Feedback on my custom dialogue script

[raw imp]

It's called UDM, currently you write the files in txt cause I couldn't find a way to let unity read custom file formats as text files.

[ACTOR]"This is test text for UDM v.0.1!"
{1}"Option 1"
>[ACTOR]"You picked option 1!"
###
{2}"Option 2"
>[ACTOR]"You picked option 1!"
###
{3}"Option 3"
>[ACTOR]"You picked option 1!"
###
{4}"Option 4"
>[ACTOR]"You picked option 1!"
###
{5}"Jump to start!"
^STR```

I've only built a...is 'parser' the right word? for unity so far but since it's not really....engine specific you could use it in any engine or language because it's just a scripting language

you just need something to convert it to a list of strings

and make the engine

understand it

might put it up on github

or the asset store

or something

if it's

stable

[brittle merlin]

neat

how does it work 😄

[raw imp]

in what context? sorry im bad at like, explanations

[brittle merlin]

Can you explain how the snippet is parsed? like what does that end up as and how

[raw imp]

well in unity

since that's what ive written

i've done similar stuff in godot but in unity

it's made of two scripts, the parser and the thing that translates it to UI. if i put this into something public I'd probably just use the UI script as a demo since it's specific to my UI, but the parser is universal, and converts and snips the code you wrote into something more understandabke and managable for scripting in CS

it ends up sorta like this but also with a seperated title dictionary which associates titles with indexes in the array to jump to places

then the UDMUI handles the in-game logic of progressing through dialogue, processing options, ect. ^_^

string manipulation is one of my favorite things

since string manupulation is pretty similar between languages it'd probably be pretty easy to translate the parser to godot, unreal, ect.

idk if it's a lamguage

or what it's called

it's more similar to json i guess but more readable and specific

[plucky sable]

Why not just use Yarnspinner or Ink?

[raw imp]

I felt like they were too....complex? or, i don't want to use bloated because that brings negative connotations, they're good, i've tried both but i never enjoyed writing them and it always felt disconnected from the engine. aside from that, I've always wanted to write my own dialogue system, for learning and to make something

[nimble plume]

For a dialogue system to be viable in real life it needs at a minimum:

• handle nested choices without becoming unreadable
• a way to show or hide choices conditionally
• a way to hide (or not hide) choices when they have been chosen once
• dynamic text
• communicate with the normal C# scripts, i.e. triggering events and displaying text based on what a C# function returns
  If you can show a more complete example with multiple choice points, including nested ones, and with all the features it has or are planned, it would be easier to give feedback.

[fair rover]

The only information I really see here is a text file and then a list of strings at the end, with some modification to what these strings are. I can only assume what your UDMUI script does but I have a feeling it's just looking for these symbols ($, #1#, etc) you defined and doing hardcoded logic.

if you want honest feedback on this, this is not a proper tool. You mention putting this on github or the asset store if its stable meaning you want other people to use it. This looks like a script specific to your use case rather than something extensible to be used by others. The way of defining your dialogue looks like a pain and I can just imagine how many edge cases this will have.

When you say "it's not really....engine specific you could use it in any engine or language because it's just a scripting language", this isn't true at all. The only part here that's not engine specific the text file. Your scripts that handle parsing the text are c# scripts, and you definitely rely on unity components here, so this is unity specific. regardless of if the statement was true, it clashes with your message of why you don't want to use yarnspinner or ink "it always felt disconnected from the engine". I'm not suggesting you should or shouldn't use those tools, but the reasoning is definitely flawed there.

One thing i suggest is getting your script more editor friendly. It is incredibly easy to make this editable in unity through scriptable objects. Then you also get an editor friendly way of linking dialogue because you can drag and drop scriptable object references. This is still probably worse than what existing tools do. It's definitely better than what you currently have though. At least if it's editable in unity, you can do hardcoded logic based on enums rather than forcing the user to insert stuff like >[ACTOR] in a text file with no verification if their syntax is correct

[nimble plume]

That's not to discourage you from working on this but if a major motivation is the joy of making the system yourself, that's not a thing for other people. If you want to make it public you'll have to think about what other benefits it has and why people would want to use it instead of existing systems or just using a bunch of arrays, dictionaries and if statements

[raw imp]

Is why I said it’s not really a language, because it’s kinda just a fancy text file ^_^ and I meant not engine specific as in like, it’s not a godot resource file or a unity prefab or such. I’m stupid and not an expert so I get words wrong, sorry!!

Don’t trust the exact words I say

I don’t mean to mislead people or such

[raw imp]

@fair rover sorry to both you, but what would this...thing be called? I want to get it right this time!

[fair rover]

im not really sure what you're referring to, like the overall set of scripts and logic? id normally just say tool or asset (since people get these things on the asset store)
if you're talking about the text file, i wouldnt call it anything specific other than a format. this is a text file that you format a specific way and thats all. the same way json is just a format

[raw imp]

Alright! And by put it on the asset store I meant for free, it worked for me, and if it works for somebody else it’s there

[fair rover]

my message btw wasn't to focus on the word "language" or say its a negative that it isn't engine specific. My point is that your entire logic right now is engine specific so you should focus on getting the file more editable in the engine

[fair rover]

im not so sure id suggest to do this either. by all means put it on github if you want but it isn't going to do you any favors having this on the asset store. honestly it'd probably be quite a bad thing to display if you plan to sell premade solutions in the future

[raw imp]

True true 🙂‍↕️ the asset store is more for finish products right? I’m from godot and the asset lib is full of half finished shit

[fair rover]

ideally yea but i have seen a fair amount of garbage on the asset store still. its a place where people are looking to buy actual usable solutions or models. i wouldnt count yours as usable in its current state

[raw imp]

not without lots of documentation and polish yeah

i mostly want to put it out there in case anybody finds it useful idrc about fame or money with it

[fair rover]

focus on adding features first that are easy to setup in inspector, and hard to mess it up. Nitku listed a few good ideas above. The main thing i think is important is the "communicate with the normal C# scripts"

[raw imp]

wdym by the last part specifically?

[fair rover]

you really shouldnt focus on the one beginner out there who will find your script and like it. Im being completely blunt here, no intermediate to professional level developer is going to see what you made and think it's a good solution

[fair rover]

#1407885336171905104 message

Nitkus message has more info about that part

[raw imp]

oh i know, again im not trying to make a popular or amazing solution for dialogue, I'm just making something that works for me, and put it on a public open source github, and if it works for someone else that's awsome

[raw imp]

wdym by 'dynamic text'? the other 3 sound good T_T

like BBcode?

[raw imp]

and if by some stroke of luck it gets popular or even a few people want more, I'll work on an actually polished and flexible version

[green walrus]

how do you feel about ink?

[nimble plume]

I mean things like "This is my [dog/cat/hamster] called X. [He/She] is Y years old [if hunger > 5] and very hungry" where the content depends on variable state

[raw imp]

it's good! it is, I've tried it i just hate hate the syntax and i like making my own tools so i know everything about it

[raw imp]

rn im just procrastinating variables because it seems very very boring