NPCMod and Addons

[Guest]

There are a nice variety of Bandit type entities in the Add On packs, and it seemed fitting to create a Bandit Settlement out in the Wilderness which can be RWG'd to any Biome. This settlement is just getting some detail and will then be populated for play testing. The dynamics are very different when setting up a POI for ranged hostiles. ^^

Out in the snow Biome.



And the darker Wasteland/Burnt Forest.



And thanks to @MichaelL. for allowing O.D Hugh Manatie Dirigible POI to become a main feature of the compound.

 

[Guest]

Just testing a mixed group of Bandits with some only melee, some only range, and others mixed. Getting the balance is fun and a run through with a 1:4 ratio for ranged felt comfortable. That may well change though as the NPC Mod continues to add more sophistication.

Without sharing too much, so it doesn't ruin player's own run throughs, the muzzle flashes are awesome and still runs silky smooth.



And the Bandits do not hesitate to keep you out of their territory. And with the random spawning, you just never know who is coming to greet you first.



Plenty of fun with the NPC Mod Add On characters.



And this will just add another layer to Vanilla default game play.

We'll have our regular Zombies going up in Game Stage for Fetch, Clear, and Power Up, as well as the chance to do all of that with the NPC Mod Add On characters. And with NPC interaction comes the chance to expand with NPC Mod specific Quests. What Vanilla has provided so very well with A20, can be integrated and expanded.

 

[Artemisia]

Hi. SCore: (0-SCore) cannot be downloaded via DownGit.(Including minhaskamal.github.io, yehonal.github.io) Adding .zip file directly as before will avoid confusion and will be more useful.

 

[xyth]

Hi. SCore: (0-SCore) cannot be downloaded via DownGit.(Including minhaskamal.github.io, yehonal.github.io) Adding .zip file directly as before will avoid confusion and will be more useful.

I added a more reliable download link, and an alternative method.

 

[SenpaiThatIngnoresYou]

Just testing a mixed group of Bandits with some only melee, some only range, and others mixed. Getting the balance is fun and a run through with a 1:4 ratio for ranged felt comfortable. That may well change though as the NPC Mod continues to add more sophistication.

Without sharing too much, so it doesn't ruin player's own run throughs, the muzzle flashes are awesome and still runs silky smooth.

View attachment 23410

And the Bandits do not hesitate to keep you out of their territory. And with the random spawning, you just never know who is coming to greet you first.

View attachment 23411

Plenty of fun with the NPC Mod Add On characters.

View attachment 23412

And this will just add another layer to Vanilla default game play.

We'll have our regular Zombies going up in Game Stage for Fetch, Clear, and Power Up, as well as the chance to do all of that with the NPC Mod Add On characters. And with NPC interaction comes the chance to expand with NPC Mod specific Quests. What Vanilla has provided so very well with A20, can be integrated and expanded.

I had a non hostile gina from the raider gurlz pack living with me for a bit. I am not sure if they seek out player bedrolls or if this just showed up, but it was a nice organic playing experience. I found myself modifying my base ( the destroyed urgent care office) so that she can move more freely and shoot at zombies, and she took care of aggroed night zombies and screamers for me. Really changed the game up and it's a shame it's not a vanilla feature

 

[xyth]

I had a non hostile gina from the raider gurlz pack living with me for a bit. I am not sure if they seek out player bedrolls or if this just showed up, but it was a nice organic playing experience. I found myself modifying my base ( the destroyed urgent care office) so that she can move more freely and shoot at zombies, and she took care of aggroed night zombies and screamers for me. Really changed the game up and it's a shame it's not a vanilla feature

Thanks, We are just getting started.  

What we struggle the most with is near zero feedback on features and functionality.  We really need to know what folks like, whats broken, whats really needed.  

 

[ktrain]

Thanks, We are just getting started.  

What we struggle the most with is near zero feedback on features and functionality.  We really need to know what folks like, whats broken, whats really needed.  

What I Like:

Hirable NPC help, at least the ones with guns

Setting the NPC to guard on top of my horde base

Birds

Spiders

Custom zombies

Whats Broken:

Baker was hirable and he was good, then for no apprent reason he was made not hirable, and now he is useless...why keep him in the mod at all in that case? This one kinda really irked me, and you said you MIGHT change it back, but nothing was done...

NPCs can get in your way, you should be able to noclip right thru them just like other actual players, I mentioned this one before..

NPCs can kill you even in Godmode, although you don't die until you turn off Godmode, you can't do anything once you reach that state

If my friend hires an NPC, then leaves the server but I am still there, I can "steal" his hired NPC by hiring it myself

NPCs in follow mode are wandering too far away and getting themselves killed, I mentioned this one before also...

Too much spam in server console make it difficult to find the root cause of a problem, specifically all the "Locks" related console spam- I am not using locks, adavanced locks is not enabled, yet it still keeps telling me it won't work because the locks plugin isnt loaded, well duh..why keep telling me?

Whats Really Needed:

An easily configurable option to enable/disable specific NPCs or Zombies from each "Pack", and by easy I am not referring to editing entitygroups.xml because that is NOT easy

All NPCs which are not hirable should be hostile like Harley, instead of just a waste of CPU (looking at you Baker!)

My opinion:

0-SCore should make releases when changes are made that affect the NPCs, there have been MANY updates to SCore since the last official release on Github, why aren't more releases being published?

Some of the fixes are CRITICAL to proper NPC operation, but the average person doesnt know they can download the source code and use it that way, they just look at releases and see the newest release is 28 days ago and think they are good to go.

If you say you accept feedback in this thread, but do nothing to address the feedback given, people will stop giving feedback IMHO

 

[bdubyah]

Expecting changes simply because you give feedback is kind of silly. 

SCore is changing constantly but until it is tested it usually isn't released to the masses. Same with NPCmod updates. 

And I don't think every NPC should be hireable at all. Not everyone would be willing to help you no matter how much you'd pay them. Look at them as others just trying to make it on their own. Certainly not a waste of CPU. 

And what is easier than commenting out an entity in xml? What do you want, an entirely new menu or something? It would be that or making each entity it's own mod, and that's asking more than you probably realize. Making a few small changes to the xml is not hard. So either learn that or deal with whatever entities you dont like. 

 

[xyth]

A few of these are possibly new bugs, thanks.  The baker is already converted; that and many other bug fixes are in our beta testers hands.  We are working on some issues you did not mention that warrant greater use of our time.  Sorry we are not updating as fast as you might like but last time I checked we were not getting paid to do this nor is anyone being charged to use it.  But I do value the input.  For that I thank you. 

 

[ktrain]

Expecting changes simply because you give feedback is kind of silly...

Not expecting so much as salivating...perhaps I need to mention again HOW TOTALLY F'IN AWESOME THIS IS!!!

I personally appreciate everything all mod authors are doing, I know it is not expressed as often as should be, but what can you do?

Feedback is historically generally negative in nature, thats just how it works I guess

And I don't think every NPC should be hireable at all. Not everyone would be willing to help you no matter how much you'd pay them. Look at them as others just trying to make it on their own. Certainly not a waste of CPU.

Not that they ALL need to be hirable, but like I said, if they're not hirable, and they're not hostile, what is the point of them?

At the very least they should not look at you like expecting you to talk to them when there is litereally nothing you can do to intereact with them

Making a few small changes to the xml is not hard. So either learn that or deal with whatever entities you dont like. 

Not hard for you, not hard for me...not anymore after a LOT of time spent learning and trying new things with xml modding

Learned it, dealt with it, but there should be an easy way for my noobie steam friend to turn on or off a specific NPC or zed in his own single player game...

Just sayin'

Sorry we are not updating as fast as you might like but last time I checked we were not getting paid to do this nor is anyone being charged to use it.

Again, thanks for all you do, I defintely do not want to come off as unappreciative, I am just very direct

Not really looking for more frequent updates, but if something done in SCore affects something in NPCCore, then it should be released thats all im saying about updates

I check both githubs multiple times daily making sure nothing new is here

I do value the input.  For that I thank you.

You're welcome!

And again thanks to everyone involved in this, it's the most fun since enZombies!

 

[ate0ate]

A baker saved my life recently. I was surprise ambushed by a random straggler zed and out of healing items in a rural barn POI when the baker ran up and started caving in the zombie's head. A damned hero lol.

 

[Guest]

Yes, the Baker is a very resourceful character.

 

[ate0ate]

I have a bit of an affinity for the baker since my first encounter with him back in A19. I was trying out the various zombie/creature/NPC mods for the first time and using khzmusik's factions and suite of tweaks. It was the first night of a rough start so I was just crouching in an emptied house POI and trying to quietly wait out the night since there was some rather creepy unknown things roaming with all of the various mods. I hear the footsteps and snarls of what must've been a roaming horde walking by and begin to, thankfully, fade into the distance. Right then the very distinct sound of my front door opening shocks me back into alertness and I panic a bit. "What can open doors?!" I thought to myself. I was crouched in the kitchen corner so I couldn't see the door but I was squatting and staring towards the hall where who or whatever came in would have to appear. First thing I see is a gloved hand just creeping slowly into view. I was pretty panicked at this point and really curious. Panic was relieved and bemusement set in as that distinct hat materialized from the shadows. The visitor stood in the light staring at me cheerfully. For the first time in my single player experience a fellow survivor found temporary safety in my crumbling temporary base. We quietly waited out the night and he left shortly after dawn. Though our paths never crossed again I realized just how much NPCs can add to the goofy immersion of the game at that moment. For me its not about hiring them or killing them that makes me so love the mod, its the feeling of life the world gains from having them just going about their business and fighting the good fight to stay alive in a cruel zombie apocalypse.

 

[Guest]

its the feeling of life the world gains from having them just going about their business and fighting the good fight to stay alive in a cruel zombie apocalypse.

Yes, this observation really stands out. Regardless of the player's World, they are just doing their thing and paths will periodically cross for better or worse.

 

[xyth]

Added a new NPC Survivor pack by DarkstarDragon

 

[Guppycur]

Funny, I absolutely hate the baker.

 

[RoPa]

I added the new NPC Survivor pack by DarkstarDragon and played for a bit.

While scavenging a gun store I noticed somebody outside walk by the window, the door opened and BLAM! I was dead!

 

[SenpaiThatIngnoresYou]

Thanks, We are just getting started.  

What we struggle the most with is near zero feedback on features and functionality.  We really need to know what folks like, whats broken, whats really needed.  

The problem with being an innovator and a pioneer, is you don't know what is out there. I originally did not like the raider gurls, they did not talk to me. However they grew on me real fast, and i found myself not shooting unless i was shot at. Art happens, and out of pure accident this created a true to life post collapse scenario where you do not know who is hostile and who is not until you get shot at. 

Now what complicates things, is I do not know what you guys are capable of.  So what can we ask for? This complicates things a lot. Should hostile bandits surrender if they take too much damage? Should they try to join the player if they are alone? should they steal from unlocked boxes? What can they be made to do? The npcs really change the game quite a bit. I got machined gunned down right at spawn by a raider. Sometimes you rescue npcs from zombies, and sometimes zombies rescue you from npcs. I mean they do a lot of crazy things. 

Part of me would like to see some type of settlement system, where you place a special land claim, and as you place certain blocks npcs will show up and do work there. the caveat is that this settlement WILL be attacked on horde night, so you will have to defend it. 

 

[ate0ate]

In response to Xyth's request for feedback I can only offer what has been the largest block for me testing things. And this is just me, so please don't think I am demanding anything be changed. Its simply an explanation as to why I have found it difficult to play/test with all of the NPCs. Outside of the zombie/creature spawns the NPCs all occupy the wilderness area which I rely heavily on at the start and for hunting. It currently causes too much congestion having things that way as I spawn in and get shot by bandits or hostiles rather quickly. It also makes hunting an absolute nightmare. I have difficulty testing things if I am not simply playing organically. Like I can't just command spawn things in, get immersed , and tell you what I think. The thing I personally would find most helpful would be a slightly better spawn setup. One that at least keeps hostiles out of that area for the most part, like sticking the bandits and raiders in the desert/snow/wasteland or something similar. Khzmusik had a rather convenient spawn setup for many of the old NPCs in A19 and even had faction bases that were tiered and part of the quest chain. I wouldn't expect anything that involved this soon or anything, but the spawn system was quite nice. Just a reference. I thank you all or your work here. Even early on like this I feel its a significant improvement to the base game. Sadly, I've paid $60 more than once for much less

 

[xyth]

Thanks for the input guys.  It does help.  I agree the spawning areas needs adjusting.  About 4 overhauls are using or are planning to use NPCs in their mods and I'm sure they will adjust those spawns.  Likely we should avoid spawning hostiles in the forest biome as that's where most folks start.  We are in Phase 1 of the NPCMod, and are now close to pushing a major update to stable.  NPC sleepers in specialized POIs will be enabled, giving amazing experiences.  More control over hired NPCs is also in.  Eventually crafting, better looting, settlement etc will happen.  Still bug fixing and adding new features to work around current gameplay issues but looking forward to new features as we go.