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Author Topic: A Dialog system using a table/chart.  (Read 2082 times)

Red

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A Dialog system using a table/chart.
« on: July 27, 2013, 09:19:28 PM »
Soooo... Dialog systems.

A lot of games use them and there are many ways to approach them. One such method i've seen discussed here was to control a branching system by having string values updated as they enter states.

That said, I was wondering if there was a way to include a system that will let me dictate what's said in those dialog boxes by using a table, database or other system that I can edit external to the game rather than having to dig into playmaker FSMs. (and maybe also including things like colour value so that there is an additional level of distinction but that's a frill more than a requirement) The dialog isn't branching in my own case as it's merely being used as a cut-scene to facilitate stitching the levels together so it doesn't need to be fancy or complex... just a "take this string, update the label in Ngui, press space/action to continue." kind of thing.

Reason being is that I'm aiming for localization and so far I've managed to get someone on the team that can help me translate to french (and i'm aiming for other languages as well.) That said, having a large FSM system for each character (there are quite a few) and each character having it's own unique dialog... and also the languages... I'm thinking that the most practical approach would be to cobble something together that will work with a file or database that I can adjust without having to dig into FSMs and states.

I've heard murmurs about XML and how that can be a way of sending and recieving information external to the inner-workings of the FSM system but to be completely honest, I have no real inkling what that is (and not being a programmer, a lot of what's talked about on pages such as Wikipedia goes right over my head... heck, I don't even know if I'm referring to the right thing for what i'm looking for.)

So, does anyone have any suggestions on what you think would be best suited? if I have to go to an external asset store package, that is an option i'm not against as that's why i've put up the asset pack... to get some additional funding for the game... but if i can manage this in Playmaker directly then i'd prefer to (a penny saved is a penny earned.)

escpodgames

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Re: A Dialog system using a table/chart.
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2013, 12:12:24 AM »
Hi,

Array maker will be your friend. I currently am writing strings into a txt file and at runtime create an array of all the strings. From here it depends how you want to get each string or if you want to break the strings into groups ie Positive response/negative response. Even easier if it's linear. 

For a previous (on hold) game i was working on I create a full dialogue tree system where each string had a corresponding int array for the emotion state of the characters, like wise you could do a text color array along side the strings.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2013, 12:14:57 AM by LampRabbit »

jeanfabre

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Re: A Dialog system using a table/chart.
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2013, 08:01:40 AM »
Hi,

 Yes ArrayMaker will allow to get quite far with this.

 I am currently finishing up a first version of a xml system within PlayMaker, that will definitly give you the raw power to handle a dialog system gracefully.

Pm me if you want the early version package, I'll send it over to you.


bye,

 Jean