Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Reviews
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Articles
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Post History
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
DIALOGUE, CHARACTERS, AND YOU.
Posts
nukei
0
nukei
View playlists
CloseIs it just me, or am I seeing lots of standard, unemotional dialogue in RMN games? When I read the dialogue, it doesn't land.
What I think is missing from some games is purpose and characters which resemble actual people.
I've been playing an RM RPG (I won't get into what it is for decorum's sake), and the dialogue for NPCs isn't too bad, but it could use a lot more work to make them more interesting and give much more emotion.
Just some rant from a random bystander.
What I think is missing from some games is purpose and characters which resemble actual people.
I've been playing an RM RPG (I won't get into what it is for decorum's sake), and the dialogue for NPCs isn't too bad, but it could use a lot more work to make them more interesting and give much more emotion.
Just some rant from a random bystander.
The prevailing attitude in this community is mostly that writing is secondary and shouldn't matter. Obviously there are some games that would suffer for having lots of dialogue and cutscenes but RPGs are one of the genres where it is okay to indulge in some writing.
What you have mentioned is definitely a problem in my opinion, however. A few people in the community have written about their thoughts on this matter.
RPG Auditions Today! Characters Wanted!
Writing for Characters
Writing for Games
Game Designer's Manifesto: Part Four (Dialogue and Characters)
What you have mentioned is definitely a problem in my opinion, however. A few people in the community have written about their thoughts on this matter.
RPG Auditions Today! Characters Wanted!
Writing for Characters
Writing for Games
Game Designer's Manifesto: Part Four (Dialogue and Characters)
And why wouldn't you care for robots? They are people too, you know!
I agree that good dialogue characterization is something we all should strive for, but not too much, just enough… the examples you gave are kind of over the top in my opinion.
I prefer something tamer, especially because I try to keep my npc dialogues to just one text box, and almost never more than two, besides, I hate when everyone has their own accents, speech impediments, or things like that, it may work for some games, but I think is best to have characters speak as ‘normally' as possible… because at the end of the day when the magic is gone, all the players care about is the actual information the npc's provide, and they want it fast and clear.
I agree that good dialogue characterization is something we all should strive for, but not too much, just enough… the examples you gave are kind of over the top in my opinion.
I prefer something tamer, especially because I try to keep my npc dialogues to just one text box, and almost never more than two, besides, I hate when everyone has their own accents, speech impediments, or things like that, it may work for some games, but I think is best to have characters speak as ‘normally' as possible… because at the end of the day when the magic is gone, all the players care about is the actual information the npc's provide, and they want it fast and clear.
eplipswich
2728
I have to agree with alterego. While it is nice once in a while to use over-exaggerated dialogues like what nukei stated, they shouldn't be used too often, otherwise they'll feel forced. What will make dialogues interesting doesn't just have to do with the dialogues alone, it has to do with the mood and the music that go with it, so at times even "normal" dialogues can become interesting with the right music and the right mood.
I almost wanna crack when nukei said something like
"Ahem, everyone! These here wounds are my glory wounds! They are my badges of honor, my trophies of courage, my things that you'll never have. 'Cause I just beat the shit out of one a' them with just one left hook! Just one of them little wolfies in that there Shekle forest."
This, my friend, is seriously over-exaggerated, especially for a NPC. I will seriously smack the creator if such dialogues are overused in the game.
I almost wanna crack when nukei said something like
"Ahem, everyone! These here wounds are my glory wounds! They are my badges of honor, my trophies of courage, my things that you'll never have. 'Cause I just beat the shit out of one a' them with just one left hook! Just one of them little wolfies in that there Shekle forest."
This, my friend, is seriously over-exaggerated, especially for a NPC. I will seriously smack the creator if such dialogues are overused in the game.
Yeah. Something like "Those wolves in the Shekle Forest are tough buggers -- they gave me a couple of nasty scars!"
Crystalgate
694
post=210666
I have to agree with alterego. While it is nice once in a while to use over-exaggerated dialogues like what nukei stated, they shouldn't be used too often, otherwise they'll feel forced. What will make dialogues interesting doesn't just have to do with the dialogues alone, it has to do with the mood and the music that go with it, so at times even "normal" dialogues can become interesting with the right music and the right mood.
I agree with this, but I will add that not only does the mood affect how enjoyable the dialogs are, but the dialogs will also affect the mood. For example, let's assume there's a war looming. Obviously, that should affect the dialogs. If the NPCs fail to convey the worry for war, the player won't get the feeling that there's a war going on.
I think the best way to give the NPCs enjoyable dialogs is to make sure they have something interesting to convey.
Dark Gaia
3474
How I generally do it, is I have NPC's talk about current world events (for example an assassination or pending war) and I have them express their own personal feelings, thoughts and opinions on the topic. This way, the player gets to know the flavour they were looking for (there's a war going on in Country X) but by having the NPC's be fearful, worried, patriotic etc about it, it adds a personal touch to each one.
post=210653
The prevailing attitude in this community is mostly that writing is secondary and shouldn't matter.
What? Where?
I can't really tell numbers, but the impression I have is that the majority of games here are made so the gamemaker can "tell a story", and gameplay (and everything else) is left secondary (i.e. rtp/rips, default systems, etc).
post=210683post=210653What? Where?
The prevailing attitude in this community is mostly that writing is secondary and shouldn't matter.
I can't really tell numbers, but the impression I have is that the majority of games here are made so the gamemaker can "tell a story", and gameplay (and everything else) is left secondary (i.e. rtp/rips, default systems, etc).
The majority of the RM games which prioritize story over gameplay are completely ignored in favor of games which handwave story under the guise of being "oldschool." Granted, the majority of RM games which prioritize story are pretty horrible at both story and gameplay, but still.
The majority of the RM games which prioritize story over gameplay are completely ignored in favor of games which handwave story under the guise of being "oldschool." Granted, the majority of RM games which prioritize story are pretty horrible at both story and gameplay, but still.
The latter leads to the former, more accurately.
Yeaster
6164
My games all pretty dialogue and story-heavy... but that's mainly because those are the only two things I'm actually good at (Onyx and TC aside, both of which has aged badly.........).
Emanzi
168
Your forgetting most rpg maker games are made by newbies like me and you compared to university level literature majors who work in the story team for a game company.
So the dialog is made by one person and easily noticed. It doesn't take a diploma to write for a indie rpg just some care and read troughs. Also helps if you try put yourself in the characters shoes, react how they would, think what they would thus say what they would.
^_^ Thank's for the tips though, I'm gonna pay more attention my dialog.
So the dialog is made by one person and easily noticed. It doesn't take a diploma to write for a indie rpg just some care and read troughs. Also helps if you try put yourself in the characters shoes, react how they would, think what they would thus say what they would.
^_^ Thank's for the tips though, I'm gonna pay more attention my dialog.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
If an NPC is only talked to once, I think it's fine if they have no personality. Just make their dialogue be a realistic, common reaction to whatever they're talking about. They should not draw attention to themselves; their purpose is direct the player's attention towards something else. They should make that something else seem more engaging.
Example of townsperson dialogue that draws too much attention to itself:
"Ahem, everyone! These here wounds are my glory wounds! They are my badges of honor, my trophies of courage, my things that you'll never have. 'Cause I just beat the shit out of one a' them with just one left hook! Just one of them little wolfies in that there Shekle forest."
Example of townsperson dialogue that draws attention to the issue at hand:
"A great beast lurks in the Shekle Forest. After it killed all of the town's most veteran warriors, we gave it a name: the Terrenthum Wolf. Take heed, stranger. Just because you're able to handle the other beasts nearby, don't delude yourself into thinking you're strong enough to face this foe."
Note the difference: the dialogue's focus should not be on the character, because the character isn't what the player's focus should be on. Draw the player's attention to the challenge and the information, not to the quirky character who will never appear again. I agree that the overly simple "There is the Terrenthum Wolf in the Shekle Forest" is not engaging enough. But for minor characters, make sure you are engaging in a way that's not too distracting.
As for main characters... if you can't make some of your main characters engaging, there are a million things you could be doing wrong. If you can't many any of your main characters engaging, just hire someone else to write the game's story and dialogue for you.
Example of townsperson dialogue that draws too much attention to itself:
"Ahem, everyone! These here wounds are my glory wounds! They are my badges of honor, my trophies of courage, my things that you'll never have. 'Cause I just beat the shit out of one a' them with just one left hook! Just one of them little wolfies in that there Shekle forest."
Example of townsperson dialogue that draws attention to the issue at hand:
"A great beast lurks in the Shekle Forest. After it killed all of the town's most veteran warriors, we gave it a name: the Terrenthum Wolf. Take heed, stranger. Just because you're able to handle the other beasts nearby, don't delude yourself into thinking you're strong enough to face this foe."
Note the difference: the dialogue's focus should not be on the character, because the character isn't what the player's focus should be on. Draw the player's attention to the challenge and the information, not to the quirky character who will never appear again. I agree that the overly simple "There is the Terrenthum Wolf in the Shekle Forest" is not engaging enough. But for minor characters, make sure you are engaging in a way that's not too distracting.
As for main characters... if you can't make some of your main characters engaging, there are a million things you could be doing wrong. If you can't many any of your main characters engaging, just hire someone else to write the game's story and dialogue for you.
nukei
0
I also agree on Griever's idea on NPCs; it seems nice. I haven't seen much of it as compared to random walking NPCs, but it would be interesting to see it implemented much more often.
cho
0
I think the main character -- and his/her companions -- should always interact with NPCs if you really want to make the dialogue engaging. It's actually a lot more realistic for an NPC to say "fyi there's a strong beast up north" than to recite their history with the thing if they're talking to a random mute. It's also way easier to care about the things they say when the main character gets involved, because if the main character doesn't care then why should the player?
I guess what I'm saying is that just being verbose won't get you anywhere.
p.s. serial commas forever, f u craze
I guess what I'm saying is that just being verbose won't get you anywhere.
p.s. serial commas forever, f u craze
