speak
The speak script command is used to speak a line with text and/or sound for an entity. Each entity can only have one speech in progress. Calling this command again before it completes will replace the active speech. To stop the speech of the calling entity without starting a new one use speak []. To stop speech of all entities use speak killall.
Usage
speak [-tuphao] <speech*> <command...>
speak -c[tuphao] keep <speech*> <command...>
speak -c[tuphao] zoom <p0*> <y0*> <p1*> <y1*> <d0*> <d1*> <speech*> <command...>
speak -c[tuphao] <mode> <target> <d0*> <d1*> <speech*> <command...>
speak []
speak killall
Context: Any Entity
Flags:
-t: Don't show any text - this is implicit when the cinematic border is not active
-u: Don't allow skipping this line using escape
-p: Use the player as the speaker instead of the calling entity
-h: Use the talk_happy animation instead of talk_neutral
-a: Use the talk_angry animation instead of talk_neutral
-o: Play sound in front of the player instead of at the entity's position
-c: Play cinematic speech (ignored if no completion command is given)
Parameters:
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
mode (requires -c) |
string |
Camera mode |
target (requires -c) |
entity |
Entity to focus the camera on |
p0 (requires -c) |
number or variable |
Start camera pitch |
y0 (requires -c) |
number or variable |
Start camera yaw |
p1 (requires -c) |
number or variable |
End camera pitch |
y1 (requires -c) |
number or variable |
End camera pitch |
d0 (requires -c) |
number or variable |
Start camera distance |
d1 (requires -c) |
number or variable |
End camera distance |
speech |
text or variable |
Localization key for the text to speak |
command |
command |
A command to execute after the speech completes |
Context is ignored if the -o flag is given.
The text key can optionally start and end with [] brackets, which are ignored.
The sound is played from the speaker's position with the speak pitch configured for that entity using the setspeakpitch (for NPCs).
ℹ️ Running speech is not stored in save files and meaning that the given command will not be executed when saving and loading before the speech completes. Typically this is not a problem because speech is used in cutscenes where saving is prevented. If speech is supposed to be persistent, restore it in the game_ready event after loading.
Audio sample location
The speech audio is loaded from speech/<language>/<speech><variant>.wav.
Variant is a randomized integer for -t if there are multiple strings under the given localization key (empty for variant 1).
Speech controlled camera
With the -c flag the player camera will be controlled during the speech. This has no effect while another camera has been activated using the cameraactivate command. The type of camera movement is given as the first parameter:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
keep
|
Use the previous speech camera position and angle, do not move the camera during the speech |
zoom
|
Look at the given target from a position interpolated from the given angles and distance |
ccctalker_l
|
Look at the given target from a position offset towards the left between the speaker and target |
ccctalker_r
|
Look at the given target from a position offset towards the right between the speaker and target |
ccclistener_l
|
Look at the speaker from a position offset towards the left between the target and speaker |
ccclistener_r
|
Look at the speaker from a position offset towards the right between the target and speaker |
side_l
|
Look at a position between target and speaker from the left side |
side_r
|
Look at a position between target and speaker from the right side |
side
|
Alias for side_r
|
Unlike the audio playback position, the camera will use the position the speaker and listener had when speak was called even if those entities move.
Audio playback command comparison
play
|
playspeech
|
speak
|
cine
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Text shown with cinemascope on
|
✗ | ✗ | unless -t is used
|
✗ |
| Localized text entry required | ✗ | ✗ | unless -t is used
|
✗ |
| Character is animated | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Player camera is controlled | ✗ | ✗ | with -c
|
✗ |
| Sample loaded relative to | sfx
|
speech/<language>
|
speech/<language>
|
sfx or speech/<language>
|
| Randomized sample | ✗ | ✗ | with -t if there are multiple
|
✗ |
| Playback speed (pitch) | 1× or random in [0.9,1.1]× | NPC pitch unless invisible or in inventory | NPC pitch unless -o is used
|
1× |
| Playback relative to | entity (player if in player inventory) | entity (player if invisible or in inventory) | entity (player with -p/-o)
|
camera |
| Playback position updates when moving | ✗ (✓ if in player inventory) | ✗ (✓ if invisible or in inventory) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Command executed on completion | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | cine_end event
|