Improve NPCs

from Elemental Forums

I don't know if this sort of thing is possible in a PC game, but it seems that expanding the interaction with NPCs would greatly improve the atmosphere of the game.

Right now, the choices are: 1) hire, 2) fight [if a "creature,"] or 3) ignore.  It would be nice if NPCs could provide information, as they do in RPGs.  "I spotted some fertile land to the northwest," or "I recently encountered a new kingdom, called Capitar, to the east of your territories."  Any little bits of info coming from the NPCs would give them more of an illusion of being actual characters in a real world.

Also, instead of the current division into hireable NPCs and unhireable creatures, they could be broken down into various groupings--each with a different attitude toward the various factions.  For example, one group might be friendly toward Tarth, neutral toward the other kingdoms, unfriendly toward the empires.  Rather than any of them being automatic enemies, all might be hireable, but at higher costs for those to whom they are not friendly.  And, the info which the player receives from them may be less accurate if they belong to a group which is unfriendly to the player's faction.

These group attitudes could even be dynamic, depending on in-game actions.  A group which is normally unfriendly to a particular kingdom might move up to neutral if the player of that kingdom has good diplomatic relations with an empire.

I'm sure that, if you folks considered this, you could come up with many way to expand the NPCs function in the game.  As I said, I don't know how possible it is to program such things into a computer game, but pen-and-paper RPGs and even board games like "Magic Realm" have had such features for years.

5,108 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I like the idea of NPCs having different attitudes towards a kingdom that affects the price of hiring them.

This could be enhanced by giving NPCs a good vs evil tendency.

A NPC that favors good might leave your service if you attack a non-threatening wandering NPC (which I do frequently to gain experience and gold) or raze a city of their own fraction/race (i.e. kingdom sovereign razes kingdom city). An evil leaning NPC would not care.

  1. NPC Loyalty Rating: 50 - this NPC has a 50% to stay with a sovereign that commits an evil act.
  2. NPC Loyalty Rating: 95 - this NPC has a 95% to stay with a sovereign that commits an evil act.

With this, if you kill that wandering merchant you take a chance that one or more of your hirelings will leave your service. They may even offer their services to your enemy.

--------------------------------------------------

I also like the idea of NPCs providing information about other lands with varying degrees of accuracy. Some NPCs might offer this information only to sovereigns (or their champions) of high charisma. Other NPCs might demand money for truthful information or freely give false information - either understanding or overstating the defenses of a city depending on their evaluation of a city.

Example - NPC that encounters a weak army might understate the defenses of  a friendly city to encourgage it to attack. Or it might overstate a friendly city's defenses to dissuade an attack. This assumes of course that in an updated game the strength of a city's defenders remains hidden from view.

 

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

interesting ideas.  I'd like a hero editor to be made if modding is still going the route it is.. or if its all bundled in to one package, at least have that included with it. Getting tired of the same old boring folks with the same old boring clothes and lack of interesting abilities.

 

Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop