NPC Rescuing or Recruiting NPCs

Discussion in 'NPCs and Creatures' started by Seda, Aug 27, 2015.

  1. Seda

    Seda Void-Bound Voyager

    NPC Rescuing and Recruitment

    A suggestion for the Improvement of NPC Colony system
    # of Edits - 1
    Added suggestion by Ludovic and edited guide for easier reading

    Rescuing NPCs
    When journeying across the planet, we often come across various characters to interact with. It may be the lone human with their cart peddling various goods. It could be the Avian who recently escaped crazed worshipers of Kluex. It might have also been a Glitch, free from the system he/she was trapped in.

    After we've said our words and goodbyes, we leave them.

    What happens to them?

    Do they pack up their belongings and return to their ship? Do they build a bigger house to live in? Or do they die defending themselves from the monsters that roam every night?

    We, as future colony settlers and architects, need a system to save or recruit these characters to our home world.

    How it Works
    When we approach an NPC, we should be given an option to allow them to journey with us.

    By offering an item to recruit or "save" an NPC
    Let's say that we can buy or craft an item that allows us to carry the NPC with us, similar to a capture pod. Now, I know what you're thinking. "Carrying around a living being in a tiny pod without the guarantee of a new home, sounds pretty unsettling now doesn't it?" Don't worry, think of it like a tab on the inventory screen you can open. You can then see what NPCs you have, and can then place them inside houses to live.

    Having a dialog option to allow them to travel with us
    "Why don't you come with me?" or "I can give you a place to call home again." By asking a NPC this question, this allows you to move said NPC into a designated house. Let's say the NPC accepts then they will teleport to your ship. We can do that physically inside the ship, or just have a menu tab, or even a ship object handle it. We can turn the employment station into a house station.

    Having a menu system where we can save NPCs we've met and allow placement of specific beacons
    This is the most easiest and fastest option. We can just click on an NPC we like, select an option, and they are automatically added to a housing system. We just click a beacon, get the NPC beacon, place it, and there they are. All safe and sound and in a new home in your colony.

    Who can we have travel with us?
    Now of course we can't have every NPC come with us. Maybe they already have it made on their own and don't need help? Of course we can't ask anyone in a town to leave either. So we have some options.

    • NPCs completely on their own
    • NPCs who wish to escape, such as an Apex under the eye of the Miniknog, or a Glitch stuck in a castle
    • NPCs who are stranded and living on a barren, arid and/or meteor ridden planet
    • NPCs who gather at the Outpost. They randomly spawn with traits and appearances
    • NPCs who wish to travel with us

    We can also invent a system that allows the hiring of tenants. By adding a new floor to the Outpost and creating a sort of Inn or Employment center, we can choose who we want to move in. (For pixels of course)

    One idea I've had is that we can liberate prisoners. Such as...

    • Apex about to be experimented upon
    • Humans within prisons, innocent ones of course
    • Freed Glitch under threat of execution
    • Florans wanting to be civilized, or Florans looking for new hunting grounds
    Just a few examples.

    How can this be done?
    While the new colony system does help us create new habitable planets, we need to more ways to attract NPCs to the colony. It also serves as an important game play element, putting us in the role of a savior or a good friend to these characters.

    Implement a new tab - Call it a Human Resources tab, Colony Settlement tab, Rescued People tab

    We should be able to acquire NPCs when we reach a certain point in the game. This should be after fixing our ship, the FTL drive, have finished the first quests in the Outpost, and learning about the Colony system. You can also add the first ship upgrade as a requirement, because where are all these people going to go? The storage hold? Although, you can just teleport them to the Outpost Center and pick them up there.

    Create a new item or tool that allows you to designate where specified NPCs live.

    Think of it as a different kind of Colony Deed. You can create a specific Colony Deed containing the person you want, allowing you to place it inside a house, and then they will live there. You select an NPC residing at the Outpost, it gives you a deed, and then you place said deed inside a house. For example....

    I met a human merchant on a forest planet and all they had was a campfire and a cart to sleep in. Let's call him Greg. I right click on them to add them to the Colony Tab. They teleport to the Outpost saying, "I can't wait!" or "Finally, off this miserable rock!" or "Excitement: I am saved!" Greg teleports away. I teleport to the Outpost and head up to a new floor with a new market stall. I interact with the stall to be provided with a menu of people I've teleported. I can see that Greg is in the very first slot. I click on a button below him and I receive an item called, "Greg's Colony Deed." I then teleport to the colony I've created, build him a suitable house, and place the deed inside. Greg then teleports into the house and expresses his thanks, perhaps in the form of an item.

    Allow these deeds to be permanent items

    If Greg does die to monsters, he should respawn just like any other NPC. However, if I feel like Greg would do better in another house, or I just don't like him anymore, I can remove the deed from his house back into my inventory. His housing will be considered invalid, and I can place Greg somewhere else. If I simply don't like Greg and don't care what happens to him, I can remove him. By going to the Outpost Colony Center, I have the option under Greg's menu spot to remove him. Greg will then "move somewhere far away." This also allows me to get another deed should I lose it.

    EDIT #1 - Hiring Special NPCS or Racial Craftsmen
    Thanks Ludovic for the suggestion!

    As we progress through Starbound, we should be able to hire NPCs that perform some specific function.
    These functions include, but are not limited to...

    • Racial Craftsmen that allow your character to create other races' armor and weapons with appropriate materials
    • Scientists that you can pay with pixels in order to research new techs, or improve new ones
      • Being able to add a second jump to pulse jump
      • Rocket boots using less energy
      • Shield tech reflecting projectiles instead of absorbing them
    • Farmers that take care of and collect crops from your colony
    • Doctors that can develop medicines or sell you medicines
    • Tailors that make clothes, even from other races
    • A chef that provides you and other colonists with food
    • Some NPCs that interact with your colony in a certain way
      • A magician that performs routines colonists will watch
      • An astronomer that observes distant planets and tells you certain things about them
        • They might see a certain sub-biome, a town, or a dungeon
    • A recon who observes radio signals and reports SOSs, relating to NPCs on planets
      • NPCs that you can hire!

    This provides an important roleplay element to colonies too. Such as...


    • Doctors seeing patients within your colony
    • A smithy preparing weapons and armor to outfit your guards
    • A tailor making clothes for your colonists
    • A chef feeding hungry colonists
    • A farmer tending to livestock, providing ingredients normally bought, such as milk, eggs, and raw meats
    How to make hiring NPCs Work
    While you are able to make houses containing certain furniture to attract certain residents, (such as kitchen equipment for a chef, weapon racks and training dummies for guards), it doesn't hurt to have more choice into who moves into your colony. However, hiring NPCs shouldn't be too easy. Here are some ideas.

    • NPCs must be hired for pixels
    • NPCs must have certain demands to be met in order to move in homes
    • Certain furniture, certain items that make it feel more at home, or even personal preferences
      • Florans wanting Floran furniture, Glitch wanting Glitch furniture, etc...
    • NPCs must be paid for their work
    • NPCs may ask you gather materials in order to craft items
    • NPCs might offer quests in order to reach a new tier of research, items, or better food

    There may be other requirements to hire NPCs, but these are some general guidelines to follow.



    How Seda met Sophia
    Here's what inspired me to make this post.

    Mintaka Cradle 1 - a
    X: -49656841 Y: -292243042

    As I was traveling the vast expanse of ice and snow, I came across a woman tending a cart. Brown hair, red jacket and skirt, and an eye patch. Without delay she showed me various goods that I could buy. It was a strange selection whoever. Little food, guns without ammo, and even some of her clothes were offered. Hesitant, I refused to buy. She wished me luck on my adventures and returned to the campfire.

    She need a home of her own. I began to build a lovely log cabin. A bedroom, a quaint dining hall, a bathroom, and a storage. She couldn't believe her eyes, as the house had literally materialized before her.

    [​IMG]


    We can keep in contact with each with that radio. I'll drop every now and then to drop off food, see how you're doing. Maybe one day I'll even build a door leading outside. The reason I chose not to build a door is because giant laser eyed dinosaurs and deadly peacock penguins roam the wastes.

    DINOSAURS WITH LASER EYEBALLS AND BODY SLAMMING PENGUIN ABERRATIONS. THEY WILL KILL YOU. GOD HELP YOU SHOULD THE PTERODACTYL LAND ON THE ROOF, DON'T BREATHE IT WILL HEAR YOU. IS THAT THE SOUND OF THE NIGHT GOBLINS, MERCIFUL HEAVENS PLEASE.

    Anyways, I hope one day I can get you out of this snowy nightmare. But until then you'll be safe in here. Just don't go outside please.
     
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2015
    Ludovic and Trek47 like this.
  2. Trek47

    Trek47 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    I've wanted this as a possibility ever since I met a Floran lady in a village who said she wanted to come with me on my travels. I'm glad someone finally got around to suggesting this.
     
  3. Ludovic

    Ludovic Giant Laser Beams

    I would like to bump this suggestion a bit since it ties into a lot of the gameplay I would love to see.
    It would be a very nice option for a "Ship crew" station or something where at X ship level you could house Y amount of NPCs on the ship but when you find yourself having too many you could always offload one of those NPCs to your colonies in stead of a randomly generated tenant.

    This would be doubly more awesome with new different type of colonist or NPCs(such as NPC craftsmen who would function like a crafting tablet allowing you to make racial furniture and the like with raw materials instead of pixels, or NPC scientists allowing you to buy new tech or even access crafting recipes your own randomly generated weapons with raw materials instead of buying them, but only if you go through said scientist NPCs)
     
    Seda likes this.
  4. Reelru

    Reelru Void-Bound Voyager

    I love this idea, especially since my sister made her log cabin. It was near a small Avian market, with two merchants and a guard. Only one merchant remains and the guard is dead too. When you live right near npcs and get so attached it's sad to see them die. Anyways, I think this is a great idea, and maybe we can finally let that merchant out of her cave. This is a great detailed post with everything I was going to ask. Thanks for this!
     
  5. Gzorich

    Gzorich Orbital Explorer

    Would you be able to have the npcs at the ark on your crew?
    (Because it would be kind of neat to have them on your ship/ part of your crew)
     
  6. IAmGod

    IAmGod Tentacle Wrangler

    I met a really cool NPC Once in an arctic biome, it had such a cool personality. The problem though is that random ass monsters spawned right outside its house and it was like a 10v2, we both died lmao.
     

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