A guide to tempo in SDT Dialogues using cyrillic characters (1 Viewer)

[DigitalSmutExports]

I just finished the first serious dialogue I've made.

I don't know if people will like it, but one thing I am confident in. I have a good grasp on what is an appropriate number of cyrillic characters to insert.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about:

SDT can't really figure out what to do with the character Б and therefore pauses very briefly without displaying the symbol. This allows you to insert pauses between sentences and such. When reading a book you do this yourself but in SDT the pace is dictated by the dialogue itself. Not using cyrillics at all in lines comprised of more than one sentence makes for a rather jarring experience for the player in my view.

This guide will present my findings after having put a lot of effort into getting the amounts of cyrillics just right. All of the numbers below take into account that people play SDT because porn is sweet, not because they want to read a Solzjenitsyn novel. Therefore I recommend slightly faster than normal speech and the numbers reflect that. Don't be afraid to use more in dramatic scenes!

This isn't meant to be authorative, but at the very least it should give you a very good starting point.

BETWEEN SENTENCES

ББББ (4): Should be the normal number between sentences in my opinion. This is an appropriate amount when you just want to get through the line - without any drama - with the minimal amount that doesn't look bad. (My name is John.ББББ It's a pleasure to meet you)

БББ (3): You're talking fast.

ББ (2): You're talking VERY fast.

Б (1): You're on drugs.

0: Stream of consciousness.

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ББББББ (6-7): Good amount after an exclamation or when hesitating. (Wow!ББББББ That's incredible. / Um,ББББББ I guess we can try that.)

ББББББББББББ (12): Pensive or dramatic. (The things we do for love.ББББББББББББ OK, we can try [insert perversion])

_

After commas mid sentence it depends a lot on how whether that comma represents a pause or is a grammatical thing only. 2-3 should be the standard. (So with that in mind,ББ would you like to....)

ONOMATOPOEIA AND FRIENDS

In the middle of all sorts of "words" that represent or emulate sounds you want to insert Б between each character.

Б (1) or ББ (2) between each character in Aaaahhh:s and Mmmmmmhh:s. I think the standard should be ББ but Б is fine also. It's perfectly fine to mix it up.

Aaaaahh -> AББaББaББaББhББhББhББh


ББ (2) pretty much always between each character in GARGLE and GIGGLE etc if you decide to use that form. Maybe БББ (3) on RARE occasion. Never Б (1).


UNFINISHED SENTENCES

You might write something like "But what if we were to.......". In a way the cyrillic characters make the string of period marks redundant, but I think it looks better with them. If you decide to use them you want either ББ (2) or БББ (3) in between each period mark. 3 is slightly better than 2 aesthetically, but again; [Sex]>[Solzjenitsyn].

I've been going with ББ (2).


DRAWN OUT WORDS

If you have a character saying please in a drawn out way for instance, I personally think it looks better to just write out pleeeeaaaaaase than to insert Б. Usings cyrillics is fine though. My sense is that it comes off as the character meaning business a little more with cyrillics (1-2 of them between each character) - as if they're placing emphasis on each syllable - and it comes off as a little weaker with just multiple vowels.


DON'T FORGET YOUR SPACES

That was quick.ББББWe should have used protection. reads as That was quick.We should have used protection.

This is an easy mistake to make, particularly after long pauses and especially if you have triggers in the middle there somewhere. My recommendation is to always have the space in the same place - that is you don't mix "end of sentence.ББББ New sentence" with
"end of sentence. ББББNew sentence"

If you know where the space belongs it'll be easier to see at a glance if it's there. Pick a system and stick with it.

That's it for me!

Peace/
DSE
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For the technical side of dialogues: Pim_gd's Advanced Dialogue Guide.

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[Slingerbult]

It's been a while since DSE posted this excellent guide, but now as I'm working on my next big project, I can surely confirm the above. Indeed, this should be standard for all dialogue writers. It's such a shame, when a writer devotes lots of time on a dialogue project, only to have the user get a rushed run-away-train experience and no means to make sense of it all. That only makes you feel stressed and it's not erotic at all.

Anyway, I have a few additions to the guide above.

1) When using back-and-forth dialogue, make sure to use sufficient cyrillics with short replies especially, like so:
line1:"Hey, ББcan I ask you a question? [line2]"
line2:"ББББSure! ББББ [line3]"
line3:"Great! ББББSo I wanted to ask you out on a dateББ.ББ.ББ."

The issue with short lines is that SDT moves so fast that your internal pacing doesn't really have time to adjust. Think of it like a tennis match, where you shift attention back and forth between the HIM and HER character. Short replies require more cyrillics, because in longer replies, you have time to make that back and forth journey WHILE reading (if you read at an average pace).

2) Don't forget, you can use cyrillics to pace triggers too, not just dialogue! This can really add to the visual experience of what's going on in the scene. I recommend using ББББББ for somewhat swift movement/changes and double that (12 cyrillics) for longer pauses (it still moves pretty quickly). Examples:
line1:"[ARMS_HAND_JOB][LOOK_UP]" ;this looks blunt and rushed
line1:"[LEFT_ARM_HAND_JOB]ББББББББББББ[RIGHT_ARM_HAND_JOB]ББББББ[LOOK_UP]" ;this looks more refined and elegant

line 2:"[HOLD][LOOK_UP][SHOCK][HAPPY_MOOD]" ;wtf is going on here??
line 2:"[HOLD]ББББББ[LOOK_UP][SHOCK]ББББББББББББ[HAPPY_MOOD]" ;aha! She reacts to him touching/grabbing her, and concludes that she finds it enjoyable. See? Now you're telling a visual story.

3) If you want really long intervals (more than 1 second, say), cyrillics become messy and unpractical (15 cyrillic characters is roughly 1 sec). For this application, I would very much like to recommend the wonderful automation mod by Colin. It's pretty advanced and you might not feel up to getting into it all. No worries, just include the mod in your dialogue project bundle and include it in your INIT folder, like you would any mod. Then you can copy paste the following, changing the values as you see fit:

delayedLine:"It will surely take 80 frames until the next line is played! [SET_TEST_0_COUNT_80_g][ACTIVE_TEST_0_on][VALUE_CUSTOM_LINE_nextLine_TEST_on]"
nextLine:"[ACTIVE_TEST_0_off]Yup, I counted 80 frames exactly!"

Okay, so "delayedLine" is the line you want to make a pause after, and "nextLine" is the one after the pause. Colin's mod uses "tests" to check for various conditions and applies actions as they are met. In this case, the first two triggers make SDT count to 80 frames. The third trigger tells SDT what to do when it finishes counting - namely go to "nextLine". The only thing you need to change is the number of frames (make the pause as long or short as you like), and then swap out the line names (including the one in the trigger!) to the ones used in your dialogue.

There! Now you can make pauses of arbitrary length. Do note however, that when a test is running, no other dialogue lines or triggers will play. Only use the test at the very end of a line - the rest of the line won't play anyway. A silly example of use, putting all this together:

cum_in_mouth:"I have ejaculated! ББББLet us observe a moment of silence. [SET_TEST_0_COUNT_300_g][ACTIVE_TEST_0_on][VALUE_CUSTOM_LINE_cim1a_TEST_on]" {"style":"Him"}
cim1a:"[ACTIVE_TEST_0_off]Thank you. ББББYou may swallow now. ББББББ[LOOK_UP][SHOCK]ББББББББББББ[SWALLOW]" {"style":"Him"}

This pauses dialogue for 300 frames or 10 seconds, which is about the time it takes for him to finish cumming (closer to 11-12 seconds with standard Loader settings). It also suppresses other cum lines meanwhile, which is often useful. Just to give you a small idea of what can be done with this.