Basic Responses
To add interactivity to your dialogue, you can specify responses. Responses are lines that begin with - :
Nathan: What would you like to know?
- Tell me about yourself
- What's your favorite color?
- That's all for now
Nested Dialogue
One way of branching the dialogue after a response is to nest some dialogue below each response using indentation:
Nathan: How many projects have you started and not finished?
- Just a couple
Nathan: That's not so bad.
- A lot
Nathan: Maybe you should finish one before starting another one.
- I always finish my projects
Nathan: That's great!
Use tabs or consistent spaces for indentation. Nested content must be indented from its parent response.
Multi-Level Branching
Nested responses can branch indefinitely as more choices are added:
Nathan: How many projects have you started and not finished?
- Just a couple
Nathan: That's not so bad.
- A lot
Nathan: Maybe you should finish one before starting another one.
- I always finish my projects
Nathan: That's great!
Nathan: ...but how many is that?
- A few
Nathan: That's great!
- I haven't actually started any
Nathan: That's what I thought.
Inline Jumps
Responses can use inline jumps to redirect dialogue flow:
~ start
Nathan: Well?
- First one
Nathan: You picked the first.
- Another one => another_label
- Start again => start
=> END
~ another_label
Nathan: Another one?
=> END
=> label, the dialogue immediately jumps to that label instead of continuing with nested content.
Response text
The text between - and any conditions/jumps is displayed to the player.
Optional conditions
Add conditions in square brackets to control when responses appear (see below).
Optional jump
Add => label at the end to jump to a specific label when selected.
Conditional Responses
Responses can include conditions that determine if they are selectable. Add conditions in square brackets:
Nathan: What would you like?
- This one [if SomeGlobal.some_property == 0]
Nathan: Ah, so you want this one?
- Another one [if SomeGlobal.has_unlocked_option]
Nathan: Good choice!
- Nothing
Nathan: Okay then.
true will be shown to the player.
Complex Conditions
Conditions can use logical operators:
Nathan: What would you like?
- This one [if SomeGlobal.some_property == 0 or SomeGlobal.some_other_property == false]
Nathan: Ah, so you want this one?
- Another one [if SomeGlobal.level > 5 and SomeGlobal.has_key]
Nathan: You're qualified for this one.
- Call a method [if SomeGlobal.some_method()]
Nathan: The method returned true!
Self-Closing Condition Syntax
When using conditions without nested content (particularly with inline jumps), use the self-closing syntax [if condition /]:
Nathan: What would you like?
- This one [if SomeGlobal.some_property == 0 or SomeGlobal.some_other_property == false /]
Nathan: Ah, so you want this one?
- Another one [if SomeGlobal.some_method() /] => another_label
- Nothing => END
If using both a condition and a goto on a response line, make sure the goto is provided last:- My response [if some_condition /] => some_label
Complete Example
Here’s a complete example showing multiple branching levels and conditions:
~ start
Nathan: What would you like to know?
- Tell me about yourself [if not locals.asked_about_nathan]
set locals.asked_about_nathan = true
Nathan: Well, I'm a game developer who loves making dialogue systems.
Nathan: Anything else?
- What games have you made?
Nathan: Mostly small indie projects.
=> start
- That's all => END
=> start
- What's your favorite color? [if not locals.asked_favorite_color]
set locals.asked_favorite_color = true
Nathan: I'd say blue. It's calming.
=> start
- I'm done talking [if locals.asked_about_nathan or locals.asked_favorite_color]
Nathan: Alright, see you around!
=> END
- That's all for now
Nathan: Come back anytime!
=> END
- Conditional responses based on local variables
- Multi-level branching
- Jumping back to the start to create a looping menu
- Different exit paths
locals is a feature provided by the example balloon for temporary conversation state. Variables set with set locals.variable_name = value only exist during the current conversation.
Next Steps
