So I just recently started playing this and I'm really enjoying it. One issue I can't seem to figure out is how to get speech and information to appear in the black box at the bottom middle so that I can read it at my own pace. Two Examples:

I went into the mine in the first city, it's currently haunted, and open a container. I believe I set off a trap and I took some damage but some info briefly flashed on the screen and was gone and Virgil quickly healed me. I would have liked the info about what the trap did to me to last a bit longer.

When I went into the inn at the first city Virgil said something about what room to go to. I happen to have had my sound on so I heard what he said because I had run into the Inn and Virgil was off screen at the moment and thus I didn't see the floating text over his head. If my sound had been off I would have missed that info. Anyway to make messages and speech appear in the black box in the bottom middle?

Thanks for any help or ideas.

Have you tried resetting the default game options? Either click on the Options link, or type O during a game. Click on Video, then increase Text Duration and/or Float Speed. (Floats are the things your NPCs say, that "float" above their head. You can make them anywhere from minimal to verbose.)

If you just want to better hear what they have to say, then under Sound, try increasing Voice and decreasing Music and/or Effects. (I find sound effects annoying, especially from persistent spells, so I have mine turned down anyway.)

Hopefully that solves your problem.

Edited to add: Anything important that an NPC says will also be recorded in your logbook, under either Rumors or Quests. To get to the logbook, either click on the book icon near the upper left hand corner, or type L.

Thanks for the ideas. Yes I did mess around with the options some before I posted but I did nothing for when the trap went off. As for the sounds I normally have my sound on so it's not a problem but sometimes it's off and then it's an issue if the floating text appears offscreen and I don't see it.