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
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.
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
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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