NPC Towns, what makes them special?

Hmmm.... that is true, the towns in SotA are larger, which will make them feel pretty empty when playing in single player mode.

I was looking at some photos of Trafalgar Square, which is huge, but nevertheless bustling - with strangers who don't talk to you. Would adding "dummy NPCs" who do nothing but walk around help to make it feel less empty? I have confidence that the "main NPCs" will eventually be of good quality, but adding more and more new interesting NPCs who aren't relevant to the story might not be on the top of the list of polishes that the Devs have prioritized for Episode one.

I haven't heard any details about Episode 2, only intimations that new landmasses and towns will be added to the map. If the original Episode 1 towns like Aerie are still part of the story line in Episode 2 (and I hope they are), additional new NPCs with a rich background could maybe help to add more flavor to those towns. I hope so, anyway.

 

[Looks at Owl's Head]

I'd rather the professionals prop out the NPC towns, if it's all the same please.

 

How much do you like a decent frame rate? Character models, especially animated ones, are very expensive graphically.

 

I wonder if dummy npc's that you couldn't talk to would be a cheap easy tactic to fix this...would be nteresting if they were only seen on the client side so that there could be a option to increase density. This opens issues with the fact that they only add visual improvements....(or they could be selectable, but they say "I'm busy." or something...

they need to feel like people aren't just standing waiting to be talked to and they have a life beyond their own.

Well, that's why a slider for those characters could work...my machine for instance doesn't even break a sweat with everything at max on this game.

I wasn't look at recruiting the ankh and fountain tower builders...but I have seen some very nice areas built by other players.

Here is an idea for the devs, why not make interiors stamps, meaning make small detailed items(like a book case or stand covered in items) that can be stamped into a NPC house, if they are not too big they could be combined with others to make a more detailed interiors at a higher rate of speed.

 

Potted plants in some rooms and more paintings on walls would also add a lot to the "immersion".

 

Remember, the more NPC there are walking around, the more time you will be slow walking. Pass through is dislike by quite a few, though may be an option. In any case, "immersion" will be broke IMO if people are zig zagging down the streets to avoid the slow walk. (I hate that word so much, I just bit into a bar of soap for using it).

 

Lol I just pictured everyone charging down the street stiff arming everyone getting in the way.

 

Well that would be one way to differentiate filler npc's, have them passthoroughable(tm)

 

Once they bring in/create a suite of AI technology, then further optimize that code, things will start to come together for npc towns.

 

@Rufus D`Asperdi @Ristra

Theres many ways to express yourselves other than by generalizing and making those kind of statements.

No dev is losing sleep time over people who dream about being worldbuilders.

Rufus you say, I'd rather have devs prop out the towns, because you look at owl's head and think yea most people don't seem to be able to prop out their own house.

Well yea thats many people who don't seem to care, but that dosen't mean people like me who helped prop out UO and many free shards and spent 5 years 3-d modeling and animation and programming and scripting would not be suitable.

EVEN IF I was bad at it, it would show in less than a week and well if I get voted out then so be it. At least I wasn't put in the same bag as some people who simply have no wish to help enhance anything really.

About my "fixation" on you Ristra, its not personal, its because of the way you tend to like to make blanket statements that simply destroy dreams like mine. By this I mean that even if the devs never had any intention to accept volunteer worldbuilders because of law issues, nourishing the dream is still something very positive and constructive.

I'm sure you were young too, at one point... and you had dreams and you would react the same to someone who comes between you and it and starts making generalized innuendos and justifications about why its impossible.

Nothing is impossible, and laws can change, and people change, and the world changes.

If you feed the imagination all this while, then you will be ready when the change comes and its all I'm arguing.

As for it not being "on topic" well that IS my feedback and was before you intervened, I think just like in UO some people were more attracted to Trinsic or Britain, well then they would respect the original vision while improving its layout and art... A dev that has a schedule and needs to produce x amount of towns in that period of time is not going to have the time to imagine every little detail. They're not going to make the town feel special because then they have to move to do other things.

When I pledged DEV+ I was certain I could at least make some 3-d models, and understand about "proping out" a town that I understand limitations and polygon load and frame rate, I've been working with unity and cryengine and unreal engine and they're all the same. I'm sure the devs know their way around too thats about the time it takes to really know the gears...

But they are 30, and as much as they'd like to do more, they have to focus and direct as well. They might not have time to study the engine in detail and rely a little bit on "unity modules" to get some things working.

Just for Q&A DEV+ volunteer work should be part of the picture, but you cannot do that from the client.

And thats it ! Thats my feedback, when I backed the only reason I went over DEV+ was to participate, yet there was no reason given for refusal of volunteer work, no reason given for refusal of helping with translation, no reason given for not giving a royal warrant to a pre-release roleplaying alliance...

Thats what happen when you leave people in the dark and treat them like numbers, they ferment negative feedback about the process, even if they might like the way the game is being developped.

Being "open" in developpement does not mean only being vulnerable.

But hey, you don't even care.

 

General statements are very useful. They are called conversation starters. The next step is to move into more detailed conversation.

It's how I localize people's interest. Because they will always pick the part of the broad statement that interests them the most.

If you don't like my broad statement, can't help you, I won't be stopping.

As for no reason for refusing volunteer work. Chris did give a reason. He needs to comb over everything submitted to ensure it meets standards. Which was much more than a full time job. I am not saying they are refusing volunteer work but if your donations are not getting attention it might not be something on the current work order.

No one is stopping you from day dreaming. Just like no one is stopping me from comparing and contrasting day dreams from what the devs have put on the table. That's the beauty of the forums. Besides, never know, between the two, and a few other people's posting styles, something might come from it that the devs bite on.

 

Yes. I'd rather have the professionals prop out those towns that are involved with the story.
There are also ... problems and potential problems with volunteer labor that Dark Starr and Lum and anyone else that developed Ultima Online (The actual game, not the pirate sites) are all too familiar with. I'm sure they won't take the risk of opening themselves up to that type of difficulty again.

 

Finally a quotable, sensible post.

But yea, dosen't change my feedback... of course if you piggyback every world builder on Chris at the top of the pyramid then you're going to have problems. But that is far from reality, its a day dream to impart on your aspersion.

I've world built all my life and not ONCE someone has not gone "wow" thats very careful and sensible. Even when I was an immature kid with no clue.

You can see in under a second when something isn't carefully done and up to standards, and not only Chris has the ability to do this. In fact I think its another blanket statement which is meant to destroy day dreams and destroy conversation.

Because if we cannot discuss about what we could do and at the same time say the devs are overloaded then the whole thread it moot.

If you say to someone "sorry you can't go and place chairs in a NPC town because its gonna have properties tagged on it that will make you lag" its not a conversation starter. And if you're saying "well ok maybe you could place some chairs and fruits and blades of grass around but that might not be up to the standards" thats neither a conversation starter its quite the opposite.

And if we should pursue this course, then what standard are we really talking about ? Cause compared to many indie games with similar even lower budget, there is much more detail in towns and often the dev team is not attempting to create a whole atlas and star map which is so immense that they might not even be able to ever fill it to the same "standard" we're supposed to be talking about.

Don't think I'm trying to stop you, I've suggested you think twice, its all the advice I can give, because you are much more powerful than you think and sometimes your "phishing" posts completely stop my thought process, stops my imagination, stops my wish even to contribute because I get a bad feeling when I see that the devs can't say "stop trying to justify us and technical reasons as an excuse to strangle natural acumen"

Anyways, I think you have slept on it and feel a bit less edgy, one step at a time.

 

Yes I mentioned that earlier... I hope you realise that it was a conspiracy, and that the people that made the lawsuits were RMT marketers and the goal was to destabilize Origin's grip on this EA title because it was profitable beyond anyones wildest dreams.

All I can say is that its OBVIOUS from contributions to this forum and to the game which people do not present such a risk.

I can say with certitude I'm not a "risk", and many other people are obviously just wanting to really be a DEV+ and even if limited to a great extent (which is possible with the permission system in Unity) will still think its the greatest thing they've ever did.

You cannot compare UO which hired volunteers almost in a random fashion while it was the only game around with our currect situation, its a fallacy.

 

I think the towns, the dungeons, overall world needs some distinct touches. The stonework is very similar in dungeons, the floors as well. Dungeons in different regions perhaps have a different look.

 

Cities like this would be great, too. With many stairs and different heights:

 

I was thinking that one of the ways to add a bit more to the scene is effects such as more fog or smoke like haze.

More animals in general, which can be client based.

City music that is unique the cities would do wonders to set the scene as well....remember enter Brittany in u7?