NPC Movement Idea

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Chicka-Maria
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NPC Movement Idea

Post by Chicka-Maria »

Just had an idea if someone wanted to full fill it with their skills. :mrgreen:

There are dead towns in the mana world like tulimshar and nivalis since hurnscald is the main trade town at the moment and most active. What my idea is, is to have moving npcs in the towns that are not very active..

I have seen this on other servers like the brazil server and such where there are npcs in the non-active places of the game and they used the player sprite sheets with clothes and such walking around like people in their town.

Just IMO it would keep the towns from being boring when you're doing quests alone in those places and it would be more interesting.

If I find an example I will post it when i find it.

regards,
Chicka
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by o11c »

There are bugs if an NPC moves and its script has any blocking command (next, close, menu, input).

Related: we need to make sure Wyara's potion shop is less than 14x14.
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Chicka-Maria
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by Chicka-Maria »

Even if the npc stops moving while it talks? Also do these npcs even need to talk or need to be a "real npc"? they could just be a monster sprite and not talk at all perhaps.
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by o11c »

Chicka-Maria wrote:Even if the npc stops moving while it talks?
There's no way to reliably detect that.
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Crush
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by Crush »

When Hurnscald was new, Tulimshar used to stay the main meeting place and Hurnscald was pretty much dead.

Then suddenly Hurnscald was the main meeting place.

What happened?

The Hurnscald mines and the graveyard were released, which were leveling areas much superior to the Tulimshar mines. Hurnscald was the closest spawn location to these, so everyone went to Hurnscald and hung out there.

Players always follow the level areas. When you want more people in Tulimshar or Nivalis, place some advanced level areas there and the players will follow.
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Chicka-Maria
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by Chicka-Maria »

Its not so much as having more players in dead areas, its more of having something that's moving instead of having a totally dead town, something more interesting like there's live people that live in the towns and not just people that sit in their houses like all the npcs. Dunno just thought it would be something that would be a nice touch to the game as well you also see it on other RPG games even if the person is not useful.

regards,
Yubaba
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by Nard »

Most recent quests have been developed for other areas. There is no surprise that players leave the area as soon as they can exp faster else where. The recent update which supresses Miner's quest completion as a requirement for Bandits' quest can only accentuate that (there was no consistent content relationship, thus it is logic). Why should they return there? At the moments the only reasons can be:
  • Anwar
  • train low level chars with green slimes and get a couple of emeralds for collectors.
  • get healing magic level 2 and manpahil spell.
  • grind pearls and red scorp stingers
  • grind mountain snakes stuff 'and we're even not obliged to go Tulimshar
  • Change status
  • Get speed skill
  • Dye towels (edit I had forgotten this one)
  • Terranite armor and arrows (not very often too much expensive)
  • Gem rings (edit I had forgotten this one)
  • Because I don't sit there (but you may be wrong, I have alts)
also note it is actually impossible to go to Nivalis from Tulim. Maybe Time has come to release a harbour in Kaizei and Argaes; and have boats to travel.
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Nard
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by Nard »

Nard wrote:Maybe Time has come to release a harbour in Kaizei and Argaes; and have boats to travel.
I I heard that Reid did something like that in Kaizei before she became a ghost in her inn. :wink:
"The language of everyday life is clogged with sentiment, and the science of human nature has not advanced so far that we can describe individual sentiment in a clear way." Lancelot Hogben, Mathematics for the Million.
“There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness.
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Rill
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by Rill »

Nard wrote:Most recent quests have been developed for other areas. There is no surprise that players leave the area as soon as they can exp faster else where. The recent update which supresses Miner's quest completion as a requirement for Bandits' quest can only accentuate that (there was no consistent content relationship, thus it is logic). Why should they return there? At the moments the only reasons can be:
  • Anwar
  • train low level chars with green slimes and get a couple of emeralds for collectors.
  • get healing magic level 2 and manpahil spell.
  • grind pearls and red scorp stingers
  • grind mountain snakes stuff 'and we're even not obliged to go Tulimshar
  • Change status
  • Get speed skill
  • Dye towels (edit I had forgotten this one)
  • Terranite armor and arrows (not very often too much expensive)
  • Gem rings (edit I had forgotten this one)
  • Because I don't sit there (but you may be wrong, I have alts)
also note it is actually impossible to go to Nivalis from Tulim. Maybe Time has come to release a harbour in Kaizei and Argaes; and have boats to travel.
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Reid
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Re: NPC Movement Idea

Post by Reid »

Nard wrote:
Nard wrote:Maybe Time has come to release a harbour in Kaizei and Argaes; and have boats to travel.
I I heard that Reid did something like that in Kaizei before she became a ghost in her inn. :wink:
My Kaizei maps were leaved away to the tmw dev team of this time, but afaik no work has been done on any of these WIPs maps.
By my old plan with Wombat, there should have been a lava pit/cave at 2maps aside nivalis, this should have bring a new level place for higher level, and so, fill Nivalis of active players instead of NPC-bot.
For the boat traveling, Wombat wanted a snow-port tileset before to add boats on Nivalis-east map, but there are no news of this tileset since a long time... :P
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