Dialogue Block

Dialogue Block

The Dialogue block is the most essential block in Novelez — most of a visual novel is made up of Dialogue blocks. You can set the speaker, expression, and position all within a single block, making it easy to construct fine-grained staging. Unlike other blocks, a dialogue line is typed directly inside the line.

Writing a Dialogue Line

A dialogue line holds the speaker's name tag and a text field in a single row. While empty, the field shows the hint "Type a line · Enter for next line · Shift+Enter for line break".

1. Press the purple [+ Line] on the insert bar to create a new dialogue line. The new line inherits the speaker of the dialogue just above it, or the first character if there is none.
2. Type the line in the text field. The dialogue box on the Stage on the right updates right away.
3. Press Enter to create a new line right below with the same speaker; the cursor moves there.

Key	What it does
Enter	Creates a new dialogue line right below with the same speaker and moves the cursor (ignored while composing with an IME)
Shift+Enter	Line break inside the line
Backspace on an empty line	Deletes that line and selects the line above (if the line above is a dialogue line, the cursor lands at its end; on the very first line nothing is deleted)
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z	Undo / Redo outside a text field (⌘Z / ⌘⇧Z on Mac)

Key Properties

When you select a dialogue line, a one-row details strip appears under it.

• Character (characterId) — Who is speaking. Choose (Narration), Player Monologue, or any character registered in the Characters window. The [Manage characters…] link at the end of the strip opens the Characters window.
• Expression / Image (expressionUrl) — The character image to show with the dialogue. Press [Choose image] and pick it from the asset picker; a thumbnail and an × appear, and × clears it. Leave it blank to keep whoever is currently on screen as-is. Narration cannot have an image.
• Position (position) — Where to display the character (Left / Left-Center / Center / Right-Center / Right).
• Sound Effect (soundEffect) — Exists only on blocks that already had a sound effect set here. It is not shown in the details under the line, only in the Flow view's block settings panel; that sound still plays. To add a new sound effect, use a Sound block.
• Dialogue (text) — The actual text shown on screen. You type it in the text field inside the line. A new dialogue line starts empty.
• Delete — Use the trash can in the strip (or the one that appears when you hover over the line). It deletes immediately with no confirmation, and Ctrl+Z brings it back.

Usage Tips

• Narration without a speaker — Setting the character to "(Narration)" shows only the body text, without a speaker name. It is ideal for situational descriptions or inner thoughts.
• Player dialogue — Setting the character to "Player Monologue" displays the name the player entered in the Player info block.
• Combine with Show character — When introducing a character for the first time, use a Show character block to bring them on screen, then use Dialogue for their lines. A character with a default image appears just by being picked in Dialogue, but pairing with Show character keeps the staging clear.
• Use substitution variables — Tokens like {player_name} inside dialogue are replaced with the player's input. This needs the player_name variable to have a value (normally filled in by a Player info block with name input turned on); without one, a warning tells you {player_name} will be shown as literal text.
• Keep blocks short and rhythmic — Several short blocks generally feel better than one long one when it comes to play rhythm. Chaining lines with Enter makes splitting quick.
• Check by playing — Select a dialogue line and press [● Play from here] under the Stage to see it on a real screen from that line.