Random Events

[oncrack1]

My thoughts on random events, if are to be included:

As the traditional questing system had pretty much been thrown out of the window with this game (and that’s not a totally bad thing either) and you can possibly murder off the main antagonist day one, what can we expect from the random events while the character is traveling or idle in a location? I would be more than happy with fallout/skyrime like events that are randomly triggered but aren’t actually that random (in that whilst the chance for them to occur is, the event if just selected from a list).

Is there a chance that Sui Generis could have even more ‘random’, ‘random events’ which have no predefined variables? For example a random event is randomly triggered which randomly spawns NPC(s) and/or objects…. randomly. Of course there could be rules to these events to stop hundreds of NPCs spawning or too many high level mobs or too much epic loot. I understand this would be harder to code than have specific events but as this is the route the game seems to be traveling down I think this would be much more impressive. However, even if these super random events can’t be included I still feel the game will desperately need some form of chaos or randomness to add to the game, although, the free form questing and story may be enough for most people.

Having these events also reduces the emphaise on the 'main quest' and also means the game will have more playtime and better ........ randomness

Sorry for the long OP.

Thoughts people?

 

[Tony Dye]

My idea for normal animal spawns is that they have a "range" where they live, and they move through the range doing their animal business. If the area can't support their survival or becomes too dangerous, they move on to a new range. In theory, you should be able to hang around an area and run across the animals that live in it... not because you hit their spawn trigger, but because that's where they happen to be at the moment. It lets us do things like ask you to follow a herd of deer in the game if you want to kill more than one or two, rather than waiting some arbitrary time and running over the deer trigger again.

I don't know yet how feasible something like this will be in terms of programming or how it'll survive design discussions going forward, but it's what I have on my concept list right now.

 

[martino]

I don't know yet how feasible something like this will be in terms of programming or how it'll survive design discussions going forward, but it's what I have on my concept list right now.

I guess you could look at the mechanics used in Mount & Blade. Castles, Towns control spawn points (villages), As
different factions gain control of different areas those areas could spawn more of that creature. Naturally you would need to expand on the mechanics.
EG

• If there were to man wolves in one area they would deplete it of food supply and move onto a different area or start raiding villages.
• Kobold communities may be constantly on the move until they find a location free of conflict.

The trick is to keep these faction in relative balance until an outside force disrupts it (PC or the protagonist)

 

[BigT2themax]

While I suppose having random occurences would be necessary for things like spawning objects (say you're walking through the woods and you come across some altar or something with a powerful weapon on it, stuff like that), unless their locations are predetermined when the world is made, I think maybe Tony and Martino's idea of having encounters with enemies or NPCs or creatures just occur naturally by having them wander in an area (and the area moves around too, depending on if the NPCs need to move elsewhere) and be persistent in the world, so you can just come across them.

So, you could come across a group of bandits who just happen to be in the area, and then it turns into a big fight. That would be very cool.

 

[Fawz]

Random events would be awesome, would really fit with this type of game (where gameplay is the focus and things are dynamic) and it would help with the game's longevity.

 

[NoSoAna]

Not sure if I would call it random...

The NPCs are persistant. Deer would also be persistant, but respawn. Taking the idea of Tony a step farther:

So there is the deer, doing deer things and if the player stumbles across the path he can go hunting. Now if a robber runs around, he would be on the prowl for loners or possibly small groups he believes to be able to overpower. So from the POV of the robber it would be logical to attack (or run away/hide if the party is too big). "Random" would only be that the robber would be on a certain place at a certain time. In this way the whole world is a big web of interactions (traveling merchant - robber, hunter - deer) and possibly passingbys (like merchant ignores deer and robber ignores the poor but armed hunter). Where the player may make a bit of difference by reducing the robber population (or the number of merchants. :evil: )

 

[Mimel]

The idea of "respawns" to me is not random. I believe the SG-BM philosophy, as shown in Tony post earlier here, is to create an open-world where death is permanent for NPCs and creatures. I would love to see an environment that is affected by the over-killing of wolves or deer etc. This would cause a reaction on many fronts. It also means that the PCs will start to notice the changes. The world will constantly change, not just keeping the same spawning rates in the same locations. While many games have tried to adjust this to make it more plausible, most just populate the areas with creatures that stand around and come back after a time period from their death.

For me random in the sense of this discussion is NOT random. It is a live-open-world interaction, action and reaction. A great way for SG to be.

 

[Kaizer0002]

The idea of your killing of animals/monsters having an effect on the ecosystem is potentially complicated if interesting one. For example, killing an apex predator always has a negative impact on an ecosystem, but predators are who the player are most likely to engage. If nothing keeps the wolves in check, they overeat and if they run short of food, they may take more desperate measures, ie, human settlements.

 

[Tony Dye]

For low population societies without firearms, there's no reason to think that killing an apex predator would negatively impact the environment!

I don't think we're going to try and do an environmental impact simulation though. It doesn't sound terribly interesting in terms of game mechanics and and I can't think of how it'd add fun to the game. Why would the character care that the environment isn't as pristine as it was before, or even understand The Environment?

Heh...

 

[martino]

For low population societies without firearms...!

....Why would the character care that the environment isn't as pristine as it was before, or even understand The Environment?

Heh...

I don't know magic could have some devistating effects on the enviroment as well. Especally that guy who wanders around leveling up his Mustard Gas spell at every opportunity.

<as an aside>I recall in earliver verson of D&D the way to get around the Death spell was to have a barrel of live fish. The spell would effect the lowest HD creatures first (the fish) and so but the time it got to effecting the player the spell would be to weak to be effective.