Converts messages without dialogs

[Xerxes]

SG has a dynamic story line and such, so it would fit in the theme if a lot of side quests are in game.
Is it doable to invent a new dialog system that converts messages without developers actually write every single sentence specific for that quest or npc.

My current idea is, make the dialog tree revolving around keywords, what do I mean by that?
All quest giving npcs have some motivations and things they can't achieve without help.
So, when player walks up to them, a list of possible conversation topics pops up.
Let it be weather, or political situation, or personal opinions on someone you just meet.
Then NPCs who have quests will give hints to players as to what players should ask them in order to start a quest.

Things get more complex if npcs can have realistic but unexpected reactions. Some one may refuse to be helped, so you have to convince them, some one may refuse to give you the promised rewards, so you have to either walk away, or beat them up, some npcs may only trust and giving out information about locations of dungeons or important places after you are close to his friends or have done him some favors.

 

[Komuflage]

Interesting idea, however, when you ask a npc something, will you have to write it yourself, or will you pick from a list of possible answers?

I'm afraid there is a risk if you write it yourself that you'll ask the npcs about things they don't understand.
And in response you'll get "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that".

So if you ask, "How are you today" > "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that"

Now I know you stated that you'll pick a topic to talk about, but there is still a chance that you formulate a sentence about a picked topic in a way the npc don't understand.
Or he recognize some of the keyword in your sentence, combine them and think you said something else, thus giving you a reply, that doesn't fit to your question.


"Things get more complex if npcs can have realistic but unexpected reactions. Some one may refuse to be helped, so you have to convince them, some one may refuse to give you the promised rewards, so you have to either walk away, or beat them up, some npcs may only trust and giving out information about locations of dungeons or important places after you are close to his friends or have did him some favors."

This seems like a very good idea though, and I think it's partly confirmed. I think madoc mentioned that some npc might not give you your rewards as an example. And that npcs will have their own motivations and goals. So I guess if a NPCs goal is to find someone to get a treasure for him, he might only share the info of where it's hidden, with someone he trust, and he might give you some random quest first in order for you to prove your loyalty.

 

[Xerxes]

Interesting idea, however, when you ask a npc something, will you have to write it yourself, or will you pick from a list of possible answers?

This seems like a very good idea though, and I think it's partly confirmed.

It would be picked from a pop up window rather than having you type them out like in old graphics adventure games. (Swearing will instantly game over you, it's such a pain when you are very angry at frustrating games. To me personally, it's well within my right to curse when I'm not having fun).

I believe my idea can potentially save them a lot of man power. This is truly procedural generated rather than picked from a pool. All they need I guess is writing some mission templates, and they can then be flawlessly incorporated into the game. Of cause, I'm not saying this is superior to hand crafted missions, but it's cheaper and innovative.

We can borrow some ideas from the Sims, like when you are picking the correct key words, a smiley face will pop up to indicate that. To not break the immersion, the symbol can be very minimalized and stylized. (this sounds stupid I know, but it's even lazier than writing generic sentences.)