Dialogs (MGS)

In MGS Natlang, dialogs are found within dialog blocks and related combination blocks.

dialog dialogName {
  SELF "Dialogs go here!"
}
//or
script {
  show dialog dialogName {
    SELF "Dialogs go here!"
  }
  // or
  show dialog {
    SELF "Dialogs go here!"
  }
}

Structure

1. Dialog identifier: exactly 1
2. Dialog parameter: 0+
3. Dialog message: 1+
4. Dialog option: 0-4x

Multiple dialogs can occur back-to-back inside their parent block.

Dialog Identifier

dialog sampleDialog {
  SELF
  alignment BOTTOM_RIGHT
  emote 3
  "Messages..."
  "So many messages!"
  "Don't you think?"
  > "Not really." : goto script sampleScript1
  > "Definitely." : goto script sampleScript2
}

The dialog identifier identifies the "speaker" of the dialog messages that immediately follow. For most cases, this will be a specific entity (with option #1 or #2 below), though you could also build up a dialog from its component pieces instead (with option #3).

The three options:

1. $bareword
   • The bareword identifier refers to a dialog label within a dialog settings block.
     • If no dialog label is found, this is assumed to be an entity name instead. This usage also provides the entity name as an entity parameter for the dialog.
     • Entity names with spaces or other special characters are not eligible for this usage.
   • REMINDER: A quoted string is NOT allowed here! This string must be a bareword!
2. entity $string
   • String: an entity's given name (i.e. the entity's name within the Tiled map).
   • This usage also provides the entity name as an entity parameter for the dialog.
   • The entities %PLAYER% and %SELF% must use this pattern (and not the bareword pattern) because they contain special characters. As this can be cumbersome, it's probably best to set up a dialog settings label for them so you can use a bareword as an identifier instead.
3. name $string
   • String: the dialog's display name.
   • This usage also provides a name parameter for the dialog.
   • If you don't want a name displayed, use an empty quoted string (name "").

Dialog Parameters

dialog sampleDialog {
  SELF
  alignment BOTTOM_RIGHT
  emote 3
  "Messages..."
  "So many messages!"
  "Don't you think?"
  > "Not really." : goto script sampleScript1
  > "Definitely." : goto script sampleScript2
}

Dialog parameters are a dialog property and value pair. Multiple dialog parameters can occur back-to-back in a single (show) dialog block or a dialog settings target block.

• entity $string
  • String: the "given name" of the entity (i.e. the entity's name on the Tiled map). (Wrapping this name in %s is unnecessary and will in fact confuse the encoder.)
    • Can be %PLAYER% or %SELF%.
  • A dialog can inherit a name and a portrait if given an entity parameter.
  • The inherited name is a relative reference; the dialog display name will be whatever that entity's name is at that moment.
• name $string
  • String: a fixed string of no more than 12 ASCII characters. For an entity's current name) instead, wrap a specific entity's given name in %s.
    • Can be %PLAYER% or %SELF%.
  • Overrides names inherited via the entity parameter.
  • If this string is empty (name ""), the dialog box label will be absent entirely. (Sometimes you want this!)
• portrait $string
  • String: the name of a MGE portrait.
  • Overrides portraits inherited via the entity parameter.
• alignment $string
  • String: one of the following:
    • TR (or TOP_RIGHT)
    • BR (or BOTTOM_RIGHT)
    • TL (or TOP_LEFT)
    • BL (or BOTTOM_LEFT) (default)
• border_tileset $string
  • String: the name of a MGE tileset.
  • The default tileset is used if none is provided.
• emote $number
  • Number: the id of the "emote" in that entity's entry in portraits.json.
  • The default emote (0) will display if not specified.
• wrap messages (to) $number
  • Number: the number of chars to auto wrap the contents of dialog messages.
  • 42 is default.

Dialog Messages

A dialog message is any quoted string.

dialog sampleDialog {
  SELF
  alignment BOTTOM_RIGHT
  emote 3
  "Messages..."
  "So many messages!"
  "Don't you think?"
  > "Not really." : goto script sampleScript1
  > "Definitely." : goto script sampleScript2
}

• Each message is a new "text screen" in the game.
• Only ASCII characters will be printed.
• Insert an entity's current name) by wrapping their given name in %s.
  • %PLAYER% and %SELF% are also allowed, which target the player entity or the entity that is running the script, respectively.
  • Words wrapped in %s will count as 12 chars when the dialog message is auto-wrapped.
• Insert the current value of a MGE variable by wrapping its name in $s.
  • Words wrapped in $s will count as 5 chars when the dialog message is auto-wrapped.
• Some characters must be escaped in the message body, such as double quote (\") (for messages wrapped in double quotes).
  • \t (tabs) are auto-converted to four spaces.
  • \n (new lines) are honored, but since text is wrapped automatically, don't worry about hard wrapping your messages unless you want to put line breaks in arbitrary places.
  • % and $ are printable characters unless used in pairs within a single line, in which case the only way to print them is to escape them (e.g. \%).
• Word processor "smart" characters such as ellipses (…), em dashes (—), and smart quotes (“”) are auto converted to ASCII equivalents (...) (--) (").

Dialog Options (MGS)

dialog sampleDialog {
  SELF
  alignment BOTTOM_RIGHT
  emote 3
  "Messages..."
  "So many messages!"
  "Don't you think?"
  > "Not really." : goto script sampleScript1
  > "Definitely." : goto script sampleScript2
}

Syntax:

> $label:quotedString : (goto) (script) $script:string

• You may have up to 4 dialog options per dialog.
• As each of these "branches" results in a script jump, no dialog messages afterward will be seen. Therefore, dialog options must come last within the dialog.
• The label is the text that will be shown to the player. As the cursor (approximated with >) takes up some room, assume you will only have 39 characters instead of the usual 42.
  • The label behaves like dialog messages in terms of inserting variables (with $ or %), escaped characters, etc.
  • Must be wrapped in quotes.
• In the MGE, dialog options are displayed underneath the final dialog message. Therefore, final dialog message (before any options) should consist of a single line of no more than 42 characters.
• The words goto and script are optional. Any string given after the : (other than goto and script) is assumed to be the script name.