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dialogue_editor

Dialogue Editor


Overview

The Dialogue Editor is where you will create conversations for your game's characters or narration for scripted sequences and cutscenes. Dialogue can be attached to an NPC from its Entity Properties dialog in the Map Editor or triggered from a script using the Start Dialogue function.

File Toolbar

FunctionDescription
New ResourceOpens the New Resource dialog (with “Dialogue” selected for the resource type).
SaveSaves changes to the dialogue.
Save AsSaves a copy of the dialogue to a new file.
Add SectionAdds a new section to the dialogue. A section can be jumped to using a “Go To” node.
Collapse AllCollapses all dialogue nodes that have any child nodes underneath them.
Expand AllExpands all dialogue nodes that have any child nodes underneath them.
Compact AllEnables compact mode for all dialogue nodes.
Decompact AllDisables compact mode for all dialogue nodes.

Dialogue Tools

The Dialogue Tools panel (located below the Game Explorer) contains a list of nodes that can be added to your dialogue. A node represents a specific point in the dialogue where an event occurs, for example when a character speaks, a message is displayed, a condition is evaluated, or a script is triggered. To add a node to your dialogue, drag and drop an item from the list to the desired location within your dialogue. Selecting an item will display usage information about that node type in the description box below.

Dialogue Tree

The Dialogue Tree is the visual workspace where you will build your dialogue. Nodes can be removed from the dialogue tree by clicking on their “X” button located in the upper right corner of the node.

Node Types

There are several different types of nodes that can be added to a dialogue tree. Refer to each section below for an explanation of that node type's purpose and any options that can be set.

NPC Node

NPC nodes are for dialogue spoken by non-player characters (i.e. characters other than the player). Typing into the main box allows you to enter the text that will be displayed in the game's dialogue box when this node is reached.

The NPC's default portrait (as defined in the Voxel Editor) can be overridden for a specific node by selecting an image from the “Portrait” dropdown box. Selecting “None” will cause the portrait to be hidden.

The “Speaker” setting is used by the game to determine the name that is displayed for the speaker, along with its text color. Each setting is described in the table below.

Speaker SettingDescription
Initiating NPCCharacter from which the dialogue was started determines the speaker name and the text color.
Entity IDCharacter having the specified entity ID determines the speaker name and the text color.
Custom NameSpeaker name is overridden with the specified text.
Custom Name/ColorSpeaker name and its color are overridden with the specified name and text color.

Player Node

Player nodes are for dialogue spoken by the player character. Typing into the main box allows you to enter the text that will be displayed in the game's dialogue box when this node is reached.

The player's default portrait (as defined in the Voxel Editor) can be overridden for a specific node by selecting an image from the “Portrait” dropdown box. Selecting “None” will cause the portrait to be hidden.

You can provide the player with a list of responses to choose from and branch the dialogue based upon the player's response. To do so, either drag and drop a player node from the Dialogue Tools panel onto an existing player node without any subsequent nodes, or click the green branching arrow button on the titlebar of the node.

Message Node

Message nodes are used to display any general text that is not spoken by a character, for example to describe an event that is occurring in the scene.

Typing into the main box allows you to enter the text that will be displayed in the game's dialogue box when this node is reached. This is similar to using the Display Message function in a script.

Condition Node

Condition nodes provide a way of branching the dialogue based on the results of a conditional expression being evaluated.

Clicking the wizard button opens the Conditional Expression Builder, allowing you to define the conditional expression that will be evaluated when this node is reached. You can also type an expression directly into the field. If the condition is met (i.e. evaluates to true), then the dialogue will proceed to the node connected to the “Then” output connector. Otherwise, it will proceed to the node connected to the “Else” output connector.

Script Node

Script nodes provide a way to trigger scripts during the dialogue, for example to give an item to the player or move the camera to a different viewpoint. You can choose between either a “Quick Script” or a “Resource” (i.e. an existing script file). If the “Quick Script” option is selected, clicking the “Build” button will open the Quick Script Builder.

The “Pause until complete” checkbox determines whether or not the dialogue will wait for the script to complete before proceeding. For example, if the script includes a timed camera movement and “Pause until complete” is checked, the dialogue will not proceed until the camera movement has finished.

Go To Node

Go To nodes allow you to jump to another part of the dialogue. You can either jump to a specific dialogue node or to the start of a section.

Comment Node

Comment nodes allow you to insert comments into your dialogue. These provide a way of keeping notes or commentary about the dialogue and will not be displayed in-game.

dialogue_editor.txt · Last modified: 2022/05/10 17:29 by justin