Conversation Editor

[Rhis]

Here's one I made earlier.


(click for big)

I don't have enough time to do a full writeup of the capabilities, so consider this a sneak peek.

My main aim with this tool, as with all the new Grim Dawn tools, was to strike a good balance between ease of use and power. Keeping our tools as easy to use as possible is great as we are working with limited time and need to be able to create quality new assets as fast as possible. Replacing the entire quest system is quite a large task, which increased the importance of getting a much better system for the time over what was originally in the engine.

The current conversation is shown in a tree format which is designed to show all important information without the need to examine multiple menus or tabs of settings. Each step of the conversation can execute multiple actions and evaluate multiple conditions to change how the dialog flows. A built in conversation tester allows us to examine the flow of the conversation without the need to load the game.

There are some simple built-in conditions and actions that are commonly used, as well as support for evaluating and executing Lua script functions. The action/condition system is shared with the quest editor, making it possible to do a lot of interesting things using conversations alone.

All dialog is stored in the conversation files (quests work the same), so that there is no longer any need to edit the main string lists to get your dialog together. Adding dialog for multiple language is as simple as selecting the language and typing the text. It even comes with a built in multi-language spell checker.

There is also a conversation wizard which can be used to quickly create a conversation layout from a quest file. In conjunction with the quest wizard in the new quest editor, all you need to do to make simple quests is add the dialog text.

Note to Coridan: Sorry, buddy. =)

[ASYLUM101]

DUDE, this thing looks AWESOME. Aside from the turtles, I'm really liking this! More advanced conversations compared to TQ = win.

I wish I could have told Diomedes to screw himself and his Satyr...

[Kluga]

Wow, very nice tool. Obviously would make putting conversations together quick and easy. Whatever assists the game in evolving quicker is fine with me

P.S. I hope and pray that this dialog will truly exist in the game

[Harlequin]

This is really something nice and will make it sooo much easier to make story-mods.
Keep up the awesome work!

I especially like: "PlayerHasPhatCash" xD

while you are at it: can you implement an action to remove corpses? In the Zombie Defense we had serious performance issues because there where so many corpses that couldnt be removed.^^

[Kardiophylax]

Looks like a very simple and easy to understand interface. I like the fact that scripts can be defined for use specifically with that section of dialog.

I do have a few questions though

1. Is there a limit to how long a section of text can be? For instance, if the turtle king decided he want to go on a rant about where he grew up and some of his prior misadventures, would that cause an issue?
   
2. Can multiple individuals be involved in one conversation? Let's say the turtle king's wife is standing nearby and wants to chime in about something he's saying.

[heron]

Story mod! Pure sweetness!

[SoulSeekkor]

Awesome!! Shaping up to be a very promising improved modding toolset! And whew! At least my name won't be immortalized in the game in anyway, sorry Coridan, haha. Sub species of forum dweller turtle, good stuff. That would be great if it popped up in the game somewhere.

Soul

[eisprinzessin]

Very exciting - thanx, Rhis! With all these improved tools we might see some/many good and stable mods in no time ... race for the mod

Coridan - you better create the turtle mod yourself, before anyone tampers with it

[Kluga]

Ohhh man is Coridan going to lose it when he sees this thread

[TECHNOmancer]

Thanks for a peek at one of the tools behind the game, as well as a few laughs (at Coridan's expense). The progress that you've shown us is promising!

TECHNOmancer