolds, your story grows, and all the tools you need are at your fingertips. Whether you’re playing on a desktop, tablet, or phone, the interface adapts to give you the best experience for your device.

gameplay

Interface Layouts

The interface automatically adjusts to your screen size, collapsing the panels as needed, and allowig you to slide vertical lines to resize them. You can also control the visibility of each panel and resize certain areas manually by dragging the thick dividers between them.

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  1. Collapse Plot Track (upwards)
  2. Oracle Panel Rollout (left side)
  3. Plot Nodes Panel Rollout (right side)
  4. Dice Roller Panel toggle (bottom)
  5. Log/Entities divider (horizontal) - sliding to an extreme edge fully hides
  6. Log Area Writing divider (vertical)
full-screen floating-medium gameplay-tablet gameplay-smartphone
Full Screen / Large (≥1920×1080) Floating Window / Medium Tablets Smartphones
Panels shown side by side; all panels visible by default, unless disabled by setting. Entity tabs remain in text format. Most frequently one of the panel behaves as floating rollout, while other remain visible on screen. Typically log panel and entities overview will be visible, with both panels in rollout mode. With one view at a time, showing the log panel by default, the tabs become icons.

Focus Mode Layout (Crystal Theme DLC feature)

Focus Mode is a special layout for the log panel that minimizes distractions for your storytelling, hiding unnecessary UI elements and emphasizing the log area.

focus-mode-button

While the prompt/proposal buttons are visible, focus mode (activated from the top toolbar) fades the rest of the UI so you can review the timeline with fewer distractions.

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Get Crystal Theme: itch.io to unlock Focus Mode.

Top bar navigation

gameplay-topbar

Clicking the menu button (☰) in the top bar opens a panel with helpful options for managing your game and app experience.

gameplay-menu

  • Activate PUMC Update: Activate or validate your PUM Companion installation (Windows non-Store version).
  • Join Us on Discord Open the official Discord community for help, sharing, and connecting.
  • PUMC Online Manual: This knowledge base
  • About: View app info, creators, contributors, and open source attributions.
  • Playing Instructions: Access the in-app guide for gameplay and features.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts: View all available keyboard shortcuts (desktop only).
  • Settings: Customize appearance, language, and more in app settings.
  • Continue in a new game: Duplicate your current game as a new one for fresh arcs or branches.
  • Export Save Game: Export your save file for backup or transfer.
  • Share your story: Share your game in a PDF or markdown text format.
  • Back to main menu: Return to the main menu/dashboard (prompt to save first).
  • Exit Game: Close the app (prompt to save before exiting).

UI Settings

settings-ui

  • Full screen: Hides borders (platform specific)
  • Borderless mode: Hides window borders (desktop only)
  • Use large fonts slider: Adjust the size of the text in the interface for better readability (limited to in-game text)
  • Panels always collapsed: Keep the Oracle and Plot Nodes as rollout panels instead of expanding on large screens.
  • Log area always as tab: Keeps the log area as a tab instead of a split view with entities on large screens.
  • Visual Model (Cinematic Overlay): Enable cinematic overlay for oracles, random tables, and card draws. Read below for more details.

Visual Model (Cinematic Overlay)

Making use of any plot beat button, oracle, random table, or drawing cards can trigger a cinematic overlay that displays a full-screen image to set the mood and progressively show their content, depending on the setting defined.

There are three settings for the cinematic overlay:

  • Disabled: No cinematic overlay is shown.
  • Typewriter: The cinematic overlay reveals text progressively, simulating a typewriter effect.
  • Presentation: The cinematic overlay displays the full content at once.

cinematic-mode

Search through your journal entries and entity descriptions, as well as quick-access to characters and locations.

  • Entity Search: Find characters, locations, and compendiums by their name and quickly navigate to them.
  • Log and Entity Content Search: Search through all your journal entries and entity descriptions for keywords or phrases.

gameplay-search

Search shortcuts

  • Ctrl + F or Ctrl + Space: Open the global entity search panel.
  • Ctrl + Arrows (in Global Search): Move to the next search result.
  • Ctrl + Tab (in Global Search): Toggle Entity or Log Search
  • Enter (in Global Search): Open and navigate directly to the selected entity.
  • Shift + Enter (in Global Search): Speak as the selected character.

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Ctrl + 1, 2, 3, ...: Switch to speaking as a specific character (mapped to the corresponding number).
  • Ctrl + 0: Switch to speaking as the current character.
  • Ctrl + T: Open a new tab in the interface.
  • Ctrl + W: Close the currently active tab.
  • Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move forward or backward across open tabs.

These shortcuts are designed to streamline your workflow and enhance productivity within the game interface.

Explore each section further

Want to learn more about each part of the in-game interface? Check out their specific pages:

  • Plot Tracks: Edit and visualize your story’s structure.
  • Oracles: Access oracles, random tables, and decks of cards.
  • Log Panel: Where you read and write your adventure’s journal.
  • Entities Overview: Manage your characters, locations, and compendiums.
  • Plot Nodes: Manage and preview your plot nodes with ease.