NPC Dialogue

ID:89018
 
Dec 31 2009, 11:48 am
I'm back again! Today I'd like to introduce the system of talking to NPCs, as well as get some opinions from the community. It's far from complete (well, maybe not FAR) and I'd like to get it perfected to what the players would prefer.

Dialogue

Upon double clicking an NPC your output window shrinks and a dialogue output appears with a preview of the mob's icon and what he said. Clicking his portrait will either end the conversation or move it along to the next stage.

Before:


After:


Requested Opinions:

1) Should NPC interaction be initiated by double click, or should I allow an alternate 'action' button of sorts, which will interact with the nearest NPC (taking into account which direction you're facing)?

2) I'm struggling with the idea of allowing personalized responses to NPCs - such as three or four options as to what you can say, much like in Bioware games and the like. While I like the system, I can't think of a pretty way to implement it that wouldn't lag. I'm trying to reduce the number of on-screen HUD menus because of lack of client-side processing. Any ideas for this, or should I just not bother at all?

3) Any other opinions you'd like to share. ^^ This is the first showing of my skin, for one. Look neat?

End Note

Thanks all for reading the post, I know I can be longwinded at times and these screenshots may be a little on the large side. Happy new years eve to all, and hopefully you remember everything you do tonight!
Dec 31 2009, 12:16 pm
I love it... I don't know why But I love it. Anyhow It should be a pop up on the bottom for example : If you face an NPC it should pop-up with a button asking the player 'Talk to this Person' Or something along the line of that.
Dec 31 2009, 12:28 pm
That's a neat thought. However, the question still remains: should I have some sort of pre-programmed macro for it too? I'm leaning towards yes, just because I think it'd be neat if I set the game up so a controller could be mapped to play the game.
Dec 31 2009, 12:29 pm
Mendon wrote:
That's a neat thought. However, the question still remains: should I have some sort of pre-programmed macro for it too? I'm leaning towards yes, just because I think it'd be neat if I set the game up so a controller could be mapped to play the game.

I think you should have a pre-programmed macro for it. Then again I still side with the Button Idea.
Dec 31 2009, 12:31 pm (Edited on Dec 31 2009, 12:46 pm)
If that is just a browser window, or even output window (or anything you can use HTML in) then you can use topic for dialog options and trees.

If I had somewhere to upload the file, I'd upload an example of how to do it with relative ease.


Edit: Not the best place to store the code or an example, since I am too lazy to make it into a working demo, but go here
http://textbin.com/l3635
Copy and paste it into BYOND for easier reading. That is all the code I use for my dialog system as well as an example of a dialog tree. (Some stuff is useless and some stuff would need changing though to make it usable)
Dec 31 2009, 12:37 pm
I've actually used topic in the past, but I'm worried that adding a new line for some 4 reply options will look rather tacky and make it annoying to look up to see what the NPC actually said.
Dec 31 2009, 1:27 pm
http://www.filedropper.com/dialogsrc

Example of the system I use. It is probably the cleanest you will get for the simple fact that you cannot have an NPC say a line of dialog without actually having that line of text stored somewhere (outside of using external XML files, but that is moving text from one file to another).
Dec 31 2009, 2:30 pm (Edited on Dec 31 2009, 2:50 pm)
That is beautiful. I never thought to dynamically overlay a browser over the map that way. However, now I don't know whether to do exactly that or simply implement that system of responses into the way I have the skin currently designed. Anyone have any thoughts?

Edit: It looks like it has a bit of a problem though - the dialogue is movable independent of the skin because it's a separate window. This might be fixed by implementing the dialogue window as a child within the main map window and anchoring it - but I haven't tried it myself.
Dec 31 2009, 2:32 pm
1. Macros, macros, macros. Clicking is boring.

2. It looks like you're using interface to me, so I wouldn't worry about lag with that. As far as multiple options go, it wouldn't lag anymore either way.

3. I'm loving everything I see. Keep it up!
Dec 31 2009, 2:35 pm
Fugsnarf wrote:
1. Macros, macros, macros. Clicking is boring.

2. It looks like you're using interface to me, so I wouldn't worry about lag with that. As far as multiple options go, it wouldn't lag anymore either way.

3. I'm loving everything I see. Keep it up!

100% Agreed
Dec 31 2009, 2:47 pm
Fugsnarf wrote:
1. Macros, macros, macros. Clicking is boring.

2. It looks like you're using interface to me, so I wouldn't worry about lag with that. As far as multiple options go, it wouldn't lag anymore either way.

3. I'm loving everything I see. Keep it up!
Certainly it won't lag, I just need a good way to -display- the options so it'll look nice. ^^
Dec 31 2009, 2:50 pm
I would just display small clickable options under his dialog that you can click in order for him to give a response. Something like:

[Soldier]: I am a generic soldier. Why would you talk to me?


[Because I can] [Ok, I'll leave]
Dec 31 2009, 5:51 pm
Thank you all for your suggestions. I've gone ahead and put them into practice as such:

http://i46.tinypic.com/2zfttle.png
Dec 31 2009, 9:03 pm
Looks good!