The graph layout itself is the map, and the nodes being its milestones and destinations.
In between nodes are links / edges that represent the transition or the relationship between two entities. In our application of Graphling, we are primarily using the links as a means to represent the action that maps one position to another with direction. Initially, we defined actions as the smallest unit of transition between two states. The problem comes from the semantics of the smallest unit of transition. A couple of questions come into mind before we start implementing the visual layout of the edges:
The questions of granularity of nodes and edges and how they’re represented does not seem to be a clear chicken and egg relationship, meaning the decision of how to represent the data doesn’t directly come from the observation of the data itself. The observation of the data may be influenced by how we visually perceive the data as well. So here are two options I’ve came up with in order to clearly visualize the transition of two states.
Tokens are depicted as the smaller circles around the position nodes. When satisfied/activated they turn green. Once all of them are activated, the transition is ready to fire.
For example, the tokens will appear once the edges are highlighted. The question of where to go is the predicate of how to get there. I want to get to side control when currently the opponent is on top of me via mount. I will take certain nodes/positions on the way to side control via sweeps and defensive manuevers. Once I know what intermediate positions will be on the way, my next tasks is to understand what makes these transitions possible (ex: I need to hook somewhere for reversal, I need to grab somewhere for the sweep)