NPC Scripts

[DrunkenSalarr]

I was thinking the other day about the realism of the game, as well as the difference between PCs and NPCs.  What got me thinking was I was helping someone out and we started talking about PC Byn members and how you shouldn't find them in the Gaj outside of certain times.

How possible would it be for all the Byn NPCs to (on the correct days): fall in and walk to the Byn Compound just before Dawn following the highest ranking NPC (can't remember who it is, been a while since I bothered looking). Then at dusk, return to the Gaj.

I don't think it would be too difficult to code, and would add a good deal to the game.  There shouldn't be Byn always in the Gaj, it's just not feasible to have a company that slack and not get in trouble for it.  No one could always use the argument that they are there to make sure no other Byn come in, shirking their duties, but then they should at least make it look like they are on duty.  Once the NPCs get to the Compound, I'm not sure what they would do (be in the correct place according to the schedule perhaps?)

This would be great for not only realism, but also for PC Byn, especially runners, who could just fall in as well.  This would also fix the "I forgot what time it is" excuses.  If all of a sudden half the bar (and the Gaj is at least half Byn at all times) got up and left, the only way you aren't going to know is if you're passed out. In which case you would notice when you woke up and didn't see any more brown abas.

Anywho, just my 300 sid.
~Drunken Salarr, who hasn't even played a Byn in a good long while

[John]

I love the idea, I was thinking the other day (for some reason) that some Byn could go to the barracks.

What your suggesting sounds very similar to the Morning Devotions script, only more advanced. IIRC the Morning Devotions script stops working and every now and then I notice the time is a bit out. I think this is because it's based on what the IC time is, but as we all know, the time is pretty screwy. So without knowing A THING about the code, I'm guessing any other time dependant scripts would also have problems.

But if that could be worked out, I'd LOVE to see it. It'd also be good to get some commoners going to Morning Devotions.

This post consists of the views of a past staff member; any official word on the T'zai Byn or related issues will come from Tlaloc, the current staff member in charge of that clan, or the game's administrators. Also note that my point of view reflects simply my own views from when I restarted the Byn some years ago; these views may now be obsolete or otherwise incorrect if applied to the clan today.

Originally, the Byn chore schedule was meant as something to help players who could not think of anything for their characters to do. It was more of an OOC guideline than a strict IC requirement. It certainly did not apply to all members of the Byn. For example, in my opinion, it would be very unrealistic to imagine all or even most of the company crammed into the latrines or some other part of the complex at given IC times. Thus, the schedule in the clan documentation was only ever intended, ICly, to apply to some of the company some of the time. Thus, it would not be unrealistic for there to be some Byn members in the tavern most (or even all) of the time.

Another point is that, like many other NPCs in the game written up as unique NPCs (i.e., not 'a generic Byn mercenary is here'), the Byn NPCs in the tavern simply reflect that there are some Byn members there. One should not assume that they are exactly the same people there all the time, just as one would not assume that of most shopkeeper NPCs in the game. With the IC organization of the Byn as it is, it would be perfectly appropriate for different units to have different chore schedules and different recreation times. It was simply a matter of OOC convenience that most or all PCs followed the same schedule; and I should note that PC leaders, while I was running the clan, were free to deviate from the schedule as they saw fit (assuming ICly appropriate motivations, of course).

The idea of animations is something that I think adds a lot to the game, and that I have worked on myself in the past, but I wanted to clarify the two points above. What I have said is, of course, from my personal point of view and reflecting my original aims for the schedule and the Byn NPCs in the tavern.

Krrx

[Sakra]

Also, abou those NPC's, I think half of them are Sergeants, and they can do whatever they want anyway. There needs to be at least one sergeant in there so that if a PC wants to join, and there are no PC sergeants, Tlaloc can just take over if he's around.

Still sounds like a good idea for -some- of them to leave. Or maybe just a room emote like "At the call of 'training' from the gruff, hard-eyed Byn sergeant, several runners make their way drunkenly to the door."

[Tlaloc]

Basically, Krrx and Sakra got it all mostly right.

The Byn's training schedule really only applies to the current PC warband. It has shifted from a guildeline to a regulation mostly because people don't tend to follow guidlines. However, as a lot of people might have found out (or might find out), the Schedule becomes alot more lax as you go up in rank in the Byn. For Runners, they lead very regimented lives, simply because they are there to train...thats what the three hundred sid buys them.

Troopers and above are there to work. The Byn is a moneymaking organization, afterall. Though it may not be reflected by the PC populous, the majority of contracts are run by Troopers, and Troopers spend the majority of thier time Running Contracts, and working.

Additionally, it should be noted that not all of the Byn is on the same schedule. What PC's do is what the PC's have been assigned to do. Other VNPC's and NPC's have a different schedule...which is why you'll likely never see them in the latrines with you. Its likely that while your Warband is assigned to clean the Latrines on Nekrete, another Warband is assigned to clean the latrines on Waleuk, and another on Yochem.

Finnally, the NPC's in the Bars should me more viewed as Virtual representations of the genneral Byn presence there.

That all said, I think adding some animation echo's might be cool, though I think coding them so they all got up and left might be pushing it. I'll add it to the already huge list of stuff I have to do, heheh.

-Tlaloc

[Angela Christine]

Yeah, like all PCs do their sparring in the morning, so most afternoons and evenings the sparring area is empty.  Other vnpc Byn groups may have reserved it durring that time, since it makes little sense to leave it idle.  The same with the workshops and specialty training areas.  Just because one warband only gets to use it one or two afternoons per week doesn't mean it is collecting dust the rest of the week.  Some of the vnpc units might be "elite" units that doen't have any Runners at all.

AC

[John]

Taking an extension from Tlaloc's idea. Could we have echoes that go from room to room? An example is it's dawn so you see the echo in the Gaj "the Byners get up and leave" then outside you see the echo "the bynners leave the taverna walk down Caravan Road" then in the next room you see "A group of bynners jostle each other as they walk down it" etc until they reach the compound.

Would that be a good/bad idea? (Obviously the echoes would need to be better).

Sanvean suggested that a script that showed echoes of a wagon could be made that would travel every now and then between villages a while ago, so I'm guessing it's possible.