Dialog Flow Chart/Tree

[Shez]

I've been busy creating my own game script (in its entirety - as portfolio material for job applications) but am unsure how to procede with writing/creating dialog trees. By 'dialog trees' I mean the dialog spoken by NPCs and the corresponding player responces that can lead to any number of different conversation endings. Right now I've written the dialog connected by arrows to the responces, followed by more arrows to the NPC response.

Is there a standard format for dialog trees or does every writer just wing it? Are there any good especially good resources for game writers?

[yaustar]

There is no standard format for design.

XML markup is common for the data to stored in.

[CKeene]

Spencer,

I recommend downloading TextPad. You can get it free here:

Download TextPad

It's basically a Notepad and Word hybrid. It's more functional than Notepad but not as fancy and distracting as Word. However, I use it for two main reasons:

• It has excellent line alignment
• It has numbered lines

This dialogue file was created using TextPad. Unfortunately Firefox doesn't offer WordWrap (that I know of) but if you go up to Save Page As... I believe, you can save it as a text file and turn on WordWrap in Notepad or TextPad if you've downloaded it already. You can see the nice and neat formatting. That also provides an example for you of how I format my 'scripts'.

Here's a PDF version that I've included in my portfolio for easier reading.

Really it's going to come down to project specifics and necessity. I format my dialogue files this way because in the end I have to put them into the Electron Toolset and it's easiest for me to do that when I can see, at a glance, what nodes go where. But my tips are to keep it clean, keep it aligned, and keep it easy to follow.