NPC behaviour according to fame/infamy

[1Prelude]

I thought it was dumb that being a level 30 hero, grand champion of the arena, etc etc had no effect whatsoever on the behavior of bandits and whoever else you encounter. It would be nice to see a mod which makes lower level unfriendly npcs run for their lives when they see you coming according to the amount of fame or infamy your character has.

[Vagrant0]

I thought it was dumb that being a level 30 hero, grand champion of the arena, etc etc had no effect whatsoever on the behavior of bandits and whoever else you encounter. It would be nice to see a mod which makes lower level unfriendly npcs run for their lives when they see you coming according to the amount of fame or infamy your character has.

Two reasons. First it would require adding scripts to every single NPC, which is just a bad idea no matter how it is done, especially when many people already use mods which affect NPC behavior.

 

Second, the complications that would result from those scripts may often be unwanted. If you were wanting to go around hunting bandits, it would certainly make your job harder if they were constantly running from you (like deer). And in some cases, their running away could lead to the accidental death of other NPCs. If you have a companion, that companion may also end up trying to chase after the fleeing NPC, causing more problems. Additionally, any responsible script (one which doesn't draw alot of processing power for every NPC the script is on) would only function if the player was the current combat target, Which would probably lead to unusual behavior. And then there's the case of being stuck in combat because of an NPC starting combat, then fleeing right away.

 

That said, fame and infamy do play a part in NPC behavior, it was just kept to a minimum because of complications which would result from being too well liked by normally aggressive things (fined for attacking bandits) or hated by townspeople. The logic behind someone running away from their chance at making a name for themselves by killing you also is also questionable.

[1Prelude]

I don't believe it would be as difficult as you say. MMM causes opponents to run if they take enough damage, and OOO causes some animals to run away from you if your level is high enough or if you appear aggressive. I'm not saying that you would then become a god and people for miles would run in terror, I'm just saying that there would be a higher chance. Sure, some NPCs would be looking to get a name, but then again many would decided to pick on someone smaller and less armed then themselves.

 

So I disagree that the logic behind it is off, but by all means if someone didn't like the idea then they don't have to download it.

[Vagrant0]

I don't believe it would be as difficult as you say. MMM causes opponents to run if they take enough damage, and OOO causes some animals to run away from you if your level is high enough or if you appear aggressive.

And that is exactly where most of the problems with such a mod lie. You would not be able to use both mods at once without conflicts since they affect the same things. Since most people use mods which affect combat behavior or NPC scripting, the way something like this would have to be done would only create problems with those mods.

[1Prelude]

Load order, or use Wrye Bash.

[Vagrant0]

Load order, or use Wrye Bash.

A change to an NPC's script will override any existing scripting on that NPC. A change to an NPCs combat style will override any other change to that combat style. With NPC scripting it is an all or nothing change, you cannot have two mods which change the same NPCs scripts function properly at the same time. Given the amount of things in such mods which are dependant on that scripting, overwriting it with your own scripts would not be recommended. And loading your mod before MMM or whatever would essentially change nothing.

 

Nevermind the fact that those mods add new definitions of creatures and NPCs which would be totally unaffected because they are part of that mod.

[1Prelude]

Aight well no need to get your panties all in a bunch about it. I didn't ask how compatible such a mod would be with others. My question was, can it be done? To which I assume the answer is, yes it can.

 

Try not to be so negative. It's discouraging.

 

Perhaps this mod idea could be something incorporated into a future MMM release.

[Wednesday17]

Curious, after my character was Champion and Crusader and everything, the highwayman on the bridge to the IP was friendly to her in about 80% of their encounters. But he never got any money from her.

 

I dunno, maybe that one is an exception, an easteregg perhaps?