Guides Overview
These guides explain how to use the DIALOGUE-SYSTEM module to build interactive conversations in your project.
Start with an example scene
Before reading anything, open a working conversation:
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Examples/Create Example Scene
The wizard generates eight numbered tutorial scenes, each demonstrating one concept and each meant to be played rather than read. They are the fastest way in.
| Scene | What it demonstrates |
|---|---|
| 1 - Hello World | The minimum: one NPC, one line, one exit |
| 2 - Branching Conversation | A hub-and-spoke merchant conversation |
| 3 - Gated Options | Options gated on blackboard state — a guard who remembers you |
| 4 - Tokens | {speaker.name}, {other.name}, {world.time}, {world.period} |
| 5 - Multi Beat | Several beat groups on one node, text plus mood, auto-progression |
| 6 - Cross Tree References | Call and Return nodes into a separate tree |
| 7 - Timed Response | Auto-selecting an option on timeout |
| 8 - NPC to NPC | A headless conversation with overhead text |
Start with 1 - Hello World and work up. Each scene's chat tree is authored in markdown under DIALOGUE-SYSTEM/Examples/Dialogue Scripts/, so you can read the source alongside the running scene.
Where to start
Different users will want different entry points.
- If you are new to the module: read Introduction to the Dialogue System
- If you want to understand conversation content structure: read Chat Trees
- If you want to build your first player conversation: read Player Conversations
- If you are adding Dialogue to an existing
CIVIL-AI-SYSTEMproject: read CIVIL-AI-SYSTEM Integration and then the Dialogue Setup guide in the CIVIL-AI docs
What these guides cover
- the core data model and authoring concepts
- the flowchart and script authoring editors
- player-facing conversation flow
- agent-to-agent headless conversations
- blackboard state management and token interpolation
- camera, mood, and UI presentation
- conversation policies and input handling
- localisation and beat extensibility
- debugging tools
- integration with
CIVIL-AI-SYSTEM