Npc Basic Relationship Guidelines Suggestions

[Brandon]

This is a quick list of different systems that, I will admit, I have no clue if the PZ developers have even thought of, although I assume they do because they are a rather intelligent bunch. Anyway, this collection of systems plays off of one another to make much more advanced NPC's. Sure, it might make them take even longer, but if they come out, I want them to blow every other NPC in any game out of the water. Let's begin.

 

 

The Trust System

Every relationship builds foundation upon trust. Whether you are asking to borrow some sugar or a shotgun, if someone doesn't trust you, things tend to not go over too well. Here is how I imagine it:

     There are several interactions that I believe should play off of trust, they include 

Trading: If an NPC doesn't trust the player, they will refuse to do trade with them. This could include asking an NPC to give you some food in exchange for bullets on your first meet, but they decide against it due to a trait regarding trust issues with strangers. 

     Grouping Up: Pretty much the thing everyone is waiting for is grouping up. Everyone wants a set of extra eyes watching their back, but they need to gain the trust of said NPC first before they will happily join you and possibly others in your endeavors to survive the end times.

     Speaking: This refers to more meet and greet type of situations. Trust issue NPC's may simply run away all together, or they may threaten the player. Speaking with someone in a friendly manner is the quickest way to gain their trust.

     Convincing: To get an NPC to do an action you need to convince them. Being forceful is one way to do it, but another way is to persuade them. The more the trust your decisions, the easier it will be to get them to do something. This could be scavenging, clearing out nearby zombies, or ditching the current group all together.

     Leadership: Being a leader is tough, so if people don't trust you, you are bound to have your authority removed. I believe being a leader, or a figure like one in a group, should make it so that people trust you much more within the group naturally unless you start making poor decisions. So basically like a double whammy, you gain trust twice as fast and lose it twice as fast.

     Gossip: This is a more interesting action in my opinion. Depending on how much an NPC trusts you, you can spread rumors or even lies about other NPC's to play around with their trust in others. If they were to find out you lied to them however, they will not be happy.

 

The Relationship System

 No matter what anyone says, you didn't magically appear out of nowhere. Your little survivor is going to have friends and family, and I feel like this could be a game changer in how realistic Project Zomboid is. Currently Depression and Sadness don't really do anything to players, but just imagine how an NPC might react if their friend dies compared to some stranger. 

      Family Relations: Everyone has a family. I feel like it should be in single player character customization that a player can choose whether or not they have family or friends in the local area. Having them in said areas would add a sort of goal to finding them before things get really bad. Maybe even have the possibility of choosing if you start with family. However, family is fun and all, but it is dangerous to be around family. If a family member is to die, it will immediately thrust the depression moodle onto a player or NPC upon learning of their death (Depending on traits.) Losing someone nowadays is painful, but losing someone when you have very little left to lose can crush a person.

     Friends: Unlike family, friends can be chosen. Having friends before the apocalypse helps, but you can still form friendships during it. Once a friendship is formed, the two friends will immediately have an always positive trust level towards each other, while family members don't always necessarily trust one another. 

 

Banditry System

Some people are mean nowadays, but when shit hits the fan, they will turn from just "mean" into full blown psychopathic murderer or highway robber. Not every NPC will just be dicks who don't trust you, oh no. Put the right traits into a pot and what you cook yourself up is a bandit. Bandit NPC's want to survive, and they don't care who gets hurt along the line as long as it gives them a few more days. People with these types of personalities tend to come together as a group so that they may further there own goals. Through encounters with other NPC's, these bandits can start to build a reputation. Talk to the right person and they will most certainly tell you about the bandit/bandits they encountered. Here are a few ideas on key features this would present:

    Being a Bandit: If the life of a peaceful farmer doesn't fit you, then go to your neighbors home, bust down the door and steal his cans of beans. I mean, who is there to stop you now? This isn't without risk though. Whether you kill them or let them live, someone is bound to find out about what you did. Through the new doctor system coming in build thirty, it could be implemented to check corpses (Specifically NPC and player corpses, for multiplayer) for the cause of death. If doctoring skill is high enough, they could identify things like dehydration or starvation, but anyone can clearly see a gunshot or a knife wound. If you get found by these NPC's, and they suspect you to be the murderer, they will defiantly want to ask you some questions. There is no reward without risk, keep that in mind all you bandits out there.

    Learning about Bandits: For all the honest people out there, I did present the option previously to learn about them through talking or checking bodies, but this doesn't really present a threat to the bandits themselves. Learning about them from NPC's can be crucial for confronting them. People who survived a robbery will most likely remember their robbers face, where they were robbed and how. This information could give you clues as to what they are like. If they robbed the person with a gun to his head, confronting them might not be the safest idea, but, if they were being threatened by some guys with baseball bats and an ax, you can deliver some justice if you have a gun and a steady aim. Ridding the world of bandits will almost always give people a positive outlook about you... right?

   Murder in the early days: While murdering a bandit does seem like the most reasonable and quickest action, it is not always rewarding. Sure, down the road of the apocalypse when people realize how bad things are, they will most certainly thank you for getting rid of some pesky bandits, but in the early days it is all still a new concept to them. Murdering anyone, no matter what they did, will cause people to look at you weird. If you go back to your group, they may be horrified and appalled at what you have done. Your family could distance themselves from you and your friends may not talk to you for a while. This applies to bandits too. If a bandit has family and friends that aren't bandits themselves, they will think his/her actions are absoulutley repulsive.

 

 

 

Edit: Added the Bandit system. Will add more in the future, keep that feedback rolling in guys.

[Pockets]

 

     Leadership: Being a leader is tough, so if people don't trust you, you are bound to have your authority removed. I believe being a leader, or a figure like one in a group, should make it so that people trust you much more within the group naturally unless you start making poor decisions. So basically like a double whammy, you gain trust twice as fast and lose it twice as fast.

     Gossip: This is a more interesting action in my opinion. Depending on how much an NPC trusts you, you can spread rumors or even lies about other NPC's to play around with their trust in others. If they were to find out you lied to them however, they will not be happy.

 

I absolutely love the idea of being able to spread rumors. I think it would add a depth to the NPC's that no game has really seen before, but with that being said, the programming of it is the only thing I could see stopping them from having something like this, but in a real apocalyptic situation this would be how it would work. Leadership as well would be a great idea, gaining NPC's who will follow you (and maybe even sacrifice themselves for you) based on how well they like you and what you are doing. Maybe not even having the ability to gain a large group but finding a person and being able to have a relationship, and the NPC will be your boy/girlfriend or lover, or whatever you would like to call it. I cannot imagine that would be to hard to implement.

[ORMtnMan]

 

 

     Leadership: Being a leader is tough, so if people don't trust you, you are bound to have your authority removed. I believe being a leader, or a figure like one in a group, should make it so that people trust you much more within the group naturally unless you start making poor decisions. So basically like a double whammy, you gain trust twice as fast and lose it twice as fast.

     Gossip: This is a more interesting action in my opinion. Depending on how much an NPC trusts you, you can spread rumors or even lies about other NPC's to play around with their trust in others. If they were to find out you lied to them however, they will not be happy.

 

I absolutely love the idea of being able to spread rumors. I think it would add a depth to the NPC's that no game has really seen before, but with that being said, the programming of it is the only thing I could see stopping them from having something like this, but in a real apocalyptic situation this would be how it would work. Leadership as well would be a great idea, gaining NPC's who will follow you (and maybe even sacrifice themselves for you) based on how well they like you and what you are doing. Maybe not even having the ability to gain a large group but finding a person and being able to have a relationship, and the NPC will be your boy/girlfriend or lover, or whatever you would like to call it. I cannot imagine that would be to hard to implement.

 

 

Sexual relations (and love relations in general) are a definite no by the devs.

[Some Clever Username]

I want family and friends! That would rock!

[Rathlord]

 

 

 

     Leadership: Being a leader is tough, so if people don't trust you, you are bound to have your authority removed. I believe being a leader, or a figure like one in a group, should make it so that people trust you much more within the group naturally unless you start making poor decisions. So basically like a double whammy, you gain trust twice as fast and lose it twice as fast.

     Gossip: This is a more interesting action in my opinion. Depending on how much an NPC trusts you, you can spread rumors or even lies about other NPC's to play around with their trust in others. If they were to find out you lied to them however, they will not be happy.

 

I absolutely love the idea of being able to spread rumors. I think it would add a depth to the NPC's that no game has really seen before, but with that being said, the programming of it is the only thing I could see stopping them from having something like this, but in a real apocalyptic situation this would be how it would work. Leadership as well would be a great idea, gaining NPC's who will follow you (and maybe even sacrifice themselves for you) based on how well they like you and what you are doing. Maybe not even having the ability to gain a large group but finding a person and being able to have a relationship, and the NPC will be your boy/girlfriend or lover, or whatever you would like to call it. I cannot imagine that would be to hard to implement.

 

 

Sexual relations (and love relations in general) are a definite no by the devs.

 

 

That's not entirely accurate- sex on screen is a definite no. They won't do anything like "fades to black and kissing sounds," either, but having a relationship, even an implicitly or explicitly sexual one, is not necessarily a no. 

[Kajin]

I'd settle for just being able to lay in the same bed to sleep.

[ORMtnMan]

 

**clipped**

 

That's not entirely accurate- sex on screen is a definite no. They won't do anything like "fades to black and kissing sounds," either, but having a relationship, even an implicitly or explicitly sexual one, is not necessarily a no. 

 

 

Interesting! I stand corrected. I extrapolated too much then... well in that case, awesome!

[Brandon]

Haha I come back in the morning and everyone is talking about a sexual relationship rather than the 3 systems. 

[Suomiboi]

The trust system you're describing is pretty much what's going to happen if I've correctly read between the lines. I don't think it's been called "trust" by anyone yet but rather "how much they like you". The only thing I'm not that sure of is that gossip part but even that would go well with the CK2 influence they've stated. Or as in other Paradox games affecting the "bad boy" of someone is pretty much a staple feature. I'd like that idea a lot. Scheming and conniving your way to the top. That's how I'd do it (in game, not IRL, I'm much too nice ). And to add all gossip is not lies! Affecting others in general via liking/trusting another sounds like a great, fun idea.

 

Family has been discussed as a possibility where you might be able to start with some family members, but it's as many other things among those that are in the "want but might not have resources" list.

 

Banditry will more likely be worked via personalities and traits. Some people just don't get along with others (or anyone) and that leads to stuff. Lemmy has already mentioned that murder is something that you could be punished for in group dynamics.

 

EDIT: DISCLAIMER: I wanted to add that all of the parts where I've described how the game will be are only my speculations from what I've deducted from the scraps of info we've been given! Only those parts where I directly say that a dev has said something are quotable per se.

[PhantomWarlock]

I'm glad you said this. I like the systems you stated, I like the way they function. This could work!

 

(Would definitely put NPC's up over the rest.) 

[MrZombifiedGamer]

Everything you stated can fall into the trust mechanic right? I mean relationships romantic or not are still relationships and banditry would require relationships. I think your way is needlessly complicated if I'm being honest. I like it, just unnecessarily complicated. 

[Brandon]

Everything you stated can fall into the trust mechanic right? I mean relationships romantic or not are still relationships and banditry would require relationships. I think your way is needlessly complicated if I'm being honest. I like it, just unnecessarily complicated. 

That is what they are aiming at for NPC's, complicated to the point of near humanity.These systems merely simplify what the devs may or may not have planned for them in the long run

[MrZombifiedGamer]

 

Snip

That is what they are aiming at for NPC's, complicated to the point of near humanity.These systems merely simplify what the devs may or may not have planned for them in the long run.

 

 

No, yeah, I get that. But the way you organized it is complicated. For example, banditry is already planned but it isn't forced into a little box. It's just something that happens naturally. No one is primarily a bandit just like no one is primarily a jester. I'm content in thinking there will be jesters in this game, don't ruin it. Anyway, back on point. I just think letting NPC's be human beings is the way to make them human beings and that's not overly complicated. 

 

In short, we get back into this 'good guy' 'bad guy' conundrum when I think one of the big points of PZ is there is no good guys or bad guys. No white or black cowboy hats, just people surviving using different methods and techniques to do so. Even if some of those are frowned upon in our society..  LIKE BEING A JESTER! Lol