Single NPC companion

[Arche_Zwei]

The thought of the boy in the Novel ‘The Road’ from Cormac McCarthy came to mind.

Could that be a thing?
I remember running nice NPCs over with my vehicle without wanting to.

Suppose you REALLY had to keep this one alive. Would a sedentary lifestyle jn a secure base be better? At least until bugs handling NPCs in vehicles can be resolved.

[kevin.granade]

The vehicle bugs are fairly easy to fix, there’s just a bit of a chicken and egg problem where people don’t use NPCs much and therefore fixing their bugs isn’t high priority therefore they’re buggy and therefore people don’t use them…

The harder addition would be adding the interactivity one would expect out of such a companion.
It might make it easier to script if it’s attached to a fixed story though.

[Arche_Zwei]

I see, could therr be an approach to have a starting mission of some sort?

In ‘The Road’ the target would be ‘reach the coast’ or somesuch.
Failing could go with a severe (partially permanent?) moral penalty.
Winning, oh well. Perhaps thats the first thing that allows you to win C:DDA.

The NPC in question could be geared up and gain stats and levels. If said starting mission finishes, perhaps being able to use that character from then on (or if the original one dies) could be a Motivation?

So I raise myself a uber-mensch strength NPC, to walk through house Walls with a sledge hammer should my original character die.

Also a plus would be the starting point. No more searching and travelling for death mobile and stuff when unexpectedly dying but wanting to continue the run.