Video Games and Dialogue By Saim Zahid

Natural Language vs. Scripted Conversations.  Natural language refers to ordinary language as spoken or written by human beings. Computer scientists devised the term to contrast ordinary human language with computer (or programming) languages.  Extremely difficult problem of making computers understand and react appropriately to natural language.  Closest we have come are things like Siri and Google Now.  We want the player to be able to engage in conversations with NPCs, especially in storytelling games. A scripted conversation allows us to approximate this.

Scripted Conversations  One enters a scripted conversation, either because the player chooses to speak to an NPC or an NPC chooses to speak to the player  Think about Dragon Age, Skyrim.

Example of Scripted Conversation.  Dragon Age Inquistion Dialogue Dragon Age Inquistion Dialogue  Might have Spoilers, but this is all for the greater good.

Dialogue Trees.  Scripted conversations are sometimes designed using dialogue trees.  Dialogue Tree -> branching data structure a little like the branching story tree

Dialogue Trees (Cont.)  The exchanges enable user to project their emotions into the conversation.  Things like anger, indifference, happiness.  Choices might have an impact on the story and relationship with NPC.

 Sometimes the entire game depends on these scripted conversations.  LA Noire Interrogation Gameplay LA Noire Interrogation Gameplay

Design Issues  When you create a dialogue tree, you must be sure that every possible pathway through the tree produces a credible conversation.  When you create a dialogue tree, you must be sure that every possible pathway through the tree produces a credible conversation

ANOTHER APPROACH!

Gandhi Civ 5

Conditional Branches and Exchanges  Dialogue Trees not as simple as choosing a response and giving an appropriate response.  Need other factors like charisma, negotiations/diplomacy skill.  “If the avatar’s charisma is greater than 12, give response A; otherwise give response B.”

Benefits of Scripted Conversation  The scripted conversation is not merely a mechanism for giving the player information, however. It’s a real part of the story, and the player’s choices can have a distinct effect on the progress of the game.  It also gives you a way to illustrate both the avatar’s and the NPC’s personality/emotions through something other than their appearance.

Dragon Age Dialogue Wheel.

When to write a story?  After the conceptual stage, during the elaboration stage.  We want you to wait to write the story because, until you know what gameplay the game will offer, you do not know what kinds of challenges the player will face and what sorts of actions she will be permitted to take.

Frustrated Author Syndrome.  Game designers who would really rather be authors in non interactive media— would-be movie directors, for example— often make a couple of key mistakes when writing interactive stories.

Major Mistakes.  They write linear stories while pretending it has more agency than it actually has.  They put large quantities of narrative when the player should be playing, rather than watching.

Episodic Delivery.  We have only discussed individual stories with definitive ends.  Other Types are:  Unlimited Series.  Serials  Limited Series.

 Serial.  A serial consists of a (theoretically) infinite sequence of episodes. In a serial, plot lines extend over several episodes, developing simultaneously but at different rates so that only rarely does any plot begin and end within a single episode.  Unlimited Series.  An unlimited series comprises a set of episodes, each consisting of a self-contained story in which the plot is both introduced and resolved.  Limited Series.  A limited series includes features of both the unlimited series and the serial. The limited series often combines single- episode plot lines, begun and resolved within one episode, with other plot lines that carry over from one episode to another.