Dialogues

The Dialogue Editor lets you create interactive conversations between characters and the player. Dialogues consist of lines (spoken text or narration) and options (player responses) connected in a visual conversation graph.

Dialogues can branch, react to player choices, and trigger logic such as events, variables, or item changes.

The Dialogues panel lists all dialogues available in your story or scene. Each dialogue represents a conversation that can be triggered from a scene or event.

Multiple dialogues can exist within the same scene. For example, you might create separate dialogues for:

• Talking to different characters
• Inspecting objects
• Repeating interactions after story progress

Each dialogue is stored globally in your story and can be edited independently.

Dialogues are built using a visual node graph.

Each node represents part of the conversation:

• Blue nodes: The starting line of the dialogue
• Dark nodes: Regular dialogue lines
• Option nodes: Player response choices
• Green nodes: Dialogue endings

Nodes can be moved freely and connected by dragging from one node to another. The graph updates automatically as you add or remove elements.

For large conversations, the minimap helps you navigate the dialogue structure.

Dialogue lines represent text spoken by a character or narrated to the player.

Each line includes the following fields:

• Text: The dialogue or narration displayed to the player.
• Audio (optional): A voice clip or text-to-speech file.
• Speakers: Characters visible during this line.
• Active Speaker: The character currently speaking.
• Character Position: Determines where characters appear on screen.
• Scale (optional): Adjusts the visual size of the character sprite.

A dialogue line can include multiple speakers, allowing several characters to appear at once while one is marked as the active speaker.

Lines automatically continue to the next connected node unless the conversation branches into player options.

Dialogue options represent player responses that branch the conversation.

Each option contains:

• Text: The response shown to the player.
• Remember: When enabled, the choice is stored automatically so it can be referenced later in the story.
• Name of the Choice (optional): A unique identifier used when referencing the remembered choice.
• Conditions: Rules that control when the option is visible.

Options allow you to build branching conversations and context-sensitive responses.

For example:

• An option can appear only if the player owns a specific item.
• A response can disappear after it has been chosen once.
• A special dialogue path can unlock after a previous choice was remembered.

Dialogues integrate directly with Talescape’s logic systems.

• Conditions determine whether a line or option is visible.
• Events define what happens when a line appears or when a choice is selected.

Through events you can:

• Change variables
• Give or remove items
• Unlock achievements
• Trigger other gameplay systems

This allows story progression and gameplay logic to be handled directly inside conversations.

Connections between nodes define the flow of the conversation.

You can:

• Create links by dragging from one node to another
• Delete links by selecting the connection
• Move nodes to organize the dialogue layout

Options automatically create branches, allowing multiple possible paths through the conversation.

Green nodes mark dialogue endings, where the interaction concludes and control returns to the scene.

Dialogues are typically triggered from a scene element, such as interacting with a character or object.

A single scene can contain multiple independent dialogues, allowing different interactions depending on what the player chooses to do.

• Keep dialogue lines concise and readable.
• Use multiple speakers to create more dynamic conversations.
• Use conditions to make options appear only when relevant.
• Use remembered choices to track important decisions.
• Ensure every branch eventually reaches a dialogue ending.
• Test dialogue paths in Story Preview to verify logic and flow.

Well-designed dialogues form the emotional and structural backbone of interactive stories. They are where characters express themselves and where player choices shape the narrative.