Life...

[TroloWiseEared]

This discussion is about the improvements to be seen in both Creature Ecology, Botony, and Civilization social tasks.

.

The following is a list of refinements, modifications, and improvements to the Civiliazation aspect of Skyrim.

If your like me, cities and villages are just another grand adventure, and below is how i would make that adventure grander and more immersive

.

-------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Population+

-TRAVELERS

*Travelers are a form of npc which roam from settlement to settlement, usually spending the night in Inns, Sleeping rolls, or even resident's homes(as they have friends in many cities)

*There use is to be 'filler'. To increase the population size of cities the player percieves. (They do not ALL have to be named npc with unique dialogue,but some should)

*A very cool aspect of travelers, is that they can change the activity level of settlements Drastically.On day Riverwood is empty and desolate, and everyone's inside. The next the town is filled to the brim with passerbys, checking out the local markets and striking up conversations with the locales and sharing news of lands far away.

-TRAVELING MERCHANTS

*Are spawned with a reoccuring 100 gold each, they travel from destination to destination selling goods. When they reach a settlement or city they head to the local stores, and perform transactions, and sell what they aquired in the previous city.

*They usually travel in small groups with other merchants, as well as Companions Guild bodyguards (to protect them from bandits,PC,and creatures)

*They store their goods in pack horses(200 carrying capacity each)

*They sleep in inns.If they are not in a settlement they Roll out their sleeping beds in a circle around a campfire, they also make.

*Their storage packs on horses are heavily locked.

*There use is-To provide population filler, and to Add Npcs to roads.ALSO- the player, and other traveling npcs can buy from them while on the road.

-TRAVELING HEROES

*Are spawned skilled fighers,mages, and thieves who wander from village to city.

*They are not spawned in groups, but if they happen upon any other travveler on a road they will offer them escort to their next settlement instead of clearing out caves.(As to stop them from clearing out every cave for the player.)

*Heroes will not travel together unless they are spawned together.

*Heroes Will attempt to complete radiant A.I. generic missions given by Villagers.(the player can compete with them for the glory)

*Heroes will also take up bounty hunting missions when they come upon Wanted poster in town(they mostle go after radiant story generated bandits, but they can come after YOU)

*When they come upon Caves or bandit forts with guards out front, they will enter and attempt to clear the cell.

*They are coded to each pick up loot from dead enemies, and sell them to buying merchants (traveling or local)

(So if you come upon Troll Teeth in a local shop, it means that a hero or adventurer has come by recently)

TRAVELING THUGS-

-Are bandits with minimal armor and weak weapons who travel in groups from settlement to settlement commiting crimes

-They are not considered hostile by other Npcs, but they will randomly engage Npcs and mug them taking their gold. They wont kill.

-Killing them in public is considered murder if they do not attack first.

-Bounty hunters usually sent after these npcs after they commit so many crimes

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Villager/Citizen Leisure Activities+

GAMES

*Chess & card tables should be set out all across Skyrim, Npcs can randomly sit down at one end, Inviting passerbys to play witht them.(COMMON IN BARS)

*Stools should be located beside riverbeds and ponds, Npcs can randomly sit down and take out fishing poles and attempt to catch fish.(NPC EXCLUSIVE)

*Children should play tag,hide & seek, and chase eachother along side their dogs

*Npcs should engage eachother in drinking games in Bars

*Soldiers and warriors should spar with Eachother(damage turned off)

*Upon completing their daily itinerary Npcs should make a RANDOMISED decision as where they would like to shop. They will actually spend money they aquired during the week, (simulating wages 10g for farmers & poor/30Gp forGuards & Regular/40-100gp for Rich & merchants)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Village & city Animals coding

*Stray dogs*Racoons*Rats*Birds-

should Roam the outsides of town and attempt to steal Food from outdoor markets

*If caught by npcs, they will attack them

*Cats should roams the rooftops with other cats hunting Mice,Birds and Scavengers

*Falcons & owls should hunt cats,Mice, and scavengers.

*Dogs should Usually accompany children and guard them.

WILD

Deer,Elk & Bear should consume alchemical Ingrediants on the ground removeing the ingrediant temporarily.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRIME

*Beggers should attempt to pickpocket, Sneak & steal from everyone they have low dispostions with.

*Guards will bring them in each time, and have them spend a few nights in jail.

*Being too drunk in public guards will bring you into jail to sleep it off.

*Guards may abuse you or others, depending on their personality and disposition.

*Guard captains or thug leaders may tell there men to target certain people or the player if they dont like them.

 

 

 

THATS ALL I HAVE FOR NOW, I WILL ADD MUCH MORE LATER. PLEASE, ALL INPUTS AND IDEAS ARE WELCOME.

[Horgr]

You have...really thought this out. Im not sure how much I like heros. I would be ok with them so long as they were pretty rare, and not doin all the radient quests before I could get to them

As for fishing...I want to fish too.

[Cyberote]

Yeah I dont like the heroes. Nobody shall overshadow Dhovakiin!!!

 

Id also like to fish too. Other than that, everything else seems pretty cool.

[Adrius2]

Chess games with NPCs. I'm sold, that would be amazing.

 

Could make it a bit similar to The Witcher's Dice system... playing certain characters make your "chess fame" grow, progressing you through a quest to play better and better players.

 

Mmm... and you could have different chess tables and pieces... like playing one Dunmer dude who has a set where the pieces are made in the form of creatures from Morrowind...

 

And you could tie it in with the Radiant AI... like having a friend who comes over daily to play a game with you...

Edited October 9, 2011 by Adrius2

[Odai]

Well Sean... you went over the top again.

 

First. I would like to say that a lot of the ideas are nice, but Bethesda has gone FAR beyond what most would have asked in terms of Random Encounter NPCs

 

Ones that we know of.- SCR, TIL, Thalmor, Monks, Aedra Worshipers, people lost in the forest, hunters, companions, bandits, conjurers/ necromancers, priests doing a burial...etc.

 

Nobody has truely gotten a decent look into city life, though we know dragons attack cities and towns, the cities (at least one) have sewer systems filled with thugs... and a slew of no-name-NPCs

 

Now as far as we know, they all serve a purpose. Monks heal you/ cure disease, SCR & TIL go hunt eachother down... baddies are... bad.

 

But Adventurers taking the AI quests... like we have mentioned on the FB boards, shouldnt actually be able to compete with the PC.

 

They can get missions to places of high level (getting them killed), or they can be assigned to go gather ingredients/ scout out areas that the player has cleared out before. Then when the player talks to these NPCs they will either have horror stories about a dungeon and what they were supposed to find (not assigned as a mission, but it suggests where some nice equipment is) or they will say "watch out along the ______ road. Saw a couple of baddies poking around the other day" suggesting that a place you have been to before has been respawned.

 

Now the question for mine is... if each faction were to get these NPCs and they go on a mission 1x a week (allowing time for the mission, and time for the player to talk to them), what type of missions/ places would they go to?

SCR/ TIL

Companions

College oW

Thieves guild

DB

[TroloWiseEared]

But Adventurers taking the AI quests... like we have mentioned on the FB boards, shouldnt actually be able to compete with the PC.

They can get missions to places of high level (getting them killed), or they can be assigned to go gather ingredients/ scout out areas that the player has cleared out before. Then when the player talks to these NPCs they will either have horror stories about a dungeon and what they were supposed to find (not assigned as a mission, but it suggests where some nice equipment is) or they will say "watch out along the ______ road. Saw a couple of baddies poking around the other day" suggesting that a place you have been to before has been respawned.

---------------------------

EXACTLY! :D thats what im trying to say. i dumbed it downto where they are nolonger the quest completers based on timeline >TO> they engage in Lower Based GENERIC quests given by npcs. Like :Find me this really expensive ale in Riften TO:Some Bandits are hold up in a dungeon with my daughter.Save her.

They can ATTEMPT higher up quests. But will fail. JUST SEEING THEM THERE is what counts.

P.S. thats a good question, im gonna have to get back to that later though

[TroloWiseEared]

Well Sean... you went over the top again.

 

First. I would like to say that a lot of the ideas are nice, but Bethesda has gone FAR beyond what most would have asked in terms of Random Encounter NPCs

 

Ones that we know of.- SCR, TIL, Thalmor, Monks, Aedra Worshipers, people lost in the forest, hunters, companions, bandits, conjurers/ necromancers, priests doing a burial...etc.

 

Nobody has truely gotten a decent look into city life, though we know dragons attack cities and towns, the cities (at least one) have sewer systems filled with thugs... and a slew of no-name-NPCs

 

Now as far as we know, they all serve a purpose. Monks heal you/ cure disease, SCR & TIL go hunt eachother down... baddies are... bad.

 

But Adventurers taking the AI quests... like we have mentioned on the FB boards, shouldnt actually be able to compete with the PC.

 

They can get missions to places of high level (getting them killed), or they can be assigned to go gather ingredients/ scout out areas that the player has cleared out before. Then when the player talks to these NPCs they will either have horror stories about a dungeon and what they were supposed to find (not assigned as a mission, but it suggests where some nice equipment is) or they will say "watch out along the ______ road. Saw a couple of baddies poking around the other day" suggesting that a place you have been to before has been respawned.

 

Now the question for mine is... if each faction were to get these NPCs and they go on a mission 1x a week (allowing time for the mission, and time for the player to talk to them), what type of missions/ places would they go to?

SCR/ TIL

Companions

College oW

Thieves guild

DB

 

--------------------------------------

Imperial Legion-

1)There have been reports of some Dunmer attempting to cross the border into skyrim, Take your squad to investigate the( ____)outpost on the border and stop them from entering Skyrim.

Be careful, That is dangerously close to Windhelm. the stormcloaks wont take kindly to your presence.

2)We need you to Escort a military caravn

3)We need you to smith(_)Steel Gauntlets and Shortswords, A military caravan will be there soon to pick it up.

4)Captain(___) is planning an assault on Fort(___). Your squad along with 2 others are being sent to take that fort and hold it against a counter attack.Careful though, The stormcloaks have been recruiting Conjurors from covens lately, so You will be Meeting with A Group of battlemages from The College.(Intertwining questlines & alegiances)

Strorm Cloak Rebellion-

1)Get to The black river road and prepare an ambush on a Imperial troop movement along the road.

2)Head to Riverwood with a Bard, guard him from Dark Brotherhood Assassins while he spreads the word of()

3)Recruit a contingent of Bandits & Conjurers and prepare to defend fort(___) against a coming attack. Captain(____) will be there, so be careful.

4)Support a Dunmer Uprising in a village near Falkreath to destabilise the region so we can move troops in.

College Of Winterhold-

1)We need you to head to Wellspring cave and collect(__) there may be Hostiles, so we Hired a Companion Warrior to escort you.

2)We need you to enchant (_) with(_) and deliver it to (___) but be careful, we have heard the Thieves Guild plans on stealing your (_) upon completion

3)A Villager in Solitude has come to us because his mansion is haunted by a wraith sent by the Dark Brotherhood. The Town Guard has lost a few men trying to kill it.

4)We need you to go collect (No Name Npcs) from outlying villages and bring them back To Solitude to be trained as battlemages.You may Need to use Illusion(skillcheck) to 'persuade' them to follow you(ABDUCTIONS)

Dark Brotherhood-

1)(___) has prayed to the night mother. He wants (NO NAME NPC) killed publcly in Riverwood/

2)Sithis commands that you deliver these letters of Initiationn (we know...) to these four (no name npcs) in Riverwood, Markath, & rorickstead.

3)Sithis command that the following guards (__,__,___,__) be eliminated in their sleep.

4)Train our new brother(no name npc) in Archery

5)The Stormcloaks have sent a Bard to Riverwood, with a Guard. Kill them both before they get there message across/

The Companions-

1)We have been instructed to Send 6 men to help with an Imperial assault on fort(___). Go collect(No Name Npcs) from these villages, and bring them back for training.

2)The thieves guild is planning on looting our weapon stores, Assist the town guard with their patrols.

3)Clear out this cave(___) of Dragr. The Mages guild has agreed to send a Conjuror to assist you.

4)Smith 2 full suits of Dwarven armor for our new recruits(no name npcs)

5)Train our new recruits(No name npcs) in 1 handed, and heavy armor

6)The cleutenant in solitude is in danger from the DB. Go find (Weebam na/lockpicker) and bring him back to increase the lock dificulty on our back door(short time)

Thieves Guild-

1-6) Steal some s***.

----------------------------------------------------------

The key to this system is that each guild is reacting to other guilds current quests. so most guild quests are just down to-

*Collect recruits in your unique manner

*Clear out this cave

*Take this fort/Defend it.

*Meet up with (other guild) and prepare to do this....

*Craft something unique and bring it to this guy

*Escort this shipment/Attack this shipment

*Train and equip recruits.<Npcs dont spawn ans Fighters guild members. They spawn as No Name Npcs in villages, and then go through Collecting/Training/Equiping>(Think stronghold 2)

*And then each guild has there own few unique quest styles.

its not too complex. its simple systems working together to ACTUALLY CREATE a functioning world which the player can help or hinder.

[Fisrion]

Well, Trolo..this is really an awesome system you have thought out. I hope something like this is already in Skyrim and if it is not, I hope it can (and will) be modded in. It would really make the world feel alive and expand the overall experience.

 

For the capturing of forts it would be important that it are minor forts (much like the bandit forts in Oblivion) and that the Stormcloaks as well as the Imperials capture forts (in equal numbers) to make a constant fighting possible without actually changing the situation (since the war will be decided in the main quest).

[Katt7777]

There are a lot of good ideas here I especially liked the chess games or some strange new gambling game like that Caravan game in New Vegas.

 

I for one would like to see NPCs actually have to find or grow the food and water they need. I admit Bethesda has a well played illusion going on here, but the NPCs can pull food and water from thin air if there is none around. I'd like to see some people who would actually starve to death if you didn't help them or if you're the sadistic type you could lock someone up in a jail cell for a week without water and they would die. I couldn't figure out how to mod this one, people kept pulling apples out of their arses.

 

What about vampires, I used to put a command spell on them so they would follow me into the sunlight to no avail. They can also live forever without a drop of blood. This was at least moddable tho.

[TroloWiseEared]

Well, Trolo..this is really an awesome system you have thought out. I hope something like this is already in Skyrim and if it is not, I hope it can (and will) be modded in. It would really make the world feel alive and expand the overall experience.

 

For the capturing of forts it would be important that it are minor forts (much like the bandit forts in Oblivion) and that the Stormcloaks as well as the Imperials capture forts (in equal numbers) to make a constant fighting possible without actually changing the situation (since the war will be decided in the main quest).

yes, but there has to be EFFECT to the guild quests completed by npcs. These are NOT designed for the player. but the player can perform them as well. These are the constant guild quests that Guards,Assassins,Heros,Imperials,Thieves & Mage NPC guild members will perform on a weekly basis.

-

In oblivion, each guild had about 8 npcs in each hall.

They sat around and did nothing, waiting for the player to talk to them. So in reality, YOU were the only one going out on quests. The game just wanted you to pretend the that other guild members were active too. But the key is, that this new system is not just supposed to be an illusion.

-

EX:"hey Player! Me and my Companions are going on a contract to help the Imperial Army assault Fort Farragut....K bye."

(and then they leave the guild hall and dissapear -_- they never actually go and take part in a battle with any real effect. The game just would try to trick you into believeing the world is active. They return 1 week later and tell you how the nonexistant battle went.)

NO

What i want, is a simple ecosystem. I want Bethesda to take the mentality of RTS and Civilization building games and adopt it.

They took the first step with giving Npcs actions. But i fear those may just be animations.

In Riverwood, Why was Hodd running the mill? The lumber is not going to go anywere. Tommorrow he is going to wake up and do the same thing all over again.

There is no effect to be had.

-

WHAT I WANT TO SEE-is that after Hodd has diced up 30 wood, he gives it to an Imperial caravan.(or in a stockpile)

The caravan places the 30 wood in their pack animals inventory then returns to Whiterun.

When they reach Whiterun they give the wood to the Imperial Workshop owner. The workshop owner then Crafts 10 arrows & bows out of it and brings it to the barracks.

There it stays until a new NO NAME NPC is spawned in Riverwood.

The npc heads to an imperial recruiting station in Whiterun were they Equip him in Armor and the wooden Bow from the barracks crafted earlier.

His title changes from 'Riverwood Lumberjack' TO "Imperial Guard."

And he then assumes the role of an Imperial guard.

-

its simple systems working together.

-

Now, back to the guild quests.

-

EX:A quest opens up fro the imperial Army. They spend a few days taking about it. During that time is when the player can Apprach anyone in the guild hall and they will inform the player of the details of the quest.

:The Guild leader is planning an attack on Fort Farragut. held by the stormcloaks.They plan on hiring a squad from the Companions guild to helm them in the battle.

:The player accepts.

:The Imperial captain tells you they will be leaving tommorrow morning.

:You and your troop of 10 other guards alongside the captain run to for farragut.

;When you arive a slur of side missions open up.

*Go sneak up on the fort and tell us if they outnumber us.

*Go collect 12 Harn roots (healing plants) and give them out to the men.(they will use them in battle to heal)

*Can you teach some of the men some Destruction spells?

:The 4 Companions Guild reinforcements arrive and you begin the attack.

:You are asked what role you would like to fill.

/ARCHER/HEALER/WARRIOR/NEGOTIATER/ASSASSIN

The battle commenses.

.

You have killed nearly all of the Stormcloaks in the fort. The enemy captain is held up in his tower with a few survivors.

YOU ARE GIVEN A NEW SET OF CHOICES BY YOUR CAPTAIN

*Heal your comrades and prepare to force open the door

*Pick the lock while under enemy archer fire

*Storm the tower

*Negotiate their surrender

*Assassinate the Captain

:You choose to negotiate with the captain. They surrender.

:The captain Leaves 4 men and you to guard the fort. while they escort the captain to Whiterun to be exocuted. While his soldiers will be imprisoned

:You learn that bandit Marauders will be here by nighfall to Take the fort.

:YOU HAVE A SET OF CHOICES

Repair the gates (Requires lockpicking skillcheck)

Abandon the fort and return to Whiterun and ask for another force to retake the fort.

:Teach your men some conjuration spells to increase your numbers.

:Negotiate with the bandits.

:Head to another bandit fort and pay them to send troops

You choose to spend your time teaching your 4 men Conjuration.

The bandits attack.You fight them all off as an archer atop the high tower but lose 3 men.

The empire sends a troop of 12 men to hold the fort with the empire insignia atop.

The next battle is for the city of Falkreath.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------