`Dialog` functions and properties

`Dialog.GetByName`

static Dialog* Dialog.GetByName(string scriptName)

Returns a pointer to the Dialog with the specified script name, or null if it does not exist.

Normally you do not need to use this, as there will be a automatically created global script variable for each Dialog which got a script name. Where GetByName() function may come useful is situation in which you a) do not know exact name, b) had to store object's reference in a string for some reason. Good examples of this are saving object's name in a custom property, or a file, then reading it back.

Example:

String dialogName = cNPC.GetTextProperty("MyDialog");
Dialog* dlg = Dialog.GetByName(dialogName);
if (dlg != null) {
    dlg.Start();
}

Retrieves a dialog name from the character's custom property, and gets a pointer to an actual Dialog using that name, then runs it.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.6.1 and later versions.

`Dialog.AreOptionsDisplayed`

static readonly attribute bool Dialog.AreOptionsDisplayed

Returns true if dialog options are currently displayed on the screen, or false otherwise.

Example:

function on_event(EventType evt, int data1, int data2)
{
    if (evt == eEventDialogOptionsOpen)
    {
        player.LockView(VIEW_IDLE_WHILE_DIALOG);
    }
    else if (evt == eEventDialogOptionsClose)
    {
        player.UnlockView();
    }
}

void repeatedly_execute_always()
{
    if (Dialog.AreOptionsDisplayed)
    {
        if (!player.Animating && (Random(100) < 2))
        {
            player.Animate(player.Loop, 4, eOnce, eNoBlock);
        }
    }
}

In this example the player character will be locked to a view VIEW_IDLE_WHILE_DIALOG when the dialog options are about to be shown on screen, and randomly play animations while they are displayed. When the dialog options are hidden the player character's view will be unlocked.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.6.2 and later versions.

`Dialog.CurrentDialog`

static readonly attribute Dialog* Dialog.CurrentDialog

Gets the currently running dialog. Returns null if no dialog is currently active.

"In dialog" is a specific state of the AGS Engine, it means that a Dialog have been run by calling Dialog.Start(). This refers to:

dialog script is running, either an opening or any of the option's scripts;
dialog options are displayed;

If, on another hand, you want to know when a particular character is speaking, then use Speech.SpeakingCharacter instead.

Current dialog may change multiple times during the conversation if you have other dialogs started from the dialog script. CurrentDialog will return null only when the last dialog has finished and the game returns to the normal state.

Example:

function on_event(EventType evt, int data1, int data2)
{
    if (evt == eEventDialogStart)
    {
        if (data1 == dShopkeeper.ID)
        {
            SetTimer(1, 300);
        }
    }
    else if (evt == eEventDialogStop)
    {
        if (data1 == dShopkeeper.ID)
        {
            SetTimer(1, 0);
        }
    }
}

void repeatedly_execute_always()
{
    if (Dialog.CurrentDialog == dShopkeeper)
    {
        if (IsTimerExpired(1))
        {
            cThief.ChangeRoom(1, 10, 100);
            cThief.Walk(320, 100, eNoBlock, eAnywhere);
        }
    }
}

In this example, the script starts a timer whenever the dShopkeeper dialog starts, and keeps checking for that timer's expiration while it's running. If a timer expires while in dialog, the cThief character will appear in the room and walk across the room. The timer will be cancelled if dialog ended earlier.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.6.2 and later versions.

`Dialog.ExecutedOption`

static readonly attribute int Dialog.ExecutedOption

Gets the currently executed dialog option, or -1 if none is being executed.

NOTE: dialog option indexes start with 1, and index 0 refers to the dialog entry (marked with '@S' in dialog script).

Example:

void repeatedly_execute_always()
{
    if (Dialog.CurrentDialog == dAnxiousTalk && Dialog.ExecutedOption > 0)
    {
        if (!cAnxiousMan.Speaking && !cAnxiousMan.Moving && !cAnxiousMan.Animating)
        {
            if (cAnxiousMan.x < 100)
                cAnxiousMan.Walk(cAnxiousMan.x + 100, cAnxiousMan.y, eNoBlock);
            else
                cAnxiousMan.Walk(cAnxiousMan.x - 100, cAnxiousMan.y, eNoBlock);
        }
        player.FaceCharacter(cAnxiousMan);
    }
}

This script will make a cAnxiousMan character continuously walk back and forth during conversation, except the time when he's speaking himself or plays any custom animation.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.6.2 and later versions.

`Dialog.DisplayOptions`

int Dialog.DisplayOptions(optional DialogOptionSayStyle)

Presents the options for this dialog to the user and waits until they select one of them. The selected option number is returned.

NOTE: This command does not run any dialog scripts, it simply displays the options and waits for the player to choose one. To run the dialog normally, use the Dialog.Start command instead.

This command is useful if you want to implement your own dialog system, but still use the standard AGS dialog option selection screens.

The optional DialogOptionSayStyle parameter determines whether the chosen option is automatically spoken by the player character. The default is eSayUseOptionSetting, which will use the option's "Say" setting from the dialog editor. You can alternatively use eSayAlways, which will speak the chosen option regardless of its setting in the editor; or eSayNever, which will not speak the chosen option.

If the text parser is enabled for this dialog and the player types something into it rather than selecting an option, the special value DIALOG_PARSER_SELECTED will be returned, and AGS will have automatically called Parser.ParseText with the player's text. Therefore, you can call Parser.Said to process it.

Example:

int result = dOldMan.DisplayOptions();
if (result == DIALOG_PARSER_SELECTED)
{
    Display("They typed something into the parser!!");
}
else
{
    Display("They chose dialog option %d.", result);
}

will show the options for dialog dOldMan and display a message depending on what the player selected.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.0.2 and later versions.

See also: Dialog.Start, Parser.ParseText

`Dialog.GetOptionState`

(Formerly known as global function GetDialogOption, which is now obsolete)

Dialog.GetOptionState(int option)

Finds out whether an option in a conversation is available to the player or not.

OPTION is the option number within the dialog, from 1 to whatever the highest option is for that topic.

The return value can have the following values:

eOptionOff
  The option is disabled - the player will not see it
eOptionOn
  The option is enabled - the player can now see and use it
eOptionOffForever
  The option is permanently disabled - no other command can ever turn
  it back on again.

These are the same as the options passed to Dialog.SetOptionState.

Example:

if (dJoeExcited.GetOptionState(2) != eOptionOn)
    Display("It's turned off");

Will display a message if option 2 of dialog dJoeExcited is not currently switched on.

`Dialog.GetOptionText`

String Dialog.GetOptionText(int option)

Returns the text for the specified dialog option.

OPTION is the option number within the dialog, from 1 to whatever the highest option is for that topic.

Example:

String optionText = dJoeBloggs.GetOptionText(3);
Display("Option 3 of dialog dJoeBloggs is %s!", optionText);

will display the text for the third option of the dJoeBloggs dialog.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.0.2 and later versions.

`Dialog.HasOptionBeenChosen`

bool Dialog.HasOptionBeenChosen(int option)

Finds out whether the player has already chosen the specified option in this dialog. This is mainly useful when drawing your own custom dialog options display, since it allows you to differentiate options that have already been chosen.

OPTION is the option number within the dialog, from 1 to whatever the highest option is for that topic.

Example:

if (dJoeExcited.HasOptionBeenChosen(2))
    Display("The player has chosen option 2 in dialog dJoeExcited!");

will display a message if the player has used option 2 of the dialog before.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.1.1 and later versions.

`Dialog.ID`

readonly int Dialog.ID;

Gets the dialog ID number from the editor.

This might be useful if you need to interoperate with legacy scripts that work with dialog ID numbers.

Example:

Display("dFisherman is Dialog %d!", dFisherman.ID);

will display the ID number of the dFisherman dialog

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.1.0 and later versions.

`Dialog.OptionCount`

readonly int Dialog.OptionCount;

Gets the number of options that this dialog has.

This might be useful in a script module if you want to iterate through all the possible choices in the dialog.

Example:

Display("dFisherman has %d options!", dFisherman.OptionCount);

will display the number of options in the dFisherman dialog.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.0.2 and later versions.

`Dialog.ScriptName`

readonly String Dialog.ScriptName;

Gets the script name of the dialog, which serves as a unique identifier.

This may be useful if you have a pointer to some dialog stored in your variable, and want to know what it actually is. Normally you don't need a script name, as you have an automatic global variable for each dialog in the game, but sometimes you may want to save its script name as a text either to display it somewhere for testing purposes, or keep as a reference. You may later use Dialog.GetByName function to retrieve the dialog by the previously saved script name.

Example:

function CustomDialogStart(this Dialog*)
{
  this.Start();
  String dialogName = this.ScriptName;
  System.Log(eLogInfo, "Starting dialog: %s", dialogName);
}

Starting a dialog using the CustomDialogStart() method, like dExampleDialog.CustomDialogStart(), will log its script name for debugging purposes.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.6.1 and later versions.

See also: Dialog.GetByName, Dialog.Start

`Dialog.SetHasOptionBeenChosen`

Dialog.SetHasOptionBeenChosen(int option, bool chosen)

Changes whether an option in a conversation is marked as previously chosen by the player. The option is marked as chosen whenever player selects it during the conversation, and is usually highlighted with different text color. This function lets you to reset the option state, or force it change at any random moment.

OPTION is the option number within the dialog, from 1 to whatever the highest option is for that topic.

Example:

if (dDialog1.HasOptionBeenChosen(1))
    dDialog1.SetHasOptionBeenChosen(1, false); // reset the option state

will mark option 1 of dialog dDialog1 as "not chosen yet".

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.3.0 and later versions.

`Dialog.SetOptionState`

(Formerly known as global function SetDialogOption, which is now obsolete)

Dialog.SetOptionState(int option, DialogOptionState)

Changes whether an option in a conversation is available to the player or not. This allows you to add extra options to a conversation once the player has done certain things.

OPTION is the option number within the topic, from 1 to whatever the highest option is for that topic.

The DialogOptionState controls what happens to this option. It can have the following values:

eOptionOff
  The option is disabled - the player will not see it
eOptionOn
  The option is enabled - the player can now see and use it
eOptionOffForever
  The option is permanently disabled - no other command can ever turn
  it back on again.

These are equivalent to the option-off, option-on, and option-off-forever dialog commands.

Example:

dFriend1.SetOptionState(2, eOptionOn);

will enable option 2 of topic number 4.

`Dialog.ShowTextParser`

readonly bool Dialog.ShowTextParser;

Gets whether this dialog shows a text box allowing the player to type in text.

This property is initially set in the Dialog Editor.

Example:

if (dFisherman.ShowTextParser)
{
    Display("dFisherman has a text box!");
}

will display a message if dFisherman has the option enabled

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.2.1 and later versions.

`Dialog.Start`

(Formerly known as global function RunDialog, which is now obsolete)

Dialog.Start()

Starts a conversation from the specified topic.

NOTE: The conversation will not start immediately; instead, it will be run when the current script function finishes executing.

If you use this command from within the dialog_request function, it will specify that the game should return to this new topic when the script finishes.

Example:

dMerchant.Start();

will start the conversation topic named dMerchant.

`StopDialog`

StopDialog ()

This command can only be used either in dialog script or from within the "dialog_request" function, and schedules end of a conversation. If called in dialog script it will make conversation stop after current option's script completes. If called in "dialog_request" function it will make conversation stop right after "dialog_request" function finishes.

You can use this function to end the conversation depending on whether the player has/does a certain thing.

Example:

function dialog_request (int dr) {
    if (dr==1) {
        cEgo.AddInventory(iPoster);
        StopDialog();
    }
}

will give the player the inventory item iPoster and then end the conversation.

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Dialog.md

Dialog.md

`Dialog` functions and properties

`Dialog.GetByName`

`Dialog.AreOptionsDisplayed`

`Dialog.CurrentDialog`

`Dialog.ExecutedOption`

`Dialog.DisplayOptions`

`Dialog.GetOptionState`

`Dialog.GetOptionText`

`Dialog.HasOptionBeenChosen`

`Dialog.ID`

`Dialog.OptionCount`

`Dialog.ScriptName`

`Dialog.SetHasOptionBeenChosen`

`Dialog.SetOptionState`

`Dialog.ShowTextParser`

`Dialog.Start`

`StopDialog`

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Dialog.md

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Dialog functions and properties

Dialog.GetByName

Dialog.AreOptionsDisplayed

Dialog.CurrentDialog

Dialog.ExecutedOption

Dialog.DisplayOptions

Dialog.GetOptionState

Dialog.GetOptionText

Dialog.HasOptionBeenChosen

Dialog.ID

Dialog.OptionCount

Dialog.ScriptName

Dialog.SetHasOptionBeenChosen

Dialog.SetOptionState

Dialog.ShowTextParser

Dialog.Start

StopDialog

`Dialog` functions and properties

`Dialog.GetByName`

`Dialog.AreOptionsDisplayed`

`Dialog.CurrentDialog`

`Dialog.ExecutedOption`

`Dialog.DisplayOptions`

`Dialog.GetOptionState`

`Dialog.GetOptionText`

`Dialog.HasOptionBeenChosen`

`Dialog.ID`

`Dialog.OptionCount`

`Dialog.ScriptName`

`Dialog.SetHasOptionBeenChosen`

`Dialog.SetOptionState`

`Dialog.ShowTextParser`

`Dialog.Start`

`StopDialog`