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Melody of the Demon King

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Hostility/Relationship System


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#1 Architect Abdiel

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Posted 13 August 2017 - 10:44 AM

So, first and foremost, I have made the boss for level 1. Which basically means, I just have to place enemies and NPCs and the swamp is done.

But that's not what this is about.

I am adding some features to set this a bit apart from your typical NES/GB inspired Zelda quest. How?

First off there is this, a Hostility and Relationship System based entirely around on String Control Codes and some sword triggers.

Basically, in this quest, I am slightly editing Moosh's NPC script so that there is a Speak to NPC button (Ex3).

The reason this is being done is to set up hostile NPCs who can be triggered if you attack them with a sword.

How this works. Basically NPCs who can be triggered will have an invisible trigger under them which side warps you to a screen for their optional boss battle.

You can figure out how they are triggered with the hostility system.

The hostility system refers to how easy it is to trigger the NPC. NPCs who speak in red text for instance are easily triggered. While NPCs who speak in Blue are not. Enemies who speak in white just can't be triggered. The color of hostile enemies refers to the minimum level of sword you need to trigger them.

By defeating the NPC as an optional boss you will acquire various items, as well as a hidden item which causes that NPC to disappear.

There are consequences to your actions however.

By killing NPCs it will affect the way other NPCs see you, perhaps. So if that NPC has a close relationship with another NPC, it will affect their dialogue. They may refuse to give you information, give you false information, etc...

Killing an NPC isn't always bad however. A hostile bandit for instance will net you a reward. Perhaps even a key to a secret dungeon.

This will not be a massive system like it will be in Despair of the Demon King. But expect a good 15-20 hostile NPCs.
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#2 Eddy

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Posted 13 August 2017 - 10:55 AM

This actually sounds like a really cool idea. I don't think I've seen any quest implement a system like this, so I'm very interested. I guess now I'm curious to see how the text changes, so I might kill everyone lol.



#3 TheLegend_njf

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Posted 13 August 2017 - 03:14 PM

As long as you use more common sense than Bethesda.

 

I don't want an entire group of people attacking me because I accidentally walked near somebody or somewhere I'm not supposed to be. The way people turn on you so quickly in Bethesda games in what's sometimes relatively minor issues are borderline twisted. lol

 



#4 Anthus

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Posted 13 August 2017 - 03:16 PM

This will make any player think twice before stabbing the old man in Zelda 1. I like this idea, and I don't think anything like this has been done in ZC. I'm not sure how I feel about the text color though, but it might be necessary since I don't know everything about the quest. I think it would be cooler, and less intrusive if all text was one color, and it was up to the player to discern whether or not they should try attacking the NPC based on in game context clues, such as what they say, where they are, etc.

 

@NJF: I actually got stuck in Skyrim cause of that. There's one part where you end up in a jail, and lose all your stuff. I attacked a guard, and they were pissed, and kept killing me every time I re-loaded my save. I had no way to fight them, and they never gave me a chance to pay them, since they were too busy clouting me to death in an endless loop that resulted in me not finishing the game on that save (or ever, actually).


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#5 Architect Abdiel

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Posted 13 August 2017 - 06:48 PM

Yeah. Basically the consequence is just going to be information. This could just be random dialogue change. But I may make killing that NPC do a screen state carryover that makes a different NPC hostile.

And perhaps Anthus. I am still working oit the kinks. It could just be the color of key words. Shoshin just think idea fun.
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#6 Zolias

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Posted 14 August 2017 - 03:03 AM

As long as you use more common sense than Bethesda.

 

I don't want an entire group of people attacking me because I accidentally walked near somebody or somewhere I'm not supposed to be. The way people turn on you so quickly in Bethesda games in what's sometimes relatively minor issues are borderline twisted. lol

 

You forgot the whole Skyrim "I killed a chicken by accident, and now the whole world's against me!" thing

 

Anyway, as long as this kinda thing doesn't happen (Link would get 1-shot by said chicken anyway), then it sounds like an amazing idea


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#7 Timelord

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Posted 26 August 2017 - 03:10 AM

It probably won't come as a big shocker, but this is something that I did in LoE, to a sickening degree. In fact, it is the entire reason that I made that elaborate, string table manipulation scheme, so that I could look up a dialogue tree for any NPC in the game world, apply the proper 'attitude modifier' to them, and somehow keep a chain of relationships going with a relatively gigantic cast of characters.

This factored in a reputation system, honour, and specific-NPC situations, as well as second, and third order interactions that affect both the story (plot) and individual attitudes of game world NPCs toward the player-character. I did not use the ZQuest string table for any of it, as the mechanics are too complex to track, using that.

For a long time, this is where the ZScript limitations hit me rather hard, as I was giving each NPC a function with all of their strings, but it was too easy to hit a stack overflow by filling functions with strings.

I eventually built out a mechanic for making string lookups and other things with special tokens, and embedding strings into their own internal tables, but this is also a chore, and it is slow, leading to a need to prefetch data by using...you guessed it, another lookup table for the index position of the tokens for each massive string. The lack of genuine 2D arrays in the language is somewhat of a crutch in this regard.

It seems that you worked out a system that will suffice your needs, but beware taking it too far... It is a mire of not-fun-to-code lookup tables, that you need to track for the lifespan of the game environment, that you can easily compound with each new interaction event.

This will make any player think twice before stabbing the old man in Zelda 1.


Quite. That is in fact, one of the motivations behind what I was doing. Slash the friendly NPC, and it could trigger a death scene of that character, which changes plot, or various environmental variables; or in some situations, a battle. Electing to randomly battle friendly characters can result in a quick Game Over, as you won't know the strength of your opponent.

The problem on this end, is making these interesting, and diverse. Scripting forty boss battles that may never be triggered by anyone becomes yet another chore.

Edited by ZoriaRPG, 26 August 2017 - 03:15 AM.


#8 Architect Abdiel

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Posted 26 August 2017 - 08:28 AM

Oh yeah. Of course Zoria. This is just a really simplified version. I intend to keep track of it with written notes. And then my goal would be to write the strings for a quest line at a time.

I've already for instance made first 62 strings item pickup messages.

But yeah, this is just a simple system. Probably no more than 15-20 optional bosses. If I ever actually finish Despair of the Demon King, that one will probably be much more filled with these kinds of things.

But I don't know when I will get back to work on that as I am doing some real life things with my girlfriend.


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