Header for dialog gui (small feature request)

Radiant · Tue 31/08/2004 11:02:54

Hi there,

I would find it useful if the dialog GUI could display a header line (e.g. 'select one...' or 'your answer?'). The easiest way to implement this (or so it seems to me) would be that the first dialog option is displayed centered, and is not clickable.
(of course this requires a switchbox in the dialog editor)

Mr Jake · Tue 31/08/2004 11:10:48

I think the way AGS handles dialogs could do with new features etc. it seems to have been left in the dark.. ie different colour options when they have already been used, headers, Scrollable options etc.

SSH · Tue 31/08/2004 13:30:53

The easiest way is surely to make the caption part of the Dialog GUI?

Radiant · Tue 31/08/2004 15:13:09

Well, that too, of course

but I thought a dialog GUI was similar to a textbox GUI (at least that's what I'm using) and that doesn't support headers very well (okay, you can use the top left image and put text in it, I suppose)

SSH · Tue 31/08/2004 15:28:22

I don't think there's any reasons why you couldn't have a label in a dialog GUI. If you can't you can always have it in a separate, adjacent GUI anyway, although that would have be be turned on manually.

Mr Jake · Tue 31/08/2004 15:43:08

What if you wanted them split up? Like

Ask About:

Bleh
Bleh
Bleh

Reply with:
bleh
Bleh
Bleh

etc

ie, multiple dialog sections

SSH · Tue 31/08/2004 16:13:36

Write your own dialog engine?

Seriously, though, it could be a good idea what hotpsot said. I would suggest that each dialog option has an extra toggle box called "Clickable". This way you could in general have non-clickable lines such as Hotspot suggested. Also there could be a global variable called game.unclickable_dialog_justification, which could be set to CENTRE, LEFT or RIGHT to decide how the unclickable options are shown on the dialog GUI.

Whatdyafink?

Mr Jake · Tue 31/08/2004 16:24:36

I didnt suggest that O_O

SSH · Tue 31/08/2004 17:00:38

No, but what you suggested could be implemented with what I said. I just generalised and abstracted...

Pumaman · Tue 31/08/2004 20:20:26

I'm sort of wondering whether the dialog options should be totally customizalbe, by way of some sort of "draw_dialog_options" function in the global script which you could write, which would then use RawDraw type functions to construct the options. I'm currently unsure how feasible this is.

SSH · Wed 01/09/2004 12:56:44

Well, anything that makes icon-based dialogs easier is fine with me

Radiant · Thu 02/09/2004 18:44:42

I believe currently the dialogs are printed on a textbox GUI.
It's probably easiest to allow them to be printed on a non-textbox GUI? Then the user can customize whatever he wants. Simply create an option for Labels on the GUI to be filled in with dialog options. The rest can be set with SetButtonPic etc.

GarageGothic · Thu 02/09/2004 20:11:39

Quote from: Hotspot on Tue 31/08/2004 11:10:48different colour options when they have already been used, headers, Scrollable options etc.

Those are great ideas - especially the different color ones, I'd love to see implemented. Perhaps along with some kind of "repeat click"-option that would scroll through different replies after the main info was given. I.e. if you don't want to remove the topic altogether because it contains hints (like "stop bugging me, I told you to go distribute those flyers.").

Pumaman · Thu 02/09/2004 21:38:00

Because there are so many different things that people can want (eg. different colour options, header text, scrolling, etc) I think it makes more sense to go for a more generic approach and allow people to script whatever they want, rather than trying to keep adding more and more particular features in.

Scorpiorus · Thu 02/09/2004 22:06:04

Quote from: Radiant on Thu 02/09/2004 18:44:42
I believe currently the dialogs are printed on a textbox GUI.
It's probably easiest to allow them to be printed on a non-textbox GUI?

I don't know if it's an official thing but we can have dialog options printed on a non-textbox GUI.

Quote from: Pumaman on Thu 02/09/2004 21:38:00
Because there are so many different things that people can want (eg. different colour options, header text, scrolling, etc) I think it makes more sense to go for a more generic approach and allow people to script whatever they want, rather than trying to keep adding more and more particular features in.

That would be wonderful! Thus everybody can write his/her own dialog system and then we will have a bunch of dialog templates to choose from.

GarageGothic · Thu 02/09/2004 23:46:47

Quote from: Pumaman on Thu 02/09/2004 21:38:00
Because there are so many different things that people can want (eg. different colour options, header text, scrolling, etc) I think it makes more sense to go for a more generic approach and allow people to script whatever they want, rather than trying to keep adding more and more particular features in.

I totally agree with this - Most of the problems I come across in AGS are features that are hardcoded to act a certain way - i.e. as in the old Sierra and LucasArts-games. I was thinking though, if you start making things more generic - meaning that even basic things require a lot of scripting - are there any chance of a more modular approach to templates?

Pumaman · Sat 04/09/2004 14:09:03

Yeah, script 'modules' is something I've been meaning to implement for ages. Currently the global script can become rather a mess, particularly in larger games.

Dusk · Sat 04/09/2004 22:10:21

Quote from: Pumaman on Thu 02/09/2004 21:38:00
I think it makes more sense to go for a more generic approach and allow people to script whatever they want, rather than trying to keep adding more and more particular features in.

Great! I agree

thanks,

D.

Edwin Xie · Sun 05/09/2004 01:13:37

Maybe making a new dialog GUI?

Phemar · Mon 06/09/2004 08:53:30

Quote from: Radiant on Thu 02/09/2004 18:44:42
I believe currently the dialogs are printed on a textbox GUI.

Whaddya mean? My dialogs are on a normal gui, not a message-box one.

EDIT: Could I also request something now?

A "add-score-first int score" function for the dialogs which will only give the player score the first time he chooses that option and if it comes round again he won't carry on getting points.