Create dialogs, characters and scenes to display conversations in your Godot games.

• Changelog
• Installation
• Basic Usage
• Documentation
• FAQ
• Source structure
• Credits

v1.1 - WIP

• Improved event dragging and selection [Arnaud Vergnet]
• Fixed a bug that prevented the deletion of Characters [AnidemDex]
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to overwrite the event on the theme preview dialog.
• Added a folder icon to each section of the resource tree.
• Greatly improved how the plugin is displayed in different display scales.
• You can now filter resources from the main view [ellogwen]
• You can now duplicate themes (from the context menu) [ellogwen]
• Organized the images and other assets into a tidier structure [Jowan-Spooner] Warning! If you were using the example portrait assets you will have to load them again manually on the character editor.
• Timeline:
  • New event Call Node: Call a Godot NodePath and a method name. In addition you can add arguments as well. The Timeline will execute those methods and wait for completion, if the method in question is async and/or yielding [ellogwen]
  • You now can drag and drop events into the timeline! [ellogwen]
  • You can un select a selected event by clicking it [ellogwen]
  • The Scene Event can now take other Scenes (.tscn) files as backgrounds. [ellogwen]
  • The If Condition event can now use definition variables as values to compare against. [ellogwen]
  • Fixed an indenting bug when removing events
  • Shortcuts added! [ellogwen]
    • Selecting previous and next event in the timeline with CTRL + UP and CTRL + DOWN
    • Moving currently selected event up and down the timeline ALT + UP and ALT + DOWN
    • Remove the currently selected event node and selects the next/last event node CTRL DELETE
    • Create a new text event node below the currently selected and focus it's textbox to continue writing CTRL T
• Theme Editor
  • Refreshed the UI to make room for more properties for each section
  • A reload of the preview dialog is performed when you change a property so you don't have to click the "preview changes" all the time
  • Removed the limitation of only 100px for the padding of the dialog box
  • Added a new option for changing the color modulation of the dialog background image
  • Added modulation settings to the name label background texture and the choices buttons background textures. [Jowan-Spooner]
  • Fixed a bug where the text alignment wasn't being shown on the preview
  • Fixed a bug with the name label shadow
  • Fixed a bug with the "auto color" option in game
• Dialog node
  • Fixed a bug where Glossary Definitions plain text was being added to the name label.
  • Questions now properly show the theme text alignment.
  • The close dialog now performs a fade-out animation.
• Settings
  • Added a new option to toggle the character "focus"/"dim" while speaking.
• Added a button in timeline inspector plugin to open the selected timeline in the editor. [ellogwen]
• Special thanks to Jowan-Spooner for the QA and the facelift on the theme editor

To view previous changes click here.

To install a Dialogic, download it as a ZIP archive. All releases are listed here: https://github.com/coppolaemilio/dialogic/releases. Then extract the ZIP archive and move the addons/ folder it contains into your project folder. Then, enable the plugin in project settings.

If you want to know more about installing plugins you can read the official documentation page.

You can also install Dialogic using the AssetLib tab in the editor, but the version here will not be the latest one available since it takes some time for it to be approved.

When you export a project using Dialogic, you need to add *.json, *.cfg on the Resources tab (see the image below). This allows Godot to pack the files from the /dialogic folder.

After installing the plugin, you will find a new Dialogic tab at the top, next to the Assets Lib. Clicking on it will display the Dialogic editor.

Using the buttons on the top left, you can create 4 types of objects:

• Timelines: The actual dialog! Control characters, make them talk, change the background, ask questions, emit signals and more!
• Characters: Each entry represents a different character. You can set a name, a description, a color, and set different images for expressions. When Dialogic finds the character name in a text, it will color it using the one you specified.
• Definitions: These can be either a simple variable, or a glossary entry.
  • Variables: Can have a name and a string value. The plugin tries to convert the value to a number when doing comparisons in if branches. TO show a variable content in a dialog box, write [variable_name].
  • Glossary: Can have a name, a title, some text and some extra info. When the given name is found inside a dialog text, it will be colored and hovering the cursor over the name will display an infobox.
• Themes: Control how the dialog box appears. There are many settings you can tweak to suit your need.

Dialogic is very simple to use, try it a bit and you will quickly understand how to master it.

The Dialogic class exposes methods allowing you to control the plugin:

start(
  timeline: String, 
  reset_saves: bool=true, 
  dialog_scene_path: String="res://addons/dialogic/Dialog.tscn", 
  debug_mode: bool=false
  )

Starts the dialog for the given timeline and returns a Dialog node. You must then add it manually to the scene to display the dialog.

Example:

var new_dialog = Dialogic.start('Your Timeline Name Here')
add_child(new_dialog)

This is exactly the same as using the editor: you can drag and drop the scene located at /addons/dialogic/Dialog.tscn and set the current timeline via the inspector.

• @param timeline The timeline to load. You can provide the timeline name or the filename.
• @param reset_saves True to reset dialogic saved data such as definitions.
• @param dialog_scene_path If you made a custom Dialog scene or moved it from its default path, you can specify its new path here.
• @param debug_mode Debug is disabled by default but can be enabled if needed.
• @returns A Dialog node to be added into the scene tree.

start_from_save(
  initial_timeline: String, 
  dialog_scene_path: String="res://addons/dialogic/Dialog.tscn", 
  debug_mode: bool=false
  )

Same as the start method above, but using the last timeline saved.

get_default_definitions()

Gets default values for definitions.

• @returns Dictionary in the format {'variables': [], 'glossary': []}

get_definitions()

Gets currently saved values for definitions.

• @returns Dictionary in the format {'variables': [], 'glossary': []}

save_definitions()

Save current definitions to the filesystem. Definitions are automatically saved on timeline start/end.

• @returns Error status, OK if all went well

reset_saves()

Resets data to default values. This is the same as calling start with reset_saves to true.

get_variable(name: String)

Gets the value for the variable with the given name.

The returned value is a String but can be easily converted into a number using Godot built-in methods: is_valid_float and float().

• @param name The name of the variable to find.
• @returns The variable's value as string, or an empty string if not found.

set_variable(name: String, value)

Sets the value for the variable with the given name.

The given value will be converted to string using the str() function.

• @param name The name of the variable to edit.
• @param value The value to set the variable to.
• @returns The variable's value as string, or an empty string if not found.

get_glossary(name: String)

Gets the glossary data for the definition with the given name.

Returned format: { title': '', 'text' : '', 'extra': '' }

• @param name The name of the glossary to find.
• @returns The glossary data as a Dictionary. A structure with empty strings is returned if the glossary was not found.

set_glossary(name: String, title: String, text: String, extra: String)

Sets the data for the glossary of the given name.

Returned format: { title': '', 'text' : '', 'extra': '' }

• @param name The name of the glossary to edit.
• @param title The title to show in the information box.
• @param text The text to show in the information box.
• @param extra The extra information at the bottom of the box.

get_current_timeline()

Gets the currently saved timeline.

Timeline saves are set on timeline start, and cleared on end. This means you can keep track of timeline changes and detect when the dialog ends.

• @returns The current timeline filename, or an empty string if none was saved.

There are two ways of doing this; using gdscript or the scene editor.

Using the Dialogic class you can add dialogs from code easily:

var new_dialog = Dialogic.start('Your Timeline Name Here')
add_child(new_dialog)

And using the editor, you can drag and drop the scene located at /addons/dialogic/Dialog.tscn and set the current timeline via the inspector.

Yes, you can use Dialogic to make any kind of game (even commercial ones). The project is developed under the MIT License. Please remember to credit!

When I started developing Dialogic I wanted to do it with graph nodes, but when I tried some of the existing solutions myself I found that they are not very useful for long conversations. Because of how the graph nodes are, the screen gets full of UI elements and it gets harder to follow. I also researched other tools for making Visual Novels (like TyranoBuilder and Visual Novel Maker) and they both work with a series of events flowing from top to bottom. I still haven't developed a complex game using both systems to tell which one is better but I don't want to break the conventions too much. If you want to use graph based editors you can try Levraut's LE Dialogue Editor or EXP Godot Dialog System.

I see a lot of people saying that the plugin should come with Godot, but I believe this should stay as a plugin since most of the people making games won't be using it. I'm flattered by your comments but this will remain a plugin :)

You probably can, but I have no idea how to 😓. If you know your way around C# and Godot please let me know! dialogic-godot#55

plugin.cgf - The required file to be recognized by Godot.

dialogic.gd - This is the script that loads the addon. Very minimal and should probably have more stuff? Not sure.

Dialog.tscn - Main scene containing the text bubble and all the required sub-nodes to display your timelines in-game. I left this file in the root node because it will be easier to find and drag-drop to an existing scene.

EditorView.tscn - When you click on the Dialogic tab, this is the scene you see on the main editor panel. This contains all the sub editors and scripts needed for managing your data.

editor_view.gd - This is the code embedded in the EditorView.tscn. It handles the right click context menus, resource removing dialogs and file selectors.

/MasterTree - This is the Tree with all the resources. It handles many things like renaming, saving and several other aspects of resource management.

/TimelineEditor - Everything related to the timeline editor.

/ThemeEditor - Everything related to the theme editor.

/DefinitionEditor - Everything related to the definition editor.

/SettingsEditor - A very simple editor for changing how Dialogic behaves.

/Pieces - Inside this directory you have all the event nodes that populate the timeline editor. Each one has its own name and script. The name is important since it has to be instanced from the editor_view.gd when clicking on buttons of the same name.

/Pieces/Common - This is where some of the common element of the pieces are saved. Things like the Character Picker, the Portrait Picker or the Drag Controller are used in several event nodes, so I'm trying to make them easier to plug in to future events that might need them as well.

/CharacterEditor - Everything related to the character editor. This also contains the script PortraitEntry.gd and the scene PortraitEntry.tscn. When you add a new expression for one of your characters in the Character Editor this node/script will be instanced for handling the settings.

This directory contains the font files and the resources to load.

DefaultFont.tres - This is the default font used for dialog text such as buttons, names, and the main chat bubble.

GlossaryFont.tres - The default font for the small popup on hover. This is basically the same font but smaller because you know... Godot <3 Fonts

You shouldn't open this folder expecting it to be organized. Welcome to the world of mixed naming conventions and CaSiNgStYlEs.

All icons are .svg files so they can scale nicely. I tried reusing many of the default Godot icons, but instead of using the native ones I copy-pasted the svgs and run with it. I should probably replace them and make the custom one more in line with the rest of the editor.

/Images/background - Here you will find the default background images for the dialogs. More will come in the future.

/Images/portraits - Some placeholder images for an example project. I might delete these since I'll probably be hosting that somewhere else.

/Images/tutorials - Right now it only has one file, but every image created for warnings/tutorials/tips will be placed here. Hopefully.

/Images/Toolbar - It contains the icons for the toolbar in the main view.

ChoiceButton.tscn - This is the button created by Dialogic's options events. The node /Dialog.tscn will instance these when displaying the options to the user.

dialog_node.gd - The script associated with /Dialog.tscn. This contains all the logic behind the node and manages everything from timeline parsing, in-game signals and all the visual aspects of the dialog.

glossary_info.gd - Handles the logic behind the small popup that shows up when you hover the cursor on one of the highlighted words from the glossary inside a dialog. Part of this logic lives inside the dialog_node.gd script and should probably be moved here.

Portrait.tscn and Portrait.gd - Whenever you make a character join a scene, this is the node used for instancing and displaying an image in the screen. It also contains a few effects for fading in/out of a scene.

Code made by Emilio Coppola.

Contributors: Toen, Òscar, Arnaud, and more!

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