Narrative Expansion

Extended Dialogue, Lore, and NPC System for Techtonica

Narrative Expansion is a comprehensive story-enhancement mod that adds extended dialogue for existing characters, discoverable lore entries, mysterious story threads, and interactive NPCs to the underground world of Techtonica. Dive deeper into the secrets of the facility and uncover the truth about what happened before your arrival.

Table of Contents

• Features
  • Extended Dialogue System
  • Hidden Lore Content
  • Mystery Story Threads
  • Interactive NPC System
• Installation
  • Using r2modman (Recommended)
  • Manual Installation
• Configuration
  • Content Settings
  • NPC Settings
  • General Settings
• Requirements
• Compatibility
• Known Issues
• Changelog
• Credits and Attribution
• License
• Links

Features

Extended Dialogue System

Narrative Expansion adds new dialogue for the existing characters you know and love, giving them more personality and depth:

Sparks Extended Dialogue:

• Idle commentary that triggers randomly during gameplay
• Reactions to player actions (damage events, power surges)
• Depth-based dialogue when exploring deep caves
• Multi-part dialogue sequences revealing hidden story elements

Paladin Extended Dialogue:

• Memory fragments about life before the incident
• Backstory hints about the original Groundbreaker team
• Warnings and guidance for deeper exploration
• Banter sequences with Sparks

Custom Speakers:

• Ancient AI - A mysterious intelligence predating the facility
• Corrupted Sparks - Glitched dialogue hinting at darker secrets
• The Groundbreaker - References to the original team members

Hidden Lore Content

Discover the secrets of the facility through recovered data logs and archives:

• Ancient History Logs: Uncover what the dig team found beneath the facility
• Facility Archives: Learn about Project Groundbreaker and what went wrong
• Research Notes: Discover the true nature of the Memory Trees
• Lore entries trigger based on exploration depth and discovery
• Progressive revelation system with chained dialogue sequences

Mystery Story Threads

Mysterious signals and cryptic messages hint at deeper secrets:

• Unknown transmissions from unidentified sources
• Corrupted data streams revealing hidden truths
• Ancient AI prophecies and revelations
• Multi-part mystery sequences leading to deeper questions
• Pattern-based hints and environmental storytelling

Interactive NPC System

Meet five unique NPCs scattered throughout the world:

NPC Features:

• Visual representation with colored bodies, glowing eyes, and ambient lighting
• Name tags that display interaction prompts when in range
• Cycling dialogue with multiple unique lines per NPC
• Configurable interaction range and keybinds
• NPCs face the player when interacting
• Automatic respawning if they fall through the world

Installation

Using r2modman (Recommended)

1. Download and install r2modman
2. Select Techtonica as your game
3. Search for NarrativeExpansion in the online mod browser
4. Click Download to install the mod and all dependencies automatically
5. Launch the game through r2modman

Manual Installation

1. Ensure BepInEx 5.4.21+ is installed
2. Download and install all required dependencies (see Requirements)
3. Download the latest release of NarrativeExpansion
4. Extract NarrativeExpansion.dll to your BepInEx/plugins folder:

   Techtonica/
   └── BepInEx/
       └── plugins/
           └── NarrativeExpansion.dll
   

5. Launch the game

Configuration

Configuration options are available in BepInEx/config/com.certifired.NarrativeExpansion.cfg after running the game once with the mod installed.

Content Settings

NPC Settings

General Settings

Requirements

This mod requires the following dependencies to be installed:

All dependencies will be installed automatically if using r2modman.

Compatibility

• Game Version: Compatible with current Techtonica releases
• Multiplayer: Not tested in multiplayer environments
• Other Mods: Should be compatible with most mods that don't modify the dialogue system
• Save Games: Safe to add to existing saves; dialogue progress is tracked per-session

Known Issues

• NPCs may spawn in inaccessible locations on initial load; they will respawn if they fall through the world
• Dialogue timing may occasionally overlap with game events
• Some depth-triggered dialogue may not fire if the player moves too quickly

Changelog

[2.1.0] - Current Version

• Full NPC system with five unique characters
• NPC visual representation with colored bodies and glowing eyes
• NPC behavior types: Stationary, Wandering, Following
• Interaction cooldowns and cycling dialogue
• Speaker caching system for performance optimization

[2.0.0]

• Added interactive NPC system framework
• Introduced NPC definitions and spawning
• Added NPC controller with movement behaviors

[1.0.0] - 2025-01-05

• Initial release
• Extended dialogue system for Sparks and Paladin
• Hidden lore discovery system
• Mystery content and story threads
• Integration with TechtonicaFramework narrative API

Credits and Attribution

Development

• CertiFried - Primary developer and mod author

AI Development Assistance

• Claude Code (Anthropic) - AI-assisted development, code organization, and documentation

Dependencies and Thanks

• Equinox - For EquinoxsModUtils and EMUAdditions
• Fire Dev Team - For creating Techtonica
• BepInEx Team - For the modding framework

Special Thanks

• The Techtonica modding community for support and feedback
• All players who have provided bug reports and suggestions

License

This mod is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0).

Copyright (C) 2025 CertiFried

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

See the LICENSE file for the full license text.

Links

Mod Resources

• Thunderstore Page
• Source Code (GitHub)

Dependencies

• BepInEx
• EquinoxsModUtils
• EMUAdditions
• TechtonicaFramework

Community

• Techtonica Discord
• Techtonica Modding Community

Tools

• r2modman Mod Manager

Narrative Expansion - Uncover the secrets hidden beneath the surface.