This is an article on modding Skyrim, but the CK is not needed, neither is any other tool. It is meant to be a guideline on how to create good dialogue for Skyrim that will engage the player, and ultimately, enrich whatever character or quest you are creating.
The terms we use in these article are CK, NPC, and response. The CK is the Creation Kit, a powerful tool used for creating mods in Skyrim. NPC is a non-player character. NPCs populate the world of Skyrim - they're everything that isn't you. A response is a single line of dialogue said by an NPC. It is not to be confused with an info, which is a collection of responses.
Why is good dialogue so important, and what is it, really?
While dialogue itself may just be what an NPC says, good dialogue consists of so much more than that. It needs to be well-written, it needs to be tailored to the NPC speaking to it, it should be paired with good facial animations based on the sentences being phrased, and, if it's being voice-acted, it's imperative that the voice-acting is good. "Good" is a fairly broad term though. For voice-acting, a general rule is that it's better to have no voice-acting than bad voice-acting. And if you're going to include voice-acting in your mod, show users how to not use the voice-acting. Generally, this is a simple task - don't download the Sound folder. But if you're downloading it through a mod manager, give an option for no voice-acting. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Voice-acting is a subject for a different post.
Good dialogue is a combination of things, and each thing needs an explanation. So, let's get into that, shall we?
Good dialogue is a combination of things, and each thing needs an explanation. So, let's get into that, shall we?
Grammar and Spelling
Yes, yes, it might be something that your teachers have told you far too many times. But it really does help with your mod. Unless an NPC is meant to be illiterate (see Tailoring Your Text), you want the dialogue to be well-written. If you're going to voice-act it, it makes it easier for voice actors to record, and it sounds far better to have well-written dialogue. If you are using subtitles, it's a huge turnoff for users to see this:
i used to be a adventurer like you but then i took an arrow to the knee.
Then again, seeing that phrase at all, good grammar or not, is a turnoff.
If something isn't your native language, I recommend running everything through a program that can check for both spelling and grammar. And even if it is your native language, I still recommend doing that.
Act Natural
Make sure everything is as natural as possible. Unless the NPC prepared a speech, then they won't be entirely certain about what they're saying. Drop in a few ums and uhs. It might be bad practive in Debate class, but in the real world, people pause like that all the time. (Don't put in as many "likes" as we do nowadays. People didn't say "like" all the time in the ancient days, which is kind of where I imagine Skyrim to be.)
Tailoring Your Text
But a big part of good dialogue is making it feel natural. And in the real world, not everyone speaks in clipped accents with perfect diction. So you change the way your dialogue is written depending on the character. A noble might speak with a clipped accent and perfect diction, but would a farmer? And a guard might say something differently too. So would a senile old man. Some examples:
Noble/academic: If you really want to, I suppose you could go to Jorrvaskr. It's in the upper tier of Whiterun.
Farmer: Eh? Oh, yeah. Jorrvaskr's up there, by the palace. Strange place, if you ask me.
Guard: Yes, citizen? Oh. Well, Jorrvaskr's in the Cloud District. The way the Companions fight... It's crazy.
Senile man: Hmmm. Up you go. To Jorrvaskr, it's where they are. Yes, that's where it is. Mmmhmm.
It's All in the Face
Another, and less-used, function of responses is the ability to change the NPC's facial expression during each response, or line. This can provide much needed depth to dialogue in Skyrim, especially because of how much Skyrim's facial animations have improved over Oblivion's. For example, no one would say this with a straight face:
They killed my grandmother right in front of me.
If a voice actor does a fantastic job, then it's the modder's job to capitolize on that, and make the dialogue as good as possible. For that line, I would give it a Sad facial expression, or a Disgusted facial expression, with a power of about 80. (Once you start creating responses, you'll know what I mean.)
Be Concise, Be Clear
But dialogue isn't all about story. It needs to get the message across, too. You're senile old man might ramble, but he needs to tell the player that he needs to get 1 mudcrab chitin, firewood and blue mountain flower. Otherwise, the player won't know what to do. So be natural, but be clear, too. Try to strike a balance between them. And if you have long, rambling dialogue, give the player a choice to skip it. (i.e. "Get on with it, you crazy old man."
Better Not To Do It, Than To Do It Wrong
And lastly, make sure that your voice acting is good. Choose a voice actor that has a voice that suits the role, and has good quality equipment. A great example of a mod with thousands of lines of unique dialogue, with practically no voice acting, can be found here (it's an Oblivion mod, and the best mod I've ever played in any of TES games). And if you do add in voice acting, add an option to not have it. Some people will hate the voice, but love the mod, and so they won't use it because they can't stand the voice. Part of modding is catering to a large audience, and this is part of that.
If you can do all of that, then you should be able to have good dialogue. And good dialogue is the first step to creating a successful mod.
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