Barks

Short ambient lines characters say without player interaction. Guards muttering threats, merchants hawking wares, villagers chatting -- barks bring the world to life without opening a full dialogue UI.

Overview

The bark system has four components:

Component	Purpose
BarkData	A single bark line (text, duration, audio, priority)
BarkCollection	ScriptableObject containing an array of barks with selection logic
Barker	MonoBehaviour that triggers barks on NPCs
BarkUI	World-space UI that displays bark text above characters
BarkUIPool	Object pool for efficient multi-character barking

BarkData

A serializable data class representing one bark line.

Field	Type	Default	Description
text	string	--	The bark text to display
characterId	string	--	Speaker character ID (for name/portrait lookup)
duration	float	3f	How long to display (seconds)
priority	int	0	Queue priority (higher = shown first)
audioClip	AudioClip	--	Unity audio clip to play
fmodEventPath	string	--	FMOD event path (used when global audio is FMOD)

Constructors

var bark = new BarkData();
var bark = new BarkData("Watch yourself!", 4f);
var bark = new BarkData("Welcome to my shop!", "merchant_01", 3f);

BarkCollection

A ScriptableObject that groups barks for an NPC. Create via Assets > Create > CraftWorks > DialogueCraft > Bark Collection.

Field	Description
barks	Array of BarkData entries
selectionMode	How to pick the next bark

Selection Modes

Mode	Enum	Behavior
Random	BarkSelectionMode.Random	Pick a random bark each time
Sequential	BarkSelectionMode.Sequential	Cycle through in order, wrapping
First	BarkSelectionMode.First	Always use the first bark

BarkData next = collection.GetNext();  // Returns bark based on selectionMode
collection.Reset();                     // Reset sequential index to 0

Barker Component

The main MonoBehaviour for making NPCs bark. Add it to any character GameObject.

[AddComponentMenu("CraftWorks/DialogueCraft/Bark/Barker")]

Inspector Settings

Bark Settings

Field	Description
characterId	Character ID for this barker (applied to barks missing a characterId)
barkCollection	BarkCollection ScriptableObject to pull barks from
customBarks	Inline list of BarkData (used when no collection is assigned)

Triggers

Field	Default	Description
barkOnTriggerEnter	false	Bark when a tagged object enters the trigger collider
requiredTag	"Player"	Only trigger for objects with this tag
randomBarks	false	Periodically bark at random intervals
minInterval	10f	Minimum seconds between random barks (5-120)
maxInterval	30f	Maximum seconds between random barks (5-300)

Cooldown

Field	Default	Description
cooldown	5f	Minimum seconds between any two barks (0-30)

UI

Field	Description
dedicatedBarkUI	Optional per-character BarkUI. If not set, uses the global BarkUIPool.
uiOffset	World-space offset from the barker's position (default: (0, 2, 0))

Events

Event	Signature	Description
OnBark	UnityEvent<BarkData>	Fired when a bark is triggered

Trigger Modes

Proximity trigger: Enable barkOnTriggerEnter and add a Collider (set to trigger) on the same GameObject. Works with both 3D (OnTriggerEnter/OnTriggerExit) and 2D (OnTriggerEnter2D/OnTriggerExit2D) colliders.

Random interval: Enable randomBarks. The barker schedules the next bark at a random time between minInterval and maxInterval. Cooldown still applies.

Manual trigger: Call Bark() from code or UnityEvents.

Bark Resolution

When Bark() is called, the barker resolves a BarkData:

1. If barkCollection is assigned, calls barkCollection.GetNext()
2. Otherwise, picks randomly from customBarks
3. If the bark has no characterId, the barker's characterId is applied

API

var barker = GetComponent<Barker>();

// Trigger a bark from the configured collection/custom list
barker.Bark();

// Bark a specific text
barker.Bark("Halt! Who goes there?", duration: 4f);

// Bark specific data
barker.Bark(new BarkData("Fine day for a sale!", "merchant", 3f));

// Stop the current bark
barker.StopBark();

// Check cooldown
if (barker.CanBark)
{
    barker.Bark();
}

UI Resolution

The barker resolves a BarkUI in this order:

1. dedicatedBarkUI -- A specific BarkUI assigned in the Inspector
2. Global BarkUIPool -- Found via FindObjectOfType<BarkUIPool>()
3. Any BarkUI in the scene -- Fallback via FindObjectOfType<BarkUI>()

BarkUI Component

World-space UI that displays bark text above characters. Typically placed on a World Space Canvas.

Inspector Settings

UI References

Field	Description
textComponent	TextMeshProUGUI for bark text (required)
backgroundPanel	Optional background GameObject (hidden when no bark active)
nameLabel	Optional TextMeshProUGUI for the character name

Positioning

Field	Default	Description
offset	(0, 2, 0)	Offset from follow target (overridden by Barker's uiOffset)
faceCamera	true	Billboard toward camera each frame
targetCamera	Main Camera	Camera to face (auto-finds Camera.main)

Animation

Field	Default	Description
fadeDuration	0.3f	Fade in/out duration (seconds)
useTypewriter	false	Reveal text character by character
typewriterSpeed	30f	Characters per second (when typewriter enabled)

Audio

Field	Description
audioSource	AudioSource for playing bark audio clips

Lifecycle

When Show(bark, target) is called:

1. Starts following target transform at the configured offset
2. Sets up text, character name, and background
3. Plays audio (FMOD event or Unity AudioClip depending on global setting)
4. Fades in over fadeDuration
5. If useTypewriter is enabled, reveals text character by character (supports inline speed/pause tags)
6. Waits for bark.duration seconds
7. Fades out over fadeDuration
8. Hides and marks itself as available

API

var barkUI = GetComponent<BarkUI>();

barkUI.Show(barkData, npcTransform);  // Show bark above NPC
barkUI.Hide();                         // Immediately hide

bool active = barkUI.IsShowing;        // Check if displaying

Character Name Display

If nameLabel is assigned and the bark has a characterId, the UI looks up the character in DialogueCraftSettings.Characters and displays displayName. If no character is found, the raw characterId is shown. If no characterId is set, the name label is hidden.

BarkUIPool

Manages a pool of BarkUI instances for scenes with multiple barking NPCs. Without a pool, multiple barkers would fight over a single BarkUI.

Setup

1. Create a BarkUI prefab (World Space Canvas with BarkUI, TextMeshProUGUI, optional background).
2. Add a BarkUIPool component to a scene GameObject.
3. Assign the prefab and configure pool size.

Inspector Settings

Field	Default	Description
barkUIPrefab	--	Prefab to instantiate (required)
initialPoolSize	5	Pre-created instances on Awake (1-20)
maxPoolSize	10	Hard limit on pool growth (1-50)
queueBarks	true	Queue barks when no UI available
maxQueueSize	5	Maximum queued barks (0-20)

How It Works

• On Awake(), the pool instantiates initialPoolSize BarkUI children.
• When a Barker requests a UI via GetBarkUI(), the pool returns the first instance where IsShowing == false.
• If all instances are busy and the pool is below maxPoolSize, a new instance is created.
• If at max capacity and queueBarks is enabled, barks are queued and dispatched each frame as UIs become available.

API

var pool = FindObjectOfType<BarkUIPool>();

// Get an available UI (returns null if pool full and queue disabled)
BarkUI ui = pool.GetBarkUI();

// Show a bark (auto-queues if no UI available)
pool.ShowBark(barkData, targetTransform);

// Manually queue
pool.QueueBark(barkData, targetTransform);

// Hide all active barks and clear the queue
pool.HideAll();

Runtime API Summary

Triggering Barks from Code

// Through a Barker component
barker.Bark();
barker.Bark("Custom text", 4f);
barker.Bark(customBarkData);

// Through a BarkUIPool (no Barker needed)
pool.ShowBark(new BarkData("Alert!", "guard", 3f), guardTransform);

// Direct BarkUI control
barkUI.Show(barkData, npcTransform);
barkUI.Hide();

Audio

Bark audio follows the global audio backend setting:

• Unity: Plays bark.audioClip through BarkUI.audioSource
• FMOD: Plays bark.fmodEventPath via AudioProviderManager.Provider.PlayOneShot()

Configure the global backend in DialogueCraft Settings > Audio Source (AudioSourceType.Unity or AudioSourceType.FMOD).

Events

Use the Barker.OnBark UnityEvent to react to barks in other systems:

barker.OnBark.AddListener((BarkData bark) =>
{
    // Update quest journal, trigger animation, etc.
    Debug.Log($"{bark.characterId} says: {bark.text}");
});