[MUD-Dev] Re: Respecting NPCs

[Bruce Mitchener]

T.A.J.BARTON wrote:

> So, how to invest them with some sort of personality? The answer
> might well be to give them shift work and a social life.

> Shift work is easy since most of these games have an internal
> clock. A lot also have an inn or tavern of some kind. So...

> NPC wakes up (spawns) at the inn, walks over to the tavern, sits
> down (having breakfast) then goes to the shop where he does
> vendor-things for eight hours. At the end of his shift, he goes
> off to the tavern for a few hours (NPCs do like strong ale, after
> all) and then goes back to the inn and its bed.

In your gameworld, does night and day matter to the PCs at all?  If
yes, how does it matter?  Are shops closed during some hours of the
day?  Or do night/day change the success of actions in the world?
Do taverns stop serving alcohol at some time in the morning?

If not, then why would having NPCs do shift work make much of a
difference?

One other thing would be the computational load of simulating a
large enough number of NPCs at a sufficient level of detail.  How
many do you have running around your game world?  How many do you
need to provide a rich enough appearance of a city environment and a
meaningful experience for the player?

Or are there alternative approaching to modelling NPCs and
inhabitants of the world that provide enough detail/interest,
perhaps something like the virtual crowds in The Eternal City?

  - Bruce

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