Npcs + Cars =?

this is a suggestion i am making for waaay later , when both vehicles and npcs are more streamlined but think about it , you shouldnt be the only survivor that has a deathmobile , npcs should be able to have cars and shit and the more time passes , the better their vehicles are , so at the start they are just cars , but in the late game their cars have rams and turrets and have that “improvised and selfmade” feel

Not until NPCs learn how to drive.
And the probably won’t drive until they can cross reality bubble borders.

That doesn’t sound all that fun to me. Make a deathmobile and load it with gear, only to have it stolen by some random wandering NPC? Not only that, but it doesn’t sound like much fun to be doing something, or be surviving well, and suddenly get run over and killed by something that spontaneously appears at the edge of your screen going 80mph. NPCs using vehicles sounds like too much punishment for the player for no real reason without any benefit added.

Well, I’m pretty sure people code this stuff not to punish the player but rather to allow them to have fun, so don’t worry, no cars at 80mph will appear in front of you. And talking about getting your stuff stolen, that’s !!FUN!!
And could also lead to some awesome chases.

Also, we could totally do Mad Max style stuff maybe.

thats what i was talking about , madmax like things , also , i never said they would steal your car , i said they would build their own , plus , if they really are coming in at like 80mph you would probably see-and hear- them from like 6 map tiles away

One can also assume that we will be able to secure our vehicles before something like this ever gets introduced into the game. Locking doors in some way, where you need a key for example, or maybe a fingerprint, DNA print or something similar. This stuff should be somewhat common in the Cataclysm Timeline. I could also easily imagine that turrets would open fire if someone tries to break into the car by force.

As Coolthulhu said, they will be able to cross the Reality bubble by that time, which also means they won’t just appear, you will at least >hear< them, and possibly see them in a flat area. you’d have plenty of time to dodge, hide or otherwise prepare yourself. Also, not every npc would want to kill you I’d imagine, so they could also try to evade you.

No benefit? Let’s see here:

  1. More Vehicles means more Vehicle Parts. This is especially true lategame, when they, as the OP said, have improved, makeshift vehicles, with rams, armor and possibly weapons.
  2. It would give the world flavor, more depth.
  3. Ever vehicle will come with loot. The loot itself would probably improve with time, like the vehicles.
  4. You could manage to get a vehicle yourself, if you manage to kill the driver.
  5. Vehicle Convoys. Oh yeah. That’d be cool.
  1. Losing is fun

  2. We too could steal prebuilt NPC deathmobiles

  3. Finally, a use for all of those mines and beartraps (securing your deathmobile parking.)

  4. While I find it sorta dumb that we can so easily see every NPC and horde on the map, seeing/hearing a running vehicle from a long distance in a silent world, even at night would be very accurate.

  5. Finally, a use for heavy explosives, anti-material rifles, and rocket launchers.

  6. Once NPCs can use vehicles, we basically solved multi-tile monsters (just create a brain class NPC and a series of frames and 'equipment based off bones and organs.) Pin and kill a single Voracious Gigadon with your explosive tipped lances and repeating arbalist and you’ve so much flesh you can’t even cure it all.

  7. NPCs drivers are honestly most likely to wreck themselves on boulders and shubs for a good while, the occasional PC death by surprise speeding car is no more bullshit and honestly less likely than the current AIs who can ‘psychically track you in pitch darkness while looting a city block and without warning empty their MAC-10 in your back.’

I dont really see the ai of this game being capable of driving. Nor much being added. But id take what I could get if it were in.

worst thing about npcs driving cars is all those exploding fuel tanks when they damage them too much