Current Events > How fucking hard is it to do convincing "dialogue interruption."

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hi, another dumbass "ApherosyLove hates dialogue in video games" rant. This time about when characters are interrupted.

1. Character One says something and stops their sentence short, usually with an inflection that suggests they obviously want to end their sentence despite the written dialogue suggesting more.

2. There is at least a second or half-second pause.

3. Character Two "interrupts" Character One with an interjection.

It reminds me of high school drama classes who don't know how to properly pace dialogue. The easiest way I circumvented this in plays was to actually have the whole sentence written in the script for Character One, and Character Two just has to know that they need to interrupt Character One after a certain point in their sentence has spoken.

I feel like video games can do this so much easier by just cutting sound to the sentence when the character is interrupted but it almost always just seems so terribly done.

C'mon guys.

Yeah this bugs me too. They build in the character being interrupted into the character's dialogue instead of planning a whole sentence. It is obnoxious

https://youtu.be/7quz4qINJJQ

Talking over each other is more realistic but not something you'd expect in a production so it'd seem unintentional and amateurish.

1337toothbrush posted...

Talking over each other is more realistic but not something you'd expect in a production so it'd seem unintentional and amateurish.

Incorrect, doing it this way is amateurish.

I'm a trained stage actor.

You're supposed to write out the rest of the line in your head ("what do you think you're doing here" where the italics aren't in the script) and then finish it so the other person can interrupt you organically.

The new Halo actually does it right.

What's incorrect about what I said?

1337toothbrush posted...

What's incorrect about what I said?

You're assuming it works like the Sonic clip above.

It does not.

It would if they thought to cut Shadow's line when Sonic started talking.

This topic is cra--

*gets shot*

Is it some animation thing where the way dialog happens is A says the line, stops, and the model returns to its standing still pose, then the camera goes to B, whose model shifts into its talking animation? That's what it kind if looks like to me in some cases. I'm thinking of the last dialog-heavy game I played, DQXI.

That's just the nature of an interactive medium.

Whew, be barely escaped the evilbadguys! We're safe now, so next we...

[press button here]

Oh no! Sagey McOldguy got dead!

The bigger question is why developers insist on still doing that, when it's never actually worked out well.

DrizztLink posted...

You're assuming it works like the Sonic clip above.

It does not.

It would if they thought to cut Shadow's line when Sonic started talking.

No I'm not, I wasn't referring to the Sonic clip at all. You're the one making assumptions.

DrizztLink posted...

The new Halo actually does it right.

Yeah, I actually really liked it and it shows that pretty much every game doesn't do it this way - even story driven RPGs.

If they interrupt they should at least show boobs at the same time.

DrizztLink posted...

I'm a trained stage actor.

lmfao stfu ken

It really is wild how common this still is, in so many mediums.

I'd just be happy if game dialogue could follow itself.

"I don't like your plan."
(3 hour pause)
"It sucks."

1337toothbrush posted...

No I'm not, I wasn't referring to the Sonic clip at all. You're the one making assumptions.

Then what are you actually talking about?

I'm legitimately unsure now.

ModLogic posted...

lmfao stfu ken

Sorry babe, some of us actually have hobbies outside the basement.

DrizztLink posted...

Then what are you actually talking about?

I'm legitimately unsure now.

I'm talking about conversations in real life where people talk over each other all the time. The interruptions aren't perfect. If you try to do it realistically in a production then it'll seem amateurish even if it's intentional. In real life people aren't passing a figurative talking stick around. Even if you have a line written out fully, you're still having the actor stop what they're saying so that the audience can hear the other say their piece.

1337toothbrush posted...

I'm talking about conversations in real life where people talk over each other all the time. The interruptions aren't perfect. If you try to do it realistically in a production then it'll seem amateurish even if it's intentional. In real life people aren't passing a figurative talking stick around. Even if you have a line written out fully, you're still having the actor stop what they're saying so that the audience can hear the other say their piece.

You've never been interrupted mid-sentence and stopped talking?

There's a completely different scripting method for the "talking over the other" thing you're talking about.

DrizztLink posted...

You've never been interrupted mid-sentence and stopped talking?

There's a completely different scripting method for the "talking over the other" thing you're talking about.

Sure, but I don't necessarily stop immediately.

Turbam posted...

https://youtu.be/7quz4qINJJQ

Lol, I'm not the only one who thought of this then.

1337toothbrush posted...

Sure, but I don't necessarily stop immediately.

That's exactly what I'm saying.

The line as written:

"What do you think-"

The line the actor uses:

"What do you think you're doing here?"

They stop when it feels natural for the interruption and depending on when the other actor actually speaks, so it could be on a different word every night.

tl;dr of what 1337 is saying is that this kind of interruption in media, is an acceptable break from reality that's done in order to make it less annoying for the audience to try and hear the line clearly.

it's really dumb, it's obvious from the cadence of the voice that the person is *expecting* to end their sentence there, too

this is extra funny in games where every new line of dialogue requires a button press because you can actually just have a massive pause depending on your personal button timing