JE Sawyer on Van Buren party mates
JE Sawyer on Van Buren party mates
Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Fri 27 June 2003, 02:12:15
Tags: Fallout 3 (Van Buren); Josh SawyerJE Sawyer piped up about party members in the yet unannounced Fallout Thr.. errrrr... Van Buren. I'm not sure which post this came from, because Brios didn't provide a link, the Belgium Bastard, but here's the juice:
The way it is likely to be:
1) By default, CNPCs (companion NPCs) are controlled by the computer.
2) CNPCs have an options screen similar to the one in FO2 that allows the player to define broad behavior patterns for the CNPC.
3) Outside of combat, the player always has access to the inventory of a CNPC. Their inventory screen looks like the main character's inventory screen.
4) The CNPCs have scripts that, among other things, define idiosyncratic behavior for those characters. E.g.: Sulik hates slavers, so when he sees characters marked as slavers, he gets LUDACRIS and ACTS A FOOL, possibly attacking them and definitely devoting all attention to them in combat. Battery gets angry at robots and machines, and being around them makes him generally belligerent, likely to beat people with a huge wrench rather than evaluate the situation sensibly.
5) When CNPCs are in the party, they get their own selection buttons on the interface as in FO:T. Selecting them allows the player to have basic movement, inventory, and skill use control over them. ONE AT A TIME. CNPCS not under current control out of combat follow the leader as usual.
6) Also, one button appears next to the CNPC tabs that is a toggle: AUTOMATIC/MANUAL. It can be clicked at any time, though its effects only come into play when it's a CNPC's turn to act. If the toggle is set to MANUAL, the CNPC's script and the current situations are then compared to a PC's speech skill in a check. If the CNPC is generally easygoing and is not flipping out due to wounds/intense hatred for current enemies/being high on psycho, the level of the speech skill required to exercise control is relatively low. Otherwise, the requirements get pretty high. At any time, the player can attempt to control his or her CNPCs manually as individuals, but they aren't required to, and they simply may not be able to due to their own shortcomings as a leader or the inherently independent/crazy nature of their allies.
Okay, color me dumb, but does that mean you can control them as long as you have a high speech skill? Am I reading that right?
Spotted this at No Mutants Allowed.
The way it is likely to be:
1) By default, CNPCs (companion NPCs) are controlled by the computer.
2) CNPCs have an options screen similar to the one in FO2 that allows the player to define broad behavior patterns for the CNPC.
3) Outside of combat, the player always has access to the inventory of a CNPC. Their inventory screen looks like the main character's inventory screen.
4) The CNPCs have scripts that, among other things, define idiosyncratic behavior for those characters. E.g.: Sulik hates slavers, so when he sees characters marked as slavers, he gets LUDACRIS and ACTS A FOOL, possibly attacking them and definitely devoting all attention to them in combat. Battery gets angry at robots and machines, and being around them makes him generally belligerent, likely to beat people with a huge wrench rather than evaluate the situation sensibly.
5) When CNPCs are in the party, they get their own selection buttons on the interface as in FO:T. Selecting them allows the player to have basic movement, inventory, and skill use control over them. ONE AT A TIME. CNPCS not under current control out of combat follow the leader as usual.
6) Also, one button appears next to the CNPC tabs that is a toggle: AUTOMATIC/MANUAL. It can be clicked at any time, though its effects only come into play when it's a CNPC's turn to act. If the toggle is set to MANUAL, the CNPC's script and the current situations are then compared to a PC's speech skill in a check. If the CNPC is generally easygoing and is not flipping out due to wounds/intense hatred for current enemies/being high on psycho, the level of the speech skill required to exercise control is relatively low. Otherwise, the requirements get pretty high. At any time, the player can attempt to control his or her CNPCs manually as individuals, but they aren't required to, and they simply may not be able to due to their own shortcomings as a leader or the inherently independent/crazy nature of their allies.
Okay, color me dumb, but does that mean you can control them as long as you have a high speech skill? Am I reading that right?
Spotted this at No Mutants Allowed.
