Relationships with NPCs

Discussion in 'Mechanics' started by Corbinsor, Mar 19, 2014.

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Would you approve of this mechanic?

  1. Yes.

    83.3%
  2. Maybe.

    11.8%
  3. No, you perv.

    4.9%
  1. Corbinsor

    Corbinsor Void-Bound Voyager

    Tell me I have no life, whatever xP I came up with this while exploring an avian village.

    A mechanic should be implemented whereas you can have a relationship with an NPC, whether it be romantic, friendly, or an enemy. You should allow npc's to develop artificial feelings towards the player as well, like a customized message based on a "feeling" the NPC has for the player, these feelings being either Romantic, Friendly, Neutral, Stranger, or Enemy. Gestures towards the player could also be made based on these feelings. (Like for Romantic, the NPC would run towards you and hug you when they see you, or they'd walk up to you and give you a handshake for Friendly, and they would either turn away or draw a weapon on you if they were enemy.)
    The player could strengthen or weaken their relationship with an NPC by the actions they make. Like turning away or drawing your weapon on an NPC would weaken the relationship, and actions like visiting them and saving them from a monster would increase your bond.

    If you wanted to make it more advanced, you could allow the player to say things to that NPC, that will also affect your relationship, or just strike a response from the NPC. An example having a romantic relationship: You- I have to leave now, I'll be back, promise. Her/Him- Be back soon, please? Be sure to tell me of your travels!"

    So, what do you guys, as players of the game, think?
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2014
  2. Raymond1991

    Raymond1991 Phantasmal Quasar

    I would love it
     
  3. Boneslord

    Boneslord Big Damn Hero

    But Starbound is a always-travelling-game thing so I don't think it would be a good idea.
     
  4. BlueSmoke

    BlueSmoke Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    I think its really hard this mechanic to be implemented to the game.
    As Boneslord said, Starbound involves a lot of travelling, it doesn't fit very well.
    But... Dang, I would love to ship characters, date them, create a love-hate relationship with another NPCs. ..
    Maybe make something subtler. As in the future of Starbound the developers pretend to make NPCs scan the structures and items that you put around them, It would be cool to be rewarded with their friendships and gifts, as well receive different reactions from them when they see you, as an act of gratitude.

    As well we could be greeted with hatred if we don't build decent cities for them xD

    I... I got nothing actually. I would love to see these features, but this is not a dating game :V
    I want a family mod. Nau


    Sorry about my heinous english
     
  5. Panthermilk

    Panthermilk Void-Bound Voyager

    This is a great idea for the universe and the community of the game,
    However, in the game itself, its not a good idea.
    Most NPCs die way to fast if their not in houses, and in cities they die anyway, just a takes longer.

    In my honest opinion, it would be a really cool game mechanic, I would love to take a NPC out of a village and have them follow me around with a rifle, backing me up as I go exploring.
    Or maybe a NPC that I took rescued from a bunch of monsters that I now take in as a crew member.
    But my brain tells me it would be to hard to pull off right in this game.
     
    BlueSmoke likes this.
  6. Corbinsor

    Corbinsor Void-Bound Voyager

    Yeah. I had a feeling some people would say something like this, I didn't intend for it to revolve COMPLETELY around the romance mechanic. In fact, I came up with that after exploring. I first had this idea when I wanted to make an enemy with one of these guys.
     
    BlueSmoke likes this.
  7. BlueSmoke

    BlueSmoke Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    Ooops, sorry :unsure:
    I understood what you meant with relationships, and again, I really think it would be amazing to have this kind of interaction with the NPCs.
    My bad if my opinion was too focused in the romantic factor or if it looked like I took your opinion in a very silly way.
     
  8. Goldenchikin

    Goldenchikin Void-Bound Voyager

    I like this idea... but the whole drawing your weapon/turning away (Unless you mean telling them to go away) thing would be weird. If you like looking at stuff and running around then everyone would hate you... it should be more like this... If you go to a village and then leave for months on end the villagers would start to dislike you more and more and then forget about you all together, if you hang around and keep coming back and buying things or interacting with them.... they begin to accept and enjoy your company more.​
     
  9. Corbinsor

    Corbinsor Void-Bound Voyager

    Nice, yeah, I like this.
     
  10. Corbinsor

    Corbinsor Void-Bound Voyager

    Not at all, I just wanted to clarify I didnt suggest this because I wanted to date NPCs.
     
    BlueSmoke likes this.
  11. Goldenchikin

    Goldenchikin Void-Bound Voyager

    it would be pretty cool to be able to though i think.
     
    BlueSmoke likes this.
  12. Corbinsor

    Corbinsor Void-Bound Voyager

    So do I, I thought it was a great idea when I posted this.
     
  13. Goldenchikin

    Goldenchikin Void-Bound Voyager

    Well, it was indeed. keep'em coming.
     
  14. UnarmedCivilian

    UnarmedCivilian Tentacle Wrangler

    NPCs that aren't just decorations with single lines of text!? Madness!

    Sarcasm aside, this sounds great! I tend to get try to get very immersed in the world of a game I'm playing, and try to consider NPCs like people, rather than automatons put there to chat with while you rob them blind. I've actually dug graves for a few NPCs on my home world that I failed to protect when in their company. However, it gets hard to get immersed in NPC interaction when they say the exact same thing whenever you talk to them, regardless of the situation. NPCs responding to treatment might actually give some sense that what you do with them matters! Even if it's only a little bit.
     
    Alien0Gamer and BlueSmoke like this.
  15. Ruti

    Ruti Big Damn Hero

    I would be very happy with a reputation system with 2-3 parts, with initial settings based on which race you pick (albeit with only slight differences), and then modified by your interaction with the various NPCs and settlements you come across.

    Faction/Racial Reputation would be based on your interactions with other settlements of the same factions. It would be the slower of the two to change. A good reputation will allow you to be quickly forgiven if something happens, while a horrific reputation will mean you could be attacked for merely having a weapon out. Initial faction reputation would be slightly different for each race, but should be comparable in most cases. The responses of individuals would be based on their assessment of you at the time.

    Each faction would have its own tendencies, including the range and center (Hostile factions like cultists would be difficult to live peaceably with, and wary at best. Friendlier factions like Glitch and Flightless villages would tend to be more trusting but may drop that trust more quickly.)

    Settlement reputation would be based on your interaction with that specific village, and would initially be set to your reputation with the corresponding faction, or neutral for unaffiliated settlements. This reputation would swing quicker than the broader faction reputation, as it is more local. Become familiar enough, and the villagers could recognize you, and call you by name.

    For those who prefer the indiscriminately bloodthirsty lifestyle, there could be a global reputation cost which would color even those factions whom you haven't contacted before, while a longterm policy of honesty and self-defense only could result in warmer receptions down the line, maybe even from 'enemy' camps.
     
  16. UnarmedCivilian

    UnarmedCivilian Tentacle Wrangler

    I really do hope something like that is added. Player agency, or the feeling of your choices having an impact, is an absolutely massive part of making a game fascinating and engaging. Games at the core are about experiences, above all!
     
    Alien0Gamer likes this.
  17. the420urchin

    the420urchin Pangalactic Porcupine

    I think a companion system would be great, something like gifts and actions to an npc would raise a friendship level, and then upon max friendship you could invite them to be a companion on your ship. Then they could follow you around and fight with you or could sell items depending on the npc type. Maybe a settle command so you could make them live on your home planet and build colonies and such.
     
  18. Stephanie Winther

    Stephanie Winther Void-Bound Voyager

    All in all I really like the idea, which I want to emphasize! ...Except for one part. I think romances should really be saved for something like a crew- or follower system. I would feel really, really weird when I start building a military encampment, spawn various soldiers for guard duty and have them all fall in love with me after a few days, with pixel hearts swarming around their heads just because I killed a few birds above the base.

    I'm not sure if it's off-topic, but as it kinda overlaps I think I'll write about my imagination how it could get integrated. I think a follower system could actually be kinda simple to make or at least technically possible, though I say that while having no experience in even modding, at least not in Starbound, so maybe I'm wrong.

    But having a more expensive form of capture pod (propably with a different name) for 'recruiting' a follower/crew member should propably even be possible with the given mechanics and a new item, perhaps a bit of tweaking.
    If the new companion dies in battle, it could drop it's "pod" again like the pets do right now, or maybe an unconscious version of it which has to be "healed" with a red stim pack or medkit or something similar. Either like with the tools (pickaxe, drill) right now or via the crafting interface, which would result in an - again - combat ready follower.
    Maybe even make them pop up a simple menu when you "use" them via the E button, like the tech station giving you a choice between the tech station itself and the pixel printer... except you have a choice between basic comands like "Follow", "Stay" and maybe "Beam up to ship", and a few dialog option aswell as "Beam down to planet" if you are already on the ship.
    Those would also be a nice base for having at least a very basic romance option, though I am not sure if it would fit with the rest of the game. The romance part, that is. But hearing more than a single sentence every single time would definitely be refreshing and a huge improvement.

    I really hope it's okay I wrote all that stuff here, I'd really like to get more interactions with NPCs. And I just didn't really wrote anyhing about the village part itself, because I like your concept already like it is. :p I just think some things (like romances) should be at least partly dialogue based and certainly not based on a semi-automatic process, or at least noch solely.

    And there goes my intent to only write a tiny bit...
     
    yclatious and beari78 like this.
  19. Goenitz

    Goenitz Void-Bound Voyager

    i totally want to marry a hylotl waifu.
    What about a system like the colonies mod, where you family have need like money (of course), you presence (where they begin to miss you) or presents.
    Was thinking about the house too that the appearance change depending how you treat your family (giving they much money but not much affection have an apperance but giving they more attention change in annother, so a premade house)
     
  20. Sauronis

    Sauronis Intergalactic Tourist

    I really like this whole system, it would really immerse the player. But, how would this kind of thing work in multiplayer? It certainly would be cool to take on stronger bosses with a bit of back-up.
     

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