The dialogue tag group gives units situational sounds, like when they take damage, see allies die, or are startled. Dialogue usage is not just limited to AI bipeds; it's responsible for the player's death sounds and can even be referenced for vehicles, though not all situations apply. Dialogue is an important part of Halo's game design and helps communicate the internal state of characters to the player.

The randomization of voice lines is not part of the dialogue tag but rather the referenced sound tags, which can contain multiple permutations.

Canonical character dialogue tags

The following stock dialogue tags correspond to canonical characters:

CharacterTag path
343 Guilty Sparksound\dialog\monitor\monitor
Jacob Keyessound\dialog\captain\captain
Avery Johnsonsound\dialog\sargeant\conditional\sargeant
Marcus Stackersound\dialog\sarge2\conditional\sarge2
Chips Dubbosound\dialog\marines\aussie\conditional\aussie
Private Bisentisound\dialog\marines\bisenti\conditional\bisenti
M. Fitzgeraldsound\dialog\marines\fitzgerald\conditional\fitzgerald
Manuel Mendozasound\dialog\marines\mendoza\conditional\mendoza

Additional level-specific character sound tags, e.g. for cinematics, can be found under the sound\dialog\x** folders.

Related script functions and globals

The following are related functions that you can use in your scenario scripts and/or debug globals that you can enter into the developer console for troubleshooting.

Function/global

Type

(<void> ai_dialogue_triggers <boolean>)
(ai_dialogue_triggers true)
(ai_dialogue_triggers false)

Turns impromptu dialogue on or off. When off, units will still play some sounds (like when they take damage) but will not speak when exiting vehicles, seeing friends die, etc.

Function
(ai_print_speech [boolean])

Displays red text over AI whenever they vocalize, with the name of the dialogue field played. For example, pain body minor.

Global
(ai_print_vocalizations [boolean])

Prints vocalizations to the console as they happen, including the encounter, squad, actor, dialogue type (e.g. exclaim), and line. For example, beach_lz/camp_center_grunt/grunt: talk flee [72/flee].

Global
(ai_render_dialogue_variants [boolean])

Shows pink text overlays over each unit with dialogue showing which variant they use, like if marines are a "mendoza" or a "bisenti". For example, variant 11 dialogue 0 aussie.

Global

Structure and fields

FieldTypeComments
idle noncombatTagDependency: sound
idle combatTagDependency: sound
idle fleeTagDependency: sound
pain body minorTagDependency: sound
pain body majorTagDependency: sound
pain shieldTagDependency: sound
pain fallingTagDependency: sound
scream fearTagDependency: sound
scream painTagDependency: sound
maimed limbTagDependency: sound
maimed headTagDependency: sound
death quietTagDependency: sound
death violentTagDependency: sound
death fallingTagDependency: sound
death agonizingTagDependency: sound
death instantTagDependency: sound
death flyingTagDependency: sound
damaged friendTagDependency: sound
damaged friend playerTagDependency: sound
damaged enemyTagDependency: sound
damaged enemy cmTagDependency: sound
hurt friendTagDependency: sound
hurt friend reTagDependency: sound
hurt friend playerTagDependency: sound
hurt enemyTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy reTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy cmTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy bulletTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy needlerTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy plasmaTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy sniperTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy grenadeTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy explosionTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy meleeTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy flameTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy shotgunTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy vehicleTagDependency: sound
hurt enemy mountedweaponTagDependency: sound
killed friendTagDependency: sound
killed friend cmTagDependency: sound
killed friend playerTagDependency: sound
killed friend player cmTagDependency: sound
killed enemyTagDependency: sound
killed enemy cmTagDependency: sound
killed enemy playerTagDependency: sound
killed enemy player cmTagDependency: sound
killed enemy covenantTagDependency: sound
killed enemy covenant cmTagDependency: sound
killed enemy floodcombatTagDependency: sound
killed enemy floodcombat cmTagDependency: sound
killed enemy floodcarrierTagDependency: sound
killed enemy floodcarrier cmTagDependency: sound
killed enemy sentinelTagDependency: sound
killed enemy sentinel cmTagDependency: sound
killed enemy bulletTagDependency: sound
killed enemy needlerTagDependency: sound
killed enemy plasmaTagDependency: sound
killed enemy sniperTagDependency: sound
killed enemy grenadeTagDependency: sound
killed enemy explosionTagDependency: sound
killed enemy meleeTagDependency: sound
killed enemy flameTagDependency: sound
killed enemy shotgunTagDependency: sound
killed enemy vehicleTagDependency: sound
killed enemy mountedweaponTagDependency: sound
killing spreeTagDependency: sound
player kill cmTagDependency: sound
player kill bullet cmTagDependency: sound
player kill needler cmTagDependency: sound
player kill plasma cmTagDependency: sound
player kill sniper cmTagDependency: sound
anyone kill grenade cmTagDependency: sound
player kill explosion cmTagDependency: sound
player kill melee cmTagDependency: sound
player kill flame cmTagDependency: sound
player kill shotgun cmTagDependency: sound
player kill vehicle cmTagDependency: sound
player kill mountedweapon cmTagDependency: sound
player killling spree cmTagDependency: sound
friend diedTagDependency: sound
friend player diedTagDependency: sound
friend killed by friendTagDependency: sound
friend killed by friendly playerTagDependency: sound
friend killed by enemyTagDependency: sound
friend killed by enemy playerTagDependency: sound
friend killed by covenantTagDependency: sound
friend killed by floodTagDependency: sound
friend killed by sentinelTagDependency: sound
friend betrayedTagDependency: sound
new combat aloneTagDependency: sound
new enemy recent combatTagDependency: sound
old enemy sightedTagDependency: sound
unexpected enemyTagDependency: sound
dead friend foundTagDependency: sound
alliance brokenTagDependency: sound
alliance reformedTagDependency: sound
grenade throwingTagDependency: sound
grenade sightedTagDependency: sound
grenade startleTagDependency: sound
grenade danger enemyTagDependency: sound
grenade danger selfTagDependency: sound
grenade danger friendTagDependency: sound
new combat group reTagDependency: sound
new combat nearby reTagDependency: sound
alert friendTagDependency: sound
alert friend reTagDependency: sound
alert lost contactTagDependency: sound
alert lost contact reTagDependency: sound
blockedTagDependency: sound
blocked reTagDependency: sound
search startTagDependency: sound
search queryTagDependency: sound
search query reTagDependency: sound
search reportTagDependency: sound
search abandonTagDependency: sound
search group abandonTagDependency: sound
group uncoverTagDependency: sound
group uncover reTagDependency: sound
advanceTagDependency: sound
advance reTagDependency: sound
retreatTagDependency: sound
retreat reTagDependency: sound
coverTagDependency: sound
sighted friend playerTagDependency: sound
shootingTagDependency: sound
shooting vehicleTagDependency: sound
shooting berserkTagDependency: sound
shooting groupTagDependency: sound
shooting traitorTagDependency: sound
tauntTagDependency: sound
taunt reTagDependency: sound
fleeTagDependency: sound
flee reTagDependency: sound
flee leader diedTagDependency: sound
attempted fleeTagDependency: sound
attempted flee reTagDependency: sound
lost contactTagDependency: sound
hiding finishedTagDependency: sound
vehicle entryTagDependency: sound
vehicle exitTagDependency: sound
vehicle woohooTagDependency: sound
vehicle scaredTagDependency: sound
vehicle collisionTagDependency: sound
partially sightedTagDependency: sound
nothing thereTagDependency: sound
pleadingTagDependency: sound
surpriseTagDependency: sound
berserkTagDependency: sound
melee attackTagDependency: sound
diveTagDependency: sound
uncover exclamationTagDependency: sound
leap attackTagDependency: sound
resurrectionTagDependency: sound
celebrationTagDependency: sound
check body enemyTagDependency: sound
check body friendTagDependency: sound
shooting dead enemyTagDependency: sound
shooting dead enemy playerTagDependency: sound
aloneTagDependency: sound
unscathedTagDependency: sound
seriously woundedTagDependency: sound
seriously wounded reTagDependency: sound
massacreTagDependency: sound
massacre reTagDependency: sound
routTagDependency: sound
rout reTagDependency: sound

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following individuals for their research or contributions to this topic:

  • 1SDAN (Listing canonical character dialogue tags)
  • Kavawuvi (Invader tag definitions)
  • MosesOfEgypt (Tag structure research)