Pixel Crushers Forum

Hi there, I'm struggling to implement a setup where NPCs bark at each other. I know there are instructions in the documentation's FAQ for this very case, but sadly I am still struggling!

I have NPC 1 and NPC 2 who are sitting at a bench. When the player walks within range, the NPCs should start a series of barks at each other, let's say like 4 back-and-forths. If the player leaves range, they should stop, and if the player re-enters range, they should restart from the beginning.

How do I do this?

Hi,

Since it's a series of lines of dialogue, run a conversation. See: How To: Show Overhead Conversation Bubble Text

Got it, thanks for the link! Using a conversation makes sense, but I have some existing behavior that it conflicts with.

1) I have a component on my player character that listens to "DialogueManager.instance.conversationStarted" and "DialogueManager.instance.conversationEnded" to disable/enable player input. I don't want this behavior when the NPCs have a bark conversation - I want the player to still have input as normal, like they're just observing a conversation in the background.

2) I have a component that always sets continue mode to true (meaning require the continue button to be pressed) for conversations. For NPC bark conversations, I want their conversations to progress automatically on a timer.

How would I handle these situations?

Hi,

wedgiebee wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2024 5:10 pm1) I have a component on my player character that listens to "DialogueManager.instance.conversationStarted" and "DialogueManager.instance.conversationEnded" to disable/enable player input. I don't want this behavior when the NPCs have a bark conversation - I want the player to still have input as normal, like they're just observing a conversation in the background.

Use OnConversationStart(Transform) and OnConversationEnd(Transform) methods on the player GameObject (or a Dialogue System Events component) instead of DialogueManager.instance.conversationStarted/Ended. These methods will only be called when the player GameObject is used as the primary actor or primary conversant. More info: Character GameObject Assignments

wedgiebee wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2024 5:10 pm2) I have a component that always sets continue mode to true (meaning require the continue button to be pressed) for conversations. For NPC bark conversations, I want their conversations to progress automatically on a timer.

Instead of using a component, set the Dialogue Manager's Display Settings > Subtitle Settings > Continue Button mode to Always. For NPC bark conversations, inspect the conversation and select Menu > Conversation Properties. Then tick Override Display Settings > Subtitle Settings, and set the Continue Button mode for that conversation to Never.

Thank you, this works great!

For the NPC bark conversations, I've gone into their Conversation Properties and ticked Override Display Settings > Subtitle Settings so that I can set Continue Button to Never. But now all those conversation also use their own "Subtitle Chars Per Second" as specified in the overridden subtitle settings. I want all NPC bark conversations to have the same "Subtitle Chars Per Second," and I want to easily be able to tweak that number in all places over the course of development instead of having to go into every NPC bark conversation.

Is there a way to do that with this method?

Hi,

Here's another approach:

• UNtick the conversation properties' Override Subtitle Settings checkbox.
• Tick Override Camera Settings.
• Set Default Sequence to something like:

  Code: Select all

  Continue()@{{end}}

  This will simulate a continue button click after a duration based on the text length. (More info on duration: How To: Control the Duration of Subtitle Text)