6 réponses à ce sujet

[sofly]

I'm getting to be fairly proficient with everything in the toolset but fine tuning a conversation. Just following a basic tutorial on a basic conversation doesn't explain enough for something with more substance.

My first problem is that I don't know how to control the flow of conversation without ending the dialogue, and restarting it anew.

In the demo, if I talk to the bartender, his options all lead to the conclusion of dialogue. But say if we were to learn of his ambitions or love life, which give the player no other value other than knowledge, the dialogue is more difficult to control.

I'm the barkeep. Would you like a drink? On the house.

-Why yes, thank you.
-No thank you.
-Actually, the man outside says you're a bandit.
-I want to punch you in the face.

How can I tell him I want to punch him in the face, then immediately return to the other 3 options without breaking the dialogue with him? (obviously, I wouldn't want the option to punch him in the face again after I had just said it)

Sorry this is long-winded, I just don't know how to explain it concisely.

Modifié par sofly, 10 décembre 2009 - 02:29 .

[sofly]

Now that I am staring at this, I think the first issue will solve my second issue. If it doesn't, I will ramble on incoherently some more trying to explain that one.

[sofly]

Meh, I'll post it anyhow.



My second issue is that I want to learn a wealth of information about a NPC, and after I have learned everything, the next dialogue I have with that character is completely different.



Now, I understand that I can use the "Once per game" Visibility option in Plots and Scripting to move onto the next dialogue set I have written for the NPC. Until my first issue is resolved, however, I can only end the conversation after the first dialogue option is chosen, and then I can never go back to the others.



Let's say the barkeep in the demo never is related to a quest or trigger and these become his dialogue options:



"I'm the barkeep. Would you like a drink? On the house."



- Are those creepy patrons twins?

- I slept with your wife.

- You're mustache is sweet.

- I want to punch you in the face.



After Barkeep has answered all of these player options, the next dialogue queues up:



"I'm the barkeep. I like butterflies."



- Me too!

- I like pancakes!

- I once punched my grandmother. Twice.

- Seriously, that stache is slick.



Will the resolution of the first issue I am having also resolve this? In my minds eye, I see it working.

[TheGreenLion]

Hmm well in the convo tutorial I used, SilentCid's videos, he was able to link a piece of otherwise ending dialogue back to another portion of dialogue. Say for "I want to punch you in the face." you would then "link" it (should be an option when you right-click the player dialogue you want to link.) say to "I'm the barkeep... etc."



I hope that might help you, it's supposed to loop you back into the other dialogue...unless I explained it incorrectly, hehe.

[EJ42]

I haven't played with this much myself, but the full game source files should be released very soon. I know there are plenty of conversations, at least a few with companions too, that involve an "I want to ask you about something else..." style tree that punts you back one level up.

[BryanDerksen]

The two main features that you'll need to use to make complex conversations is the linking of lines (mentioned above) and the use of plot flags. Once-per-game lines are useful too, simple to use but more limited in sophistication than plot flags are.



For example, you could create a plot called "stuff_known_about_barkeep", with a plot flag for each of the things you could learn about him. Then in the conversation, you can set up each question option with a plot condition so that it only appears for the player if he hasn't found out the answer already. Then, whenever a conversation gives the player that information, have the conversation set the corresponding plot flag to true. In this way you could easily have multiple different conversations all interact with each other - you could ask the barkeep about his moustache, but you could also go and ask the patrons about it and have them set the same plot flag in their own conversation.



You can have the whole conversation change by having multiple different first lines coming off the root node, and use plot conditionals to choose which one triggers. This is a common pattern we used too. For example, the single player campaign's followers each have a single conversation file, but plot conditionals are used to make them start different conversations depending on the state of the overall game. Talking to Alistair in Ostagar sends you down a completely different conversation branch than talking to him in Redcliffe does.



As EJ42 says, the main campaign's source resources will be coming out Real Soon Now. So you'll be able to look under the hood and see how we did it yourself shortly.

[FalloutBoy]

Cut and "paste as link" is something you will be using frequently. Generally a basic convo operates in a loop, where when you get to the bottom of a branch, you want to link back to the beginning, where you offer an exit.



How can I help you, player?

--- (once per game) Tell me about yourself

------ Blah blah blah

--------- That's very interesting

------------ (link) How can I help you, player?

--- Good bye [end]



This is very basic but you get the idea hopefully. Writing dynamic convos is fun when you get the hang of it.