NPCs

[K3nedy]

Hello to everyone on the forum and to those who come to find out new things.

Start with something simple to explain something that I would like to see in future updates of Project Zomboid, why? Because I have seen that it is something that for me ... it should have been ready by now.

1) The NPCs:

In a world like this, I mean Project zomboid. Well it is something that is practically impossible to be alone among so many people, that of so many the only survivor is you and it does not seem to me but I know that it is a long job to do and that they are in future updates.

2) An idea for the NPCs:

After playing rpg and zombie games so much, I have realized that when you play singleplayer you get bored, why? Because you are always alone in an open world, you are the only one who kills zombies or just goes around killing monsters.

I would like to see a different AI, that not only you walk but that you see other people, survive and that their damage, speed, trait and appearances increase.

Can you imagine going out there to find a friendly NPCs and go home, a month later to see him again much more skillful than before and dressed for the occasion? It would be great, even better if they create their own community and patrol groups.

3) Trade and NPC events:

Trade would be an essential part in a post-apocalyptic world, because if you have a lot of a material you could change it for another that you do not have, but it would not be that easy, you should earn a reputation with the NPC communities.

Events between NPCs would be extraordinary, they imagine that they sleep at home and a random NPCs wakes them up to help them hide from other NPCs who are looking for him to kill him, that you have the option of delivering him to earn points with the community or hide him and him risk that they discover you and then want to kill them both, ha! It would be a hoot. Also that you should in when they shoot each other.

4) interaction and ranges:

The interaction with the NPCs is another point to go to, for example; You go around looting as usual and you meet someone in the same place, you try to talk to the npc and he tells you things as you loot together and you gain confidence. Another point to suggestion would be that in each update they will add new and more dialogues to the NPCs, so as not to get bored of listening to it and for example; You need something? Let them repeat that every time you talk to them, that ... that is boring.

Ranks is something else because if you are part of a community you will need respect or rather, earn it and that would be installing a system of (Karma) that determines whether you do good or bad actions, for example; If you are looking for materials and things like that for the community, then you will go up the (Karma) in a good state, getting everyone to trust you more quickly and thus follow you, you could even create your community but ... if for example you steal, you betray or kill someone from the community, you (Karma) will go down and you will be in a state of Bad that will cost for others to trust you, they could even look for you to kill you hahaha you will be the bandit.

 

Now I change my mind about the npc for zomboid project, I read and searched for hours to verify and I definitely know that they will do a great job, I hope I was part of it, hahaha.  there is nothing more to say.

Take me into account please.

Edited September 25, 2020 by K3nedy
Sorry

[MadDan]

I'm not sure about the Karma system, there's till lots of info about NPCs to come out when they're closer to release but the general idea you have in mind is the direction that the game is heading in. Stuff like points systems would less likely be a thing and more dynamic systems I'd imagine (eventually). Dependent on traits, and how certain NPCs end up seeing you in their eyes.

 

Here's the general rundown for the plan for NPCs if you haven't seen it yet:

[fcolley3]

23 hours ago, K3nedy said:

Hello to everyone on the forum and to those who come to find out new things.

Start with something simple to explain something that I would like to see in future updates of Project Zomboid, why? Because I have seen that it is something that for me ... it should have been ready by now.

1) The NPCs:

In a world like this, I mean Project zomboid. Well it is something that is practically impossible to be alone among so many people, that of so many the only survivor is you and it does not seem to me but I know that it is a long job to do and that they are in future updates.

2) An idea for the NPCs:

After playing rpg and zombie games so much, I have realized that when you play singleplayer you get bored, why? Because you are always alone in an open world, you are the only one who kills zombies or just goes around killing monsters.

I would like to see a different AI, that not only you walk but that you see other people, survive and that their damage, speed, trait and appearances increase.

Can you imagine going out there to find a friendly NPCs and go home, a month later to see him again much more skillful than before and dressed for the occasion? It would be great, even better if they create their own community and patrol groups.

3) Trade and NPC events:

Trade would be an essential part in a post-apocalyptic world, because if you have a lot of a material you could change it for another that you do not have, but it would not be that easy, you should earn a reputation with the NPC communities.

Events between NPCs would be extraordinary, they imagine that they sleep at home and a random NPCs wakes them up to help them hide from other NPCs who are looking for him to kill him, that you have the option of delivering him to earn points with the community or hide him and him risk that they discover you and then want to kill them both, ha! It would be a hoot. Also that you should in when they shoot each other.

4) interaction and ranges:

The interaction with the NPCs is another point to go to, for example; You go around looting as usual and you meet someone in the same place, you try to talk to the npc and he tells you things as you loot together and you gain confidence. Another point to suggestion would be that in each update they will add new and more dialogues to the NPCs, so as not to get bored of listening to it and for example; You need something? Let them repeat that every time you talk to them, that ... that is boring.

Ranks is something else because if you are part of a community you will need respect or rather, earn it and that would be installing a system of (Karma) that determines whether you do good or bad actions, for example; If you are looking for materials and things like that for the community, then you will go up the (Karma) in a good state, getting everyone to trust you more quickly and thus follow you, you could even create your community but ... if for example you steal, you betray or kill someone from the community, you (Karma) will go down and you will be in a state of Bad that will cost for others to trust you, they could even look for you to kill you hahaha you will be the bandit.

 

(I'll continue editing later, it's just my opinion.)

Take me into account please.

This sounds like a wonderful game but, it's not Project Zomboid. Introduction lines state This is how "YOU" survived. This is how "You" died. I've stated it before, I have no interest in dealing with NPCs in my game. I like playing alone and I have many strategies and game plays which alleviate any chance of boredom. That being said, I have absolutely no problem with this being a feature in sandbox that you can turn on and off. When I found PZ several months ago, I immediately embraced it and it has become my favorite game to play. For months now I have neglected all my other games and have only been playing PZ. If NPCs, when they are eventually introduced into this game, is thrust upon me, this game will have changed so dramatically that I will no longer care to play it. I like being the sole survivor and when I first started playing this game, that was the objective that I embraced. When I see, "When are we going to have NPCs" in the game in the forum, I would like to know if this person/people are advocating for this to be a main feature that we cannot turn off or are they wanting it to be a sandbox feature. That is never clarified.

 

 

[MadDan]

7 hours ago, fcolley3 said:

This sounds like a wonderful game but, it's not Project Zomboid. Introduction lines state This is how "YOU" survived. This is how "You" died. I've stated it before, I have no interest in dealing with NPCs in my game. I like playing alone and I have many strategies and game plays which alleviate any chance of boredom. That being said, I have absolutely no problem with this being a feature in sandbox that you can turn on and off. When I found PZ several months ago, I immediately embraced it and it has become my favorite game to play. For months now I have neglected all my other games and have only been playing PZ. If NPCs, when they are eventually introduced into this game, is thrust upon me, this game will have changed so dramatically that I will no longer care to play it. I like being the sole survivor and when I first started playing this game, that was the objective that I embraced. When I see, "When are we going to have NPCs" in the game in the forum, I would like to know if this person/people are advocating for this to be a main feature that we cannot turn off or are they wanting it to be a sandbox feature. That is never clarified.

 

 

There's no doubt they'll be a sandbox option at some point. Though they are undoubtedly a PZ thing - a main feature the game needs before 1.0.

 

The thing is, this kind of is Zomboid, NPCs are the focal point the game has worked all of its other features towards. There's no chance it'll ever stray away from the "This is how you died" -- only expanding on it with more unique possibilities with NPCs. They're the end-game content, the things that when you've become safe (relatively) from the zombies, that the actual threat are other survivors.

 

I get the "This is how you died", thing being you, and no matter how many other NPC's you'll encounter in whatever other circumstance, it'll always be your story. It'll just be a far, far more interesting and engaging one than got bitten, drank bleach/got bitten, succumbed to the infection/etc (obviously there's more but hopefully you get the idea of expanding the idea of your story.)
 

Don't worry, it's not going to become some dumbed down 7DTD trader/vendor system that ruins everyone's immersion, I'd urge to at least give them some shot when they do come out.

 

Plus there's pretty much two things that won't ever change in PZ:

This is how you died.
Sandbox.

 

If you haven't seen some of the posts about NPCs, give them a look, they're good reads:

 

https://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/14491-the-silver-lining-of-npc-delays-etc/

 

Maybe less this one (simply because it's about the actual development systems, which I don't think you have much interest in, but regardless):

 

https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ChrisSimpson/20140717/221339/Behavior_trees_for_AI_How_they_work.php

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by MadDan2013

[fcolley3]

Thank you for your response MadDan2013. I started playing PZ after the beta build was made public, never played any of the earlier builds. I have seen some youtube videos with either a survivor mod containing NPCs or them playing with an earlier build. I found the NPCs more annoying than anything else and the youtube videos is what I have based my interpretation of what it would be like. I really hope you are right about it being an option in sandbox so it's not mandatory but, I guess there could be some part of playing with NPCs that could be ok. I love the game enough that I guess I would give it a try before abandoning a game I'm so enthralled with. It sounds like you have some good experience in this area and based on your observations, I won't be so quick to hang up the game. Again, thank you for taking the time.

[MadDan]

24 minutes ago, fcolley3 said:

Thank you for your response MadDan2013. I started playing PZ after the beta build was made public, never played any of the earlier builds. I have seen some youtube videos with either a survivor mod containing NPCs or them playing with an earlier build. I found the NPCs more annoying than anything else and the youtube videos is what I have based my interpretation of what it would be like. I really hope you are right about it being an option in sandbox so it's not mandatory but, I guess there could be some part of playing with NPCs that could be ok. I love the game enough that I guess I would give it a try before abandoning a game I'm so enthralled with. It sounds like you have some good experience in this area and based on your observations, I won't be so quick to hang up the game. Again, thank you for taking the time.

Don't worry about it. Wasn't trying to demolish you or something, or hype you up too much either. Mostly urging you to give them a few chances as they're dropped into the game until their final features are implemented before just immediately turning them off. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the mod, I tried it and I couldn't bear it. It's laggy, overly chaotic, immersion breaking and just shoddy. You're not alone in liking how the game is currently though (I mean I do too, but I crave for end-game content like NPCs). With the amount of sandbox options that are added with new features (even smaller ones), with something so game-changing as NPC's are intended to be - can almost be 100% certain on that being an option.

 

It's nice to be able to link some information about them though to give you an idea. NPC's were once in the game, but just... bad. So they were removed again until they can be got right, and use the systems the game has built up over the years.

 

A lot of these links are old, but hopefully you understand the massive undertaking build 41 was for a game build on a custom engine in Java.

An idea of what they're aiming for rather than generic survivors running around shooting things is this:
https://projectzomboid.com/blog/news/2013/01/tales-from-the-metaverse/

 

Then there's some older videos here showcasing their movement systems. Probably the most interesting thing is the last video showcasing behaviour trees:

https://projectzomboid.com/blog/news/2014/07/its-an-npc-related-mondoid1-no-hype-pls/

 

I have been around for a long time (not many people get to have their literal dream video game made). As someone who's very excited for NPCs in general, I don't dare touch the mod even for that quick "fix", and I'm fairly confident in saying the developers wouldn't be too far to admit the older NPCs that were in the game, were just terrible.

 

But in general, no one can blame anyone for wanting more options. I remember basically begging for an option to turn off the door shake in options when it was released.  

 

When sandbox mode is a thing, expanding on it is never a bad thing. Doesn't change the game the developer's want to make and allows other to tailor it to the type of playthrough they want.

 

These messages really get much, much longer than I expect.

Edited September 26, 2020 by MadDan2013