Choose a targeting mode

Pick the conversation targeting mode that matches your camera and control scheme so the right character responds to the player.

Set ConversationTargetingMode on ConvaiManager so the SDK picks the right character in a room with more than one — the mode that fits a first-person view is not the one that fits a top-down camera or a dialogue menu. Use this page when you have two or more ConvaiCharacter components in a scene and need to decide how the player addresses one of them.

Prerequisites

• Convai Unity SDK installed and configured
• Two or more ConvaiCharacter components registered in the scene
• Familiarity with the model in How conversation targeting works

Pick a mode

ConvaiManager exposes three modes under Convai Manager → Who The Player Talks To → Chosen By. That section appears in the Inspector once the scene has more than one character to choose between.

Look At (default)

LookAt addresses the character nearest the centre of the player's view. It scores every eligible character by the angle from the view direction, with distance as a tiebreak, so it works identically on mouse, gamepad, touch screen, and head-mounted display — it reads the camera, not the input device.

Use LookAt for first-person and VR scenes, and for any scene where the camera direction is the player's gaze.

Proximity

Proximity addresses the nearest character, regardless of where the player is looking.

Use Proximity for top-down and third-person games where the camera is not the player's gaze — an isometric training simulation or a third-person scene with a free camera, for example, where LookAt would address whichever character the camera happens to be pointed at rather than the character the player is actually near.

Manual

Manual changes the target only when the game calls ConvaiManager.TalkTo. Nothing moves on its own.

Use Manual for dialogue menus, quest steps, and cutscenes where the game — not the player's view or position — decides who is being addressed. See Script the conversation target.

Set the mode

Inspector

Select the ConvaiManager GameObject, open Who The Player Talks To, and choose a value from Chosen By.

C#

ConvaiManager manager = ConvaiManager.ActiveManager;
manager.ConversationTargeting.Mode = ConversationTargetingMode.Proximity;

Verify the mode is working

Enter Play mode with two or more characters registered. Under LookAt or Proximity, move the player's view or position between characters and confirm the conversation follows. Select ConvaiManager in the Inspector during Play mode and check the Live section — it names the character currently addressed and the verdict behind the last targeting decision.

The Live section reports the addressed character changing as you move between characters. If it never changes, see Troubleshoot conversation targeting.

Next steps

Tune conversation targetingScript the conversation target