Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
There is a very exotic and at the same time a very creative approach to create dia-
logues: using graphic icons instead of words. Its main advantage is that it is lan-
guage independent. It should not be translated into another language when a game
is published in foreign markets. The phrases can be interpreted by kids, who cannot
read yet, because there are no word sentences. Each dialog box consists of symbol-
ic images, icons that represent a thing or event, special graphic tricks, or simple an-
imations expressing actions (such an approach is used in Machinarium). Of course
there are a lot of limitations. It is very hard to illustrate complex plots; moreover,
some icons can be unrecognizable by some people and the style by itself is more
common for funny and cartoon games. At once, symbolic writing looks very creative
and includes a huge potential to create puzzles, since various types of rebuses can
be constructed on its base.
Creating the dialogue window
In general any dialogue with NPCs is an interruption of the main game process. It is
a special mode that looks and feels different to the general gameplay, as a rule it is
isolated from all external factors. For example, a character can be killed when he is
talking with somebody because any dialogue can be considered as a form of pause
of the main game process. Thus, as usual, a special window or panels are activated
to display portions of the conversation tree.
Oneofthedramaticresultscanbeachievedbyusingthetalkingheadmethod, which
was popularized by the Fallout game series. The NPC that a player is talking with
is shown in close-up, so all details of his face and mimics are well seen. Such an
approach is very close to cinema, where close-up is traditional practice to illustrate
a dialogue scene. The audience is drawn in conversation shown at screen, as if the
viewers would stay near the actors. Some games do not change the angle of the vir-
tual camera, so the player only sees the NPC; this is the simplest way but other ones
show the player's avatar too. This looks very artistic and meaningful, but you must
abide by a simple rule known as the 180-degree rule, which comes directly from
cinematography. It defines positions of cameras that are shooting a conversation; it
is more like saying that between two characters, there is an imaginary line called the
axis of action and the cameras must be placed on the same side of the line and nev-
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