Common Conversation

Why a wall of text is hard to build.

- Xalavier Nelson Jr

It’s easy to think about dialogue within its traditional role in other mediums; as the spoken conversations characters have to flesh out characterization, convey progression and deliver exposition. Video games defy this, because everything from the pieces of the ground you can walk on, to the dimensions of the text box that appears on your screen, have to be strictly defined. To have a tangible effect on a player, messages have to be reinforced through every aspect of a game, down to the color, motion, and speed of text. Despite the complexity this suggests, written dialogue in games offers potential for narrative expression unlike any other medium.