Random npcs

[Lars Ulrika]

Hello!

Well , here it is, I always tended to find utterly preposterous to have always the same guy hanging out in the same street telling you the same thing. So I thought about making a random event in some places that would change some npcs in some places sometimes giving some other info on the world's background or the place you're visiting. 

What do you think about that concept of random npcs? 

 

[whitesphere]

That shouldn't be too hard to do with a script.  Said script would just have an array of world chatter, and when called, randomly put some string from the chatter into a game variable.  Then the message box just needs to display that variable.

 

[Napoleon]

I already have such a script in my master demo I believe. But there are more scripts out there that do this perhaps. Basically you just add a condition to each event-npc and then random the condition on map-start.

In my real project I took it even further and even randomized the dialogues (based on sex and time and player stuff).

 

[HumanNinjaToo]

It seems like scripts aren't really needed in this case. You can create an event (the NPC) with a as many dialogue texts as you want, use a different sprite for each page of the event, and set each page to trigger with any switches you may use during the course of your game. It won't technically be random but, it will mimic random.

Or could you save bits of text in common events and assign them a variable? Use a script call to choose a random variable and then the text displayed would have a bit of randomness.

 

[Lars Ulrika]

Ouch I guess I've been misunderstood, I mean : do you think it's a good idea or not? I already made a simple system with events for this which works perfectly. 

 

[Napoleon]

It would depend on how often you visit that location and on how story-driven your game is imo.

 

[TheRiotInside]

If you're the type of person who gets bummed out when the same NPC says the same thing every time you talk to them, this would probably be an excellent addition to the game. A compromise might be to have the same NPC's around, but have their speech randomized with a variable/conditional branch thing, so they can say a few different things.

Personally, if it's a busy city hub that you visit often, the randomized NPC's would be a nice touch. Maybe for smaller villages or settlements it wouldn't be necessary, or for places you only visit once, but it would definitely have its place in the larger, frequently visited areas.

If you're looking to find out who likes random NPC's and who doesn't mind the same flavour text from the same people, maybe a poll would be a good idea, to gauge where the average gamer lies on this issue.

 

[HumanNinjaToo]

I think it's a great idea. Not getting the same boring sentence out of every NPC is quite an achievement. Not many RPGs pull that off, indie or mainstream.

 

[Kes]

I personally think it is crucial that NPC dialogue changes at least when there has been a significant plot development that could impact on what ordinary people are talking about.  If people are still saying the same things about the market next week when the market has been and gone and the Demon has devastated the land and the volcano has erupted, then I am likely to turn the game off.

But even with lesser things, I think NPCs should change.  For example, the NPC that warns you that location X is dangerous - put in a switch which says you have been there so that next time you talk to that NPC s/he says "see. I told you it was dangerous!"

Virtually all my NPCs change, though only a few with variables/randomly.  

@HumanNinjaToo

I am reluctant to blow my own trumpet, but the game in my signature has been commended for the way that the NPC dialogue evolves with the story.  It can be done, though I admit that it is a lot of work.

 

[captainproton]

in small villages, it makes sense for folks to stay the same, even if the dialogue changes with the story, while big cities and hub towns could logically have a shifting cast of background characters.

 

[Wavelength]

I'm not sure it's really worth it in your standard RPG - not even just from a "where do you want to devote your efforts" standpoint, but also from a "where do you want the player to devote their attention" standpoint.  I like to get invested in NPCs if at all possible, and if there are hundreds of random ones appearing to talk about random things, I'll be unable to invest myself in them, even if the feature feels interesting for the first hour or two.

I guess it could work pretty well in a game that took place entirely in one location (e.g. a store, golf course, or cruise ship).  There, the coming and going of "random" people would feel natural and could draw the player into the atmosphere.

But for most games, I'd rather have fewer NPCs around, and have them say more interesting things and play more interesting roles over the course of the game.  Having their conversation change over the course of the game, and especially based on things like your accomplishments or reputation, is pretty damn cool.

 

[Shaz]

People can be inside sometimes and outside others, even within the same village. They might visit each other in their homes. They might travel from one town to another for a short duration or permanently. You might have traveling merchants who show up in a number of towns and can give news about what's happening elsewhere that you've missed while adventuring.


They don't have to be in the same place all the time - that's far from realistic. But it'd be a pain if they were key NPCs and you HAD to find them and they moved around a lot too.

 

[captainproton]

But it'd be a pain if they were key NPCs and you HAD to find them and they moved around a lot too.

On the other hand, you could have a specific quest requiring you to hunt down a particular character, like a peddler carrying a certain item, a nomadic monk with a certain spell, or a traveling bard who knows a story/poem/song with important information secreted inside.

I know the Pokemon games have done this kind of thing, and it can be pretty funstrating hunting for roaming legendary Pokemon like Latios or Suicune who run all over the overworld.

A big part of the TV miniseries The Tenth Kingdom (if you haven't seen it, you should) involves the MC's tracking down a dwarf who made off with a magic mirror they need to get back to Earth.