Dialogue system improvements

[main fox]

1. Dialogue should play out in player time, not game time, and should not be subject to time dilation in OMS. This includes time between the last message in a conversation and the time when the game considers channel closed and lets the player hail a different ship.
2. There has to be clear indication when a call has ended, visual and audio cue. The same red phone icon the player gets when ending calls added to the closing line of the NPC dialogue as well as a unique chime after the line has been written on the screen would be appreciated.
3. Hail button being available after the dialogue has ended for good does not currently serve any function as the player cannot hail the same ship twice. For the time being it would be better to replace it with the channel closed message instead.

...It's really hard to talk to people as of now and it absolutely should not be.

[wintry oracle]

also some dialogue options come with an additional interaction at the end of the convo. if you don't interact with it (say because you're busy with combat), you lose the chance for information and can't interact with them again.
second hail should allow this information to be seen, or if no further interaction is available, should automatically lock out the button

[magic stump]

Disagreed with 1. Talking is something people do which takes time.

Also, sometimes it feels very limiting you get only 1 shot at dialogue while you might want to ask about more than one thing. Understandably the NPC patience should be limited, but OTOH a guy asking for handouts might be more motivated putting up with my BS and I might want to give them their handout after all, even after one of my crewmembers got their time on the phone.

[main fox]

Disagreed with 1. Talking is something people do which takes time.

The dialogue interface is limited to OMS yet actually experiencing dialogue in real time requires OMS to be closed. One or the other has got to budge.

[flint tartan]

Or having to choose between getting insurance from an S&R ship or possibly getting a pointer to an anomaly

[magic stump]

I usually just initiate the convo and close OMS until I can ask something interesting.

[main fox]

And that's exactly the problem

[magic stump]

Haven't noticed, I'm usually busy flying the ship and voring nuggets.

[main fox]

Current dialogue progression of a crew member talking with someone they know from a hailed ship is:

1. Open OMS (time dilation engages)
2. Hail
3. Get an immediate response
4. Get to reply immediately
5. Get an immediate reply again
6. Have to close OMS and wait for the character to say their next line because in dilated time waiting for the next line can easily take 1 minute 40 seconds of real time.

I've just timed it. It may not be this long for all lines, but it happens. This is needlessly inconsistent. Game already treats most of the dialogue as happening in player time and there is no good reason to have such long "dramatic pauses" when a dialogue branch consists of more than one line per choice.

[magic stump]

What's the issue with just exiting OMS and chasing a nugget or two, while people are catching up?

I'm guessing that speeding up dialogue in OMS would feel game-y and might open up some weird corner cases when it comes to timing, effectively doubling the testing workload for dialogue events.

[wintry oracle]

Having to reopen the dialogue to interact with it is my issue

[main fox]

Current dialogue progression of a crew member talking with someone they know from a hailed ship is:

1. Open OMS (time dilation engages)
2. Hail
3. Get an immediate response
4. Get to reply immediately
5. Get an immediate reply again
6. Have to close OMS and wait for the character to say their next line because in dilated time waiting for the next line can easily take 1 minute 40 seconds of real time.

I've just timed it. It may not be this long for all lines, but it happens. This is needlessly inconsistent. Game already treats most of the dialogue as happening in player time and there is no good reason to have such long "dramatic pauses" when a dialogue branch consists of more than one line per choice.

[wintry oracle]

If you don't respond fast it fades away and talk option is lost

If it was a convo that had no response needed from us after, i wpuld be fine with that playing realtime

[magic stump]

You wait when you're not actually talking. You get immediate feedback when it's your turn.

[main fox]

Are we playing the same game?

Do I have to make recordings of a common thing that happens to prove they do?

The dialogue system is in the OMS. One cannot interact with the dialogue outside of OMS. Having to close OMS to progress a dialogue at a pace that is anywhere close to sensible is wrong.

Exhibit A: a quick exchange, no wait between topic and reply

Exhibit B: different conversation, more of the same. Select, receive reply.

Then comes Exhibit C:

Go ahead, watch it in full, no skipping

[magic stump]

Yeah, you're not an active participant so it goes in real time, not at the speed of UI.

[main fox]

👀

👄

Fuck's sake

Somehow people stop talking at my speed and start talking at "their" speed huh

Is that the best you've got

[magic stump]

It's kinda impolite to just hover over people chatting, ya know.

[main fox]

I hardly believe just how far one can go to be a contrarian for no benefit

[magic stump]

Just shut the OMS and go about your business. ore some for great , or smh.

[main fox]

Just shut this thread and go about your business

Not the only one who can tell people what to do

[pearl pewter]

I get chatting taking time is something that happens irl but from a game design perspective I have to agree with McKillem here. What gameplay reason is there that certain random bits of dialogue require some actual in game time to pass and thus having to close and open OMS potentially multiple times and disrupt gameplay flow?