ARK: Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved

Human NPCs
sf 14 Nov, 2021 @ 10:50pm
Just some feedback/ideas
No reply/response required. Just read to see if there is anything useful if you feel like it :)

As an "ambient" mod, it is already doing its job excellently. it is interesting in that:

1) it makes single player game more "lively"
2) watching "wild" NPC humans being chased and eaten by dino brings back the memories of movies

Frankly speaking, I am already satisfied by its current state now as I am really just using it for atmosphere atm. (though partially, it is because it is difficult to go further)

As a gameplay element though, it may still be lacking in:
1) once "tamed", they cannot change job (cos it is hard-coded in their "species")
2) while armor can be customized, their tool/weapon cannot be "upgraded"
3) no way to make another tame follow them around (e.g. as guarddog)
4) the NPC huts have no relation to the members beyond "angering"? e.g. the NPC return to it or is able to hide in it when in danger
5) they don't really cooperate("wild" versions)? (because they are different species?) (e.g. hunting in a group)

Below are stuff which are not directly related to the game experience atm. Just based on guesses and maybe some pseudo-suggestions (not really feature requests, just hopefully something useful)

1) Noticed that each "class" is actually implemented as separate species.

While that may be easier to implement while the number of classes are small, the cost of adding new classes will become more expensive (N^2)?

E.g. to add a new feature/ability, instead of adding it just once, it will have to be replicated for every human NPC class. This is worse if the feature requires relations between human NPC (which has to be added for all possible pairings of classes). This may also be the reason that humans cannot "change class"?

2) Not sure if it is due to the engine/devkit limitations, could class/tool be implemented as special "accessory/skin" instead?

i.e. a basic "human class" that has all possible behavior built in, but behavior selected according to the "accessory/skin" equipped that determined what "class" (hacker/hunter/etc) the human actually perform.

In addition, "upgrades" to the tool/weapon can also be implemented as similar accessories (e.g. one that makes the human spawns a stone hachet when needed, another that spawns a metal hachet but otherwise makes the human behave similarly). may not have change in behavior or even the effectiveness.. just looks nicer :)

Using this method, after "taming", the player can change the class required by just equipping different accessories.

In addition, engrams can be added to convert player tools/weapons into accessories (as well as breakdown accessories back into the original item), making it possible for the player to "upgrade" the human NPC's tools/weapons if desired.

Not sure if it is possible to add more than one accessory (or maybe as skin?), but it would also be nice if the tool/weapon are separate, i.e. the tool used to perform job vs the weapon used when fighting. e.g. Makes it possible for a "barehands" worker to equip and use a weapon when actually trying to defend himself/herself.

Thanks for the time reading if you got here :)