Question about NPC contacts

bberge1701

I'm just getting started with the Foundry, and I'm looking for some advice on how to implement something (if it's even possible).

What I'm hoping to achieve is for the player to talk to a character on a ground map, then have that character (or a copy of that character) follow the player around. Is there a way to do this?

spiritborn

bberge1701 wrote: »

I'm just getting started with the Foundry, and I'm looking for some advice on how to implement something (if it's even possible).

What I'm hoping to achieve is for the player to talk to a character on a ground map, then have that character (or a copy of that character) follow the player around. Is there a way to do this?

no there isn't, though as with everything you can sort of fake it by having patrol NPC group go from point A to Point B with the player but this needs a rather linear map and will start to look weird if the player doesn't move at same pace as the NPC group.

bberge1701

Thanks for the reply! I did some additional research myself, and came to the same conclusion.

I'd be happier with that if I had some way of turning off the NPC group when it reached point B, or substituting them with stationary NPCs at that point. Is there some clever way of doing that? So far, I think all the triggers I've seen rely on some player action, not the action of the NPC group.

I suppose if the NPCs fought another group, defeating them could turn off the first group. However, in my story the group I want to move around are supposed to be non-combatants.

duncanidaho11

I'll point to my mission "Epoch Part 1" for a demonstration on how to get around this (specifically the character Iliam's appearance on the second map.) With NPC's that are supposed to be following the player, I simply tie incidental pop-up dialog to reach markers (and the odd static NPC set to spawn/despawn with progression) and let those brief conversations (and resulting psychological impressions) do the work of elaborate patrol paths and triggers (which will inevitably still feel artificial.)

captpfdennis

I have done it, with mixed success, by placing the patrol NPC on a timer. When the timer is up, the patrolling NPC despawns and a static NPC spawns. It's a pain to set up, but surprisingly works about 75% of the time. Even if it fails, it just fails to be perfect. It can't harm the mission at all. The challenge is always making the timer, more than setting up the NPC. The mobs you use in the timer should be melee mobs or they'll be explosions from weaponry. One mob should easily overpower the other, or the timer can last way too long. If it feels too short, just have the 2nd mob spawn on completion of the 1st and use that one as the trigger.The mobs also can't be too far away from the main action or it may not spawn properly.

I also usually set the patrolling NPC at a speed of 12 or 13. That's the average jogging speed of the player, barring the player sprinting, which you hope they do not do. I always tell the player up front not to try blasting through the mission. They just aren't designed to be played that way, especially when so much work goes into making them. lol.

It's time consuming to fine tune, especially when you have to preview over and over. It may also need tweaking post publish as pathing changes occur. It's patience and practice, but you can get some cool results.