NPC Schedules/Routes
Added 2023-09-12 17:20:33 +0000 UTCMost of what we’ve been working on isn’t visual, so I haven’t posted anything recently. But I decided I could probably post with some information on the biggest thing we’ve changed, NPC Schedules!
Previously, NPCs had a number of ‘routes’ that they could choose from. The game would look at whether it was a school day and, before we changed it, weather. This would set up their pathing for the entire day. The only problems with this were that if we wanted to make a slight change, say Noah staying inside because it’s raining, we’d need an entire whole route for the entire day. This would take some time to set up. Secondly, since the entire day would be set by one route, the NPCs would quickly become predictable and just robots moving along a path. While nice and I was so proud of my self for getting the original system working, we have decided to update it!
With major help from MyLittlePony on our Discord, we have created the new NPC Schedule System! This system divides the day into 8 Periods (Such as Late Morning, Early Afternoon, etc.). At the start of the day, the game will look at the day of the week, weather, quests, other NPC Routes, etc. And will assign a schedule ‘Block’ to each ‘Period’. This means that the NPCs will be much more varied in what the do, making them seem more life-like, along with making it much easier to add new schedules. If I want to add a schedule where NPCs can go to the Arcade after school, I don’t need to make a whole new day schedule, but rather just a new block in the right period.
In simple terms, NPC Routes used to be rolling 1 die to determine what the entire day would be. Now, you roll 8 dice and mix them together. It is super cool and I can’t wait to see what I can do with it!
Anyway, have a good day and I hope to be able to share more with you soon.
