Dialogue tree
A dialogue tree, or conversation tree, is a gameplay mechanic that is used throughout many
History
The concept of the dialogue tree has existed long before the advent of video games. The earliest known dialogue tree is described in "The Garden of Forking Paths", a 1941 short story by Jorge Luis Borges, in which the combination book of Ts'ui Pên allows all major outcomes from an event branch into their own chapters. Much like the game counterparts this story reconvenes as it progresses (as possible outcomes would approach nm where n is the number of options at each fork and m is the depth of the tree).
The first computer
Game mechanics
The player typically enters the gameplay mode by choosing to speak with a non-player character (or when a non-player character chooses to speak to them), and then choosing a line of pre-written dialog from a menu. Upon choosing what to say, the non-player character responds to the player, and the player is given another choice of what to say. This cycle continues until the conversation ends. The conversation may end when the player selects a farewell message, the non-player character has nothing more to add and ends the conversation, or when the player makes a bad choice (perhaps angering the non-player to leave the conversation).
Games often offer options to ask non-players to reiterate information about a topic, allowing players to replay parts of the conversation that they did not pay close enough attention to the first time.[3] These conversations are said to be designed as a tree structure, with players deciding between each branch of dialog to pursue. Unlike a branching story, players may return to earlier parts of a conversation tree and repeat them. Each branch point (or node) is essentially a different menu of choices, and each choice that the player makes triggers a response from the non-player character followed by a new menu of choices.
In some genres such as
Certain game genres revolve almost entirely around character interactions, including
Another variation of branching dialogues can be seen in the adventure game Culpa Innata, where the player chooses a tactic at the beginning of a conversation, such as using either a formal, casual or accusatory manner, that affects the tone of the conversation and the information gleaned from the interviewee.[4]
Value and impact
This mechanism allows game designers to provide interactive conversations with nonplayer characters without having to tackle the challenges of
See also
References
- ^
- IGN: Escape From Monkey Island Review
- Adventure Game Design Patterns at God Patterns
- Strange Things in Sierra's Adventure Game Demos Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
- Dreamfall: The Longest Journey Hands-On - Yahoo! Video Games Archived August 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- GameDev.net - NPC Conversation Techniques
- Adventure Gamers : Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
- ^ The Pages of Now & Forever - All About Star Control
- ^ a b c d e f g Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2006). Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall. Archived from the original on 2017-12-31. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ Gamasutra. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
- ^ Spencer (17 March 2010). "Alpha Protocol Has A Touch Of Sakura Wars". Siliconera. Retrieved 7 March 2012.