Informe técnico: NPCs autónomos

Informe técnico: NPCs autónomos

Posted January 31, 2014 by Gorram Reaver



There is no alignment system in Firefly Online. We expect that most captains will decide for themselves those actions with which they’re okay, and those they aren’t. The game won’t judge you if you decide to steal money from orphans, or if you choose to donate half your wages to them. Just like Mal, we expect most captains will be at least somewhat morally ambiguous, sometimes giving the drugs they were sent to steal back to the people who need them, and sometimes kicking that unarmed and helpless thug into the engine.

While Firefly Online itself won’t necessarily penalize you for acting in an overtly “evil”  or “good” way, there’s a strong chance your crew will. And that’s where FFO’s unique loyalty system comes into play: To be successful as a captain, you will need to assemble a diverse crew with many different skill sets. And while that trained gorilla of merc you hire won’t have any problem if you steal from preachers (in fact, it might increase their loyalty), the trained companion with her Core Worlds sensibilities might not cotton to that type of thing at all.

We will cover FFO’s loyalty system in greater depth in a future tech brief, but for now, just know that through your actions (or inaction), you can thoroughly alienate members of your crew. And when their loyalty drops low enough, they will quit.

Losing a key member of your crew that you spent time and resources leveling up is bad enough. But having them come back later to pay you back for whatever thing you did to make them hate you, well, that’s what we mean by an Autonomous NPC — an NPC with their own agenda that they can and will pursue.

Here’s how it works: All NPCs you might meet in your travels are fully drawn characters, with names, faces and background already generated. They live in the game before you meet them, having their own adventures. And they will continue to live in the game after they leave you. That means the companion who quit your crew will still be out there, and another player can hire them. If they do, that player not only gets your old crew member, they also get all the experience and skills they got while working for you. And if they’re reason for departing your crew was severe enough, they can even bring a “revenge” job to their new captain — a revenge job with you as the target!

So, to summarize: NPCs have their opinions about you that are influenced by your actions. Do things they approve of, and not only will they stick around, they’ll be that much better at what they do. Do things they don’t like, or betray them in some way, and eventually they’ll take their leave and probably carry a grudge. And that grudge could have real consequences in the game as you face off against your former crewmember in a future job.

Just like in Firefly, your FFO crew is your family. And no power in the Verse can stop you when you have their full support.

- See more at: https://keepflying.com/game-play/tech-brief-autonomous-npcs#sthash.fpc1vMH9.dpuf