[Part 32] NPC Dialogue Conditions (specifically Jeff & Ben)

[Raunsamsing]

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I am curious as to what exactly has been placed as the different conditions for Jeff’s and Ben’s dialogue. Following the tutorial, I haven’t been able to see exactly what has been put as all these conditions. Since I haven’t modified them myself after the final shot of it in the series, I have been left with an error, and also just some curiosity regarding the dialogue conditions, as I think it is one of the things that gives the game the most life. The current error I encounter is this: “No such value DayOfWeek found.”, which occurs after trying to speak to Ben after 8 PM. I totally understand what this error comes from, but I am just not sure what it has been changed to (I really want the same dialogue condition-system as you). My current dialogues look like this:

Jeff: Morning: Conditions: Key: Timestamp.hour Value Type: Int Equal: 10

Dialogue Line: Speaker: Jeff Message: “My bones tell me it is exactly 10 am in the morning.”

General Morning Greeting: Conditions: Key: Timestamp.hour Value Type: Int Less Than: 12

Dialogue Line: Speaker: Jeff Message: “Good Morning!”

Afternoon Greeting: Conditions: Key: Timestamp.hour Value Type: Int Greater Than Or Equal To: 12

Dialogue Line: Speaker: Jeff Message: “My bones tell me it is exactly 10 am in the morning.”

Ben: Forest Dialogue: Conditions: Key: Location Value Type: Int Equal: 6

Dialogue Line: Speaker: Ben Message: “Mornin! Isn’t it a nice day to go fishing?”

Shop Dialogue: Conditions: Key: Location Value Type: Int Equal: 3

Dialogue Line: Speaker: Ben Message: “Do you love animals? I certainly do.” Speaker: Ben Message: “I’m always happy to help!”

Shop Friday Dialogue: Conditions: Key: Location Value Type: Int Equal: 3 Key: DayOfWeek Value Type: String Equal: “Friday”

Dialogue Line: Speaker: Ben Message: “Business has been really good tonight. I’m pleased.”

Shop with 2 Hearts: Conditions: Key: Location Value Type: Int Equal: 3

Dialogue Line: Speaker: Ben Message: “It’s always good to see you!”

Could you please share your dialogues system regarding Jeff and Ben? Thank you in advance – I really enjoy the videos!

[Jonathan Teo]

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Are you all caught up to the latest part?

As of Part 32: Ben Forest Dialogue Condition: Location = 5 Ben: Mornin! Isn’t it a nice day to go fishing?

Shop Dialogue Location = 3 Ben Hey there {PlayerName}, do you love animals? I certainly do. Ben I’m always happy to help!

Shop Friday Dialogue Location = 3 Timestamp.DayOfWeek = 6 Ben Business has been really good tonight. I’m pleased.

Shop with 2 Hearts Location = 3 NPCRelationship_Ben.Hearts >= 2 Ben It’s always good to see you!

First Animal Location = 3 AnimalCount = 1 Ben Take good care of your first animal.

Subsequent Animals Location = 3 AnimalCount > 1 Ben You have {AnimalCount} animals under your belt. Ben That number will keep increasing. Keep at it {PlayerName}.

Jeff General Morning Greeting Timestamp.hour < 12 Jeff Good morning!

Afternoon Greeting Timestamp.hour >= 12 Timestamp.hour < 18 Jeff Good afternoon!

Evening Greeting Timestamp.hour > 18 Jeff Good evening!

[Raunsamsing]

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Thank you very much! I’ve only just made it to part 32, so I am currently unable to talk to Ben, but at least I know that it will be fixed later :)

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[Tarha Apustaja]

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It sounds like you’re playing through a game or a series and have encountered a point where you can’t interact with a character named Ben yet. If you have any questions about the game, need help with something specific, or want to discuss strategies or tips, feel free to ask! I’m here to help.

[Raunsamsing]

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Hey, so I’ve just completed the final episode and has encountered some problems with the NPC’s (especially Ben and Abby). Whenever I try to interact with them, it casts the errors: “InvalidCastException: Specified cast is not valid.” for Ben. “No such value NPCRelationship_Abby.Hearts found.” for Abby.

I now that it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with this dialogue problem, but I also constantly get the error: “”SetDestination” can only be called on an active agent that has been placed on a NavMesh. UnityEngine.AI.NavMeshAgent:SetDestination (UnityEngine.Vector3)”

Other than this issue, everything else is working (I think). This series has been an epic journey, and I’ve learned so much, so thank you so much!

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[Jonathan Teo]

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Don’t worry about those errors for now, they don’t affect the game function. We just have to add certain preliminary checks to not have those errors thrown. We’re glad you’re learning a lot from our tutorial series!

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[Raunsamsing]

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Well, it doesn’t crash the game, but it makes it impossible to talk to Ben whenever he’s in the Yodel Ranch, and Abby after the very first interaction with her.

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[Raunsamsing]

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How do I fix this?

[Jonathan Teo]

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Does the game freeze after the error is thrown?

[Raunsamsing]

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No, it doesn’t freeze after the error is thrown, but it does so Ben doesn’t cast a dialogue at all, and Abby doesn’t cast a dialogue after the initial one.

[Jonathan Teo]

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Is your default dialogue set? Also post all the relevant scripts from the character to the dialogue

[Raunsamsing]

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Yes, my default dialogue is set. Here are the relevant scripts:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

[System.Serializable]
public class DialogueCondition: IConditional
{
    //An identifier for the dialogue condition for easier editing
    public string id; 
    public BlackboardCondition[] conditions;
    public List<DialogueLine> dialogueLine;


    public bool CheckConditions(out int conditionsMet)
    {
        IConditional conditionChecker = this;
        return conditionChecker.CheckConditions(conditions, out conditionsMet);
    }
}

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

[System.Serializable]
public struct DialogueLine
{
    public string speaker;
    [TextArea(2,5)]
    public string message;

    public DialogueLine(string speaker, string message)
    {
        this.speaker = speaker;
        this.message = message;
    }
}

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;
using TMPro;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

public class DialogueManager : MonoBehaviour
{
    public static DialogueManager Instance { get; private set; }

    [Header("Dialogue Components")]
    public GameObject dialoguePanel;
    public TextMeshProUGUI speakerText;
    public TextMeshProUGUI dialogueText;

    //The lines to queue during the dialogue sequence
    Queue<DialogueLine> dialogueQueue;
    Action onDialogueEnd = null;

    bool isTyping = false;

    //TODO: Implement a proper player control stop mechanism
    PlayerController playerController;

    private void Awake()
    {
        //If there is more than one instance, destroy the extra
        if (Instance != null && Instance != this)
        {
            Destroy(this);
        }
        else
        {
            //Set the static instance to this instance
            Instance = this;
        }
    }

    private void Start()
    {
        playerController = FindFirstObjectByType<PlayerController>();
    }

    //Initialises the dialogue
    public void StartDialogue(List<DialogueLine> dialogueLinesToQueue)
    {
        //Convert the list to a queue
        dialogueQueue = new Queue<DialogueLine>(dialogueLinesToQueue);


        if (playerController != null)
        {
            playerController.enabled = false;
        }

        UpdateDialogue();
    }

    //Initialises the dialogue, but with an Action to execute once it finishes
    public void StartDialogue(List<DialogueLine> dialogueLinesToQueue, Action onDialogueEnd)
    {
        StartDialogue(dialogueLinesToQueue);
        this.onDialogueEnd = onDialogueEnd;

    }

    //Cycle through the dialogue lines
    public void UpdateDialogue()
    {
        if (isTyping)
        {
            isTyping = false;
            return;
        }

        //Reset our dialogue text
        dialogueText.text = string.Empty;

        //Check if there are any more lines in the queue
        if(dialogueQueue.Count == 0)
        {
            //If not, end the dialogue
            EndDialogue();
            return;
        }

        //The current dialogue line to put in
        DialogueLine line = dialogueQueue.Dequeue();

        Talk(line.speaker, ParseVariables(line.message));
    }

    //Closes the dialogue
    public void EndDialogue()
    {
        //Close the dialogue panel
        dialoguePanel.SetActive(false);

        if (playerController != null)
        {
            playerController.enabled = true;
        }

        //Invoke whatever Action queued on dialogue end (if any)
        onDialogueEnd?.Invoke();



        //Reset the Action
        onDialogueEnd = null;


    }

    public void Talk(string speaker, string message)
    {
        //Set the dialogue panel active
        dialoguePanel.SetActive(true);

        //Set the speaker text to the speaker
        speakerText.text = speaker;

        //If there is no speaker, do not show the speaker text panel
        speakerText.transform.parent.gameObject.SetActive(speaker != "");

        //Set the dialogue text to the message
        //dialogueText.text = message;
        StartCoroutine(TypeText(message));
    }

    IEnumerator TypeText(string textToType)
    {
        isTyping = true;
        //Convert the string to an array of chars
        char[] charsToType = textToType.ToCharArray();
        for(int i =0; i < charsToType.Length; i++)
        {
            dialogueText.text += charsToType[i];
            yield return new WaitForEndOfFrame();

            //Skip the typing sequence and just show the full text
            if (!isTyping)
            {
                dialogueText.text = textToType;
                //Break out from the loop
                break;
            }
        }

        //Typing sequence complete
        isTyping = false;
    }

    //Converts a simple string into a List of Dialogue lines to put into DialogueManager
    public static List<DialogueLine> CreateSimpleMessage(string message)
    {
        //The Dialogue line we want to output
        DialogueLine messageDialogueLine = new DialogueLine("",message);

        List<DialogueLine> listToReturn = new List<DialogueLine>();

        listToReturn.Add(messageDialogueLine);

        return listToReturn;
    }

    //Filter to see if there is any dialogue lines we can overwrite with
    public static List<DialogueLine> SelectDialogue(List<DialogueLine> dialogueToExecute, DialogueCondition[] conditions)
    {
        //Replace the dialogue set with the highest condition score
        int highestConditionScore = -1;
        foreach(DialogueCondition condition in conditions)
        {
            //Check if conditions met first
            if(condition.CheckConditions(out int score))
            {
                if(score > highestConditionScore)
                {
                    highestConditionScore = score;
                    dialogueToExecute = condition.dialogueLine;
                    Debug.Log("Will play " + condition.id);
                }
            }
        }



        return dialogueToExecute;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Any {} in the message will be retrieved from the blackboard
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="="message">The string to pass in </param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    string ParseVariables(string message)
    {
        if(GameStateManager.Instance != null)
        {
            //Get the blackboard
            GameBlackboard blackboard = GameStateManager.Instance.GetBlackboard();

            if(blackboard != null)
            {
                //Look for strings enclosed with {}
                string pattern = @"\{([^}]+?)\}";
                //Regex replacement step
                message = Regex.Replace(message, pattern, match => {
                    //The variable name enclosed in the "{}"
                    string variableName = match.Groups[1].Value;

                    //If there is a string value, return it
                    if (blackboard.TryGetValueAsString(variableName, out string strValue))
                    {
                        return strValue;
                    }
                    //Nothing found, so nothing is returned
                    return "";
                });

            }
        }
        return message;
    }
}

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class RelationshipStats : MonoBehaviour
{

    const string RELATIONSHIP_PREFIX = "NPCRelationship_";
    //The relationship data of all the NPCs that the player has met in the game
    public static List<NPCRelationshipState> relationships = new List<NPCRelationshipState>();

    public enum GiftReaction
    {
        Like, Dislike, Neutral
    }


    public static void LoadStats()
    {
        relationships = new List<NPCRelationshipState>();
        GameBlackboard blackboard = GameStateManager.Instance.GetBlackboard();
        foreach (CharacterData c in NPCManager.Instance.Characters()) {
            if (blackboard.TryGetValue(RELATIONSHIP_PREFIX + c.name, out NPCRelationshipState rs))
            {
                relationships.Add(rs);
            }

        }

        /*
        if (relationshipsToLoad == null)
        {
            relationships = new List<NPCRelationshipState>();
            return;
        }
        relationships = relationshipsToLoad;*/
    }

    //Check if the player has met this NPC.
    public static bool FirstMeeting(CharacterData character)
    {
        GameBlackboard blackboard = GameStateManager.Instance.GetBlackboard();
        return !blackboard.ContainsKey(RELATIONSHIP_PREFIX + character.name);
        //return !relationships.Exists(i => i.name == character.name);
    }

    //Get relationship information about the character
    public static NPCRelationshipState GetRelationship(CharacterData character)
    {
        //Check if it is the first meeting
        if (FirstMeeting(character)) return null;
        GameBlackboard blackboard = GameStateManager.Instance.GetBlackboard();
        if (blackboard.TryGetValue(RELATIONSHIP_PREFIX + character.name, out NPCRelationshipState relationship));
        return relationship;


        //return relationships.Find(i => i.name == character.name);
    }

    //Add the character to the relationships data
    public static void UnlockCharacter(CharacterData character)
    {
        GameBlackboard blackboard = GameStateManager.Instance.GetBlackboard();
        NPCRelationshipState relationship = new NPCRelationshipState(character.name);
        blackboard.SetValue(RELATIONSHIP_PREFIX + character.name, relationship);
        relationships.Add(relationship);
    }

    //Improve the relationship with and NPC
    public static void AddFriendPoints(CharacterData character, int points)
    {
        if (FirstMeeting(character))
        {
            Debug.LogError("The player has not met this character yet!");
            return;
        }

        GetRelationship(character).friendshipPoints += points;
    }

    //Check if this is the first conversation the player is having with the NPC today
    public static bool IsFirstConversationOfTheDay(CharacterData character)
    {
        //If the player is meeting him for the first time, definitely is
        if (FirstMeeting(character)) return true;

        NPCRelationshipState npc = GetRelationship(character);
        return !npc.hasTalkedToday;
    }

    //Check if the player has already given this character a gift today
    public static bool GiftGivenToday(CharacterData character)
    {
        NPCRelationshipState npc = GetRelationship(character);
        return npc.giftGivenToday;
    }

    public static GiftReaction GetReactionToGift(CharacterData character, ItemData item)
    {
        //If it's in the list of liked items, it means the character likes it
        if (character.likes.Contains(item)) return GiftReaction.Like;
        //If it's in the list of disliked items, it means the character dislikes it
        if (character.dislikes.Contains(item)) return GiftReaction.Dislike;

        return GiftReaction.Neutral;

    }

    //Check if it's the character's birthday
    public static bool IsBirthday(CharacterData character)
    {
        GameTimestamp birthday = character.birthday;
        GameTimestamp today = TimeManager.Instance.GetGameTimestamp();

        return (today.day == birthday.day) && (today.season == birthday.season);
    }

    public static bool IsBirthday(CharacterData character, GameTimestamp today)
    {
        GameTimestamp birthday = character.birthday;


        return (today.day == birthday.day) && (today.season == birthday.season);
    }

    public static CharacterData WhoseBirthday(GameTimestamp timestamp)
    {

        foreach (CharacterData c in NPCManager.Instance.Characters())
        {
            if (IsBirthday(c, timestamp))
            {
                return c;
            }
        }
        return null;
    }

}

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

[System.Serializable]
public class NPCRelationshipState
{
    public string name;
    public int friendshipPoints;

    public bool hasTalkedToday;
    public bool giftGivenToday;

    public NPCRelationshipState(string name, int friendshipPoints)
    {
        this.name = name;
        this.friendshipPoints = friendshipPoints;
    }

    public NPCRelationshipState(string name)
    {
        this.name = name;
        friendshipPoints = 0;
    }

    //Ever 250 friendship points is a heart
    public float Hearts
    {
        get { return friendshipPoints / 250; }
    }

}

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using UnityEngine;

public class NPCManager : MonoBehaviour, ITimeTracker
{
    public static NPCManager Instance { get; private set; }
    bool paused;
    private void Awake()
    {
        //If there is more than one instance, destroy the extra
        if (Instance != null && Instance != this)
        {
            Destroy(this);
        }
        else
        {
            //Set the static instance to this instance
            Instance = this;
        }
    }



    List<CharacterData> characters = null;

    List<NPCScheduleData> npcSchedules;

    [SerializeField]
    List<NPCLocationState> npcLocations;


    //Load all character data
    public List<CharacterData> Characters()
    {
        if (characters != null) return characters;
        CharacterData[] characterDatabase = Resources.LoadAll<CharacterData>("Characters");
        characters = characterDatabase.ToList();
        return characters;
    }

    private void OnEnable()
    {
        //Load NPC Schedules
        NPCScheduleData[] schedules = Resources.LoadAll<NPCScheduleData>("Schedules");
        npcSchedules = schedules.ToList();
        InitNPCLocations();

    }

    //Pause NPC Spawning logic
    public void Pause()
    {
        paused = true;
        //Kill the npcs
        InteractableCharacter[] npcs = Object.FindObjectsByType<InteractableCharacter>(sortMode: default);
        foreach(InteractableCharacter npc in npcs)
        {
            Destroy(npc);
        }
    }

    public void Continue()
    {
        paused = false;
        RenderNPCs();
    }

    private void Start()
    {
        //Add this to TimeManager's Listener list
        TimeManager.Instance.RegisterTracker(this);
        SceneTransitionManager.Instance.onLocationLoad.AddListener(RenderNPCs);
    }

    private void InitNPCLocations()
    {
        npcLocations = new List<NPCLocationState>();
        foreach (CharacterData character in Characters())
        {
            npcLocations.Add(new NPCLocationState(character));
        }

    }

    void RenderNPCs()
    {
        foreach(NPCLocationState npc in npcLocations)
        {
            if(npc.location == SceneTransitionManager.Instance.currentLocation)
            {
                Instantiate(npc.character.prefab, npc.coord, Quaternion.Euler(npc.facing));
            }
        }
    }

    void SpawnInNPC(CharacterData npc, SceneTransitionManager.Location comingFrom)
    {
        Transform start = LocationManager.Instance.GetPlayerStartingPosition(comingFrom);
        Instantiate(npc.prefab, start.position, start.rotation);

    }

    public void ClockUpdate(GameTimestamp timestamp) {
        UpdateNPCLocations(timestamp);
    }

    public NPCLocationState GetNPCLocation(string name)
    {
        return npcLocations.Find(x => x.character.name == name);
    }

    private void UpdateNPCLocations(GameTimestamp timestamp)
    {
        if (paused) return;

        for (int i = 0; i < npcLocations.Count; i++)
        {
            NPCLocationState npcLocator = npcLocations[i];
            SceneTransitionManager.Location previousLocation = npcLocator.location;
            //Find the schedule belonging to the NPC
            NPCScheduleData schedule = npcSchedules.Find(x => x.character == npcLocator.character);
            if (schedule == null)
            {
                Debug.LogError("No schedule found for " + npcLocator.character.name);
                continue;
            }

            //Current time

            GameTimestamp.DayOfTheWeek dayOfWeek = timestamp.GetDayOfTheWeek();

            //Find the events that correspond to the current time
            //E.g. if the event is set to 8am, the current time must be after 8am, so the hour of timeNow has to be greater than the event
            //Either the day of the week matches or it is set to ignore the day of the week
            List<ScheduleEvent> eventsToConsider = schedule.npcScheduleList.FindAll(x => x.time.hour <= timestamp.hour && (x.dayOfTheWeek == dayOfWeek || x.ignoreDayOfTheWeek));
            //Check if the events are empty
            if (eventsToConsider.Count < 1)
            {
                Debug.LogError("None found for " + npcLocator.character.name);
                Debug.LogError(timestamp.hour);
                continue;
            }

            //Remove all the events with the hour that is lower than the max time (The time has already elapsed)
            int maxHour = eventsToConsider.Max(x => x.time.hour);
            eventsToConsider.RemoveAll(x => x.time.hour < maxHour);

            //Get the event with the highest priority
            ScheduleEvent eventToExecute = eventsToConsider.OrderByDescending(x => x.priority).First();
            //Set the NPC Locator value accordingly
            npcLocations[i] = new NPCLocationState(schedule.character, eventToExecute.location, eventToExecute.coord, eventToExecute.facing);
            SceneTransitionManager.Location newLocation = eventToExecute.location;
            //If there has been a change in location
            if(newLocation != previousLocation)
            {
                Debug.Log("New location: " + newLocation);
                //If the location is where we are
                if(SceneTransitionManager.Instance.currentLocation == newLocation)
                {
                    SpawnInNPC(schedule.character, previousLocation);
                }
            }
        }

    }
}

[Raunsamsing]

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It is worth noting, that the dialogue did work before updating the character’s dialogue, so that seems to be the cause.

[Jonathan Teo]

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So far your code seems alright, maybe @Tarha can give a diagnosis on it. I’m assuming IConditional is the same as the IBlackboardConditional interface. Can I see your InteractableCharacter code? Particularly the TriggerDialogue function.

If the problem isn’t with the code, check that your dialogues are set up the same as mine because now that I’ve gone back to see your setup, I’ve noted a few inconsistencies:

1. You set the forest dialogue location to be 6 instead of 5
2. You used a string to denote the Day of Week but it is represented by numbers Timestamp.DayOfWeek = 6 (where 6 is Friday)
3. Check that your time ranges for the conditions align

[Tarha Apustaja]

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Based on the code provided, the potential issue could be in the SelectDialogue method in the DialogueManager class. The method only selects a dialogue if the conditions are met and have a higher condition score.

If Ben or Abby have no dialogue conditions that are currently met, or if their initial dialogue conditions are not being reset, they might not have any dialogue to display after the first interaction.

To troubleshoot, I recommend:

1. Check the DialogueCondition setup for Ben and Abby
2. Verify if their dialogue conditions are being properly reset
3. Add debug logs in the SelectDialogue method to see which conditions are being evaluated

Would you like me to help you investigate the specific dialogue conditions for Ben and Abby?

[Author]

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