[Unreal] BDC Dialog Backend

BDC Dialog Backend

Professional, Graph-Based Dialogue Management System

Bring your game's narrative to life with the BDC Dialog Backend, a powerful yet "child's play" easy-to-use dialogue system designed for Unreal Engine. Built to eliminate the clutter of managing countless state assets and data tables, this plugin offers a streamlined, visual workflow that lets you focus on writing stories, not managing databases.

🌟 Why Choose BDC Dialog Backend?

Unlike traditional systems that require you to manually manage DataTables or separate State Assets for every conversation, BDC Dialog Backend uses a hidden subsystem. You work entirely within a single, intuitive Visual Node Graph, and the plugin handles the backend complexity for you.

Whether you are building a complex RPG with branching narratives or a simple adventure game with bubble speech, this backend provides the logic, flow control, and actor integration you need while remaining completely UI agnostic - you design the look, and the plugin handles the flow.

🚀 Key Features

• Visual Node Graph Editor: Create complex dialogue trees using a familiar drag-and-drop interface similar to Blueprints.
  • Message & Option Nodes: Standard dialogue flows with multiple choices.
  • Branching Logic: Create dynamic conversations that react to game states, using a Global Value System.
  • Beacon and Event Nodes: Run background logic, manipulate global values, or broadcast events without stopping the dialogue flow.
  • Jumper Nodes: Instantly jump to any other part of the graph (by ID) to create loops, recurrent branches, or connect distant nodes cleanly without messy wires.
• Global Values System: Integrated variable management (f.e. Integer, Float, Bool) to track quests, relationship statuses, and story progression directly within the editor.
• Actor Integration:
  • Actor Component: Simply add the DialogBackend_ActorComponent to any Actor or NPC to make them a participant.
  • Gameplay Tags: Identify participants easily using Gameplay Tags for robust filtering and event driving.
• Bubble Dialog Support: Built-in support for "World Space" bubble dialogs. The system automatically detects a "DialogBubble" scene component on your actor for your perfect widget placement, with options for billboard-behavior for World-spaced Widgets.
• UI Agnostic: The plugin provides the backend logic and bridges to your frontend. Whether you want a classic RPG list, a modern wheel, or overhead bubbles, you have full control over the Widget design.
• 1-Click Localization Export and Unlink:
  • One Button to export all Speaker names and messages into auto generated StringTables, for the Unreal Localization Dashboard.
  • And also one Button only, to unlink the Localization from your DialogDataAsset.
• RichText Decorators: The Editor comes with 15 premade RichText Decorators for special text effects like wobbling, rainbow colors, obfuscating, hyperlinks, material based effects and more.
  • For Material based effects, you can replace the material in the project Settings with your own ones.
  • Decorators can be set up in the Dialog Editor, via a simple Button click, opening a Popup with Sliders, Color pickers and a Preview. You don't need to remember the Commands in your head.
• Special Command-Tags: Which are being replaced by actual Actor names, Global Values or time/date. Even can be used as parameters for Decorators!
• Typewriting Function: Let your Messages appear Letter by letter, Word by Word or Sentence by Sentence. This Function also handles Decorators for Typewriting and has an in-writing wait function via a `<wait X>` Command.

🛠️ Technical Details

• Core Architecture: Data-driven design using a custom Graph Editor for the DialogDataAsset.
• Flow Control: Advanced flow nodes including Delay, Events, and End/Continue.
• Input: Hotkey support for fast workflow (e.g., left-click while holding S for Beacon, J for Jumper ... and so on).
• Integration: dispatchers for Actor, Manager, and Subsystem levels to hook into any game event.

📦 Content

• Editor Module: Custom Graph Editor, Slate Widgets and Asset Actions.
• Runtime Module: The Subsystem, Blueprint Function library, Actor Components, and Demo Content.
• ProjectSettings: Define some base Settings and References, set the Editor Node-and Wire-Colors. Preset Global Values.
• Demo Content: Includes examples for simple Dialog Widgets and Bubble Dialogs to get you started immediately.

⚙️ Required Modules and Plugins:

• GameplayTagsEditor (gets enabled by Plugin)

📚 Documentation & Support

This plugin is actively used and maintained by me.

• Wiki: Wiki
• YouTube Documentation: Youtube Tutorial
• Discord: Join the community for feature requests and direct support (Link to Discord).