Some thinking out loud on dialogue options in RP games

Written September 2022

During my play-through of the game Cyberpunk 2077 I noticed that it didn’t really matter if I was playing a good or bad person — I realised none of my actions had consequences. It became so obvious that it ruined my (already not great) experience with the game.

As an avid gamer I like escaping reality by playing choices that I would never consider in a real life situation. I can be quite cautious in real life — weighing my every decision. I am painfully aware that my actions can impact those around me. While playing a game I try to push myself to be the exact opposite because I think that’s challenging and fun.

If it doesn't make a difference, does it really matter?

Misinterpreting dialogue options

A worse offender is misinterpreting the dialogue options. Like I said, it's fun playing a character that's a little cooler than you yourself are. What’s not fun is completely misinterpreting the options that are available in the dialogue interface and having my character blurt out something that I did not want them to say or do.

The reason we misinterpret things is explained by factors like — Localisation, perspective, context personality and bad copy. When creating an RP game where choices actually matter it's important to make sure the options are, well, loud and clear.

Here are a handful of fun examples of misinterpreting dialogue

Some thoughts on improving the game experience of DDV

This blog is written November 2022

I pride myself in being a shoot & loot type of gamer but every now and then I need to play a life-sim. Animal Crossing New Horizons saved me from a lot of mental health problems during the beginning of the 2020 pandemic. Disney Dreamlight valley is another one of those games that just hit me right in the “let’s put 500 hours into this without effort”-spot. A friend of mine pointed out the game is in early-acces mode, which is very interesting for me — the game works and is playable but usually there are lots of QoL-improvements to be done. Apart from the game being a little buggy and janky in some areas it’s really fun and for someone who likes Disney it’s honestly a must-play.

I won’t be mentioning big changes to the game that requires a bunch more logic and development — like the need for more masculine attire, the fact that the trees don’t have a transparency when walking through forested areas, dialogue continuity errors, lack of furniture interaction, etc.

Here is what small improvements I would add to improve quality of life (in no particular order)

1. Poor menu

Does the “new game” button have to be directly under the “continue” button? When starting up the game you are two clicks away from accidentally resetting and starting over. I’ve read some horror stories about controllers falling while in the menu or kids not understanding where to click and therefor wiping out the saved game. Not great.

2. Storage

Chests in the game have a stacking issue, some items are allowed to stack up to 99 while other only to 50. It doesn't make sense. Another thing is auto-sorting, too long are you busy trying to organise these wooden chests. Chest types could be improved as well, why can we only use the wooden chests to store items in? Why can't a fridge be able to hold produce for example?

3. Swapping friendship roles

Once you lock a character into a certain type of role, they're stuck with that forever. Regret giving Scrooge McDuck the foraging feature instead of the mining feature? Tough luck, he'll be tending the crops.

4. Save outfits

A simple thing to implement I believe. Saving an outfit for the ability to swap outfits quickly in each biome can make the game feel more immersive. It's also a great way to always have your favourite looks ready at the touch of a button as opposed to endlessly searching for that specific blue top.

5. Being able to toggle characters on and off

Certain villains behaviour can be very unpleasant for some players that are sensitive to traits of narcissism for example. Unfortunately for those, Mother Gothel from the movie Tangled, is always around to speak her narcissistic mind and shower you in backhanded compliments. I, for one, would pay extra money to not have her walk around in my dream valley.

6. Job board

After completing all the friendship quests there is very little to do for players. A solution to keep reduce churn could be a good old job board handing out daily quests for exclusive materials/furniture/ingredients/clothes