BioShock Creator Identifies The Biggest Problem With Video Game Dialogue
Ken Levine, creator of the BioShock trilogy, recently shared his thoughts on video game dialogue in an interview with blogger Dan Allen. The renowned game designer believes that conversations between the player character and NPCs often feel unnatural due to timing issues.
Levine referred to this system as "turn-based." During development, individual lines of dialogue are often recorded separately. Then, when assembling the game build, developers piece these fragments together, potentially leading to stilted and unrealistic-sounding conversations.
In some cases, developers address this by manually editing dialogue to make it flow more organically. CD Projekt Red, for example, employed this approach while working on Cyberpunk 2077, resulting in characters who speak naturally and interrupt each other believably. Levine is a proponent of manual editing and working closely with actors, a method he's implementing in his upcoming project, Judas.
According to the game designer, actors sometimes feel uncomfortable with this format, fearing they might ruin their lines. However, Levine believes that a certain degree of "sloppiness" is necessary during recording. He argues that a little bit of imperfection makes dialogue feel more natural and engaging.
