I have been mulling over how i should do a chat system similar to the one seen in final fantasy 7.
Rendering it isn't an issue (that part works). Mainly I am concerned with how/where I should store it.
Currently my game has a sqlite database that works quite nicely. Also im using unity pro but really that doesnt matter for something like this.
I have identified several requirements like:
-Dialouge between two characters during a "cutscene", but i do not have notion of cutscenes quite yet. (i suspect it will just be a C# script per cutscene that is fetched by the game although when im not 100% sure)
This is triggered by entrance into the scene, and then removed from the database once it is run.
-Then there is a conversation when a player talks to an NPC, which can be influenced by the current event going on in the world.
This is triggered by interacting with the NPC.
-Then there are other arbitrary triggers that can start a dialouge (ie as the player leaves a scene he is stopped and someone talks, a monster says something before fighting, a treasure chest, a door, etc).
My question is general, what fits in my database and what doesn't. Does every bit of dialouge connect to the character that is speaking it? does my table for a piece of dialouge contain foreign keys of all the characters involved? bools of what triggers it (a scene, a trigger, or an interaction with an NPC? Do i record arbitrary triggers in the database so that the game knows a trigger connects to a dialouge?
I am not 100% convinced i have the correct approach, any advice or reference material would be great.
Thanks,
-J