Suggestion: NPC/creatures daily routines affected by weather and player actions

I was watching this development preview video from another Kickstarter game (looking very good so far, by the way) and thought this would be a great idea. NPC schedules should not be fixed but might be affected by weather, player actions (e.g. the player unsheathes a weapon), etc.


(start at 0:50)

What do you think? More ideas?

 

NPCs reacting to weather would be pretty neat. I mean why do most characters just stand out in the rain ? If I was a medieval sim with no healthcare, I would certainly run for the indoors.

Player actions might be a little dicey in a multiplayer environment though. One could grief the system by wielding your weapon and scaring off all the characters, restricting access to everyone else in your instance.

 

That game looks badass. I will definitely be checking it out.

 

Ultima largely innovated with NPC AI and schedules. I hope to see something decent with SotA.

 

Good point! In a multiplayer environment, extra careful should be taken by developers to avoid griefing.

 

Yes, the NPC actions really add to the feel of the game. Anyone remember Ultima 7? (I hope for your sake that was a 'yes') If you open the windows or extinguish lights, those NPC would be all over it! They would go to work in the day and go to their homes at night. It was a nice touch.

 

This video is great and shows what a small group of independent developers can accomplish with a small budget. I hope that SotA will have NPC behaviour like this, too!

 

If the girl in the streets goes inside the tavern when it rains, will she then tell you something she thinks about during rainy days (quest stuff)?
When it's evening, will she offer some entertainment at her house, food maybe and say other things that she knows, or dare I say, will you then get to meet her family and hear what they have to say (quest stuff)?
Will the dog in the street piss on your leg during some astral eclipse?
Will your character "twitch" every now and then to try and shake off the rain?
Can we close the rooftop doors of our Knight's home and invite an NPC to a Jacuzzi party when it rains?
OK, ... that's a bit much to ask for, but if we don't ever ask or pose the question, then we only get what they give us....

I'm all for the NPC's having as much changing qualities as we can give to them!
It would be nicer still if there were some NPC romance in there somewhere too...
~Time Lord~

 

I do think this is a great idea. I know in some games the NPC clothing changes as the seasons change. Which makes sense, and is not a random occurrence. While I don't think this would have to be an E1 issue, it would be nice to see it get into the game at some point as time and resources permit.

 

Ultima VII was revolutionary when it came to NPC behaviours and the creation of a living breathing world. Even now, I don't think anything has come close to that level of detail and interactivity. I really hope the devs get enough time to devote to this for SotA. I'm reassured by R.G. specifically calling out Ultima VII as a goal to aspire to, which was a big factor for me in me backing the project.

I would again like to see NPC's with advanced daily routines; farmers that harvest crops and take it to the mill to be made to flour. The miller would then take the flour to the bakers and made into bread, which is sold to the shop keepers. Other NPC's could get up in the morning and buy this bread for breakfast before going to work their day in the mines or whatever. The beauty of this system also came when you as a player interfered, for example if I was to empty the bakers bucket of water while he was off to getting more flour, he would return to find the water gone and have to take the bucket to the well to refill it before continuing his baking.

Although in an MMO this could be open to players repeatedly disrupting NPC activity it would not necessarily need to have detrimental game-play affects. For instance, the vendor could still have bread for sale to players, even if others had been harassing the baker for weeks. The NPC's could even have back up activities as suggested in the video above, so that if you really made their tasks impossibly difficult, they may end up just giving up for the day and going to the tavern. The next day they could have all the items they need for their daily routine again re-spawned in their inventory so they could try again.

Just this process of interaction with the NPC's and seeing how they cleverly adapted to disruptions massively increased the level of immersion for me and was a large part of what made Ultima VII such a game changer for me. If we could get close to this here I think it will really make SotA stand out.

 

The last time I heard this line of BS was right before I built a new computer to play Oblivion. I wouldn't get your hopes up.