Dialogues

[[Category:To be Published]]

Diegetic conversations controlled by a game systems.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Note: Many of the patterns concerning dialogues were first identified in the research reported in chapter 3 of the PhD thesis Steps Towards Creating Socially Competent Game Characters by Jenny Brusk. This thesis also describes how to model dialogues in Harel statecharts.

Examples

Mass Effect series Zork series MUD2 DragonMud Dragon Age series Facade

Grim Fandango

Using the pattern

The Scripted Information Sequences

Indirect information

Ambiguous Responses

Detective Structures

Outspoken Support Requesting Support Incremental Dialogue Processing Chunk-based Dialogue Processing Basic Input Feedback Canned Text Responses Thematically Consistent Dialogues Context Dependent Dialogues Contextualized Conversational Responses Gameplay Integrated Conversations Location-Specific Dialogues Character-Specific Dialogues

While many dialogue systems are Single-Initiative Dialogues in that players need to activate them for them to occur, another possibility is that of Mixed Initiative Dialogues where Non-Player Characters can start the Dialogues with players. Examples of when this occurs is in the Elder Scrolls series and Fallout series.

Challenges can be added to using Dialogues. For example, players may need to use Delicate Phrasing (as in some of the challenges in Grim Fandango) or require Colloquial Mastery. When the Dialogues are with Non-Player Characters further options opens up for designing for skill requirements regarding Brokering, making False Accusations, or Maintaining Lies.

Non-Player Characters Game State Indicators Companions Detective Structures Gossip Ephemeral Goals Quests Inaccessible Areas Clues Helpers

While Dialogues consist of Information Passing, what can be said in one Dialogue can be modified by the knowledge the player has acquired earlier, i.e. through earlier Information Passing.

Diegetic Aspects

Given that many Dialogues take place between Characters in Game Worlds, they need to be crafted to fit the game's setting if the game should have Diegetic Consistency.

Interface Aspects

Dialogues are either an interface or the interface to the game in which it exists, so the pattern is a.

Narrative Aspects

Narration Structures are typically created through Dialogues since many Dialogues are created so the series of utterances made will have a casuality.

Consequences

Dialogues are a form of Communication Channel. All statements in Dialogues are examples of Information Passing but the ones that also change the game state are in addition Performative Utterances. When a game's interface is a Dialogues, the game has a Illocutionary Interface.

Relations

Indirect information

Ambiguous Responses

Outspoken Support Requesting Support Incremental Dialogue Processing Chunk-based Dialogue Processing Basic Input Feedback Canned Text Responses Thematically Consistent Dialogues Context Dependent Dialogues Contextualized Conversational Responses Gameplay Integrated Conversations Location-Specific Dialogues Character-Specific Dialogues

Can Instantiate

Communication Channels, Clues, Game State Indicators, Illocutionary Interfaces, Information Passing, Narration Structures, Performative Utterances, Quests

Can Modulate

Companions, Detective Structures, Ephemeral Goals, Helpers, Non-Player Characters

Can Be Instantiated By

Gossip, Non-Player Characters, Scripted Information Sequences

with Non-Player Characters

Brokering, False Accusations, Maintaining Lies

Can Be Modulated By

Colloquial Mastery, Delicate Phrasing, Inaccessible Areas, Information Passing, Mixed Initiative Dialogues, Single-Initiative Dialogues

History

New pattern created in this wiki.