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Dialog scripting

Dialog is text with commands in curly braces. The Blocks view and the Insert… menu in Dialog write every command here for you, so you only need this page to read or tweak a script by hand.

The language is Bitsy's. Games play the same in the creator, on the platform and on VGC Zero, because citsy runs a port of Bitsy 8.15's own script interpreter.

Pages and lines

Write Result
Plain text Typed out letter by letter in the text box
Text longer than the box More screens: the player presses a button to go on
{pg}, or an empty line A new page
{br} A new line

The text box holds three lines. citsy keeps a sentence together on one screen when it fits.

Text effects

Each tag switches an effect on; the same tag again switches it off. Effects combine.

Tag Block Effect
{wvy}…{wvy} Wavy text Letters bob up and down
{shk}…{shk} Shaky text Letters shake
{rbw}…{rbw} Rainbow text Letters cycle through ten colours
{clr1}…{clr1} Colour 1 text The room's background colour
{clr2}…{clr2} Colour 2 text The room's tile colour
{clr3}…{clr3} Colour 3 text The room's sprite and item colour 
I have a {wvy}secret{wvy} for you.

Lists

A list picks one option each time the dialog runs. Every option is a line starting with -.

List Block Picks
{sequence …} Say lines in order The next option each time, then stays on the last
{cycle …} Say lines round and round The next option each time, then back to the first
{shuffle …} Say lines in any order A random option, no repeats until all were used 
{sequence
  - Hello, traveller.
  - Back again?
  - You again!
}

Conditions

A bare { makes a branch: the first option whose condition is true runs, and else runs when none is.

{
  - {item "0"} >= 3 ?
    All three chilis!
  - thanked == 1 ?
    Thanks again.
  - else ?
    Can you find my chilis?
}

Blocks: If the player has an item and If a variable is….

Compare Means
== equal
>=, <= at least, at most
>, < more than, less than

Lists and branches can sit inside each other, and an option can hold actions as well as text.

Items

Write items by id ("0") or by name ("chili"). The blocks use ids.

Script Block Does
{item "0"} (in a condition) How many the avatar carries
{say {item "0"}} Show how many of an item Prints the count
{item "1" 1} Set how many of an item Sets the count, never below 0
{item "0" {{item "0"} + 1}} One more of an item Adds one
{item "0" {{item "0"} - 1}} One less of an item Takes one away

Variables

Make variables in Variables.

Script Block Does
{score = 5} Set a variable Sets it
{score = score + 1} Change a variable Changes it with + - * /
{say score} Show a variable Prints it
{mood = "happy"} Words go in quotes

Bitsy's maths

Bitsy reads a sum from the first operator, in the order == >= <= > < - + / *. So {a = 10 - 3 + 2} is 10 - (3 + 2), which is 5. Use one operator per assignment to stay safe.

Room actions

Script Block Does
{exit "1" 8 14} Go to a room Moves the avatar to room 1, cell 8,14 now
{end} End the game Ends the game after this dialog
{property locked true} Lock or unlock the exit In an exit's or ending's dialog: keeps the avatar out. false lets it through.
{pal "1"} Change the palette Switches the room to palette 1
{ava "a"} Change the avatar Draws the avatar as sprite a

Sound actions

Script Block Does
{blip "1"} Play a blip Plays blip 1 now
{tune "2"} Play a tune Plays tune 2. {tune "0"} stops the music.

Drawings in the text

Script Block Draws
{drwt "a"} Draw a tile Tile a inside the text
{drws "A"} Draw a sprite A sprite, the avatar too
{drwi "0"} Draw an item An item

In the .bitsy file

A dialog with more than one line is wrapped in """ in the file. The creator does this for you. If you edit the file by hand, keep them, or the dialog shows nothing:

DLG 1
"""
{
  - {item "0"} >= 3 ?
    All three chilis!
  - else ?
    Can you find my chilis?
}
"""
NAME gardener dialog

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