Animated NPCs

[Spartan-228]

So I just built a race gate system, in the starting gate and ending gate I have bleachers for people to watch. Of course this is mostly just for looks. But I was thinking it would be fun to put NPC in the bleachers and then have them wave and cheer every time a racer gose through the gate.

 

[kiddan]

This could be pretty neat, just having all NPCs in general cheer if a player passes a race gate that's near them. Maybe with even more excitement when they complete a lap!

Some other animations such as looking depressed when they don't have other NPCs nearby, or looking at decorative screens and nodding every now and then would be neat.

 

[spaceEngineer]

Would be pretty cool. I would love to see something for combat as well I could see an npc typing furiouslly on one of the console blocks during a fight. Or changing from a walk to a run when enemy ships are nearby.

 

[jayman38]

I'm not yet convinced about this suggestion, because it seems like an oddly specific addition to a sandbox game. Besides, the devs have mentioned at some point that the race gates have been under-utilized since their introduction, and I don't think an "audience" will improve that. Racing will increase when easy-to-implement racing mechanics make racing genuinely fun and challenging.

On the other hand, it would be interesting to have NPCs be linked somehow to "command" blocks that make them perform different actions. Example actions:
Switch walking destination by activating a different linked activation block
Make the NPC sit on a linked block by activating a block-linked activation block
Make the NPC stand up by deactivating that activation block (make them do the "wave" to simulate cheering!)
Make an NPC switch from walking to running by linking a rail speed block to the NPC and to an activation block and activating the activation block. (I love the idea of NPCs out in the open breaking into a run away from approaching non-friendly ships.)

 

[kiddan]

"command" blocks

MINECRAFT RIPOFF!!!

No, just kidding. :D Having commands for controlling NPCs would be neat. Just so long as you couldn't override upcoming crew behavior (such as making mutineers march to their own cells) by using them. Would definitely be useful for space station atmosphere and... And... DANCING DAVE CHOREOGRAPHY!

Oooh boy, gotta stop dumping all my humor wherever in one post...

 

[Spartan-228]

I'm not yet convinced about this suggestion, because it seems like an oddly specific addition to a sandbox game. Besides, the devs have mentioned at some point that the race gates have been under-utilized since their introduction, and I don't think an "audience" will improve that. Racing will increase when easy-to-implement racing mechanics make racing genuinely fun and challenging.

The idea is not to improve racing, it is simply for the visual effects. I just think it would be cool to have an NPC audience in the bleachers and have them cheering the racers on, it simply for decoration purposes.

 

[jayman38]

[Deleted]
Having commands for controlling NPCs would be neat. Just so long as you couldn't override upcoming crew behavior (such as making mutineers march to their own cells) by using them. Would definitely be useful for space station atmosphere and... And... DANCING DAVE CHOREOGRAPHY!

Yeah, I figure if the crew is going to mutiny, the game would be coded to sever ALL crew control links. After all, one of the defining features of a mutineer is that they are no longer following the proper chain of command.

The idea is not to improve racing, it is simply for the visual effects. I just think it would be cool to have an NPC audience in the bleachers and have them cheering the racers on, it simply for decoration purposes.

Improved effects like this would improve the racing experience. I just don't see a lot of people taking advantage of the racing blocks right now (congratulations on exploring this little-used feature!), so that under-usage seems to lower the importance of this suggestion. Such an animation could be a kind of "dance", which would be a more universally appreciated, more useful effect across a range of scenarios, such as kiddan's suggestion above for dancing in the game, and therefore, more likely to be actually implemented in the game.

In short, we want these animations available in both standing and seated forms for maximum flexibility.