Pixel Crushers Forum

Hey guys
I am working on timelines in Unity, and need to have the dialog system create text boxes for my characters. I am still getting into Unity timeline, so please forgive my ignorance on these items. I am currently not able to have the initial, or Start conversation pull up in the scene. I have create a single piece of dialog, which is spoken by the Player to the Player in my database, and then I added a conversation track to my Timeline in Unity, and then added the Start Conversation Track, but nothing appears when I move to that part of the Timeline within the Scene View. Any thoughts. What should I have for default in my setup when using Unity Timeline with Dialogue System?

The appearance of conversations depends on many factors that are valid only at runtime, so it's not possible to show subtitle panels (text boxes) when you scrub through the timeline at design time. To accommodate this, when you scrub through the timeline Dialogue System actions such as Start Conversation show informational messages in the Game view instead:


(Note that the message says "May Vary". This is because, at runtime, the conversation may go down different paths in the conversation tree based on runtime values. At design time, the timeline can't know what path will actually be used, of course.)

Thanks Tony
But I am not even seeing the informational message during the scene view, nor is anything popping up at Runtime for me. Do you know if I might be missing something in my setup?

Hi,

Are there any errors or warnings in the Console window?

Does the open scene have a Dialogue Manager GameObject? And/or is a dialogue database asset assigned to the Start Conversation clip?

Can you share a screenshot of your Timeline?

Hey
I attached a screenshot of the timeline in my first post. Can you see that one? I attached another one below showing the timeline and Start Convo Clip selected:





No errors that I see, and yes, the Dialogue Manager is in the scene, and that Dialogue Manager is the object within the Conversation Track. Is that the proper setup? I am trying to get a speech bubble appear above the characters head with the Bubble Standard UI Subtitle

The Game view, not the Scene view, will show the preview message (FloatingIslandAirshipLandConversation...). (Technically the Scene view will show it, too, but in screen space coordinates, so your Scene view would need to be zoomed out to see it.)

Assign the conversation actor to the Conversation track. This should be the GameObject with the bubble subtitle panel.

Ah! Game View! Sorry about that. I can see that pop up in the GameView easily, and I understand why it wouldn't be viewable with my current camera in scene view. I am still running into a problem with the actual text being displayed though. I want to have a bubble panel appear above the character speaking's head, but the Bubble Standard UI subtitle Panel is not being drawn/put in and something else with mouse controls is being used. Here is a pic of what I mean:

Assign the 'Basic Standard Dialogue UI' prefab to the Dialogue Manager GameObject's Dialogue UI field. (An actual dialogue UI, not just a subtitle panel, must be assigned to the Dialogue UI field.)

Then see How To: Set Up Overhead Conversation Bubble Text to set up the bubble subtitle panel. The text says "NPC" but it applies to any conversation participant, including the player GameObject.

Thank you! I got it working. My only thing now is, how can I make the text write from the top left hand corner of the text box? I also need to get the actor's name on the textbox, but I believe I can do that with Portrait Name, correct?

Hi,

Looking good! To move the text to the upper left, change the alignment. On the Bubble Panel's Vertical Layout Group, set Child Alignment to Upper Left. On the Text element, set the alignment to Left and Top.

There are two ways to add the speaker's name:

1. Inspect the subtitle panel. Tick Add Speaker Name.

2. Or add a separate Text/TextMeshProUGUI element for the portrait name and assign it to the subtitle panel.