NPC Routines: Everybody Eats

[ItsOnlyPersonal]

I always thought it was weird how an NPC could stand in the same spot 24/7 and, while I'm sure this is probably a massive undertaking, I still think it coud be interesting. Basically the idea is to have all NPC's use either an owned bed, or the nearest bed after a certain hour that varies from faction to faction. Settlers would obviously sleep in their respective homes after 8PM until 5AM while Fiends and Raiders would probably sleep only from 2AM to 4AM. Likewise all NPC's should always be on the hunt to satisfy the same needs the player does. Caravans should trade with NPC's randomly and shops and casinos should have their occupants randomized daily (with the exception of the people who work there.) The interaction the people of New Vegas have with one another is so dull compared to a game like Oblivion, where everybody had their own routines that they saw to day in and day out.

 

Here's an excerpt from a Cracked article that may better explain what I mean:

 

"But don't laugh -- every single one of those ancillary background characters with the facial features of sharpened turds leads an entire life completely separate from the player. Every guard, baker, blacksmith, and highwayman wakes up, eats breakfast, goes to work, bullshits with their friends, then goes home and goes to bed, whether you are there to see them do it or not.

 

See, instead of just following a script like non-player characters in most video games, every NPC in Oblivion has a built-in list of needs he or she has to fulfill -- food, sleep, poon-nabbing, etc. If you and your Level 14 Orc Shaman happen to interrupt any one of those needs, say by breaking into an NPC's house and stealing all of his food, the NPC will venture out into the world to find more food for himself. He may get killed by a monster, robbed by a thief, or killed and robbed by a monster thief, or simply return home with a loaf of bread. And in all likelihood, you will never see any of it happen."

 

Probably impossible but whatever. I think it'd be cool.