Dialogic Syntax Support for VS Code

Syntax highlighting and code snippets for Godot Dialogic timeline files (.dtl).

Features

🎨 Syntax Highlighting

Full syntax highlighting for Dialogic timeline files with color-coded elements:

Keywords: join, leave, update, if, set, jump, label, audio, background, etc.
Character names: Highlighted in dialogue lines
Dialogue text: Distinct color for conversation content
Variables: {variable_name} references
Strings: Quoted text and file paths
Numbers: Numeric values
Comments: # Comment text
Operators: =, +=, ==, >, etc.

✨ Code Snippets

Quick snippets for common Dialogic commands:

Prefix	Description
`join`	Add a character to the scene
`leave`	Remove a character
`update`	Update character portrait/position
`:`	Character dialogue
`set`	Set a variable
`if`	Conditional statement
`elif`	Else-if condition
`else`	Else condition
`jump`	Jump to label/timeline
`label`	Create a label
`-`	Choice option
`audio`	Play audio
`background`	Set background
`wait`	Wait for time
`signal`	Emit signal
`call`	Call function
`#`	Add comment

🔧 Language Features

Auto-closing pairs: Brackets, quotes, and parentheses
Comment toggling: Use Cmd+/ (Mac) or Ctrl+/ (Windows/Linux)
Code folding: Fold if/elif/else blocks and choice groups

Installation

From VSIX (Recommended for now)

Download the .vsix file
Open VS Code
Press Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux)
Type "Install from VSIX"
Select the downloaded .vsix file

From Marketplace (Coming Soon)

Search for "Dialogic Syntax Support" in the VS Code Extensions marketplace.

Usage

Open any .dtl file in VS Code
Syntax highlighting will activate automatically
Type a snippet prefix (like join) and press Tab to use snippets
Use Ctrl+Space to see all available snippets

Example

# This is a comment
join juliet center
juliet: Oh Romeo, what's your favourite game type?
join romeo right
romeo: Oh Juliet, it's simple...

- Visual Novels
    set {choice} = "vn"
    jump VNs
- JRPG
    set {choice} = "jrpg"
    jump other_timeline/

label VNs
if {choice} == "vn":
    juliet (happy): Great choice!
end

Dialogic Syntax Reference

Character Events

join character_name center
leave character_name
update character_name (portrait) left

Dialogue

character_name: Dialogue text
character_name (portrait): Dialogue with portrait

Variables

set {variable} = value
set {name} = "string"
set {score} += 10

Conditions

if {score} > 5:
    # actions
elif {score} == 5:
    # actions
else:
    # actions
end

Choices

- Choice text
    # action
- Conditional choice | [if {condition}]
    # action

Flow Control

jump label_name
jump timeline/label
label label_name
return

Media

audio music "res://path/to/music.mp3"
audio music -
background "res://path/to/background.png"

Other

wait 2.0
signal signal_name
call function_name(args)
# Comment

Requirements

VS Code 1.80.0 or higher
Godot Engine with Dialogic plugin (for runtime, not required for syntax highlighting)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please visit the GitHub repository to:

Report bugs
Request features
Submit pull requests

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Credits

Dialogic Plugin: dialogic-godot/dialogic
Syntax highlighting patterns based on Dialogic's official documentation

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release history.

Enjoy writing Dialogic timelines in VS Code! 🎮✨

Dialogic Syntax Support

Xingnan Zhou