Unity Conversation Engine

I wanted to have a dialog or conversation script that not only plays some audio and throws up subtitles, but also uses cinematic camera shots. I couldn't find any, so I made my own. I originally planned to sell it, but I never got around finishing it, and the project I'm doing it for has been put on the back burner until spring.

So I'm posting the result here. Find everything at

http://lemuria.org/projects/wiki/UnityConversationMaker

UPDATE: It's now on github, use this linke:
https://github.com/tvogt/conversationengine


Attached is a screenshot of what it looks like in the editor. This script allows you to set up a branching dialog system with cinematic camera shots, subtitles and a small list of nice features. It's free of charge. If you make any improvements, I'd be happy if you post them or share them with me.

 

Looks very good.

 

WOW !!!!! You're awesome Tom !!!! I'm not a coder but i really hope your conversation engine will be implemented by the community ( and fix the few bugs if there are any ...)

Big Big Thanks !!!!!

 

Can this make like quest dialog ?

 

Or perhaps an introductory slide show? Very cool stuff Tom.

P.S. - Why the screenshot from "Inglorious Basterds"?

 

@Demonith: That is what it's for, yes.

@bigkahuna: If you go creative, you could use it for introductions, though it is really built for dialogs, so it needs two actors, etc. The screenshot simply because it illustrates the classic "over the shoulder" shot so well.

 

Thankyou i was just creating a game who really needed this!
im very thankfull that you make it free

 

Fantastic tool, I can only say thks!

 

You're welcome. My Terrain Tools are getting a good reception, so it was time to contribute something for free to the community as well.

 

i get every tim the nullreference exception error

I don't know what i did wrong.

 

Downloaded the conversation engine! It's looking good so far.

Very well-done, sir!

 

Thanks ! This is awesome stuff ! But how do i set the method and parameter areas ? like how do i call functions as you say in the readme file ? and how do i pause the player animations or stop the player completely so that the player does not move when conversations start ? and how do i restart the players movements again ? Good job though ! Even tho i don't know how to use it

 

Looking at the code, line 98 as the error message says, it appears that you do not have an object with the "Player" tag in your scene. Check that. I agree it should be listed as an explicit requirement, that's one of the downsides of an unfinished script - bad documentation.

 

When you activate the "Action" checkbox, further fields will appear that allow you to enter the necesary data.

To stop, turn or otherwise have player and/or NPC react to the beginning or end of the conversation, make sure they have a script attached with a StartConversationActions() and a StopConversationActions() method. Those will be called when the dialog starts, or ends.

 

this helps
thanks

 

My turn with error detection!

So, I have a test conversation:

0: I'm glad you made it, Exile! We've only got one chance to save this village and it involves all the skills a hacker like you would have!
1: The good news is that we have some spare supplies you can use!

CHOICE!
-And the bad news? (To 2)
-What's the catch? (To 2)

2: The bad news is that you'll have to use them against a pack of Vernul that are barricading our village's Comms center.

CHOICE!
-I understand. I'll go now. (To 3)
-What do I get out of this? (To 4)
-Some dogs are why I'm here!? (To 4)

3: Oh! One more thing before you go! Our comms are fully computer-driven, so make sure you've got equipment to interface with a computer before you fix the Comms system!
4: Well...our village is rather poor. We're still attracting settlers. We can give you only a little, but you also keep all the gear you use!

CHOICE!
-Consider the Comms fixed.

...When I end a conversation with this choice, I wind up getting these two errors:

Code (csharp):

1. ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Argument is out of range.
2. Parameter name: index
3. System.Collections.Generic.List`1[Conversation+DialogItem].get_Item (Int32 index)
4. Conversation+<StartConversation>c__Iterator0.MoveNext () (at Assets/scripts/Control/Dialogs/Conversation.cs:116)

Code (csharp):

1. ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Argument is out of range.
2. Parameter name: index
3. System.Collections.Generic.List`1[Conversation+DialogItem].get_Item (Int32 index)
4. Conversation.OnGUI () (at Assets/scripts/Control/Dialogs/Conversation.cs:217)

When I look at the code, it appears it dosen't like branching nodes to end the conversation, and I'd rather not make a "null" conversation line - there are plenty of situations like a "I'll just go." dialogue option to quickly back out of the interactive cutscene.

 

i have this too

 

how do i do that part ? like what am i suppose to type in there or put in there ?

 

Correct, the jump targets have to exist. I understand what you want to do. A "null" conversation - with empty subtitles and "wait for" set to subtitle - would be the right solution for the moment.

 

As a matter of fact, looking into the code I think I didn't finish that part. It should be as easy as adding something like

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. if (has_action) {
3.    Player.BroadcastMessage(ActionMethod, ActionParameter);
4. }
5.  

into it.

 

this code needs it to be in conversation.js or in own script?
And with this code its possible to start quests etc. right?

 

I have a small problem to write dialogue that there are no errors.But I do not know what to do to activate dialog.The idea is that when I click on the NPC will start a dialogue.Something you need to add in the script?

 

you need to call StartConversationActions.
Example:

Code (csharp):

1. function OnMouseDown(){
2. gameObject.BroadcastMessage("StartConversationActions");
3.      gameObject.BroadcastMessage("OnTriggerEnter");
4.  
5. }

put something like this on the same object as the convesation.

 

revivig the thread:

Someone know how fix "out of argument"?

This script is terrific. =)

Thanks.

 

I just found this little thingy and hoping for some help and guidance. Im doing a 2d book in unity and Im going to have a narrative voice + text. Would this little package be able to help me out in this area?

Example.
You turn to the new page:
The first 2 sentences are displayed as subtitles and the narrative voice starts automatically. When the voice starts on the third sentence the subtitles switch to the next set of sentences to be displayed.
When the audio narrative voice is done I will have a button pop up to go to next page.
Is this possible with this package or do you have any other suggestions?

Cheers!

 

@Slater: You could probably hack it up, but since much of the code is there to deal with actors, camera angles, etc. you would probably be better off to write your own script for your purpose.

 

Hy every one!!!!First, I have to thanks a lot to Tom for the script, and second I´m doing a game for the university, for learning some programing, but i don´t know why this awesome code not work....maybe my unity version???maybe my unknown???I put the StartConversationActions in the script, on both of them, the player an the NPC, but continue without work.

Thanks a lot

 

Reviving this quite old thread, but I can't seem to trigger the script to run at all, all I get is a the error:

Failed to call function OnTriggerEnter of class triggerconvo
Calling function OnTriggerEnter with no parameters but the function requires 1.
UnityEngine.GameObject:BroadcastMessage(String)

and

BroadcastMessage StartConversationActions has no receiver!
UnityEngine.GameObject:BroadcastMessage(String)

Is there some tag I'm missing? I can make the gameobject turn to the player, but no dialogue appears.

 

My best guess without looking at any code is that the API has changed and OnTriggerEnter() now requires a paramenter. Check the Unity documentation for what that parameter is and update the script to include it.

 

Thanks, Tom, this is working.

I just made this javascript and put it on the NPC cube made his Box Collider a Trigger-Yes, made the collider larger than the cube

//StartConversation.js, starts conversation with NPC place on him
#pragma strict



function OnMouseDown(){

gameObject.BroadcastMessage("StartConversationActions");

gameObject.BroadcastMessage("OnTriggerEnter");
}


A few questions. the script jumps to the Conversation camera on start of conversation, what if you just wanted to use the camera built in
to the FPS controller?

Does the Player need the conversation scripts or just the NPC's?

Any way to save the conversations so on reload the conversation would resume where left off?

 

I'm having a little problem getting past a 2 sentence conversation,

1. Branching choice
Hello Player-to branching choice -Hello NPC (but there's no way to select who's saying, except on 'add dialog element'
Goodbye-end conversation-This gives' index out of range error line 116'

Next bit is "Hello NPC". How do I get the npc to reply and then continue back and forth?

"Enough chitchat, it's time for some action!" Dupre in Ultima 6

 

Sure, hike1, all of that is easily possible - you just have to code it yourself.

Sorry that I can't provide actual support for this, it's been at least a year until I've looked at the code. Maybe I should put it on github and make it a community project?

 

There is now a github repository for this:

https://github.com/tvogt/conversationengine


If you have made any changes or updates, contributing them back would be really cool.

 

Thanks, there are 2 scripts I didn't have before, DialogControl.js and Dialog.js, are these used in addition to Conversation.cs and ConversationActions.js?
I assume the Editor is always needed.

 

Was going to take a look at the github but then saw the license... it's CC-SA which basically works just like GPL; you can not use this code in a game unless you open source the entire game. Is that the intention?

 

That's not how I read the license.

It is GPL-like if you build an adaptation, derivation, etc. - i.e. if you take it, expand it and create a better conversation library with it.

I don't read it as applying to a game you build using it. But if you're worried, tell me which license you think is better.

 

Creative Commons themselves don't recommend using CC licenses on software because they agree the interperetation is murky; CC licenses were written with music and movies in mind more than source code. (Link) But GPL has put a lot of work into enforcing the idea that any code that incorporates someone else's code is a derivative work, so CC agrees that a CC-SA license would probably be enforced similarly to GPL.

Personally I like the MIT license (link) or the BSD license (link). They let people use the code for pretty much whatever they want.

 

Negative. I don't want MIT or BSD licenses. I didn't put this out there so someone else can take it, polish it a little and then put it on the Asset Store as a commercial product.

The part where it says that you have to share-alike if you expand it is fully intentional. It's the part about using it in your game that needs clarification.

 

I've clarified the license file.

If you use it to create a game, apply the BSD license.
If you create a new conversation script based on this, it's still the CC license.

 

That sounds good. Thanks Tom!

 

It would be fantastic if anyone could provide any additional information about the method and parameter sections and how they work. One of the posters referred to a read_me. But, the download didn't have one included. Any help is appreciated.

 

This is pretty cool. When I clicked here, I was expecting something remarkably simple, -but the branching choices and dynamic cameras are really cool. The interface looks a little bit cumbersome to work with, but I can't speak on experience with it. I might throw together a project on the side that uses this, though.

 

I have some people smarter than me working on how to fix the action component. Will post a solution if they agree. It is a bit frustrating that it is unfinished, but a great tool none-the-less

 

I'm glad that this is picking up steam. I do think it's a cool tool and I'm kind of sorry that I never finished it, but now that it's on github, the community will probably turn it into something even better, and that's really cool.

 

Alright. I am, by no means a coder. But I am trying to figure out how to solve this problem with the action/parameter issue to ensure that using the conversation engine will allow you to complete quests.

What I know:

1. Tom mentioned that he did not finished that section of the script. He also provided some sample code that may help solve the problem.

Code (csharp):

1. if (has_action) {
2.  
3.    Player.BroadcastMessage(ActionMethod, ActionParameter);
4.  
5. }

2. These is a section in Conversation.cs which appears to be relevant, but I don't think this boolean is every referred to anywhere else.

Code (csharp):

1. public bool has_action = false;
2.         public String ActionMethod;
3.         public String ActionParameter;

3. Player is never defined in ConversationEditor.cs . Suggests that Tom meant the code provided in (1.) to go into Conversation.cs instead of ConversationEditor.cs.


What I don't know:

1. Exactly where in Conversation.cs the provided code should be inserted.
2. whether the provided code will be sufficient.
3. whether additional functions need to be written to execute the action (this seems likely).

Still working on it.

-----------------------

EDIT:

This appears to just add the text fields and other elements to the GUI.

Code (csharp):

1. dialog.has_action = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Action", dialog.has_action);
2.                     if (dialog.has_action) {
3.                         EditorGUILayout.BeginHorizontal(); EditorGUILayout.Space(); EditorGUILayout.BeginVertical();
4.                             dialog.ActionMethod = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Method", dialog.ActionMethod);
5.                             dialog.ActionParameter = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Parameter", dialog.ActionParameter);
6.                         EditorGUILayout.EndVertical(); EditorGUILayout.EndHorizontal();            
7.                     }

I *think* the code Tom provided needs to go somewhere in here:

Code (csharp):

1.     // run the conversation tree       
2.             for (index = 0; index < dialog.Count; index++) {
3.                 DialogItem d = dialog[index];
4.  
5.                 PositionCamera(Camera.main.transform, d);
6.  
7.                 if (d.is_branch) {
8.                     if (CursorLocked) Screen.lockCursor = false; // unlock the cursor, because we need it
9.                     branching = true; talking = false;
10.                     yield return StartCoroutine(Branch(d, index));
11.                     index--; // correct that the for loop will increment it
12.                     if (CursorLocked) Screen.lockCursor = true; // lock the cursor, if it was locked
13.                 } else {
14.                     talking = true; branching = false;
15.                     yield return StartCoroutine(Talk(d));
16.                 }
17.                
18.            
19.            
20.             } // endof loop over all dialog elements

I am not able to get the syntax right just yet. Still working on it.

 

So, I fixed the problem with the Camera thing.

If you want to disable the use of the camera created in the script (and just use the camera on your First person controller), find this line:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2.     PositionCamera(Camera.main.transform, d);

and delete it.

All of the definitions for the camera are still there, so if you want to added that line back in later, you can.

 

I *think* this is right so far.

Code (csharp):

1. using System;
2. using System.Collections;
3. using System.Collections.Generic;
4. using UnityEngine;
5.  
6. [Serializable] 
7. public class Conversation : MonoBehaviour {
8.  
9.     public enum Perspectives {
10.         Classic_Two_Shot,
11.         Player_Profile, Player_Halfprofile, Near_Player_looking_at_NPC, Behind_Player_looking_at_NPC,
12.         NPC_Profile, NPC_Halfprofile, Near_NPC_looking_at_Player, Behind_NPC_looking_at_Player
13.     };
14.     public enum Angles {
15.         low, level, high
16.     }
17.     public enum Distances {
18.         closeup, medium, full
19.     }
20.     public enum Sides {
21.         left, right
22.     }
23.     public enum Waits {
24.         Audio, Animation, Subtitle
25.     }
26.     public enum Speakers {
27.         Player, NPC
28.     }
29.  
30.     [Serializable] 
31.     public class DialogItem {
32.         public bool show = true;
33.         public Speakers speaker = Speakers.NPC;
34.         public AudioClip spoken = null;
35.         public string subtitle = "(enter subtitle text)";
36.         public AnimationClip player_animation = null;
37.         public AnimationClip npc_animation = null;
38.         public Waits wait = Waits.Audio;
39.         public bool show_camera =true;
40.         public Perspectives perspective = Perspectives.Classic_Two_Shot;
41.         public Angles angle = Angles.level;
42.         public Distances distance = Distances.medium;
43.         public Sides side = Sides.left;
44.        
45.         public bool is_branch = false;
46.         public List<String> choice;
47.         public List<int> jump;
48.        
49.         public bool has_action = false;
50.         public String ActionMethod;
51.         public String ActionParameter;
52.        
53.         public DialogItem(bool branch=false, bool act=false) {
54.             if (branch) {
55.                 is_branch = true;
56.                 subtitle = "Branching Choice";
57.             }
58.            
59.             if (act) {
60.                 has_action = true;
61.                 subtitle = "Action";
62.             }  
63.         }
64. }
65.        
66.    
67.    
68.     public void Act() {
69.    
70.     GameObject player = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player");
71.         player.GetComponent<questCount>().questChange(999);
72.    
73.            
74.     }
75.    
76.    
77.        
78.     public List<DialogItem> dialog;
79.  
80.  
81.     // other variables
82.     public bool Repeat = false; // whether or not we repeat the conversation when the player comes a 2nd time
83.     public GUISkin MySkin;
84.     public float subtitle_width = 0.8f;
85.     public float subtitle_offset = 0.05f;
86.     public float subtitle_margin = 32f;
87.    
88.     private bool firsttime = true;
89.     private GameObject Player;
90.     private Transform CamOrigParent;
91.     private Vector3 CamOrigPos;
92.     private Quaternion CamOrigRot;
93.  
94.     private Transform Player_Face;
95.     private Transform NPC_Face;
96.     private float scale;
97.  
98.     private bool talking = false;
99.     private bool branching = false;
100.     private int index = 0;
101.     private bool CursorLocked = false;
102.  
103.     void OnTriggerEnter() {
104.         if (firsttime || Repeat) {
105.             firsttime = false;
106.             gameObject.BroadcastMessage("StartConversationActions", null, SendMessageOptions.DontRequireReceiver);
107.             StartCoroutine(StartConversation());
108.         }
109.     }
110.  
111.     IEnumerator StartConversation() {
112.         if (dialog!=null) {
113.             CursorLocked = Screen.lockCursor;
114.             Player = GameObject.FindWithTag("Player");
115.             Player.BroadcastMessage("SetControllable", false);
116.             scale = Player.transform.lossyScale.y/2;
117.             Player_Face = Player.transform.Find("Face");
118.             if (!Player_Face) { // fallback - our main position
119.                 Player_Face = Player.transform;
120.             }
121.             NPC_Face = transform.Find("Face");
122.             if (!NPC_Face) { // fallback - we don't have a face, so we use our main position
123.                 NPC_Face = transform;
124.             }
125.  
126.             CamOrigParent = Camera.main.transform.parent;
127.             CamOrigPos = Camera.main.transform.localPosition;
128.             CamOrigRot = Camera.main.transform.localRotation;
129.             Camera.main.transform.parent = null;
130.  
131.             // run the conversation tree       
132.             for (index = 0; index < dialog.Count; index++) {
133.                 DialogItem d = dialog[index];
134.                 DialogItem h = dialog[index];
135.  
136.                 PositionCamera(Camera.main.transform, d);
137.  
138.                 if (d.is_branch) {
139.                     if (CursorLocked) Screen.lockCursor = false; // unlock the cursor, because we need it
140.                     branching = true; talking = false;
141.                     yield return StartCoroutine(Branch(d, index));
142.                     index--; // correct that the for loop will increment it
143.                     if (CursorLocked) Screen.lockCursor = true; // lock the cursor, if it was locked
144.                 } else {
145.                     talking = true; branching = false;
146.                     yield return StartCoroutine(Talk(d));
147.                 }
148.                
149.                 if (h.has_action) {
150.                
151.                 Player.BroadcastMessage(ActionMethod, ActionParameter);
152.                    
153.                 }
154.                
155.             } // endof loop over all dialog elements
156.  
157.             ReturnToScene();
158.         }
159.     }
160.  
161.     IEnumerator Talk(DialogItem d) {
162.         float WaitTime = 0f;
163.  
164.         switch (d.wait) {
165.             case Waits.Audio:
166.                 if (d.spoken!=null) WaitTime = d.spoken.length;
167.                 break;
168.             case Waits.Animation:
169.                 if (d.speaker==Speakers.Player) {
170.                     if (d.player_animation) WaitTime = d.player_animation.length;
171.                 } else {
172.                     if (d.npc_animation) WaitTime = d.npc_animation.length;
173.                 }
174.                 break;
175.         }
176.         // fallback - same as Waits.Subtitle
177.         if (WaitTime==0f) WaitTime = (float)d.subtitle.Length/12f;
178.        
179.         // spoken text audio output
180.         if (d.spoken) {
181.             audio.enabled = true;
182.             audio.clip = d.spoken;
183.             audio.Play();
184.         }
185.        
186.         // animations
187.         if (d.player_animation  Player.animation!=null) Player.animation.CrossFade(d.player_animation.name);
188.         if (d.npc_animation  animation!=null) animation.CrossFade(d.npc_animation.name);
189.  
190.         // wait until we are done before doing next in loop
191.         yield return new WaitForSeconds(WaitTime);
192.        
193.     }
194.  
195.     IEnumerator Branch(DialogItem d, int i) {
196.         while (index == i) {
197.             yield return null;
198.         }
199.     }
200.  
201.     void ReturnToScene() {
202.         talking = false;
203.         gameObject.BroadcastMessage("StopConversationActions", null, SendMessageOptions.DontRequireReceiver);
204.        
205.         Camera.main.transform.parent = CamOrigParent;
206.         Camera.main.transform.localPosition = CamOrigPos;
207.         Camera.main.transform.localRotation = CamOrigRot;
208.  
209.         Player.BroadcastMessage("SetControllable", true);
210.  
211.         // back to the default animation - since we're making a camera cut, no need to fade
212.         if (animation!=null) {
213.             animation.Stop();
214.             animation.Play();
215.         }
216.     }
217.  
218.  
219.     /* ========== Camera Handling and GUI ========== */
220.  
221.     void OnGUI() {
222.         if (talking || branching) {
223.             GUI.skin = MySkin;
224.  
225.             // estimate the height we will need
226.             int fontsize = GUI.skin.label.fontSize;
227.             if (fontsize==0) {
228.                 // default font size - how do we get this? TODO
229.                 fontsize=24;
230.             }
231.             if (talking) {
232.                 float chars_per_line = (float)Screen.width*0.8f / (float)fontsize;
233.                 float lines = 1.2f*Mathf.Ceil((float)(dialog[index].subtitle.Length)/(chars_per_line*2f)); // 1.2 lines-with-spacing times lines required, estimating that width of characters is 1/2 height at average
234.  
235.                 GUILayout.BeginArea(new Rect(Screen.width*(1f-subtitle_width)/2f, Screen.height-(fontsize*lines)-(Screen.height*subtitle_offset)-subtitle_margin, Screen.width*subtitle_width, (float)(fontsize*lines)+ subtitle_margin), new GUIStyle("box"));
236.                 GUILayout.Label(dialog[index].subtitle);
237.                 GUILayout.EndArea();
238.             } else {
239.                 float lines = 1.6f*(float)dialog[index].choice.Count; // need more space, for the buttons
240.  
241.                 GUILayout.BeginArea(new Rect(Screen.width*(1f-subtitle_width)/2f, Screen.height-(fontsize*lines)-(Screen.height*subtitle_offset)-subtitle_margin, Screen.width*subtitle_width, (float)(fontsize*lines)+ subtitle_margin), new GUIStyle("box"));
242.                 for (int i=0; i<dialog[index].choice.Count; i++) {
243.                     if (GUILayout.Button((i+1)+" - "+dialog[index].choice[i])) {
244.                         index = dialog[index].jump[i];
245.                         branching = false;
246.                     }
247.                 }
248.                 GUILayout.EndArea();               
249.             }
250.         }
251.     }
252.  
253.  
254.     void PositionCamera(Transform DialogCamera, DialogItem d) {
255.         Vector3 Look;
256.         Vector3 Side;
257.         float distance = 2f;
258.            
259.         if (d.side==Sides.left) Side=Vector3.left; else Side=Vector3.right;
260.            
261.         if (d.distance==Distances.closeup) {
262.             distance = 1f;
263.         } else if (d.distance==Distances.full) {
264.             distance = 3f;
265.         } else { // medium = default
266.             distance = 2f;
267.         }
268.  
269.  
270.         if (d.perspective == Perspectives.Near_Player_looking_at_NPC) {
271.             DialogCamera.position = Player_Face.position;
272.             DialogCamera.LookAt(NPC_Face);
273.             DialogCamera.Translate(Side * distance);
274.             Look = NPC_Face.position;
275.         } else if (d.perspective == Perspectives.Behind_Player_looking_at_NPC) {
276.             DialogCamera.position = Player_Face.position;
277.             DialogCamera.LookAt(NPC_Face);
278.             DialogCamera.Translate((Side-Vector3.forward)*distance);
279.             Look = NPC_Face.position;
280.         } else if (d.perspective == Perspectives.Near_NPC_looking_at_Player) {
281.             DialogCamera.position = NPC_Face.position;
282.             DialogCamera.LookAt(Player_Face);
283.             DialogCamera.Translate(Side*distance);
284.             Look = Player_Face.position;
285.         } else if (d.perspective == Perspectives.Behind_NPC_looking_at_Player) {
286.             DialogCamera.position = NPC_Face.position;
287.             DialogCamera.LookAt(Player_Face);
288.             DialogCamera.Translate((Side-Vector3.forward)*distance);
289.             Look = Player_Face.position;
290.         } else if (d.perspective == Perspectives.Player_Profile) {
291.             DialogCamera.position = Player_Face.position;
292.             DialogCamera.LookAt(NPC_Face);
293.             DialogCamera.Translate(Side*distance);
294.             Look = Player_Face.position;
295.         } else if (d.perspective == Perspectives.Player_Halfprofile) {
296.             DialogCamera.position = Player_Face.position;
297.             DialogCamera.LookAt(NPC_Face);
298.             DialogCamera.Translate((Side+Vector3.forward)*distance);
299.             Look = Player_Face.position;
300.         } else if (d.perspective == Perspectives.NPC_Profile) {
301.             DialogCamera.position = NPC_Face.position;
302.             DialogCamera.LookAt(Player_Face);
303.             DialogCamera.Translate(Side*distance);
304.             Look = NPC_Face.position;
305.         } else if (d.perspective == Perspectives.NPC_Halfprofile) {
306.             DialogCamera.position = NPC_Face.position;
307.             DialogCamera.LookAt(Player_Face);
308.             DialogCamera.Translate((Side+Vector3.forward)*distance);
309.             Look = NPC_Face.position;
310.         } else { // classic two_shot = default
311.             var Target = Vector3.Min(NPC_Face.position, Player_Face.position) + (Vector3.Max(NPC_Face.position, Player_Face.position) - Vector3.Min(NPC_Face.position, Player_Face.position))/2;
312.             DialogCamera.position = Target;
313.             DialogCamera.LookAt(NPC_Face);
314.             DialogCamera.Translate(Side * distance * Vector3.Distance(NPC_Face.position, Player_Face.position)/2);
315.             Look = Target;
316.         }
317.  
318.         if (d.angle==Angles.low) {
319.             DialogCamera.Translate(-Vector3.up * distance * scale, Space.World);
320.         } else if (d.angle==Angles.high) {
321.             DialogCamera.Translate(Vector3.up * distance * scale, Space.World);
322.         } else { // level = default
323.         }
324.  
325.         DialogCamera.LookAt(Look);
326.        
327.     }
328. }
329.  

This section will produce errors for right now. ActionMethod and ActionParameter aren't defined yet, I don't think. So it doesn't know what to do with those just yet. But, otherwise I think the structure is right. I think...

Code (csharp):

1. Player.BroadcastMessage(ActionMethod, ActionParameter)

Replacing Player.BroadcastMessage...... with a GetComponent to call a function in another script works. I just need to figure out how to get that call to accept the information from the text fields.

 

Huzzah! This doesn't fix everything. Not yet. But, on to the next problem.

Code (csharp):

1. if (h.has_action) {
2.                    
3.                     Debug.Log ("Fire1");
4.                    
5.                     GameObject player = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player");
6.                     player.BroadcastMessage(j.ActionMethod,p.ActionParameter);
7.                    
8.                 }

 

It's late and I'm tired, so, with plenty of salt:


The basic idea was that the Conversation script knows nothing about your actors, quests or such and doesn't have to. What it does is define points in the dialog tree where a message is broadcast. That message is picked up by the actor and he can do whatever it is he needs to do.


So the Conversation script would broadcast such messages as StartQuest() or GetGold(100) or whatever, but it would not handle these actions itself.

In these examples, ActionMethod would be "GetGold" and ActionParameter would be 100. And the Player object would have a GetGold(int amount) method defined that internally does whatever it needs to do to add 100 gold to the player, probably calling the inventory handling system or whatever.

 

Yes, that is understood. In my case, that is the setup I am using. I have no doubt that you built a tool that could be easily polished up to do this effortlessly. But I've been coding in c# for about a week. So, it's been a difficult go to try to sort through everything to figure out exactly what you left out and where.

I am hoping that I (or someone else) can post a solution to get it working.