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[1] 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
Using the pattern
Feedback to utterances initiated by players or simply utterances by NPCs can take several forms in Dialogues. The simplest to
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 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. One specific types of Information Passing that can serve in both these ways is Gossip.
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.
A major limitation to the complexity or procedural-generation of Dialogues is if they are to be communicated partially or wholly by voice acting.
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
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, Gossip, Narration Structures, Performative Utterances, Quests
Can Modulate
Companions, Detective Structures, Ephemeral Goals, Helpers, Non-Player Characters
Can Be Instantiated By
with Non-Player Characters
Brokering, False Accusations, Maintaining Lies
Can Be Modulated By
Colloquial Mastery, Delicate Phrasing, Gossip, Inaccessible Areas, Information Passing, Mixed Initiative Dialogues, Single-Initiative Dialogues
Possible Closure Effects
Potentially Conflicting With
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
- ↑ Brusk, J. 2014. Steps Towards Creating Socially Competent Game Characters. Doctoral thesis, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
