[Devlog — January 31, 2025 – 11:37 PM]
I checked the code.
Elias's script is perfectly fine. No errors, no delays in the logic, nothing that would cause a pause before his response. I even tested it in a clean build—no changes, no external factors—just him, standing behind his market stall, running through the exact same conversation tree.
And yet, it happened again.
Same spot. Same hesitation.
It's subtle. If I weren't watching for it, I probably wouldn't have noticed. It's not a stutter or a glitch. It's like a real person taking a second to choose their words. A merchant sizing up a customer before answering.
It doesn't make sense.
I ran more tests.
Different NPCs. Different locations. Most of them worked exactly as expected. Dialogue triggered properly, responses flowed like scripted lines in a play. But when I talked to Mira again, the little girl from yesterday, she did something new.
She asked me a question.
Not a scripted one.
"Will you be back tomorrow?"
What?
She doesn't have a "tomorrow" in her code. Her world doesn't progress unless I tell it to. NPCs don't reference time unless it's tied to a quest or an event flag.
I checked her data logs. There's no condition that should have prompted that response.
I didn't know what to say. I just stood there, staring at the text box. After a few seconds, the game moved on, filling the silence for me.
"I hope you will."
I don't remember writing that line.
I checked the dialogue files afterward.
It's not there.
Maybe I'm too deep into this. Maybe I've been staring at this project for so long that I'm imagining things—reading human intent into randomized responses. It wouldn't be the first time a developer got caught up in their own illusion.
I ran a full debug scan. No anomalies. No rogue scripts. Nothing that suggests Mira should be able to reference time or Elias should be hesitating before speaking.
And yet.
And yet.
It's nothing, right? Just small things. A quirk of the system. A coincidence.
But I caught myself hesitating too.
When I turned the game off for the night, my hand hovered over the exit button for a moment too long. Like I was leaving something behind.
Like I owed them an answer.
[End Entry]
[Bug Report]
>> Issue: Mira (little girl at starting town) referenced "tomorrow" in conversation.
>> Expected behavior: Mira should only respond to questions within the scripted dialogue tree. She should not reference future events unless tied to an active quest or event trigger.
>> Possible causes: Error in script conditions or flags. Could be an issue with the NPCs' world state not being properly updated.
>> Severity: Medium. This introduces unintended complexity to NPC behavior, which could break immersion.
[To-do list]
>> Check Mira's script for any hidden conditions that might trigger the reference to "tomorrow."
>> Examine if any event flags or world states might be affecting Mira's dialogue.
>> Run a diagnostic on time-based event flags to make sure they're isolated to specific quests.
>> Consider implementing a test that ensures Mira never references time again unless intended.