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Text Input
In this tutorial, you will learn to let the player type a text, with the Input command: here, the player character's name. In a new scene, Alice meets the player, who just moved in next door, and asks their name. The name the player types is then displayed above the player's Lines. Before You Start This tutorial continues the Dialogue of the Choices tutorial. It must be open in Candy Dialogue Creator: if you saved it (File > Save) and closed Candy Dialogue Creator since, open it again with File > Load Dialogue... The player character is the "Player" Actor, the first entry of the actors dictionary in Actors.gd. It's already there in a new project: you added the other Actors after it in the Dialogue tutorial. 1. Writing the Scene 1. Add a Conversation named "Conversation_3", as in the Conversations tutorial. 2. In its Block_1, add two Spoken Lines:
SpeakerPortraitText
AliceHappy.pngOh, hello. You must be the new neighbor.
Alice(empty)I am Alice. What is your name?
2. Adding the Input 1. Select Alice's Line "I am Alice. What is your name?" 2. Open the Input tab of the Buttons panel, and click Input. The Input command is added after Alice's Line, and its form is displayed. 3. In the Variable field, write: candy_de.actors["Player"]["DisplayName"] 4. In the Mode field, write "Default". 5. In the Instructions field, write "What is your name?" 6. In the Placeholder field, write "Your name".
Tutorial Input Form
Leave the other fields at their default value. The Scene field, Default.tscn, names the text input scene provided with Candy Dialogue Engine. How the Input Works When the Dialogue reaches the Input command, it opens the text input scene, and waits until the player confirms or cancels: • The Instructions are displayed above the text field. • The Placeholder is displayed in the field while it's empty, as a hint. • The Mode selects how the scene works. The Default mode accepts any text. • When the player confirms, the text is stored in the variable written in the Variable field. candy_de.actors["Player"]["DisplayName"] designates the DisplayName of the Player, in the actors dictionary: actors is read through candy_de, then ["Player"] designates the Actor Reference, and ["DisplayName"] the property, as dictionary keys are written in GDScript. Since DisplayName is the name displayed above an Actor's Lines, the Player's Lines now display the name the player typed. The name is stored while the game runs: Actors.gd itself isn't modified. Saving the name with the player's progress is up to your game. 3. The Player's Answer 1. Select the Input command, and add a Spoken Line after it: Player, with no portrait, saying "Nice to meet you, Alice." 2. Select that Line, then open the Transition tab and click End. 4. Testing the Input 1. Right-click Conversation_3 in the Dialogue Navigator, and select Test Here. 2. After Alice asks "I am Alice. What is your name?", the text input scene opens. Type a name.
Tutorial Input Scene
3. Click Confirm, or press Enter. The scene closes, and the Player answers. The dialogue box displays the name you typed above the Player's Line:
Tutorial Input Player
The Player has no portrait, so the dialogue box displays none. The Output panel of the Godot Editor prints a warning about the missing portrait, which you can ignore here. Clicking Cancel instead closes the scene without storing anything: the Player retains the name of its DisplayName in Actors.gd. If the Test Fails • The scene opens but the name isn't displayed: check that the Variable field is candy_de.actors["Player"]["DisplayName"], written exactly so, without a ¢ symbol, and that the Player's Line has Player in its Speaker field. • The scene opens without the instructions, and nothing is stored: check that the Mode field is "Default". With an empty Mode, the scene isn't configured. The player's name is now chosen by the player, and every Line the Player speaks displays it.