Unity RPG-Style Dialogue Parsing System
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As a games writer, my goal is always to get written content functional in my projects as quickly as possible. The problem, however, is that text-handling systems, especially those involving branching dialogue, take time (and considerable knowledge) to program. With regards to Unity, there are a number of dialogue systems available through the store, but they are all very expensive, and not really viable for a designer just looking to throw some ideas on screen and see if they stick. For goal for this project was to make a dialogue system not for a finished title, but for the impatient prototyping writer.
How It Works
Most AAA studios use a spreadsheet-based approach for dialogue handling, so I opted to give my system similar functionality and based everyone out of MS Excel. By entering text into cells following an established legend, dialogue is processed into corresponding conversation phases. These conversation phases are then linked together with the use of a number of established tags, giving the writer the ability to script the functionality of an entire dialogue without even opening Unity. Furthermore, these linked tags can also be used to trigger events, and can establish dialogue dependent on conditions (items in inventory, quest phase, etc.), providing the possibility for intricate branching dialogues. All of the scripts are written in C#, and there is an integrated editor menu for creating new dialogue instances that all link to a central 'control centre'.
With just a Canvas and a 'DialogueControlCenter' object the system can be added into almost any project.
Following a simple format and tag system, text entry through Excel is extremely efficient.
The system can detect and react to factors in the scene, as well as fire off triggers at any desired conversation phase.
With just a Canvas and a 'DialogueControlCenter' object the system can be added into almost any project.
Project Goals
My hope for this project is that it empowers indie game designers/writers of all skill levels to quickly integrate dialogue content into their games without having to spend large sums of money or learn advanced programming. Once the package to a point I'm happy with, I may introduce it into the Unity store and make some tutorial videos on how to use it.