Tutorial: Creating dialog in Morrowind (adding dialog and the choice command)

[Jac]

ADDING DIALOG

Adding dialog is a very straightforward process depending upon what and where you’re adding dialog to.

Add dialog to an existing topic (e.g. latest rumors): 

1. Find and select the topic from the topics tab. 
2. In the info/response box, right-click on an existing topic response and select new. 
3. Type in your new dialog and select any filters you want for the topic. 

Add dialog to a new topic

1. Add the topic first.
   1. Right click in the tab window and select new. 
   2. Type in your topic name, and then add the dialog to the info/response window. 
2. Follow the above steps for adding dialog to your new topic.

Note: dialog is read from the very top line to the bottom, line by line, until the very first line that meets all of the speaker condition filters. This includes the disposition. An easy mistake to make is to have a line with disposition filter set at zero and have a line below it with a higher disposition. In this case, the line with the disposition filter of zero will always show while the line below it never will. These two lines would need to be swapped around for them to show properly.

 THE CHOICE FUNCTION

The choice function is a very powerful and versatile dialog tool. It allows you to:

• Split long dialog into more manageable chunks by adding a continue choice.
• Add options for the player to select, which adds to role playing.
• Add functionality to NPCs, like companions and others (e.g. give your orders mods).

You can have from 1 to 999 choices, but remember that you have to enter each choice so choose how many you want before you implement them.

The format is Function->choice = <choice #>. Choices should be in reverse numerical order, with the highest number at top counting down to the line that gives the choice. The results box for the info/response line with the choice command is Choice “<choice 1>” 1 “choice 2>” 2, etc. 
Tip: You do not have to start with 1 as your first choice, but I find it’s easier to keep track of them that way.

A simple choice: the continue choice

The continue choice is used to split up dialog that exceeds the 512 character limit into two or more “paragraphs.” 

To implement this:

1. Enter the first paragraph, and then use the above choice command in the results box: Choice “Continue” 1. 
2. Insert a blank line above this info line and then enter the second paragraph. Set the filters as follows: <NPC ID>, Disp 0, Function->Choice=1

Adding additional choices: is a matter of adding them to the Choice command and inserting the choices above the choice line as shown in the simple choice example. 

Tip: A good rule of thumb is to filter by NPC ID so that you do not have to worry about your choices overlapping with those from other mods or from the ones Bethesda has already entered. 

Note: Two lines can use the same choice # provided they have a different NPC ID or other filters set. Otherwise, the line that’s on top will be displayed while the one below will not. If you’re having issues with choices not being shown, make sure that you do not have two lines with the same filters set.