🎉 Celebrating 25 Years of GameDev.net! 🎉
Not many can claim 25 years on the Internet! Join us in celebrating this milestone. Learn more about our history, and thank you for being a part of our community!
Conversation Elements
Author
In my pet project game, I''ve been trying to come up with a couple of purely dialogue-based events. The problem is, I''m not sure how to keep them compelling writing-wise, and as gameplay.
How many choices should the player have? How detailed should the writing be?
I don''t want the game to come to a screeching halt upon the arrival of one of these events; I want them to have a say in what goes on, while still keeping the characters in character, and revealing more about the story.
This is one of those times when there''s no substitute for good writing. If you don''t think you can do it yourself, then try to find someone to join the project and do a lot of writing for you, or steal a lot of it from classic literature or something. There''s no "hard and fast" way to get good dialogue.
With regards to character involvement in dialogue, there are many good examples of this, starting with Fallout. As near as I can tell, it''s a pretty simple system, which employs character stats (INT stat for dialogue options, CHA for NPC reactions, "Speech" skill for convincingness (not a word?), etc.) to modify the outcome.
I can think of a specific example when you''re trying to secure the release of Tandi, a small-town girl, from raiders. You can go talk to the boss man, and if you''re convincing and smart and choose the right options, he''ll let her go. If not, you might get a chance to trade for her, or if you''re feeling your oats, take on a raider in a fisticuffs match to win her freedom. But if you bungle the diplomacy, you''ve got to draw down and kill everyone to liberate her.
Is that the sort of thing you had in mind?
With regards to character involvement in dialogue, there are many good examples of this, starting with Fallout. As near as I can tell, it''s a pretty simple system, which employs character stats (INT stat for dialogue options, CHA for NPC reactions, "Speech" skill for convincingness (not a word?), etc.) to modify the outcome.
I can think of a specific example when you''re trying to secure the release of Tandi, a small-town girl, from raiders. You can go talk to the boss man, and if you''re convincing and smart and choose the right options, he''ll let her go. If not, you might get a chance to trade for her, or if you''re feeling your oats, take on a raider in a fisticuffs match to win her freedom. But if you bungle the diplomacy, you''ve got to draw down and kill everyone to liberate her.
Is that the sort of thing you had in mind?
Author
I guess my question is how to write dialogue specifically for these types of events, not how to write dialogue in general. Although I should probably learn the latter before I tackle the former 
Yes, exactly.
Big fan of Fallout here, I''ll have to give it a play and watch for that.
quote: I can think of a specific example when you''re trying to secure the release of Tandi, a small-town girl, from raiders. You can go talk to the boss man, and if you''re convincing and smart and choose the right options, he''ll let her go. If not, you might get a chance to trade for her, or if you''re feeling your oats, take on a raider in a fisticuffs match to win her freedom. But if you bungle the diplomacy, you''ve got to draw down and kill everyone to liberate her.
Is that the sort of thing you had in mind?
Yes, exactly.
Big fan of Fallout here, I''ll have to give it a play and watch for that.
The best way to get dialog would be to look to literature within the genera of the game that you are producing. I think that there nothing more overused than high flatulent dialog and a false gravity within most speached and interactions between characters. For the most part it is almost cliché that clerics and elders will have long meaningful speeches and younger characters will be brash and use bad slang. Please, please move away from this in your own writing.
Take, for example, the book Naked Lunch by Burroughs and see how he used slang or if you are doing a classical game look at Parzival by Von Eschenbach to see the period notions of how knights spoke.
I think you get the idea; a little literary knowledge can go a long way when writing dialog.
Take, for example, the book Naked Lunch by Burroughs and see how he used slang or if you are doing a classical game look at Parzival by Von Eschenbach to see the period notions of how knights spoke.
I think you get the idea; a little literary knowledge can go a long way when writing dialog.
Author
I guess an example of the kind of thing I''m thinking of would be appropriate.
Protagon Hiro, a member of TASK FORCE ALPHA, a secret government agency created to save the world from the interstellar doodads, is mopping up an alien hidey hole in the middle of Brooklyn.
When he comes out after a job well done, he''s surrounded by the media and reporter types. Cameras surround him, everyone''s shouting questions at him.
There''s no way out. You can''t bulldoze your way through them, since his secret PROTAGON POWER would turn anyone in his way to jelly. So you have to talk to them, and answer their questions. In such a way that they don''t know about TASK FORCE ALPHA, but so they also think that they''ve gotten "the scoop."
The outcome of the dialogue tree would have a significant impact on the story of the game, and the availability of certain stages.
Protagon Hiro, a member of TASK FORCE ALPHA, a secret government agency created to save the world from the interstellar doodads, is mopping up an alien hidey hole in the middle of Brooklyn.
When he comes out after a job well done, he''s surrounded by the media and reporter types. Cameras surround him, everyone''s shouting questions at him.
There''s no way out. You can''t bulldoze your way through them, since his secret PROTAGON POWER would turn anyone in his way to jelly. So you have to talk to them, and answer their questions. In such a way that they don''t know about TASK FORCE ALPHA, but so they also think that they''ve gotten "the scoop."
The outcome of the dialogue tree would have a significant impact on the story of the game, and the availability of certain stages.
Im not sure how applicable this example is, but when reading your example, Bush comes to mind... or for that matter, anyone in the same situation.
Think about what we all know from hearing Bush speak about the crisis in Iraq (at least, what he would like us to know) We know we are liberating the people there. We know we are there to end the dictatorship that leads Iraq. We also know that we are there because of the defiance recieved from Sadam about his weapons of mass destruction. This is what he tell reporters who encounter him, much like your example.
However, one has to admit that there is more to it than just finding these weapons of mass destruction and such. Before we turn this thread into a political debate, I''ll end this post, but maybe this is something you can keep in mind for writing the dialogue for your game, and at the least this could be a good precedent for you to follow for that specific example.
Think about what we all know from hearing Bush speak about the crisis in Iraq (at least, what he would like us to know) We know we are liberating the people there. We know we are there to end the dictatorship that leads Iraq. We also know that we are there because of the defiance recieved from Sadam about his weapons of mass destruction. This is what he tell reporters who encounter him, much like your example.
However, one has to admit that there is more to it than just finding these weapons of mass destruction and such. Before we turn this thread into a political debate, I''ll end this post, but maybe this is something you can keep in mind for writing the dialogue for your game, and at the least this could be a good precedent for you to follow for that specific example.
For a situation like that, the Fallout system might be a little limiting. If you''re using things like INT and CHA to modify it, then sure, but I get the impression that you''re looking more for player skill to resolve the problem than character stats. The obvious idea is to make it a sort of "combat system", where questions will lower your "reputability points" (RP) unless they''re adequately blocked by answers, and a really good answer might even heal some RP lost before. But for really juicy answers, which will lower the reporters'' "Scoop Lust" (SL), you might have to use special one-use "truth" items, and if the media gets too many truth items they''ll either discover your identity or learn about your mission or something, and whenever you use a "Truth" your employer will be displeased. If your RP drop to zero, then the police haul you in on suspicion of occlusion, and maybe they start surveilling you, watching to see if you do anything strange, like flying or shooting lasers from your eyes.
I''d be inclined to "build" answers instead of merely selecting them. I someone asks you, "Mr. Hiro, we''ve received reports that there was a plasma explosion in the building you just came out of. Did you see any evidence of a fight?" You can pick from an array of "answer elements". Here, you might pick "Denial", "Lame Excuse" and "Charm", so your avatar will respond, "No, I was just looking for a bathroom," and flash a big grin to the cameras. Nobody will be satisfied with that, but it''ll get you past that reporter (say you seed to answer five questions to get past the media swarm) and maybe get you some publicity for having your smiling mug on TV. Alternately, you could pick "Affirm", "Uninvolved" and "Scared", so your character would say, "Yeah! There were some kind of robots or something in there shooting! I gotta get out of here!"
If your reputability is really low, and the police are standing right there, you might have to throw the press a bone, like "Affirm", "TRUTH battle", "Divert". The response then would be, "Yeah, it looked like one of the guys from TASK FORCE ALPHA fighting against three interstellar doodads. I think one of the doodads got killed! If you hurry, you might be able to take pictures of it." That tips your hand regarding fighting the doodads and the existence of your secret organization, but it gets you back into Clark Kent mode and puts the press and police in another room.
I don''t know how that sort of system would play out in other scenarios. Just a thought, really.
I''d be inclined to "build" answers instead of merely selecting them. I someone asks you, "Mr. Hiro, we''ve received reports that there was a plasma explosion in the building you just came out of. Did you see any evidence of a fight?" You can pick from an array of "answer elements". Here, you might pick "Denial", "Lame Excuse" and "Charm", so your avatar will respond, "No, I was just looking for a bathroom," and flash a big grin to the cameras. Nobody will be satisfied with that, but it''ll get you past that reporter (say you seed to answer five questions to get past the media swarm) and maybe get you some publicity for having your smiling mug on TV. Alternately, you could pick "Affirm", "Uninvolved" and "Scared", so your character would say, "Yeah! There were some kind of robots or something in there shooting! I gotta get out of here!"
If your reputability is really low, and the police are standing right there, you might have to throw the press a bone, like "Affirm", "TRUTH battle", "Divert". The response then would be, "Yeah, it looked like one of the guys from TASK FORCE ALPHA fighting against three interstellar doodads. I think one of the doodads got killed! If you hurry, you might be able to take pictures of it." That tips your hand regarding fighting the doodads and the existence of your secret organization, but it gets you back into Clark Kent mode and puts the press and police in another room.
I don''t know how that sort of system would play out in other scenarios. Just a thought, really.
Author
I was discussing this in the chat room I frequent, and thought other folks reading the thread might benefit from what was said.
Iron Chef, oddly enough, someone else suggested something similar to what you said, for a different reason.
quote: <LyingInBlue> Beige: Maybe part of keeping the dialogue events compelling is to keep them not just interactive, but challenging. Like, in your reporters example, there was a clearly defined set of requirements: The player had to prevent the prying press from finding out about the task force; he can''t kill them all, he can''t run away, and he can''t completely ignore them. He has to walk a thin middle line, which is challenging. As far as advancing the story, I guess that deals with what dialogue options you have and the dialogue itself.
<BEIGE> Yeah.
<BEIGE> There has to be player expression, but also gameplay within the dialogue tree.
Iron Chef, oddly enough, someone else suggested something similar to what you said, for a different reason.
quote: <inmatarian> I prefer a concise menu of options.
<inmatarian> Like, when the options are "Blow Off / Deny" ... I get worried that I''m about to be screwed out of an item.
<inmatarian> "Is it true that blah blah blah!" "Confirm / Deny / No Comment"
<BEIGE> Hmm, there''s an idea.
<inmatarian> Don''t show what the character will be saying, because the player might not understand what the character is getting at.
<BEIGE> Just say "confirm/deny," don''t say what the player is actually going to say in its entirety.
Don''t know if it''s helpful, but here''s an example of some dialogue I wrote for a ren''ai game project a while back. This is a first draft and I was planning on rewriting the internal monologue parts, but I was pretty happy with the dialogue choices.
quote:
Scene 1 – The Club
Player’s interior monologue: The Player, the Knight, and the Mother have graduated from highschool that morning and have agreed to meet at their favorite club to celebrate their last night in town. The player meets the Knight and the Mother outside the club, and they go inside.
Scene: the Knight and the Mother sitting across a club table from the player (can’t see the player, just the half of the table projecting into the screen with the two characters at it, and some club background.
They talk about their graduation (which has happened earlier in the day), their parents, the Academy they’re leaving for shortly, and magic in general.
Knight: It’s going to be strange to leave the modern world behind to go live at some magical academy. After all, there’s a reason our parents choose to live in Tokyo as normal people; my mother was just warning me that some of the old magical clans have very odd antique ideas about what’s ‘proper’, and some of them aren’t even quite human!
Mother: I think [something] will be very amusing.
Knight: Everything amuses you – you’re just amused by life, that’s all.
Mother: And?
Knight: Oh, forget it.
Then they decide to toast to their graduation and the future.
Knight: Here’s to us; we didn’t screw up anything too badly during high school, we managed to keep our ‘special’ abilities hidden, and we’re making good progress towards becoming capable and respected adults.
Mother: Here’s to a fascinating new world of opportunities awaiting us at the Academy; may we meet cool people and learn cool things!
Player: Here’s to…
Fun: escaping our parents, partying gloriously, raising hell, and loosing our virginities as soon as possible!
Friendship: our friendship – may the challenges and opportunities of living in the magical world serve only to bind us closer together, and never to pry us apart.
Love: true love – may we all find the one perfect person for each of us, maybe at this Academy.
Avoiding Trouble: the fact that we actually fucking survived highschool, unlikely though it seemed at times! And here’s hoping that we’ll all have an instinctive talent for magic and this academy will be easier. Not that that will actually happen, but I can dream, can’t I?
[Knight and mother respond to your choice]
All: Cheers! (They clink glasses and drink.)
Player: Hey look, the music is going to start!
Graphic shifts to Androgyne on stage and Depressed Girl watching. Androgyne sings “Open”.
Knight(dreamily): Wow, that girl in the [some outfit] is really beautiful. (talking about the androgyne)
If playerlikesgirls==true (Don’t you think so too, playername?)
Mother (leans over and whispers to you): Don’t tell Knight, but I don’t think that’s a girl… ^_~, heart)
[close up on Androgynous, the cameo char under discussion, and the Depressed girl sitting next to ‘her’]
Player dialogue options:
Yes, she’s very pretty
Yes, he’s very pretty
I prefer the other one
No one’s prettier than Mother! heart
You should go tell her you liked her song, Knight!
Aww, Knight, do you think she’s prettier than me? (pout)
Whadda you mean, don’t tell Knight?! Knight, be warned, Mother thinks that’s a crossdresser!
[Knight reacts]
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
