Dialogue System

Dialogue System

Overview

The dialogue system was used in our 2D narrative game to present conversations between characters and guide players through the story. It supports character portraits, dialogue boxes, speaker switching, and branching dialogue options.

The system allows dialogue content to be managed separately from the dialogue display logic, making it easier to add new conversations and characters throughout development.

My Contribution

I implemented and customized the dialogue system in GameMaker using GML. The system displays dialogue, manages speaker portraits, and handles player dialogue choices through a reusable dialogue box interface.

My work included:

Implementing the dialogue box system
Displaying character portraits and speaker changes
Managing dialogue progression between pages
Implementing branching dialogue choices
Connecting dialogue events to gameplay systems
Customizing and integrating the system into our game

The dialogue content and story writing were created by another team member. My focus was on implementing and adapting the dialogue system so it functioned correctly within the game.

Tools Used
GameMaker Studio 2
GameMaker Language (GML)
Visual Studio Code
What I Learned

This was one of the first larger systems I worked on in GameMaker. I learned the foundations of dialogue system development by following a YouTube tutorial and then adapting the code to fit the needs of our project.

Through this work I gained experience with:

Reading and understanding existing code
Working with arrays and scripts
Managing UI elements through code
Implementing player interaction systems
Modifying and extending tutorial-based systems
Integrating gameplay systems into a larger project

This project helped me become more confident in working with larger codebases and adapting existing solutions to meet project requirements.