Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Game designers would like to be able to include natural language in games without
trying to solve a decades-old research problem. We want the player to be able to
engage in conversations with nonplayer characters, especially in storytelling
games. A
scripted conversation
allows us to approximate this. (Note that level design
makes use of a technique often called “scripting” or “scripted events,” which is a
different, unrelated phenomenon.)
When entering a scripted conversation, either because the player chooses to speak
to an NPC or an NPC chooses to speak to the player, the game enters a new game-
play mode created specifically for the purpose. All other actions normally become
unavailable. The player doesn't speak or type his dialog but instead chooses a pre-
written line of dialog from a menu (see
Figure 7.4
). When the player chooses a line
of dialog, the game plays or prints an appropriate response from the NPC, after
which the system gives the player a new menu of lines to choose from (some of
which may be left over from the previous menu). This process goes back and forth
until either the NPC refuses to speak to the player any longer or the player chooses
to end the conversation.
FIGURE 7.4
The conversation menu
in
Neverwinter Nights 2
In Figure 7.4, which was adapted from
Neverwinter Nights 2
, the player's character,
Joshua, is talking with a character named Zaxis. The upper window displays the
last few exchanges from the conversation. The lower window displays Zaxis's most
