Dialogue Forge: Interactive Narrative Builder

Overview

Dialogue Forge is an experimental tool for building and testing branching dialogue systems. It presents a ChatGPT-like interface where you converse with an AI character, but your responses are pre-defined choices that you craft as you play. The system remembers your choices and adapts the narrative accordingly.

Core Concept

Unlike traditional dialogue editors where you build trees in a visual graph, Dialogue Forge lets you experience the dialogue as you create it. You play through the conversation, and when you reach a point that needs a response, you define what options should be available. This iterative approach makes it easy to:

• Feel the pacing and tone of conversations
• Test how choices affect narrative flow
• Refine dialogue through repeated playthroughs
• Build complex branching without losing track of context

Key Features

• Chat Interface: Familiar messaging UI for natural dialogue flow
• Choice System: Define multiple response options at any point
• Memory System: Track player choices and use them to gate future options
• Conditional Dialogue: Show/hide options based on previous decisions
• Live Editing: Modify dialogue nodes while playing through
• Export/Import: Save dialogue trees for reuse or sharing

Technical Approach Evaluation

The goal is a portable, easy-to-build dialogue system that can be integrated into other projects later (with characters, game logic, etc). Here's the tradeoff analysis:

Option A: Custom React Implementation

Pros:

• Full control over data format and features
• No dependencies to manage
• Tailored exactly to the "play as you build" workflow

Cons:

• More upfront work
• Have to build all UI from scratch
• May reinvent wheels

Option B: Ink (Inkle's Narrative Scripting Language)

Pros:

• Industry-proven (used in 80 Days, Sorcery!, Heaven's Vault)
• Simple text-based syntax—extremely fast to write
• Built-in variables, conditionals, and branching
• inkjs runtime is lightweight and portable
• Export to JSON for any platform
• Huge community and tooling (Inky editor)

Cons:

• Learning a new syntax (though it's simple)
• Less control over exact data structure

Option C: Yarn Spinner

Pros:

• Text-based, easy syntax with powerful features
• Official Unreal Engine plugin
• Built-in variables, visited node tracking, custom commands
• Can query game state (inventory, stats, achievements) via functions
• Active development and strong community
• JSON/compiled format works for web prototyping

Cons:

• Slightly more complex than Ink
• Requires Yarn Spinner runtime

✅ Recommendation: Yarn Spinner + Custom UI

Use Yarn Spinner for dialogue authoring. It's the clear winner for Unreal integration with game systems:

1. Unreal-Ready: Official plugin, seamless Blueprint/C++ integration
2. Game Systems: Query stats, inventory, achievements directly in dialogue conditions
3. Easy Branching: Simple <<if>> syntax with variables and visited tracking
4. Prototype First: Build/test in web UI, then move to Unreal unchanged
5. Rich Conditions: <<if $has_item("key") and $charisma >= 15>> unlocks options

Example dialogue with game integration:

<<if $quest_complete("dragon_slayer") and $reputation >= 50>>
    * [Show the Dragon Slayer badge]
        Guard: "A hero! Right this way."
        -> vip_entrance
<<endif>>
<<if $gold >= 100>>
    * [Bribe the guard] 
        <<set $gold -= 100>>
        -> sneak_entrance  
<<endif>>

We'll use yarnspinner-js for the web prototype, then the same .yarn files work directly in Unreal.

Try It

🎮 Launch Dialogue Forge → — Play through the sample dialogue and explore the editor panel.

Status

🚧 In Development - This is an active side project being built and documented in real-time.

Documentation

Full technical documentation, architecture decisions, and implementation details are available in the Dialogue Forge Docs.