Narrative Programming

As an avid consumer of choice heavy role-playing games, it has been so exciting to be able to create a dialogue system for a game. Recent role-playing game fans will recognize the inspiration from Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 in some of the design principles, such as the numbered dialogue choices and branching decisions. Additionally, we took inspiration from games like Hades that use character sprites during conversations. Our wonderful UI artists also came up with adding dialogue backgrounds representative of whichever character is being spoken with. For example, when speaking with old lady Gladys you will be able to see one of her precious doilies, while discussing where she received inspiration for her more recent turn to murder mysteries.

Dialogue interface for Gladys

To get to the nitty gritty of how our dialogue system works, we have a database of dialogue lines connected with their associated character, locations, and other important data. This tells the game how to react to the player’s choices, with each choice influencing the branching choices and mood of the character, which will alter how the player is viewed by the character. It was important to the dev team to encourage some choice and natural discovery of the personality quirks of our great characters. Quests given in the dialogue will update the player’s journal and future dialogue, as the player’s actions and progression will impact the characters, what they say, and how much they share.

The interconnection of quests and dialogue will allow players to interact with the colorful characters of Apartment 20. You can be nice, mean, or anything in between, and the character will react to how you treat them. So, what sort of detective will you be? How will you help Gladys? Find out for yourself in Apartment 20.

Gladys' differing moods

Kayla S, Apartment 20 Dialogue Programmer