Trying to handle dialog text for multiple NPCs

[targetdior (target)]

so i have different NPCs for different shops. i want each NPC to have different dialog text.

because this is my custom proximity prompt script, i was thinking about sending the CharacterAttribute value which holds the NPC’s name to another local script in my dialog UI so i can organize stuff better and handle the text from there. unfortunately i’ve never handled multiple dialog UI’s for different NPCs so i’m kinda stuck rn so i appreciate any help at all ty.

custom proximity prompt script (stored in starterplayerscripts)

local function OnTriggered(prompt, playerWhoTriggered)
	if debounce[playerWhoTriggered] then return end
	debounce[playerWhoTriggered] = true
	local object = prompt.Parent
	local CharacterAttribute = object:GetAttribute("Character")
	
	print("you're interacting with "..CharacterAttribute.."!")
end

local function ConnectPromptEvent(event, callback)
	event:Connect(function(prompt, ...)
		if prompt.Style == Enum.ProximityPromptStyle.Default then return end
		callback(prompt, ...)
	end)
end

ConnectPromptEvent(ProximityPromptService.PromptTriggered, function(prompt, playerWhoTriggered)
	OnTriggered(prompt, playerWhoTriggered)
end)

i’m trying to hook the Dialog text up to the text in my CharacterData module which is my end goal.

local CharacterData= {
	["Dodgy Darren"] = {
		ObjectText = "Dodgy Darren",
		ActionText = "Talk",
		ObjectTextColor = Color3.fromRGB(255, 0, 4),
		ActionTextColor = Color3.fromRGB(255, 249, 65),
		
		Options = {
			"[Who are you?]",
			"[Why is  your name Dodgy Darren?]",
			"[Why are you here?]",
			"[I think I'll go now...]"
		}
	},
	
	["Trading Tadhg"] = {
		ObjectText = "Trading Tadhg",
		ActionText = "Talk",
		ObjectTextColor = Color3.fromRGB(255, 255, 255),
		ActionTextColor = Color3.fromRGB(255, 249, 65),

		Options = {
			"[I want to sell my inventory]",
			"[I want to sell this]",
			"[How much is this worth?]",
			"[Nevermind]"
		}
	},
return CharacterData

[metatablesnow (snow)]

what are you confused about?

i would make a pre-made billboard gui and “sample” question, when the proximity prompt triggers, clone the billboardgui, and for each question clone the sample and set the question # and the question text.

@targetdior

because this is my custom proximity prompt script, i was thinking about sending the CharacterAttribute value which holds the NPC’s name to another local script in my dialog UI so i can organize stuff better and handle the text from there.

modulescripts? (or bindable events, but these are considered bad practice)

@targetdior

local function OnTriggered(prompt, playerWhoTriggered)
	if debounce[playerWhoTriggered] then return end
	debounce[playerWhoTriggered] = true
	local object = prompt.Parent
	local CharacterAttribute = object:GetAttribute("Character")
	
	print("you're interacting with "..CharacterAttribute.."!")
end

your also never setting debounce to false again

you also dont need to make your characters name blank, just set the humanoids DisplayDistanceType to None

[yousefyamen3 (MrNoob)]

@metatablesnow

or bindable events, but these are considered bad practice

bindable events are considered bad practice?
can you explain why? ( or Link it )

[metatablesnow (snow)]

bindable events arent inheritly considered bad practice, but they aren’t the best practice; there are a couple of topics about why they arent “good” but ill make a small summary of what i know:

• data has to be serialized / deserialized, not all data can do this
• bindables were made before modulescripts, modulescripts are now the best for making reusable code

[yousefyamen3 (MrNoob)]

But are they slower than module scripts? Yes

I saw someone using it to expose the functions of a script to the explorer and thought that this was a good idea, especially if another scripter tried to look at the script name and didn’t know what to expect.

Wait… do bindable events have the same limit as remote events? ( you can’t pass instances )
If yes, that’s a good reason to not use them.

nvm… you can pass instances but not as an index of a table

Thanks Snow.

---

To OP.

I didn’t want to do this, but here we go. I’m not a fan of making a tables with both dictionary and numerical values.

-- a few ways to handle what happens when you pick a message.
Options = {
	{
		message = "[Who are you?]"
		 -- do it in the same module... not fun when you have a lot of NPCs/Long functions
		activate = function(player: Player)
			player.Cash.Value += 5000,
		end
	},Character
	{
		message = "[Why is  your name Dodgy Darren?]"
		activate = SomeOtherModule.SetNpcMessage("No one were ever able to catch and hug me so they called me Dodgy while laughing")
	},
		message = "[I think I'll go now...]"
		-- redirect activate calls to another function in some other module for better organization. ( my favorite one )
		activate = SomeOtherModule.DestroyPlayer,
	}
}

We don’t know what you’re asking/having trouble with, so we both ( kinda ) assumed the problem.

[targetdior (target)]

thank you all for all the help, i really appreciate it.

apologies if i wasn’t clear but at the end of it all i figured it out eventually.