Event Flows

In Tomodachi Life (3DS), a core component of the games engine revolves around event flows. Event flows create cutscenes by describing actions preformed on objects and or Miis in a flowchart style format.

Tomodachi Life utilizes the MSBF file format to make this work. MSBF is closely linked with MSBT files and their attributes so several properties of scenes can be modified.

WIP

This is a working-in-progress page. More info will be added in the future.

Scene Loading & Properties

In the case of folders like Drama, all events must contain the three following files (example event name):

romfs/message/Drama
  Drama_Tool:
    >> ToolBath.msbf
    >> ToolBath.msbt
    >> ToolBath_Build.msbt

ToolBath.msbf is a MSBF file that stores the event flow.

ToolBath.msbt is a MSBT file that stores normal message text data for referencing.

ToolBath_Build.msbt is a MSBT files store which relevant scene data as Attributes.

Each label in the file follows the bottom list of attributes, however not all attribute fields are necessary.

Name	Datatype	Description
Folder	list	The name of the folder the event is located in.
RequestedScene	list	The requested scene folder.
bl_Label	string	Alias for how the item should be referenced. May be utilized in other attribute labels or in MSBF node parameters
bl_BinaryPass	string	Absolute path to the file reference
bl_FileLabel	string	A bl_label alias. Used in other labels to reference a file set to the alias.
bl_DataName	string	Label of an item in the alias.
bl_SceneLabel	string	The scene to set the data to (?).
bl_Screen	list	_scene attributes only. To display the scene on the upper or lower 3DS screen.
bl_LightSet	string	-
bl_SRTBone	string	-
bl_Pos	string	-
bl_Anim	string	Animation name (if applicable).
bl_ExpFlag	string	_mii attributes only. Mii Expression flag (Examples: 1,9, 1,9,0,8).
bl_Body	string	_mii attributes only. Sets the clothing for a Mii.
bl_Headwear	string	_mii attributes only. Sets the hat for a Mii.
bl_RoomId	s8	-
bl_ItemList	string	-
bl_LightParentCamera	string	-
bl_AnimController	u8	-
bl_MiiResolution	list	Sets the resolution of Mii faces in the scene.
bl_MiiNoMaskWhenHolding	bool	-
bl_ItemEffect	list	Determines if items have effects in the scene.

List values

Folder

• Confession
• Drama
• Dream
• External
• SnapShot
• StaffRoll
• Tool
• WandererWatch

RequestedScene

• Drama
• Dream
• Tool
• Propose
• WandererWatch
• Snapshot
• StaffRoll
• Ar
• Etc

bl_Screen

• Upper
• Lower
• None

bl_MiiResolution

• CFL_RESOLUTION_64
• CFL_RESOLUTION_128
• CFL_RESOLUTION_256
• CFL_RESOLUTION_64M
• CFL_RESOLUTION_128M
• CFL_RESOLUTION_256M

bl_ItemEffect

• EffectOff
• EffectOn

Nodes

Following describes and document node types and their identifers to build a comprehensive view on MSBF functions.

Message Nodes

Message Nodes reference a message in a MSBT file. These may be used for when Miis talk, buttons are prompted or a caption is shown on screen.

Message Nodes always take in two parameters:

• FileIndex: Refers to the index of the the MSBT file in an archive.
• MessageIndex refers to the index of the message in that file.

Branch Nodes

Branch Nodes alter the flow of the event depending on a specific condition.

Name	Identifier	Parameters	Parameter type	Node Description
EvalulateVariable	0	expression	5	Acts like a normal boolean check. 0 = False, 1 = True. Example: $s < 3
SwitchVariable	1	var	5	Acts like a switch statement. Matches against the value of the variable
EvaluateMiiGender	15	mii	5	Evalutes the gender of a Mii. 0 = Male 1 = Female

Event Nodes

Event Nodes preform a wide range of actions on objects, the game state or Miis.

Name	Identifier	Parameters	Parameter type	Node Description
SetVariableValue	3	expression	5	Sets the value of a variable in a string expresion (i.e. $s = 5)
SelectMii	39	mii	5	Selects a Mii for use in the scene
SetMiiPos	41	mii	5	Sets the position of a Mii in the scene. Utilizes nodes from the bcres scene loaded
PlayMiiAnimation	44	mii	5	Plays an animation on a selected mii. Must use selectMii before running this node
SetupMessage	48	?, ?	1	Setup a message. Always runs before a Message node.
SetupUiButtonPrompt	58	var	5	Setup a Ui button prompt and store the user selection in var. Next node must be a Message Node
LoadSEGroup	90	name	5	Loads a sound effect group
PlaySE	96	name	5	Plays a sound effect from the loaded group

Variables & Storage

In event flows, the game can create and store values in variables created utilizing nodes. Variables always start with the $ prefix.

Values can be reassigned, modified and or evaluated to alter the flow of the event. This very common across all event flows present in the game.

A common example is diverting the flow to a specific flowchart depending on a button that was clicked. SetupUiButtonPrompt prompts a set of buttons. Once a button is clicked, it returns the index of the button selected and stores the value in the var parameter. This variable can now be evaluated using the SwitchVariable node to determine which button was clicked.