Flow-based, node-based, visual - whatever you want to call it, it is programming and needs one to think like a programmer for anything but the most simple tasks.

In fact - it can be more complex than "actual" coding in some ways as the pallette of abstractions is often more limited - or the interface creates hoops to jump through that a text-based format wouldn't.

(I do like jumping between text and visual node-based representations however. Learnability and discoverability are an advantage of the latter. And it fosters a different style of tinkering.)

With regard to timelines - I can think of several ways a timeline would work with a graph. It can simply be another input for any exposed parameters. Or it can be a node in it's own right.