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RedMaverickZero
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Joined: 12 Jul 2003
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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JSH357




Joined: 02 Feb 2003
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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 Raspberry!). 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 Oookay... ).

But, uh, yeah. I forgot my point, but I'm sure some of you figured it out. Raspberry!
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RedMaverickZero
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well you've shown the bad, what are examples of things for the townspeople to say that won't be a drug out bore?
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Uncommon
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shadowiii wrote:
I mean, no one here actually READ all 100 text boxes (I hope Oookay... ).


Hi.
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Shadowiii
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

O_o

^_^
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MultiColoredWizard
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Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did that too.
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Dan the Man Entertainment




Joined: 31 May 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 3:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

(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
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:15 am    Post subject: Examine throughly Reply with quote

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.
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Rya.Reisender
Snippy




Joined: 18 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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