—What, Were You Raised in a Barn?—
Even just the logic behind programming an NPC door-closing system is pretty straightforward, and I think it would add a lot to the game.
As it stands, every time Grant Kincaid doesn’t close the giant door at the back of my deathmobile, I want to set his multiple-helmet-wearing ass on fire.
This would also help when getting chased, limiting the number of zeds following you through buildings.
—How It Works—
The complication arises when it comes to multiple NPC followers, but a simple follower proximity check from the player could be used to determine which NPC is supposed to close an open door upon being passed over. If I’m not mistaken, the door could even close while the NPC is occupying the tile.
I’ve glitched/teleported into individual solid tiles before and I was able to just step out into a regular tile with no negative consequences.
—NPC Proximity, Potentially Very Useful—
An NPC proximity check could also be useful for implementing other mechanics to polish the NPC system, such as not using/aiming explosive things if an NPC tag is tagged as “close” or “near”.
Also being able to give commands like “Keep close”, “Stay nearby”, and “Keep your distance” would be useful for creating different combat styles (being able to choose between having bodyguards, infantry, or even snipers following from far away).
I know it’s complicated, and I know NPCs are buggy as it is, but this is definitely a game that would greatly benefit from a strong NPC system, and this could work with the right implementation.
—Etc. Regarding Communication—
Just an afterthought, adding more dialogue variations would be a humongous boon to roleplayers (whom I’m fairly certain comprise a great deal of the fanbase), and just people who’d like the immersion of more diverse communication.
I don’t have the time to program things these days, but I can personally crank out a great deal of tagged, personality-sorted dialogue options that could easily be accessed by a table, if anyone was interested in collaborating on something.
Lastly, why can’t I make this dumb motherf***er drop the Plasma Rifle he doesn’t know how to use??
I know it’s not particularly realistic to be able to play dress up with NPCs, but plenty of things aren’t realistic (the fact that he’s wearing an army helmet over his cowboy hat), and if this dude has 100% follower-love for me, his stupid ass better put on a Bondage Suit and run at monsters with a fire axe.
I swear, I won’t even ask for NPC bionics.
cough
Thanks for reading, guys.
Rock dat wasteland.
Edit:
I was originally gonna post this (whoops, right?) because I thought adding a caution tape vehicle part to keep followers from going to certain places in the vehicle would be really useful.
This could be implemented in a lot of ways, defining zones, etc., maybe just something that counts as impassable to NPCs.
I’ll leave that to you guys if this sounds like something potentially useful for anyone except me.