Ideas for recruiting/managing companions

[Mati9319]

If I'm not mistaken, it was already stated that there will be a possibility of recruiting NPCs to join us in Sui Generis.

I've decided to expand this concept a bit and post my ideas on few things.

Recruiting people:

• we can ask anyone to join us,
• not everyone's gonna want to join us,
• if someone agrees to join us, there'll be two conditions:
  1. we need to pay this NPC some money (no one's gonna help us for free, right?). The better is their equipment and skills, the more they'll want us to pay them. This payment's gonna cover the first hour of NPC's "employment",
  2. we HAVE to pay this NPC some money at the beginning of every next hour. The amount would be lower than the first payment and would also be dependent on NPC's equipment and skills.

Companion's behavior during "employment":

• if we refuse to pay our companion the money from condition no. 2, they can act in two different ways:
  • take offense, abandon us and NEVER want to join us again,
  • get really angry and attack us.
• we can peacefully disband with our companion at any moment, but under one condition: we paid them for the current hour,
• recruited NPCs are gonna simply follow us by default,
• if some animal, monster or human attacks us, our companion's gonna fight them... unless they'll get scared of enemy and run (dependable on our companion's equipment and skills), which'd cause them to abandon us and probably never want to join us again, because of the stress and danger we exposed them to,
• there would always be some risk of our companion betraying us during "employment". In other words, they'd simply become our enemy and attack us out of nowhere, preferably aiming for a backstab.

Commanding our companions:

• we'd be able to give commands to our companions:
  • selecting a place on the ground or an enemy would make selected companion focus their attention on,
  • commanding our companions to "execute", would make them approach anything/anyone they're focused at and (depending on what it is) take a position or attack.

I'm out of ideas for now.

 

[ZaratanCho]

That's too simplistic and treating NPCs as tools rather than people. I am sure they have pretty good idea of how stuff like that will work. I like the idea of being able to ask anyone(though 98% should flat out refuse, probably ;d).

There can be many reasons to work together with someone and have others join you in whatever it is you are doing, not just you paying them(maybe you find a bunch of people and you agree to go in the underworld together then split whatever valuables you find when you return). Money may work for some mercenaries and what not, but obviously their loyalty may be questionable and even mercenaries may refuse the job. Most people wouldn't risk their lives with little cause, different from most games where 'adventuring' is a thing and death is treated with little concern.

In my opinion you shouldn't be giving straight up 'commands' to companions/allies, unless they are hired mercenaries or you are in a position of authority/command and what not. Even then it shouldn't be a given that they will do exactly as you told them. You ask/suggest them to do something, wether they do it or not will depend on many things.

A lot of that stuff and some of your suggestions are things that should just work with how the AI is going to be. Each NPC has a whole bunch of properties that form their personalities, goals with different priorities etc. And they consider those things and the environment in the current situation to make a decision on how to act. In theory if you ask your friend to wait at a certain spot and watch your back they will not necessarily wait for you there until you return, something might happen and they may leave, maybe they can get bored or you took so long they decided something is wrong and decided to do something else instead of wait on point for eternity ;d

I can't wait to try and create some sort of secret society or organization in SG haha, hopefully it will work.

 

[Mati9319]

Well, I'm not gonna lie. All the things you mentioned are pretty much on point. The ideas I posted were merely a raw schematic of how things may work, but executing them with consideration of what you've written would give a perfect outcome.

I can't wait to try and create some sort of secret society or organization in SG haha, hopefully it will work.

Would be nice, but probably also really, REALLY DIFFICULT (which is good!). While finding and hiring/convincing some mercenaries to join us shouldn't be that hard, keeping them loyal to us is gonna be quite a challenge. Not to mention finding (maybe creating?!) a proper place for our organisation's headquarters.

 

[Pc Genie]

Frankly, it makes these 'companions' almost sound as bad as real life thugs. I'd pay them to sign a legally binding contract under God to support me and act as bodyguards in exchange for a regular wage, they'd then betray me for my loot, I'd learn to horribly disembowel them every single time and just go lone wolf eventually.
Putting the AI in pain, those buggers.

I like the idea from Mount & Blade: Warband where companions really are such, liking or disliking certain types of other recruitable companions and actions the player performs, nurturing loyalty and skill over time. Having plotlines and fascinating stories develop from them as well like they do in Fallout 4 would be even better still.

In summary: I hope recruitable companions will be riveting little additions to the game's story and useful backup in times of need, not the arrogant little shites I stab in the face for bloody breakfast!

"That's for joining those brigands."