Making Room for Conversations
How we keep dialogue readable, and give ability checks room in the scene.
A lot of an RPG happens while someone is talking. You’re asking for directions, trying to get a straight answer, or deciding if this person’s problem is about to become the party’s problem. Realms of Mordryn needs to give those moments as much care as a fight.
Leave room to read
A conversation has a few things to keep track of: the speaker, the exchange so far, and the responses available now. We want all of that visible without making the scene feel like a wall of controls.
Osric has things to say. The responses stay beside him, where you can read them without losing the scene.
In the Grimhold stables screenshot above, Osric’s portrait sits against the location art. His name and title stay beneath it, while the conversation and responses share a reading column. You shouldn’t have to hunt around the screen to find the next line.
Let the character’s skills show up
Some options depend on the character or what the party has already learned. When an option involves a check, the interface needs to explain what’s being attempted before you choose it.
Checks also turn up while investigating. At Vale Farm, inspecting tracks near the livestock pen leads to a Survival roll. The result shows the die, modifier, and total, followed by what the character can work out.
A roll should tell you what happened. Here, reading the tracks gives the investigation another lead.
Keep the conversation worth having
A clear layout only gets us part of the way. The people on the other side need something worth listening to, and the responses need to fit what’s happening. That’s the work we keep coming back to.
The visual identity post looks at the art around these conversations. The About page explains how talking to people fits into the rest of the game.