In-Depth NPCs & Romance

    Would love to have in-depth NPCs that can be used as hired hands, merchants/traders, quest givers, romantic partners, and children.


    Hired Hands:

    Whether hired, rescued, or otherwise obtained, it would be nice to have workers that can be assigned tasks to help out, such as tree chopping or guarding. Different than family members.


    Merchants / Traders:

    NPCs that have specific trades and an inventory that matches their trade. Carpenters sell wood-related items, tailors sell clothes, etc. Can even have an orphanage “merchant” to adopt kids.


    Quest Givers:

    NPCs that give quests. Could be something as simple as “Do / get this for me, I’ll give you this in exchange.” Possible reputation mechanic.


    Romance:

    Would love the option to settle down with a player (like my irl partner) or an NPC and raise NPC children. Spouses and children can be given commands like “Follow Me” or “Guard This Area”, or assigned tasks such as “Plant Seeds" or "Hunt Nearby" or "Mine for Ore". Kids might not be able to do much until they hit adult, but they could milk animals or gather eggs or help garden.


    Note: If NPCs have can have text chat/responses, the ability to modify or add onto the chat would be cool (for servers or a mod).

    +1


    Red51 desires to add Hired Hands, Merchants, & Quests givers. Depending on how you interact with one group it'll effect the behaviour of another group, though that has yet to be seen. Red51 has openly noted this on the forums, yet sadly the information is now dated it's harder to find. Should be able to find this with a bit of digging.


    I hope we can eventually rescue NPCs to recruit as our own from bandits and pirates. That, or give people the ability to have "One" personal companion to join you from one world to the next. Or both. Have one main one as your personal trusted companion while the rest would be rescued helpers. Your "Romance" option does have a neat vibe to it, and I do +1 that also.


    I love your idea, it's why I joined Rising World.


    I also hope NPCs have the abiltity for light conversations. Other Japanese games I've tried allowed this, and having Rising World with this ability would boost it further. Simple formal greetings at times of day, reading newspaper, making note of what item is where, or pointing out what you're seeking as you explore the world together.


    Red51 may desire to look at following games for foundational thoughts:


    - Dragon's Dogma - (original; Pawns can be customizable, helpful, and even point various stuff out to you. They can be tuned in your playstyle doing things your way.)

    - Illusion Studio games (may require alternate sources; Can modify NPCS with basic parameters of personality, traits, etc.)

    [Artifical Girl 2, ArtificalAcademy, HaremMate, Koikatsu, etc. They may be lewd, can still be played in SFW settings.]

    - Dragon Quest Builder 1 & 2 - (NPCs help around your settlement while defending & crafting).

    - Sons of Forest - (Companions do their own thing at their own whim. The more positive your behaviour to them the more efficently they'll gather wood, etc.)

    - Bullet Girls Phantasia - (Simplified battle companions joining you in battle as a support. Everything is basic, yet helpful.)

    Agreed! I've been really hoping that NPCs get some life-like attributes, even something simplistic (like the weather commentary). I haven't tried any Japanese games, so I don't know what type of interactions they would have. I know a lot of games have mods to make NPCs interactable, when it would be stellar just having in-depth NPCs as part of the game itself -- sort of like a Red Dead 2 type idea but more personal if that makes sense.

    Had some further thought on the romance side of it, and came up with a few more suggestions for what that might look like:


    Getting Married:

    1. Obtain a Ring

    - Obtain certain ores --> smelt/craft into a ring.

    - OR purchase from a jeweler merchant.

    - Fancier rings might increase chance of proposal acceptance (NPC only).

    2. Propose

    - Player with a ring can propose to another player or NPC that is not married. NPCs must be an adult.

    - If the NPC is someone else’s child, then the parent player can decide if they will “bestow their blessing” and allow the proposing player to marry their (adult) kid. Would transfer that NPC out of their original family to the other player.

    3. Married Status

    - Being married unlocks a married buff (faster stam regen or something) and the procreate option. Also unlocks commands and task assignments for an NPC partner.


    NPC Children

    1. Spawning Children

    - Using the procreate option with a visual of hearts or something, the adult female (whether player or NPC) becomes pregnant for x duration. After pregnancy, 1-3 infants are spawned, with higher numbers being more rare. Perhaps odds can be increased with an item or certain food?

    2. Adopting Children

    - Players can adopt children of various ages from an orphanage “merchant”, but can be expensive.

    - Players can also put up their children for adoption as well, but in doing so cannot get them back again.

    3. Age Stages

    - There are five Age Stages: Infant, Toddler, Child, Teenager, and Adult. Each stage requires a bed, food, and clothing, but can vary slightly between them (ex: babies need goat milk, but other ages can eat actual food).

    - Not every stage has the same interaction level, with infants having the lowest (no, they can’t do chores) and teenagers/adults having the highest.

    4. Child Help

    - Teen and older family members can be assigned to take care of younger children (feeding, carrying, guarding, etc). Players can also hire a nanny to do the same, but would be super expensive.

    - If skills are added to the game, players might be able to hire a tutor to “teach” their kid skills at a faster pace than the kid gaining experience by doing.


    Emotes / Visual Actions:

    Just for fun. Having emotes in the game that can be used to trigger events.

    - Handshake — agree to take on a quest

    - Head Shake — turn down a quest option / other “no” instances

    - Propose — down on one knee

    - Marry — slide ring on finger (auto plays if proposal accepted)

    - Rejected — some sad emote (auto plays if proposal rejected)

    - Romantic (if married): Kiss, Hug, Hold Hands

    - Rock Paper Scissors (can play with NPC child and older)

    - Carry Child: In Arms (baby), On Hips (baby, toddler), On Shoulders (toddler), On Back (child)


    Note: If you need ideas, the game HEAT: Homestead (abandoned game) has decent examples of how to incorporate this. Not a fan of their procreation idea, need something more PG, but the general gist.

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