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Castle Paradox
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RedMaverickZero Three pointed, red disaster! Halloween 2006 Creativity Winner
Joined: 12 Jul 2003 Posts: 1459
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:25 am Post subject: |
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Make the townspeople feel the problems the town is going through. So the story opens up and the player can understand what's going on to a higher level. _________________ ---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70% |
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JSH357
Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 1705
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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I still think townspeople are kind of a waste of time to have. They can add to scenery, but that's just cosmetic. I think, based on what I've read, most of the game nihilists like townspeople while gamers just kinda plow through. Based on these conclusions... I guess I'll decide about NPCs later. |
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Uncommon His legend will never die
Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 2503
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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You could do it like Final Fantasy Tactics, where you select a place from a menu.
For npcs, you could just put in a pub, where the player could hear rumors. |
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Dan the Man Entertainment
Joined: 31 May 2003 Posts: 204
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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If you want to make large towns, maybe you should put some sorta minigame in each town. |
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Fenrir-Lunaris WUT
Joined: 03 Feb 2003 Posts: 1747
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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Shadowiii wrote: | I never talk to NPCs in OHR Game towns |
And this is why people don't know where the hell to go next in every single OHR game I've ever made....
Probably the biggest reason people don't read OHR textboxes is simply because the game's author didn't make the text box interesting.
Generic OHR villager wrote: | You must be of leveling in der forest on der world map tjord :}}}}} |
That's pretty much the gist of most NPC speech. A more fleshed out village with people saying roughly the same thing, albeit differently could possibly make the game more interesting.
Ranger wrote: | The forest is home to many feirce creatures that stalk these lands. Defeating them will assuredly do much good for the townsfolk |
Farmer wrote: | Dem thar monsters thatre a commin outta the forest isa makin' tha fields a mighty dangerous place. Ifn I was yew young'ins, I'd learn em a thang or two! |
George Bush wrote: | We must make the forest a safer place for democracy |
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Shadowiii It's been real.
Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 2460
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:37 am Post subject: |
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Quote: | And this is why people don't know where the hell to go next in every single OHR game I've ever made....
::Fenrir |
In all your games I read all the NPCs in the first towns, then skipped the rest, and made it through the games just fine.
I take your point though. I wish NPCs could somehow be more interesting, though. It's not just OHR games were NPCs are dull, even in commercial games there isn't really any interaction with them buggers. Especially in a large town with the max amount of NPCs, no one is EVER going to read them all.
Meh. Thats why in OHR-Date, when I HAD to make npcs, I made them say LOTS of random pointless stuff. Because I actually didnt' think anyone was going to read them (or sit there hitting space over and over to read all those text boxes ). The real point of that is in real life people never say the exact same thing over and over (or, for the record, the exact same two or three things over and over). So, technically, having 100 text boxes would solve that. I mean, no one here actually READ all 100 text boxes (I hope ).
But, uh, yeah. I forgot my point, but I'm sure some of you figured it out. _________________ But enough talk, have at you! |
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RedMaverickZero Three pointed, red disaster! Halloween 2006 Creativity Winner
Joined: 12 Jul 2003 Posts: 1459
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:02 am Post subject: |
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Well you've shown the bad, what are examples of things for the townspeople to say that won't be a drug out bore? _________________ ---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70% |
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Uncommon His legend will never die
Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 2503
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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Shadowiii wrote: | I mean, no one here actually READ all 100 text boxes (I hope ). |
Hi. |
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Shadowiii It's been real.
Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 2460
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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O_o
^_^ _________________ But enough talk, have at you! |
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MultiColoredWizard Come back, baby! The Breastmaster
Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1232
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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I did that too. |
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Dan the Man Entertainment
Joined: 31 May 2003 Posts: 204
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 3:08 am Post subject: |
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If you ask me, the textboxes that explain part of the story are only to be read the first and second times you play the game (if the game has no replay value, then you won't need to bother). The npcs in towns might have a structure similar to this:
NPC#1- message npc (chat)
NPC#2- message npc (chat)
NPC#3- item exchange for info NPC (message depends upon what part
of the game you're at)
NPC#4- get out of my town until you stand up to that monster and get defeated npc (that gives you an item after you stand up to or defeat a certain monster)
NPC#5- Sidequest npc (switch a key item to get a key item)
NPC#6- Guide npc
This is just an example of npcs that would be in a town. Don't repeat the same NPCs in every town because that's what makes the towns boring.
Also, like Fenrir Lunaris said, don't give everyone the same dialect. Switch
between them.
Quote: | Little kid: Can I pweesh have shum candy? |
Quote: | Grouchy old man: Outta my house ya young whippersnappers *wheeze* |
Quote: | Gangsta: I gotsta get my dough up in dis' joint you know what I'm sayin'? |
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pharo212
Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 52
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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because of how I play, I find and talk to all NPCs, because I play very carefully. LIke, before I even go into a dungeon, I lvl up at least 3 times for no real reason, but to be prepared. Also, I try and do all the side-quests. |
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Clamps Slayer of the Moon
Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 35
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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(OMG FIRST POST EVAR WHOO!)
*Ahem*
The important thing about towns isn't size, it's density. Every NPC, I think, should contribute something, anything, to the game. They should generally all do one or more of the following:
1.) Provide information on the game world (exposition). This is difficult to do naturally, and even professional games tend to be bad at it. Generally, an NPC should imply information, rather than outright stating it. If the forest next to the hero's village has a cave in it, there's no reason for an NPC to go "There's a cave in the forest!". The hero probably already knows that. "Where's Johnny? If he's playing in the forest cave again, I swear by the gods he's getting a beating", is generally smoother, and more interesting. (More on this later). NPCs can also conflict with each other, which I'd actually kind of encourage a little.
2.) Offer a sidequest of some kind. This is a pretty basic one, and doesn't really need much explanation. The Shadow Hearts series has a lot of sidequests that happen to unlock new skills for your party, but that can be a bit of a carrot on a stick to look around, rather than making the player actually WANT to.
3.) Say something that elicits a response. If an NPC exposits that the local elf king likes to eat puppies, perhaps the elven thief might have something to say about that. The Knights of the Old Republic games are really good at this. Besides being more interesting, the can also provide some character development for your party members. If the player controls his party, then certain characters will react to certain NPCs differently, which allows for more reply value, as the player does quests with different party members to see how they react.
4.) Just be interesting. Just because an NPC only has ten seconds of screentime, doesn't mean he has to be bland. Is there a teacher in that classroom? Have him hate his students! Does the evil city have a lot of homeless people? How many of them think they're covered in spiders? Bad guy taken over the city? Maybe some people didn't even notice, and are now confused. In less wacky examples, maybe someone LIKES the evil empire, because it brought the world Doomritos. Maybe there's an NPC who gives bad information. That kind of thing. NPCs can have strong personalities that would grate after 10 seconds, because they're only around for 10. Use it from time to time. Having NPCs have differing opinions also encourages the player to talk to them all, in order to learn the whole story.
ETA: 5.) Have them affect the Karma Meter, if the game has one, or relationship values, or things of that nature, depending on the player's choices. Again, Knights of the Old Republic.
That's off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more things creative people can do with their NPCs. |
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Dorumagesu Buffalo Sabres fan who loves Linkin Park
Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 12 Location: London, Ontario
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:15 am Post subject: Examine throughly |
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I examine everywhere in the town, but don't talk to NPC's, cuz they usually give you worthless trivia. Searching throughly can get you items or money, which most times aren't very good items, but you can sell them. The only time I talk to NPC's in an RPG is a) there's an event that requires you to talk to EVERY NPC in the town/castle, b) when I'm bored, or c) I need the "worthless trivia" because I'm stuck. _________________ 国ã®ç‚ºã€€é‡ã努を 果ã—å¾—ã§ã€€çŸ¢å¼¾å°½ãæžœã¦ã€€æ•£ã‚‹ãžæ‚²ã—ã (General Kuribayashi (1891-1945)) |
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Rya.Reisender Snippy
Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 821
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:22 am Post subject: |
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I usually explore everything, but often I can't enjoy the game anymore because of all the useless dialogue in the towns.
I guess the better way to play is to skip the towns, unless you can get items. _________________ Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) |
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