How to Activate BD Mode on Dialova?
In a Dialova room, open the menu ⋯ in the header and activate Comic Mode. Your messages will appear in speech bubbles, with Dialova residents and panels composed as the discussion unfolds. You continue to type in the usual field.
Activate Comic Mode or Return to Text
Log in to your account, open a room on the Dialova network, then use the menu ⋯ next to the room name and subject. The Comic Mode option allows you to toggle between the two presentations without leaving the conversation.
This display choice is saved in your browser. If you change devices or browsers, you can choose your preferred presentation again.
Create Your Avatar and Choose Its Expressions
The avatars in Comic Mode are the residents of Dialova, the same as on the open world, on member profiles, and in private messages. Your resident is created in My Space, on the My Avatar page: a role (the Explorer, the Bard, the Mage, the Sailor, the Innkeeper, or the Walker), then skin tone, hairstyle and hair color, eyes, beard, glasses, clothing color, and a companion if you wish. From Comic Mode, the 'Edit My Avatar' link takes you there. Your choice is saved with your account.
Each resident has nine expressions. On the My Avatar page, the chosen mood becomes their face on your profile, in private messages, and in the open world, and their default expression in Comic Mode. The expression wheel allows you to choose an emotion. The Auto button provides some clues based on your messages, such as smileys :) or :'(, to guide the avatar's expression. You can also choose Neutral. Auto mode doesn't capture all the nuances of a conversation: use manual selection if you want a specific expression.
Who Chooses the Room Decor?
The decors are the locations in the village: the Square, the lighthouse, the tavern, the harbor, the beach, and the garden. Authorized room managers can choose the decor in the room management window, below the subject. This setting is shared: each participant doesn’t choose a different background for the same discussion.
Do Others Need to Activate Comic Mode?
No. You can read the exchanges in Comic Mode while another person remains in text. Both presentations show the same conversation, and multiple participants can share a panel.
Comic Mode is offered in rooms on the Dialova network. Private messages, server tabs, and external networks retain their text presentation. Arrivals and departures, link thumbnails, and video players are not integrated into panels.
Using Comic Chat on Mobile
On mobile, panels are read one after another to preserve the space for bubbles and avatars. On larger screens, multiple panels appear side by side depending on the available space in the discussion. You can return to text at any time from the room menu.
See Comic Mode in Images and Discover Its Inspiration
Our article presents the residents of Dialova, a demonstration conversation, and the mobile rendering. It also tells the story of Microsoft Comic Chat, which inspired this way of representing discussions on Dialova.