Scene Setup

This page covers getting a scene from nothing to a working conversation. If you would rather see one running first, Guides Overview points at the example scenes, which are already set up.

What a scene needs

Four things, and the setup menu creates the two you are most likely to forget:

Requirement	How it gets there
Module settings asset	Created for you at first use, or via the create asset menu.
A main camera	Your scene's camera, tagged MainCamera.
An EventSystem	Added by Setup Scene.
A ChatSystem	Added by Setup Scene, linked to the player.

Plus a player and at least one NPC:

• the player needs a PlayerAgentService (its ID is hardcoded to player, which is what trigger volumes and detection match against)
• the NPC needs an AgentChatService with a chat tree assigned

Setup Scene

BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Setup/Setup Scene

Adds an EventSystem if there is none, then creates a DialogueChatSystem GameObject with a ChatSystem component and links it to the PlayerAgentService in the scene.

It is safe to run repeatedly -- it only adds what is missing, and it registers proper undo steps.

Two things stop it working, and both log a warning saying so:

• no module settings asset -- create one first
• no PlayerAgentService in the scene -- add one to the player before running it

Setup Scene Camera

BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Setup/Setup Scene Camera

Adds a CinemachineBrain to the main camera and a dialogue camera provider to the scene. Only relevant when the camera backend is set to Cinemachine; see Camera.

If there is no main camera it warns rather than guessing, and you add the brain yourself.

Create Default Camera Presets

BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Setup/Create Default Camera Presets

Writes the full set of shot presets, the default rule assets, both shot selection profiles, and a camera settings asset into Resources/DIALOGUE-SYSTEM/Camera/. Existing assets are skipped, so it is safe after an upgrade.

Validate Module

BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Setup/Validate Module

The fastest way to find out why a scene is not working. It checks and reports on:

• the module settings asset existing at its Resources path
• a default UI theme being assigned
• an input action asset being configured, or the built-in default being present
• a MainCamera in the active scene
• an EventSystem in the active scene
• a ChatSystem in the active scene
• the camera assets being present

It logs All checks passed or a count of issues with a warning for each. The same validation runs automatically during module initialization.

The settings asset

Module settings live at:

Assets/BardTreeLtd/Resources/DIALOGUE-SYSTEM/System/DialgoueSystemSettings.asset

That filename is spelled Dialgoue

The typo is in the shipped asset path, not in this page. Search for DialgoueSystemSettings if you are looking for the file, and do not rename it -- the path is resolved from a Resources string at runtime.

Open it with BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Module Settings, which is a window rather than a raw inspector. See Module Settings for what everything in it does.

Other menu items worth knowing

Menu item	What it does
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Dialogue Editor	The flowchart editor. See Authoring Editors.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Dialogue Script Editor	The markdown script editor.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Localisation	The localisation window. See Localisation.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Agent Chat Blackboard	Per-agent blackboard editor. See Blackboard.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Blackboard Key Audit	Finds unused and undefined blackboard keys across the project.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Examples/Create Example Scene	Generates the eight tutorial scenes.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Setup/Create Conversation Trigger Volume	Creates a configured trigger volume.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Setup/Add uLipSync (Blend Shape) to Selected	Per-agent lip sync setup. See Lip Sync.
BardTreeLtd/Dialogue/Help/Getting Started	The in-editor getting started window.

Installing alongside CIVIL-AI-SYSTEM

Dialogue runs standalone, but if both modules are in the project, set CivilAI up first -- the Dialogue flowchart editor checks for item collections through the shared IItemCatalog before it will display. See CIVIL-AI-SYSTEM Integration.

Practical advice

Run Validate Module before debugging anything else. Most "the conversation does nothing" reports come down to a missing EventSystem, a missing ChatSystem, or a settings asset that was never created, and validation names all three in one pass.

If you are adding dialogue to an existing scene rather than a fresh one, add the PlayerAgentService to the player before running Setup Scene, or the ChatSystem it creates will have nothing to link to.

Next step

Continue to Dialogue Agents, or read Module Settings for the full settings reference.