6. A character to talk to

A character to talk to

A character you can talk to turns a room into a world. It is also the best place for hints that don't feel like hints.

Creating the cat

1. Behind the "Characters" icon, create a new character cat with an image or a small animation.
2. Place it in the scene, on the workbench.
3. Give it a font for its text so it can be told apart from Pia.

Writing the dialog

Dialogs are created in the "Dialogs" tab of the character being talked to. A dialog consists of layers with answer options. One layer is enough for the cat:

Pia:  "Who are you, then?"
Cat:  "The boss down here. You're new."
Pia:  "Do you know how I get out of here?"
Cat:  "The caretaker was swearing yesterday. Something fell
       through the ventilation grate."
Pia:  "Bye."                (ends the dialog)

The dialog is started by a talk action on the cat with the "Start dialog/dialog-layer" action part.

Good dialogs in three rules

• Short. Two sentences per answer are almost always enough.
• With character. The cat is a little condescending. That makes it a character instead of an information board.
• With purpose. Every answer option brings either a hint, a laugh or something about the world.

Rule to remember
Hide hints in conversations. The player feels clever, not led.

Your task
Create the cat, a dialog with three answers and a hint about the grate. Test it.