ConFlo beta [new dialogue system attempt]

[hedgefield]

Hey guys,

For the past few months I've been working on my game college graduation project, where I attempted at doing something new with adventure game dialogue systems. Most of the dialogue systems we see are variations of the default list of inquiries, but in real life conversations are not just about badgering people with questions and then taking off, they are about interacting, getting to know eachother. We are so used to asking we often forget about responding.

So for my graduation project I asked myself: How can we give players a system for more natural and direct control of game conversations?

To figure that out I dove into the field of linguistics to discover what the characteristics of a typical conversation are, and which elements thereof are suitable for adaption into videogames. ConFlo is the result.

Aside from constructing responses more naturally, ConFlo attempts to better integrate the dialogue system with the regular gameplay experience. At any time during the game you can access it from the top-right corner of the screen. From there you can adress any character currently in the room with you. You can ask them questions, respond to things they say and tell them things. You can even ask yourself what it is you should be doing right now, as a sort of hint system. It also integrates the inventory so you can show other characters the items you've collected.



The system is far from done but I think it's pretty interesting already, and I'd love to hear your opinion on it.
Therefore I created two prototypes for you to test drive the system. They do not optimally utilize every aspect of the system yet, as new technology rarely does, but they should give you a pretty good idea of the idea behind it.

In the first prototype you will have to help John score a date with the cute girl at the bus stop. Asking questions alone will not get you there, you will also have to respond to really get her attention. (for those that have played 15 Minutes, just ignore the fact you play as Jake Brewer, I needed a character with a walkcycle so I used him )

The second prototype puts you in the shoes of a noir detective, tasked with solving a murder. You'll have to collect clues and interrogate suspects to figure out who the killer is. The GUI in this prototype features several tweaks over the one in v1.

Download here and let me know what you think!

[Tabata]

That was quite a fun. 

Playing the first one I didn't realise, that you still did an adv. ...

Spoiler

and didn't look for items first

[close]

and the second one reminds me of some online games I played some time ago (a detektive searching for clues also to catch the guilty).

Quite a good idea and well done - like two stand alone minigames - good work

[.M.M.]

First, this new way of interaction with other characters is really interesting and I hope you'll use it in some game. One thing bothered me in both prototypes: in fact, the player has to say everything to every one (in some order and in the 1st prototype, of course, with no insults).
Prototype 1: I liked how the player has to respond sometimes and not just ask about everything and then say everything. It would be even better if the compliments were related somehow to the current topic.
Prototype 2: It was interesting to watch how they change their statements according to player's actions. I only missed option to respond more to their replies about alibi etc.

[Stee]

I liked it. The interface style itself looked really clean and straight to the point. It was also much easier to navigate compared to the old school verb system we are used to. It gave me some ideas for interfaces for some mobile game development I'm thinking of doing.

The games themselves were entertaining, although it took me a little while to get used to. On the whole I liked the way you presented the dialogue system and I think it works quite well.

Give > Yourself > A pat on the back 

[hedgefield]

Thanks guys, glad you liked it
After the system itself was finished, I built each prototype in something like a day (not including testing & bugfixing), so not a lot of thought went into them. I would've liked to add more things, such as selecting from several theories when discussing the evidence with your partner and a lot more Response-based options, but I didn't want to spend too much time messing around with them as the focus is on the system, not the (mini)games.
There's probably a better way to present the options too as this takes up quite a bit of space, but it's the first iteration of this system, and it is far from perfect. I'll keep working on it, and maybe use it in a game here or there to see how it performs. I have to say I had a lot of fun doing the detective prototype, so I'm not excluding the possibility that I'll turn it into a full game someday

If anyone's interested I'd be cool with releasing it as a module so you can test-drive it yourself. It's almost completely modular so it should fit into most games relatively easy if you know what you're doing.

[Stee]

There's probably a better way to present the options too as this takes up quite a bit of space, but it's the first iteration of this system, and it is far from perfect.
If anyone's interested I'd be cool with releasing it as a module so you can test-drive it yourself. It's almost completely modular so it should fit into most games relatively easy if you know what you're doing.

If you're trying to work out how to save some space with this, you could just have the basic verbs (ie ask, tell, show etc), and when you click on them they extend to more detail. To me there's a lot of space being taken up by choices that aren't being used (those dark grey boxes dont need to be there).

[hedgefield]

Exactly. I was thinking about making the GUI expand dynamically based on which column you are in, maybe collapsing some of the columns once you select an option. Then the GUI would only be about this big when you reach the third column. There certainly are options.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I like it but I think it would work better as a drop-down verbcoin that only responded with options directed to the target it was over, so if it was over the lover it would generate the ask/respond/tell/show but without the middle column.