Vampire: The Masquerade does this. It was pretty fun to do co-op quests.

Quote:Original post by spartanx

Quote:...trouble could just as easily come to him. The point is that in a 1-player game, it's easy enough to design it so that no monsters can approach/attack your character while in conversation.

I presume you mean that his partner probably aggro'd a mob and politely brought it nearby? That's the only way I can imagine the simple existance of a 2nd player causing the scenario...

Nope. It has to do with the liberties you can take when designing. With 1 player, the designer can reasonably choose to pause other events in the world (such as combat) during conversations because the player is busy with the dialogue, the designer might not want the player to have to worry about anything else. With 2 players, it's not so easy because one player can make a decision (ie. starting a conversation) that interrupts somebody ELSE'S gameplay, which creates a far greater risk of annoyance.

Quote:Original post by spartanx
Regardless, I'd reckon that if the conversationalist is oblivious and gets struck, the dialog should go poof - just as if he turned and started attacking the mob. You could probably have the NPC take off as well, also interrupting the dialog.

That's an option. However, I want the possibility for simultaneous dialogue and combat (not necessarily a frequent occurence, but the flexibility to allow it should be there). For example, you could be fighting monsters with an NPC ally, and the NPC could say something like "Look out!" or "That was a close one." Again, I want to stress that not all NPCs need to be passive; fleeing from danger won't be default behavior.

Quote:Original post by spartanx
If you start playing with invincibility and nontargetability, your opening yourself to plenty of exploits, so you'd have to be rather careful.

I don't think you understood what I was saying. When talking about the option of making conversing players invincible, I was trying to show how that (as well as the converse options) were all poor solutions, that something else would have to be changed.

Quote:Original post by spartanx
Basically, I don't think dialog should be modal gameplay.

I wouldn't mind dialogues being modal gameplay if it were a 1-player game, and I suppose that's where our opinions differ. However as this is a 2-player game, modality would be unexcusable obviously, so I agree with you there. Hence the reason for the thread's creation; discussing and finding an alternative.

I'd just get the NPC to remember where he was in the conversation, so that if a wandering monster comes along, the NPC can react to this with a "Shhh! Something's coming!" then perhaps even help you in the fight. Once it's over talking to the NPC again would result in a "Right, now where was I...", and he resumes where he left off. As for having two players where one may or may not be in hearing range, there's nothing to stop the first player relaying all the information the second player might need, no? If it's a crutial bit of dialogue where both must be present, then give the NPC an optional "Where is (Player 2)? We must wait for him before we can begin." speech. Once both players are in range, lock them to a particular position upon speaking with the NPC so that one doesn't run off.

If it's a generic conversation with no importance, it could be good fun to add in different branches based on the actions of whoever is listening. For instance, you could have some random old person recounting his life story to the two players. Player 1 gets bored, walks off and the old man says to player 2 "Well he's a rude one, isn't he? You seem like a nice kid though. Here, take this magic sword/armour/lawnmower I found on my travels". Anyway, I really like the idea of multi-player speeches, where both players get to make decisions that alter the storyline. It takes a bit of extra effort planning all the different routes, but it's well worth it.

Most MMORPG's and other multiplayer RPG's use a combination of all the above techniques. First, talkable NPC's are generally in towns and bases, which monsters won't walk into. Then, the conversation is in real-time, it doesn't pause the game when you start talking, so you can see everything going on around you while reading the text. And finally, all standard dialogue is exitable and re-enterable. This means you can quickly hit Esc or something to close the conversation, even if you're in the middle of deciding between some important choices, go kill whatever is bothering you, and restart the conversation either from the beginning or from where you left off, without it breaking any quests. As someone above said, Guild Wars also has cutscenes for some parts where it causes everyone in your party to pause and go invincible, with the option for players to vote to skip the cutscene. This option only works well in games set up like Guild Wars though, where each party is in its own instance for the cutscene. If there's a chance that some non-paused player could come in and start annoying you, it won't work, and similarly, if the game forces someone not in your party to pause, it will be too annoying.

Quote:Original post by BBHudson
I'd just get the NPC to remember where he was in the conversation, so that if a wandering monster comes along, the NPC can react to this with a "Shhh! Something's coming!" then perhaps even help you in the fight. Once it's over talking to the NPC again would result in a "Right, now where was I...", and he resumes where he left off. As for having two players where one may or may not be in hearing range, there's nothing to stop the first player relaying all the information the second player might need, no? If it's a crutial bit of dialogue where both must be present, then give the NPC an optional "Where is (Player 2)? We must wait for him before we can begin." speech. Once both players are in range, lock them to a particular position upon speaking with the NPC so that one doesn't run off.

If it's a generic conversation with no importance, it could be good fun to add in different branches based on the actions of whoever is listening. For instance, you could have some random old person recounting his life story to the two players. Player 1 gets bored, walks off and the old man says to player 2 "Well he's a rude one, isn't he? You seem like a nice kid though. Here, take this magic sword/armour/lawnmower I found on my travels". Anyway, I really like the idea of multi-player speeches, where both players get to make decisions that alter the storyline. It takes a bit of extra effort planning all the different routes, but it's well worth it.

Interesting ideas. I find NPCs in some games are detached from the world and unaware of their surroundings. I particularly like your examples where NPCs know whether or not your partner is nearby and are able to remember where you were in conversation. It would make them seem less 'vacant', if you will.

Quote:Original post by makeshiftwings
First, talkable NPC's are generally in towns and bases, which monsters won't walk into.

Fair enough, most games can take advantage of that fact. However, my characters live in a game world where you need to watch your back when you walk into a shady tavern. The mysterious man in the corner could be an enemy of yours who won't wait for you to finish talking to the bartender before he tries to take you out. Just for situations like that, I don't want dialogue and combat to be awkward when implemented in the same environment.