What's the easiest text tool for importing to Dialogue System?

[divacup]

I'm much more of a writer than a programmer, and I'm having trouble determining which dialogue/text tool would be the easiest to write in to make the import to Dialogue System as painless as possible. I've tried to understand the documentation for each option but as a fairly untechnical person I'm a little overwhelmed.

I'm writing a narrative-heavy game, and planning on having branching, conditional dialogue for 20 or so NPCs. I've considered writing directly in the Dialogue System, but I want to make sure that the script is easy to copyedit and share with others for collaboration. I'm happy to write the game story in any of the interactive text tools out there: ink, articy, twine, yarn, etc. Right now, all my text is in a Google Doc, and it's starting to get unwieldy.

Does anyone have thoughts on this?
And can someone also shed light on what the best way to organize dialogue files might be?

Thanks in dvance

[Tony Li]

Hi,

Here's some advice on different editors:

1. The built-in Dialogue Editor keeps your entire workflow in Unity, for good or ill. If most of your work is solo, it's a good way to stay in the flow and write content without having to switch your attention between different applications.

2. If you have a bit of a budget, give a look to Arcweave, articy:draft, Backlight (formerly Celtx) Gem, or Chat Mapper. They'll provide the best experience when working outside of Unity. Some notes:

• Arcweave is a web app. Multiple people can work in the web app at the same time. Games like Space Chef use Arcweave with the Dialogue System.
• articy:draft is a Windows application. There's a single-user version and a pricier multi-user version. Games like Disco Elysium use it with the Dialogue System.
• Gem is a web app that works similarly to the popular screenwriting software Celtx. Games like While the Iron's Hot (released yesterday) use it. Multiple people can work in the web app at the same time.
• Chat Mapper is a Windows application. Its interface may look a little long in the tooth, but it's a good tool with good collaboration features. Games like Soul Tolerance use it.

3. If you don't have any budget, here are some options:

• Twine: Simple and low in features, but it may get the job done for what you need.
• Yarn: A little complex to learn, and to set up in the Dialogue System, but popular with writers who got their start in games vs. other types of writing.
• JLC: This format, available on the Dialogue System Extras page, works with Google Docs. It's best for mostly linear dialogue since it's hard to define branching links in straight text.
• Ink: Ink is popular with writers, but there are a few caveats:
  • It doesn't do language localization.
  • Since it works so differently from other tools, the Dialogue System uses it differently. Instead of importing the tool's content into the Dialogue System's format, the Ink integration lets Ink run the dialogue in the background, and the Dialogue System primarily just acts as a front-end to show the resulting dialogue and handle interaction.