DIALOGUE ENGINE MANUAL

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for getting my Dialogue engine! This manual will help you get started.

The fastest way to get started is probably checking the example objects to see how this engine can be used. Also, at the end of every script there is a little example of how to use it.

If you want to ask anything or suggest a feature, see the "Contact me" part at the bottom of this manual.

SCRIPTS

BASIC SCRIPTS

textbox_create() With this script you can create the dialogue.

SETTINGS SCRIPTS

textbox_set() With this you can set the style and some settings of the textbox.

textbox_set_bubble() If you call this instead of textbox_set(), you can make the textbox a speech bubble.

textbox_set_speed() With this you can set the speed of the dialogue. The default speed is 0.5.

textbox_set_key() With this you can choose the keyboard and controller keys used for the dialogue. Controller will be enabled if you set the controller arguments. You must handle the connecting part yourself.

textbox_set_sound() Choose the sound for the dialogue. It could be, for example, a typewriter sound.

textbox_add_voice() With this you can add voice acting to the dialogue.

STYLING SCRIPTS

textbox_set_sprite() With this function you can add your own sprite for the textbox and name box, instead of colored rectangles. (The sprite size should be a multiple of 3, for example, 12 or 24).

textbox_set_portrait() With this you can set a different character portrait sprite to every message in the dialogue.

textbox_set_position() Set the position of everything. The textbox automatically fits the view, but if you don't like how it goes, you can change it with this. It's not necessary to change everything. If you change only some things, the others should automatically go to correct positions.

OPTIONS SCRIPTS

textbox_add_options() Add up to 3 options.

textbox_change_message_according_option() Change one message depending on what option the player chooses.

textbox_change_var_at_end() Change a variable when the dialogue ends. You could use this, for example, to know if the player has spoken to a npc or not.

chooses_option() Checks what option the player chooses. You can use it to change something (for example a variable). For an example, see the object: example_npc3.

OTHER SCRIPTS

textbox_exists() Checks if the textbox exists. Call it before using textbox_create(). For example: if !textbox_exists() { textbox_create("Hello."); }

textbox_hide() and textbox_is_visible() textbox_is_visible() checks if the textbox is visible or not and textbox_hide() can be used to hide or show the textbox. For example: if textbox_exists() { if keyboard_check_pressed(vk_escape) { if textbox_is_visible() { textbox_hide(true); }else{ textbox_hide(false); } } }

textbox_show_backlog() && textbox_backlog_visible() textbox_backlog_visible() checks if the backlog is visible or not. textbox_show_backlog() shows or hides the backlog.

VARIABLES

You can also change textbox variables directly, without using the scripts. This is useful if there is no script for something yet, or if you want to do something that the scripts don't do.

AUTO MODE (auto_mode) To make the dialogue advance automatically (without the player pressing anything), set this variable to true. After calling textbox_create: textbox.auto_mode = true;

There are more variables too, but I will add them here later.

CHANGING DEFAULT SETTINGS

If you don't want to call the script textbox_set() or textbox_set_sprite() etc. everytime, you can change the default settings in the textbox_create() script. If you go to that script, you will find a "SETTINGS AREA" where you can change variables.

USING DRAW GUI

Using Draw GUI with this Dialogue engine hasn't been tested a lot yet, so I recommend using the normal Draw event. But if you want to use it, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to the textbox object.
  2. Change the Draw event to Draw GUI.
  3. Change the draw_gui variable there to true.

Things to note: Remember that using textbox_set_position is of course different when using Draw GUI. When using Draw GUI, your camera size and viewport size should be the same, otherwise clicking options with mouse will not work well.

USING DIALOGUE ENGINE WITH CUTSCENE ENGINE

I have also made a cutscene engine (https://marketplace.yoyogames.com/assets/8241/cutscene-engine) or (https://pikku-a.itch.io/cutscene-engine-for-gamemaker-studio-2). It uses some of the same scripts and objects as the dialogue engine. When importing these scripts and objects, you can replace the duplicates.

SMART LINE BREAK CONFIGURATION

Recently I added a new optional argument to textbox_set: smart line breaks. This prevents text from changing line in the middle of a word. However, this is still an experimental feature and doesn't work correctly on all projects (also, it doesn't seem to work when using Draw GUI in the textbox object). If you want to use this feature in your project but it doesn't work correctly, you can try this: Go to textbox_draw script. Change the variable called _linebreak_addition to something else (for example: 0, -5 or -10). It's completely possible that this doesn't fix it and you will not be able to use this feature. However, I tried to use this feature in 4 different projects and in 3 of them changing this variable helped (on 1 project it didn't work at all).

TUTORIALS

There are some (currently only one...) simple tutorials on my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pikku-a If you already know how to use this, feel free to make your own tutorials.

REPORT A BUG

If you find a bug, please report it in the discussion boards on itchio: https://itch.io/t/2403703/bug-reports You can also email me. See the "Contact me" section below.

OTHER THINGS

You can ignore the textbox object. It manages itself. You can also ignore the internal scipts.

-Showcasing your games-
Have you made a game using this Dialogue engine? If so, you can email me a link to the game and I might showcase it on my website or in the marketplace.

-Beta test version-
Since version 2.8.0 there is a beta test version on itchio. (https://pikku-a.itch.io/dialogue-engine) You can use it if you want to use new features earlier or if you want to help in testing.

-Contact me-
Discussion board on itchio: https://pikku-a.itch.io/dialogue-engine/community You can find my contact email on my website.