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Burr · 07-25-2002, 09:53 PM

On the old forums there was a lot of talk about dynamic evolution, about which a lot focused on making NPCs more real. I was wondering if there were any ideas on social interaction between NPCs besides that of a group of villagers acting together from time to time.

Even on non-dynamic muds, evil NPCs are often near other evil NPCs...low-level NPCs are with other low-level NPCs...gnomes are with gnomes...etc. Such organization makes sense from both a gaming perspective and a roleplay perspective.

The way this is accomplished is by either confining each group to a particular area, or less often having them follow a defining member of their type and setting the leader adrift.

Would it be feasible to make this work more fluidly, allowing you to set all NPCs adrift (except with major goals such as their profession in mind) with certainty that they'll find groups they belong in? For instance, if two NPCs just happen to be traveling on the same road for a certain distance, and are of races that might trust each other, maybe they'll group together and then quit the group when its time to split up again. If things work out well that way, they'll do it again next time they meet this way by chance. Or if one happens to be a thief who gets caught stealing, and a fight between them ensues, then maybe the next time they meet will throw insults at each other, and possibly get into another fight. (And if one happens to lose both times, maybe he will try to find a new route.)

If an Ogre with a badass reputation enters a bar, maybe all the evil wannabes in the bar will try to follow him, and he will group them and use them in his fights until they die, or mutiny.

My examples are probably a little too complex for starting out, but if you got a basic system working wear likeness attracts likeness, you could tweak it for certain activities such as traveling, resting, fighting, and working. Then you could tweak it a little bit more for particular NPCs, such as the Ogre, and so on.

Edit: Here's another idea along these lines. If you have a nature-friendly class (such as the typical druid class), animals in a certain area could be drawn to them somewhat. This would serve not only for atmosphere, but it also helps set up an RP situation. If animals are near druids, and you are hunting animals, then you will likely run into a druid. One way to do this would be coding it so that, if a druid is in a wooded room, each animal mob in the surrounding rooms as a certain chance of walking into the room the druid is in. That way new animals will come in and drop out as the druid walks by, so that it will look more real than animals simply following the druid. The same implementation could be applied to most PC types: fishes gravitating toward aquatic races, goblins toward orcs/ogres, birds towards winged races, children towards bards and good warriors, other citizens toward certain priests, etc., etc., etc.

07-25-2002, 09:53 PM	#1
Burr Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 123	On the old forums there was a lot of talk about dynamic evolution, about which a lot focused on making NPCs more real. I was wondering if there were any ideas on social interaction between NPCs besides that of a group of villagers acting together from time to time. Even on non-dynamic muds, evil NPCs are often near other evil NPCs...low-level NPCs are with other low-level NPCs...gnomes are with gnomes...etc. Such organization makes sense from both a gaming perspective and a roleplay perspective. The way this is accomplished is by either confining each group to a particular area, or less often having them follow a defining member of their type and setting the leader adrift. Would it be feasible to make this work more fluidly, allowing you to set all NPCs adrift (except with major goals such as their profession in mind) with certainty that they'll find groups they belong in? For instance, if two NPCs just happen to be traveling on the same road for a certain distance, and are of races that might trust each other, maybe they'll group together and then quit the group when its time to split up again. If things work out well that way, they'll do it again next time they meet this way by chance. Or if one happens to be a thief who gets caught stealing, and a fight between them ensues, then maybe the next time they meet will throw insults at each other, and possibly get into another fight. (And if one happens to lose both times, maybe he will try to find a new route.) If an Ogre with a badass reputation enters a bar, maybe all the evil wannabes in the bar will try to follow him, and he will group them and use them in his fights until they die, or mutiny. My examples are probably a little too complex for starting out, but if you got a basic system working wear likeness attracts likeness, you could tweak it for certain activities such as traveling, resting, fighting, and working. Then you could tweak it a little bit more for particular NPCs, such as the Ogre, and so on. Edit: Here's another idea along these lines. If you have a nature-friendly class (such as the typical druid class), animals in a certain area could be drawn to them somewhat. This would serve not only for atmosphere, but it also helps set up an RP situation. If animals are near druids, and you are hunting animals, then you will likely run into a druid. One way to do this would be coding it so that, if a druid is in a wooded room, each animal mob in the surrounding rooms as a certain chance of walking into the room the druid is in. That way new animals will come in and drop out as the druid walks by, so that it will look more real than animals simply following the druid. The same implementation could be applied to most PC types: fishes gravitating toward aquatic races, goblins toward orcs/ogres, birds towards winged races, children towards bards and good warriors, other citizens toward certain priests, etc., etc., etc.