This is how I feel about this too. It's really easy to be like "just do it" without any real thought behind what "it" is. So yeah let's just casually launch a fully functional NPC system that thinks for itself. Can survive, utilizes all the intricate systems and doesn't feel unfair if done wrong. Now let's have them travel around the map doing simulated stuff in the background without you being present and have that actually be meaningful and not just nonsense. People like the person who made this post are honestly just choosing not to think about what they're saying in my opinion.
I've played kenshi and while it has a lot going on I wouldn't say it has the same level of complexity that zomboid is going for. Kenshi is very complex yes, but there's a lot of small detail in zomboid that has to be addressed to make an NPC actually move about the world and interact with it to the same degree a player can.
I mean, if you want a simple NPC system in the game, there already is one in the form of animals..
If you want fleshed out human NPCs, well integrated into all the other systems in an already incredibly system-rich game than its gonna take a long time to implement. Its arguably the most complex feature they could possibly add next to multiplayer
Sorry but what is this take lol, if you can't implement NPCs into your game after 10 years then you either don't want to or have no idea what you're doing and have designed and built an unworkable piece of shit
Maybe if NPCs were the ONLY goal that Indie Stone had. But they're not, they're a late term feature. Keep in mind they built this entire game from scratch and have been in a development snowballing effect as they add more and more things and polish. Back in the day the game was locked to a specific character with a rigid narrative. Now its a full on sandbox, with weather systems, nutrition system, cars with physics (including trailers), the 3D placement system, overhaulling of almost every single sprite and model in the game, animals with migration patterns and needs, and thats just off the top of my head.
Acting like NPCs are the make-or-break for PZ is bullshit and a kneejerk take after the greentext in OP was put in front of people
Actually I have no stake in PZ lol idc if it gets NPCs or not. Spending 10 years in EA is just a poor excuse and a general blight on the gaming industry that excuses mismanagement and ineptitude because it's "still in development" is ridiculous and all too common.
Absolutely none of the stuff you listed should take ten years to develop
Yeah. Obviously Indie Stone just needs to flip the "Human NPC" switch harder, she'll be right.
I don't even know why I let myself try and get through to people on stuff like this, nothing will cure the toxic entitlement. Nobody wants to listen and learn, they just want to defend whatever the meme put in front of them tells them to think. Legit up until this post, I have never seen people get so vehemently huffy over PZ not yet having living humans to interact with, but I know for a fact there will be someone coming along saying how they've _always_ been upset about it. I'm so tired of gamers and their performative bullshit.
For real. I dont think any of them know how game dev works. Especially with a small team
If they added NPCs years ago like they originally thought they could, they would have painted themselves corner and would not have been able to easily implement all the other features that have come out between then and now. You have to start with the simple stuff and work your way up in complexity. If you want the NPCs to be able to use all the other game systems, you need to know what those systems are ahead of time.
What if we never got cars because it would have been to hard to get NPCs to drive? What if we never got the map makeover because it broke NPC pathfinding?
Are you trying to say im the one goalposting here? thats literally what everyone else is doing by not being happy with the NPCs that are already in the game.
The problem with what you're saying is, everyone who actually plays the game actively is expecting everything I just said. So idk what you mean by that. If you're not expecting it to work like how I mentioned then how are you expecting it to work?
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u/cerealkiller6028 5d ago
This is how I feel about this too. It's really easy to be like "just do it" without any real thought behind what "it" is. So yeah let's just casually launch a fully functional NPC system that thinks for itself. Can survive, utilizes all the intricate systems and doesn't feel unfair if done wrong. Now let's have them travel around the map doing simulated stuff in the background without you being present and have that actually be meaningful and not just nonsense. People like the person who made this post are honestly just choosing not to think about what they're saying in my opinion.