How do you envision dialogue?

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How do you envision dialogue?

Postby reneuend » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:18 am

I've been mulling over how to best build dialogue in my AM games since the start. AM's dialogue feature isn't that bad, but it is confusing.

In the Nancy Drew games, you choose what YOU as the main character are going to ask or say. The response has always been animated and not return text.

But, what do you envision of how dialogue should work in a game?

I really am not sure what works best. But, I do like the dialogue in the Drew games because it's not confusing. You expect the response to always be an action on the screen.
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Postby mercedes » Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:16 am

In the Nancy Drew Games i've played...The dialogue seems the same to me as AM's..:?...
You have to click it for the next question for it to appear...It's a different color..usually..OH and u can't do anything else...like u can't touch anywhere else on the screen...the mouse is set to limited movement..--that being only within the TEXT area...

What do u mean by animated..?
You mean a whole bunch of questions come up...and u as the character get to choose which questions to ask?...Ya but I would think that's the variables played...cause many times when i go back to the phone lets say..more questions are there now..--Where they weren't before..
Usually in a Nancy Drew game...there are only few set places to have Dialogue appear...a person or a phone..ect..

The Dialogue seems identical to me..It's just better set up...so the answers come with those questions..and questions will not appear until variables have been played...
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Postby reneuend » Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:09 pm

It sounds like you're talking about the older Drew games. The one I saw my daughter playing had a the choices of dialogues (like AM), you chose one of them and the character on the screen reacted to it, usually with animated talking. Oh, and Nancy Drew always says whatever you select outloud. I haven't seen where the response to the chosen dialogue was written (as in AM)...unless it's an older game and I just don't remember! :)
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Postby mercedes » Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:16 pm

Oh that could be possible...it being an older Nancy game..for sure..
To make the game with speaking dialogue would be easy enough..cause that would be recorded sound to go with each sentence..But the animated process...ya that's different..I wish we could have animated characters for sure in our games...:)..I gather if someone went about making the animated characters..they could just be called for like any other sound..?
But we can't call for animations...I think we can with Flash..I would use Flash for all animated characters..

I think i may have lost site of what u were asking for here..lol..What was it again...?
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Postby reneuend » Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:51 pm

:lol: :lol:

You stated that very well, Mercedes. What we need is the same flexibility that the dialogue AM supplies, but just easier to use. I'm trying to think if there is a better way to present it on the screen. I guess along the bottom seems to be the most natural, but shouldn't it be flexible enough to have it other places? Kind of like hotspots and text objects? Maybe the answer is just to make it easier and keep it where its at now.
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Postby mercedes » Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:59 pm

Ohh..I see..yes that would be nice..which is why i use the TEXT to make my dialogue...its a bit more work..but then I can place it where i want it..kind of thing...Then i put somewhere on the same frame, ''Repeat dialogue" in case they missed it..-It only appears later..

But yes the dialogue system to actually "use" I find confusing..which is why I never used it...I tried to a couple of times..but..i just found it easier to use TEXT..myself..But it called for alot of timed events..and u only have a limit of 65 seconds..Doesn't allow for long dialogue..or spaced out nicely..

Actually I thought that is why EZ talk was developed for....By chance have u tried it..? i never have myself..but I assumed it was for this reason alone...to make dialogue more flexible..?..But I have no idea on where the placement is....But from what I have read..it is developed for "sound" dialogue to be more flexible....
For some reason now...I see u saying....oh yeahh....E-Z talk.....
Cause I just did...:lol:
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Postby juhuwoorps » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:36 pm

I think you can do this with videos.
I clone is a very nice programm to animate characters.
There's also a sound to speak option which work very nicely.
If you have a soundfile with your text, you just have to load it and the programm does the lip animation for you.

Mercedes should know what I mean.Do you remember the game with the train station at the beginning?I'm not sure if I send you the version with the talking part.
I don't have it anymore since my harddisc crash, but perhaps Mercedes have it on her youtube account :)
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Postby reneuend » Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:26 am

Anim Studio has that feature and does a fairly nice job of lip syncing to an audio file. But this wouldn't be practical for building a dialogue tool in AM.
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