# Dialogue
## The Purpose of Dialogue Dialogue is needed in many games to engage and hold players. It can be used to entertain, direct players, provide hints, and provides emotional and narrative context of gameplay, which is highly influenced by game genre and intended audience. Dialogue gives your Experience a distinctive character, making your Experience unique among thousands. ### Dialogue Writing Tips

Be minimalist - Dialogue interrupts gameplay

  • Trim it down for a cumulative improvement, keep critical information
  • Add character to your experience without adding too many characters/NPCs
  • Avoid overuse of all four responses with Asker behaviors in your experience

Reveal character through language - Let their words define them

Think in the character’s voice:

  • Who am I?
  • Why am I talking to the player?
  • What is my attitude, vocabulary, and tone?
  • How can I make players engage with me?

Be clear - Do NOT info dump with exposition

  • Don’t confuse
  • Help players with what they need to know, share it in character
  • Succinctly add signposts to dialogue and let the hero (the player) drive the action

Be engaging

  • Vary rhythm and structure
  • Be consistent, but not repetitive
  • Story snapshots for players to assemble
  • At least one Identifiable trait for each character

Make dialogue worth reading to players

  • Focus on details that matter to players
  • Avoid exposition
  • Make sure jokes fit the narrative
  • Ensure dialogue advances story/action

Interesting, understandable & entertaining
Create distinctive dialogue to grab attention fast and make the player care before they move on to the next Experience.

Pretend you know nothing and test your experience for these vital characteristics.

Keep calm and follow the process
Write, Read, Get Feedback, Revise
## Level and Narrative Design Collaboration ### Technical Guidelines {% hint style="info" %} You can use [**rich text formatting**](https://docs.sandbox.game/en/creator/game-maker/logic-guide/text-quests-and-icons#text-formatting), but it counts toward character limits. {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} Spreadsheets make dialogue writing, tracking, and collaboration easier. You can also count characters using the Len() function. {% endhint %}

Character limits

  • Speaker component - 300 characters
    NPCs making statements to players
  • Asker behaviour - 260 characters
    NPCs with two-way dialog with players

Use plain text from the English alphabet

  • No quotation marks, back slashes, emojis, or special characters
### Format and Terms * **Speakers** - Make statements * **Barks:** Initial dialog before quest start * **Static NPCs:** Mini-scenes, moments * **Askers** - Conversation chunks with player * **Quest Dialogue** - Asker + Player Response(s) ### Organizing Information {% hint style="info" %} Some Experiences do not need a narrative, such as a puzzle game. However, new games are finding clever ways to defy expectations and tell stories through art and minimal dialogue, making the game more memorable and appealing to a broader player audience. {% endhint %} #### Helpful Details to Include in Your Spreadsheet * List all quests in your Experience considering your game loops and storyboard plans * Will there be side-quests? Will there be branching story (more complex level design)? * Note characters or objects who are givers, receivers, and objectives for each quest * Add a name and 1-2 sentence summary for each character * Add the asset name (Marketplace or Workspaces) to find it easily * Note quest items needed to complete each quest * Note the location for the level designer to place characters, quest items, etc. * Note triggered logic related to quest events, such as visual effects, sounds, weather change, etc. * List of non-essential characters to fill the Experience as needed *** ## Narrative Design Workshops (English) {% embed url="" %} Creating Dialogue {% endembed %} {% embed url="" %} Level and Narrative Design Collaboration {% endembed %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.sandbox.game/en/creator/game-maker/creative-guides/experience-design-techniques/narrative-design/dialogue.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.