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My WIP that allows the player to switch characters as long as they are in the same room. The problem I am running into is conversation.

What would be the smoothest approach to a topic-based conversation system that would allow the player to shift to control of a different character in mid-conversation?

I suppose the easiest answer would be to lock the player into the current PC when the conversation begins and allow switching characters again only when the conversation ends, but that seems kind of cheap to me.

I'd like some clarification:

If the player is switching characters, what happens to the character they were before the switch? Does that character disappear? Go catatonic? Continue to behave as normal?

The character the player was before the switch does not disappear, but functions as an NPC who remembers everything that happened during the possession. Thus, it would be possible to switch back and forth with the person you are talking to.

I would think that to be unsteady ground in the middle of a conversation. I mean... Once you switch, the original character would have to continue the conversation, either randomly or along a plotted course.

And why talk to the person at all, if I can just switch over to them and know everything that they know? Unless I don't have conversational control over either character. In which case it doesn't matter when you switch.

Sorry for the confusion. I was trying to keep it simple, and it didn't work.

I say you "become" another character, and for all intents and purposes, you do (from a coding standpoint) but the player is actually possessing the other characters. The player does not gain the host's knowledge automatically. If you want to know more about Character A, for example, you would need to interview her as Character B.



I am starting to agree. Still, the rest of the game (as currently planned) would allow a high degree of freedom for the player, and it seems like restricting the conversation system rather than allowing it to be flexible enough to accommodate multiple viewpoints would be jarring.

If anyone has an idea of how to approach multiple viewpoint conversation in Inform 7 or knows of a smooth way to skirt the problem, I'd be interested.

Can you give an example of a problem that this creates? Are you using a specific extension?

If the character being abandoned has no knowledge of being possessed, and believes him/herself to have beenbthe one executing the conversation, I don't guess the conversation itself would be that confusing. You'd just change the target interlocutor. I guess that as long as the conversation continues to flow and both characters have the same motivations for the discussion, it could work just fine.

Let me say, though, that you'd have to double the amount of work you do for each convoy, as now you're writing responses for both characters, unless the conversation is subtly guided.

I haven't gotten to the coding phase yet -- I am looking for suggestions on where to start, honestly. I have the feeling that a simple conversation table would not cut it.

I am not planning on using a specific extension. I would use Eric Eve's Conversation Framework, but I do not think it would keep up with multiple characters in a conversation. It could be my inability, not the extension -- I experimented with it a year ago. Still, keeping track of the flow of a multiple viewpoint conversation seems to be outside of Framework's purpose, even if I did use it.



At first, the characters are not sure what is happening. Emotions eventually escalate to panic and terror, which puts another variable into the mix.

However, for now, I am only concerned with the basics of the system -- the ability to switch from character to another in mid-conversation with a minimum of awkwardness.



Double? Probably triple. But I am looking for ideas on subtly guiding the conversation.

I've looked at blogs, articles and coding examples, but either I'm missing something, or this hasn't been talked about much. Perhaps it is unattainable, but I believe it can be done.

I haven't scratched the surface of the conversation aspect of my WIP yet. It's an abyss that I'm hesitant to look into. I wouldn't think it would be impossible, though, using a node-based conversation system. Switch interlocutors, switch nodes. But again, I'm not entirely sure how it would work out, since I haven't bothered trying. It would seem, though, that this is perfectly doable, regardless of the level of complexity.

One of the authors with experience in conversation heavy games (Emily Short, Eric Eve) should shine some light on this sort of thing. I'm sure they'll wander around to it eventually.