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

Level and Narrative Design Collaboration

Technical Guidelines

You can use rich text formatting, but it counts toward character limits.

Spreadsheets make dialogue writing, tracking, and collaboration easier. You can also count characters using the Len() function.

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

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.

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


Additional Resources

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