NPC dialog conversations and press-to-talk prompts

The recipe

Author the panel with project_create_ui_panel and the logic with project_apply_script_semantic_patch using the ai_safe op pack.

1. Show it is talkable: a floating TextRenderableComponent prompt over the NPC (textSource:"static", text:"Talk [E]"), toggled on while the player is in range.
2. Detect intent: give the NPC a trigger ColliderComponent (collision:"trigger") and addTriggerHandler for proximity, or declare an interact action (see doors-buttons-and-interactions) and addActionHandler { "actionKey":"interact" } for a press-to-talk.
3. Open the dialog: in a GessaScript body (replaceScriptFromGessaScript) call ctx.ui.openPanel on a dialog panel and ctx.ui.setWidgetValue to fill the speaker name and the current line.
4. Branch on choices: store the conversation node in durable state with writeTypedStateValue (a dialogNode field); when the player picks a reply, advance the node and setBooleanState any flags (met, quest accepted). Read back with readTypedStateValue to gate later branches.
5. Close and react: ctx.ui.closePanel when the talk ends, and emitCustomEvent a quest.accepted or shop.open event other systems (inventory, match) act on.

Pitfalls

• Dialogue TEXT is authored content you write into the panel; there is no LLM or text-generation host op to write lines at runtime (see capability-ceiling).
• Keep the conversation node in durable state, not a local variable, so a reload or a second interaction resumes the right branch.
• Gate the open on proximity; an interact action fires everywhere, so confirm the player is near this NPC before opening its panel (the door-handler lesson).
• The prompt label is presentation only; the actual talk is the panel plus the handler, not the TextRenderableComponent.

Verify

• simulation_run (qa.run.start) to prove approaching or pressing interact opens the dialog and a choice advances the branch.
• project_get_graph_snapshot to confirm the trigger or interact handler and the dialog panel exist.