Best In-Game Dialogue Setup

[PrettyGirlJean]

Hi all!

I wasn't sure exactly how to phrase the title without being too long winded or too vague. Anyhow, my question is what is your favorite design or setup for character dialogue with in a game. Meaning, when a character speaks, normally a character portrait appears with a box containing their dialogue. Do you like the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it classic dialogue? Or do like your characters portraits to be a bit more immersive such as PS3s Folklore where the background darkens as the two animated and highly detailed characters speak to one another (comic book like dialogue boxes appear as they speak)?

I ask because I'm doing some research for a future project.

Thanks a lot and take care!

[Sonic#]

I have some personal favorites.

http://www.phantasy-star.net/psiv/psivscreens-4.html

I have always fancied dialogue being done sort of like this, with different pictures accompanying what people say.

http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/growlanserv/index.html

I also like the way that Growlanser does theirs, with as much of the character viewable as possible. Not as much of a range of expressions, maybe, but certainly eye candy for me.

And finally, I have not minded so much when the text box is plain, but the game engine itself provides the character expressions and gestures, particularly if they're done rather sophisticated... ly, like in Xenosaga.

Then of course there's the portrait within a box, which I think is necessary for games now if there's to be nothing else (and I like its function in Lunar).

[Werefrog]

I'm not too picky on this aspect. I do like to see the picture in the box, but it's not absolutely necessary if it's not there. (I do, however, think that any game being produced this generation should have picture in nearly every dialogue box.) Of course, a face is going to help the player relate to the character. However, I guess it could be argued that it also subtracts from the fantasy of creating a mental picture in one's head. But I think that went out the window a long time ago with FMVs.

I've never played PS IV, but I really like the way that's set up in the screen shots that Sonic posted.

Oh, and Phoenix Wright! I like the way they handle dialogue in that series. Basically, they have a simple dialogue box laid over the character you are talking to. The face is not obscured by this box, and facial expressions change depending on the topic.

[DezoPenguin]

Yeah, that was actually part of what I really liked about SSSC and EBC, especially the latter, when the characters' portraits would change appearance based on the "tone of voice" of their replies. It gave the text a lot of personality.

What I actually hate is when you walk up to character A and talk to them and something changes on the main screen (shops, especially, had this going on for years). The irritating few seconds of the screen clearing and some other image appearing, then going back to the normal move-around-the-map screen would always drive me crazy. Full character models are OK in Phoenix Wright, when the characters are on-screen anyway, or in cutscenes where all you're doing is watching what happens, but otherwise the portrait-plus-text mode works well.

[Werefrog]

There have been times when I've played a game and not known who was talking. I can't think of an example here (probably an SNES-era or PS-era game). That's the absolute worst thing that could happen in a video game in my opinion.

[DezoPenguin]

There have been times when I've played a game and not known who was talking. I can't think of an example here (probably an SNES-era or PS-era game). That's the absolute worst thing that could happen in a video game in my opinion.

Final Fantasy VII; happened all the time. Sometimes the boxes would appear vaguely on-screen, NPCs wouldn't have names by their quotes, and half the time even the PCs didn't have their name in the dialogue box. Biggest pain in the whole game, for me.

That and the Battle Arena.

[Alunissage]

Besides Lunar's changing character portraits, which is what I tend to expect these days, I liked Arc II and III's balloons, which would track the speaker's sprite at times. For example, Elc would jump out a window yelling "Aaaaah!" and the balloon would follow him down, or a guard would pace while saying something and the hook of the balloon would move back and forth to be pointing to him. It just really added to the humor for me, even if it didn't do much specifically for conveying mood.

[Parn]

Mass Effect's is the best. Varied camera angles and fully-voiced dialogue complete with appropriate facial expressions do a lot for the game. Some NPCs are obvious about their insincerity when they're trying to manipulate you to do something for them based on their facial expressions, and really, I think that plays a huge role.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgwkuYS_5Ys

[PrettyGirlJean]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I'll definitely take each into consideration as I continue my research!