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[SP/Story] NPC survivor factions/ranks/mechanics - Community contributions/feedback welcome


xan713

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Disclaimer for the devs -- Indie Stone devs, your game is excellent. Please feel free to take these ideas on board as if they were your own for inspiration sake, These ideas are donated as fan service and compensation isn't necessary or expected. If you think this works for your game, take and keep any and/or all ideas to implement into the game. Thanks in advance for reading! Please leave your thoughts/feedback in comments section!!!

 

Table of Contents------

1A. Introduction

1B. Your involvement in this thread

 

2. NPC Content - [+Add your own, and you'll be credited in this post]

2A. Faction list - Different Factions/types of NPC survivors

2B. NPC Trust - An Important Mechanic

2C. Faction Ranks - Roles/Jobs [And what they do]

2D. Faction Inventions - New items you can make!

 

3. NPC Event(s)/Behaviours - Kidnappings, Raids, Zombie Herding, Faction interaction.

3A. Events NOT Involving YOU

3B. Events Involving YOU

 

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1A. Introduction: This is a community post brainstorm which means you can contribute ideas toward it (and you will be credited in this original post). This post is open to subject to change course and modification. In this post, it explains varying ideas that could help create interesting gameplay and basic objectives with NPC survivors which don't divert you from how you play, and may possibly offer new ways to play the game as well. You could (if you wanted to) interact with NPCs through trade or neutrality (3), or systematically wipe them out one by one, the choice would be up to you. If developers find this thread feasible, I'd like to hope that our ideas could be implemented so that interaction could lead to rewards (2D) in some way which could help benefit confirmed future content updates.

 

1B. Your involvement in this thread:

First things first - Please don't expect or feel entitled to compensation in any form if the developers take inspiration from this thread and use these ideas even if they're identical upon implementation, I'd like to make that very clear. How you view this threads idea comes down to personal interpretation, so that means if your interpretation of this sort of idea and/or opinion on it is different to anyone elses e.g it being good enough to implement in the game or not is appreciated and respected if you choose to have your say (Even if you hate the idea so much it makes you miserable) it's still fair enough to have your say, however it'd be nice to see some constructive criticism toward this sort of thing instead of abuse! Please feel free to join in the discussion and add your own thoughts and ideas! Thank you very much.

 

 

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2. NPC Content - [+Add your own, and you'll be credited in this post]

 

2A. Faction list - Different Factions/types of NPC survivors

Note: Faction/types of NPC survivors may/may not exist at all during a game or certain map, and may spawn at different times during a game depending on player movements. Certain factions may or may not work together. Factions should be enabled/disabled by player choice in custom options prior to a game. For the most part, each faction won't trust you at all unless you prove to them you can be trusted, and some may carry default moods/agendas set by their Faction Leader toward anyone that isn't part of their faction - Could result in kidnappings, killing on sight, or warning shots/calls.

 

Type 1 - Civilian: Exist in urban areas. These are the last remaining shred of civilisation, and are mostly helpless and not used to being thrown out of their standard way of life. Civilians are usually armed with light firearms and various melee weapons, depending on rank. How well armed they are depends on rank, as their rank dictates what they usually do. May work alongside Military.

Type 2 - Survivalists/Hillbillies: Can exist in both outer-urban and wilderness. How well armed they are depends on rank, raider rank is heaviest armed, utilizing long ranged weapons and heavy melee weapons. Usually works on own, without need of Civilians or Military.

Type 3 - Military: Can exist anywhere, but mostly in large contained facilities such as prisons, and fenced guarded areas. Some may patrol in organized groups in the map on their own accord. Moderately to heavily armed depending on rank. May work alongside Civilians.

Type 4 - ??

Type 5 - ??

 

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2B. NPC Trust - An Important Mechanic

Depending on what you do, you can impact factions depending on what action you make toward them. Trust is gained over time, and word can spread around to different ranks within factions about you. If you help defend individuals against zombie hordes, make trades with them, don't kill them on sight - Then you can gain trust with them. On the other hand, if you do all you can to let them die, raid them, steal their stuff, the opposite occurs and can carry consequences toward how they interact with you. That will result in increased hostility and nasty tactics toward you and your base (3). ---Factions may even choose to not trust you at all regardless of what you do, this comes into equation based on the Faction Leaders agenda---

 

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2C. Faction Ranks - Roles/Jobs [And what they do]

Civilian and Survivalists/Hillbillies NPC survivors can share some same 'ranks' and behaviours depending on trust toward you, or their purposeful demeanour. Traits listed are as a guide to explain their purposes. Traits listed in each rank are varying possibilities and may/may not all occur.

 

The following ranks shared between Civilians, Survivalists/Hillbillies/Military which should usually stay within their base are:

Faction Leader - Have a purposeful goal/agenda set for their faction. This can vary depending on how you interact with each faction. Some leaders may choose to enforce friendly or hostile actions toward you and other active faction(s) at the start of the session, and they can also enforce what types of ranks spawn depending on where they are located. Their demeanour in their agenda also applies to what faction they are in. Killing a leader can topple the entire faction which can be a useful game mechanic/purpose. <Don't expect that to be easy though!>

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Traits- Lucky, Strong, Brave, Hearty Eater, Resilient, Athletic

 

Workers - Produce food, build, create/combine items, repair items (vehicles in future), treat heavy/major injuries etc.

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Traits- Handy, Feeble, Cowardly, Light Eater, Clumsy, Agoraphobic

 

The following ranks shared between Civilians and Survivalists/Hillbillies are:

Scouts - Usually spots and locates and reports back to their factions. You can kill them if you don't want to be seen&known at all providing you witness them near you/your base-. Scouts can offer remote bag trades (bag containing notes of Trade for Trade items), orienteering, locating, can mark environment with messages/diagrams, treats their own basic/light injuries.

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Traits- Athletic, Eagle Eyed, Graceful, Feeble, Night Owl, Outdoorsman, Patient

 

Raiders - Dispatched usually if scouts/workers don't sustain to loot surrounding areas to replenish faction supplies, can kidnap you, can also raid houses you don't own, can mark environment with messages/diagrams, treats their own minor/light injuries.

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Traits- Stout, Axe Man, Short Tempered, Brave, Hearty Appetite, Thick Skinned

 

Loners - For the most part they're just like you. They can be anti-social. May not be part of a faction, may be aggressive, may be highly threatening if surviving mid-late game. If part of a faction, they're usually a Sniper/Self sustaining Hunter type, and some may resort to Cannibalism. They like to hoard so if you locate their base/stashes you're in for a good time.

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Traits- Eagle Eyed, Athletic, Cowardly, Marksman, Outdoorsman, Patient, Light Eater, Resilient

 

 

Ranks which only occur in the military are:

Soldier - Protects their base at all costs, only grant access to players that have gained trust, conduct rescue missions for their faction and in some rare cases based on trust -you-. Can treat light/minor injuries.

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Traits- Athletic, Marksman, Light Drinker, Stout, Brave, Keen Hearing, Night Owl, Eagle Eyed.

 

Field Medic - When Soldiers leave their base on a rescue mission, a Field Medic can accompany them to treat major wounds.

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Traits- Athletic, Graceful, Hard of Hearing, Handy, Short Tempered, Stout, Light Drinker

 

Elite Soldier - Protects Military Leader, heavily armed, calls in Helicopter reinforcements if possible (This includes emergency supplies, or Soldiers).

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Traits- Strong, Thick Skinned, Athletic, Marksman, Night Owl, Eagle Eyed, Keen Hearing.

 

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2D. Faction Inventions -

Each faction has a small number of inventions that they use to their advantage in some way, which you could learn to craft if you gain enough trust. Here are some examples (along with items needed if not pre-made), if you can think extras or better then please add:

 

Civilians:

-Two Way Radio: Battery + Baby Monitor/Walkie Talkie

-RC Racecar Noise Distractor: RC Racecar + Battery + Walkie Talkie + Use of 'Taunt' Button

-Breakable Lockpick: Paperclips, Nail/Tent Peg, Tape [Makes 3]

 

Survivalist/Hillbillies:

-Bear Trap

-Crossbow: Planks, PVC pipe, String/Wire, Nails

-Basic Compass: Needle, Paper Clip, Fridge Magnet, Bowl of Water, Razor Blade

 

Military:

-Scope

-Makeshift Protective Armour

-Claymore

 

 

3. NPC Event(s)/Behaviours -writing in progress-

Depending on what NPC factions are present, how they interact with one another and also your trust gained/lost with NPC factions, certain events/behaviours may trigger.

 

3A. Events NOT Involving YOU

Factions would be able to have interactions between each other:

-These include territorial disputes, trade altercations, and caravans. -Contributed by forum user 'Ryfar'

-If a Faction member comes back to their base wounded by a Zombie which could make them turn, they may be ordered to be killed by their Faction so they don't turn on them.

 

3B. Events Involving YOU

Any of the following may occur if YOU have no trust, or are hostile to a faction and

 

i) Your base discovered by that faction:

-You may have Scouts shepherd zombies/hordes to your base (Small chance it could backfire on Scout).

-Raiders may ransack your base of valuables, and your base wrecked/disassembled.

-You may have a chance of being kidnapped as a hostage when you sleep in an unfortified/unsecure base. This will mean your base looted and disassembled. Items removed from you and possibly distributed between faction members, or stored somewhere.

-Military may surround your building, and order to imprison you if you commit crimes (Theft/Murder) against them. Or they may choose to just try and kill you.

 

ii) You are located in a temporary location:

-You may have a small chance of being kidnapped as a hostage when you sleep in an unsecure/unfortified location. Items removed from you and possibly distributed between faction members, or stored somewhere.

 

 

Any of the following may occur depending on the level of good trust YOU have with a faction and the Faction Leaders agenda:

-You may be offered the opportunity to capture or kill an opposing Faction Leader if they're causing issues for the faction you're supporting.

-You are allowed sanctuary within a factions territory but you must perform duties/jobs to assist the faction in order to keep that benefit.

-You are offered a job of your choosing within the faction, much like a worker. You get food in your belly and a roof over your head so long as you meet daily/weekly quotas for the job.

 

 

I'm planning on updating this when I've got more time to over the next few days. Thanks for reading! Please leave your thoughts/feedback in comments section!!!

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I love the kidnapping idea, you could also get locked in some sort of cell? If you were in a faction, and there was another NPC faction, you could get traded for some items?

I could see this happening, with a possible way of breaking free too and putting an end to your captors. :D

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I love the kidnapping idea, you could also get locked in some sort of cell? If you were in a faction, and there was another NPC faction, you could get traded for some items?

I could see this happening, with a possible way of breaking free too and putting an end to your captors. :D

 

 

YES! Once NPCs come, this is the No.1 idea for making them awesome

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You sir, have quite the suggestion! We all know we want NPC's with professions, and factions, but this is still on the drawing board. The developers are learning how to make themselves an "NPC fit AI", as they've only worked on zombies so far. But, my friend, we can see this coming in the future :)

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This seems like a really great, well-thought out suggestion. It covers the extent to which factions could interact with the player quite well, and if it were to be implemented I could definitely see it working to a reasonable extent.

 

Some suggestions:

In the part talking about loners, there is a spelling error. "horde" should be changed to "hoard.

"They like to horde so if you locate their base/stashes you're in for a good time."

 

Also, while the suggestion covers player-faction interactions quite well, it leaves a lot to the imagination regarding how they would interact with each other. Perhaps there would be territorial disputes, trade altercations, and caravans? Just some ideas.

 

Finally, I feel as if there would be more than three factions in the game. Unless I'm misunderstanding the intention of the post, it seems like there would be only Civilian, Survivalist, and Military factions. Factions certainly wouldn't be those three alone; there would be a large smattering of survivor bands, AWOL military patrols, etc. If I am misunderstanding you, please disregard this :)

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!Original post updated!

 

First of all I'd like to thank you all for replying, I appreciate you all taking your time to read the post. I'd also like to thank everyone else ahead of time who reads it, and also contributes to making this thread grow! This to me is a community discussion, I'd like to see what you all have to think too!

 

This seems like a really great, well-thought out suggestion. It covers the extent to which factions could interact with the player quite well, and if it were to be implemented I could definitely see it working to a reasonable extent.

 

Some suggestions:

In the part talking about loners, there is a spelling error. "horde" should be changed to "hoard.

"They like to horde so if you locate their base/stashes you're in for a good time."

 

Also, while the suggestion covers player-faction interactions quite well, it leaves a lot to the imagination regarding how they would interact with each other. Perhaps there would be territorial disputes, trade altercations, and caravans? Just some ideas.

 

Finally, I feel as if there would be more than three factions in the game. Unless I'm misunderstanding the intention of the post, it seems like there would be only Civilian, Survivalist, and Military factions. Factions certainly wouldn't be those three alone; there would be a large smattering of survivor bands, AWOL military patrols, etc. If I am misunderstanding you, please disregard this :)

 

I have amended the spelling error, thanks for pointing it out! I was up past my bedtime speculating these things :D

 

The factions which I specified are three examples really, they just seemed broad to me. I think you picked up on a good point with Faction interactions, and I've updated the original post accordingly with your name tagged as the contributor.

 

 

For everyone who reads this, If you'd like to chip in with other varying faction types, and also ranks/titles/jobs within those factions which might be different and/or similar, please feel free to add and go into detail with them as much as you possibly can so I can reference them into the appropriate categories and/or make new ones so I don't have to assume what you mean when I include it in! I'll add your ideas in and tag your name along with your contributed idea within the original post!

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I can see you've put a lot of work into this, but I have to say I'm not crazy about the particulars of what you're suggesting.

 

Locking NPC's into some rigid faction list is actually much less free and realistic than what's already planned. People will carry what weapons they've found in their locations, group with those they get along with due to personality or circumstance, and craft what they have the means and knowledge to. Forcing NPC's into set groups is much more restrictive in my opinion.

 

The same can be said of locking individual NPC's into set traits and subclasses. This isn't an XCOM game- the people in PZ are supposed to be just... people, not load-outs based on an etherial idea of a "class." Every NPC will be unique and special, having both the benefits and drawbacks that they spawn with- flawed and not perfect at their jobs, just like normal human beings.

 

The same, again, can be said for the group mechanics. Rather than have people set into a specific job, members of groups will just do what's necessary to survive. If they're threatened, they'll fight. If they're hungry, they'll loot or farm. Leaders will happen naturally as a result of trust, fear, and the bonds of mutual combat- and could change at any time.

 

While the ideas behind your post are strong, I just don't feel that they fit the spirit of PZ at all. The one big crowning planned feature of the NPC's is that they'll react and behave naturally, like people, rather than be railroaded into certain behaviors and jobs by an arbitrary "class" or "faction."

 

Further, someone like me couldn't even exist in your system. I grew up in the suburbs, worked on a cattle ranch on weekends (call me a "hillbilly" I guess), but I also got a top notch education and now work partially in the video games industry. I also came from a military family, so I've been trained in self defense and firearms from a very young age. Trying to lock people into these categories does them a disservice- both in game, and in real life.

 

Just my opinion. Like I said, I can see you've put a lot of work into this system and there's a lot of thought behind it; it's all very coherent and well laid out, but I don't feel it's right for PZ.

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Faction: Cutists

Religion/cults is something I suspect would get a boost in zombie apocalypse. Those can vary from peacefull to the agressive one's. Their lockers would have high amount of books and other entertainment, heh.

Leader/Preacher - killing him will should have a high chance to collapse their community, but that should be hard to achieve, If done however, cultists will disperse/scatter, becoming loners and small teams of people on the map.

Peons - workers ;)

 

Faction: Caravan

A mobile trading "company"

 

Moving around the map, never staying more then a couple of days on some location. Could be found ussually on the outskirts of small cities, etc...

I'd love if this faction gets implemented to negate those unlucky playthroughs, where you loot 1/2 of the map and still haven't been able to find a sledgehammer (it should be the only faction that really has all the "good stuf").

However I'm really interested how would devs tackle trading in a game like this. Items dropped on the floor? New trading window?

 

As far as traits go, I wouldn't make those excluvies to specific faction. Every NPC should be randomized, even leaders, because you know, some leaders are great, some aren't,

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Thanks Rathlord for your contribution! :-) Your points and concerns are valid and completely agreeable as far as I'm concerned, and you'd be far more aware of the overall game plan than I certainly would without a doubt. I've learned a few things by your post. Opinions are great and I welcome them - Open discussion is great!

 

In retrospect to my original posts purpose, I do feel it's intended purpose is to jog peoples minds and butter up the imagination, and best of all by doing so - People such as yourself, and others can help guide this into a suitable direction, so that people like me can tailor threads like this one to be more compatible with the overall games purpose than originally thought out!

 

As per the original post, would this sort of thing work in a Story mode rather than a Sandbox/Survival type mode?

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