Talking while walking around

[b0rsuk]

In many RPG games NPCs are completely static, or somehow become turrets when you start a conversation with them. It would be more interesting if a barman would walk around a bit while you're talking to him. He could swipe a tankard with a rag, occasionally interject a short command to his servant (not scripted !),

The same extends to player characters. When you are in someone's room, you may want to walk up to a window or examine his collection of stamps, or whatever. The person you are conversating with would follow you around within certain distance - say, 5m. Bonus points if he notices you paying attention to something else and makes a comment ("I got this stamp from XYZ"). On another occasion, you may want to talk with an official but he says "Let's go for a walk". Perhaps walls have ears.

It's a small change, but could be very nice for atmosphere. Without it, it can appear that the world around you freezes. Talking NPCs make an impression of inanimate objects just playing a message recorded for you. Two people stand in front of each other and talk for 5 minutes. This is just not natural. At least you could be offered to sit down.

Also, make it possible to stop the conversation by simply walking away. This could make your conversation partner angry - unless you come back very soon (to prevent accidents). Then the NPC would continue from the last sentence. I know Titan Quest can do something similar, but there NPCs don't care if they're heard or not.

[Sub-Human]

Also, make it possible to stop the conversation by simply walking away. This could make your conversation partner angry - unless you come back very soon (to prevent accidents). Then the NPC would continue from the last sentence. I know Titan Quest can do something similar, but there NPCs don't care if they're heard or not.

'So, the Mayor's wife is kept hidden in the gang's HQ. You gotta rescue her. There are two entry points - here... Wait, come back! Come back!'...
(After aimlessly wandering for a week)
'So, as I was saying, there are two entry points - here and here...'

[b0rsuk]

'So, the Mayor's wife is kept hidden in the gang's HQ. You gotta rescue her. There are two entry points - here... Wait, come back! Come back!'...
(After aimlessly wandering for a week)
'So, as I was saying, there are two entry points - here and here...'

That would obviously qualify as "long enough" to make him angry .

[TΛPETRVE]

Hehe, that's something I love about the Souls games: You always have full control over your character, and if you walk away during a conversation, your dialogue partner will be either amused or quite angry, depending on his personality. He might even attack you, if you're dealing with someone you'd rather not piss off.

[Zeronet]

I like this idea, it plays to the reality that many conversations people have are not static.

[tuluse]

I'd prefer Fallout style dialog screens.

Most of the time when you talk to someone in real life they are pretty still. Go the post office? The clerk stand behind the counter. At the store? Clerk behind the register. At a restaurant? The waitress stands there until you finish ordering. In a business meeting? Most people are sitting in one spot for just about the entire thing.

[RoboRevolution]

It'd go a long way toward making NPC's seem like actual people for sure.

[Ratboy]

It'd go a long way toward making NPC's seem like actual people for sure.

I'm sold on the idea as well, but it might take some serious AI code for all npcs to act like that. I'd love it myself, but don't know how the budget looks for AI dev.

[Zombra]

Yeah, seems like a wishlist item more than a core design item. I would love it of course. Skyrim's system is a lot better than Fallout 3's, but I still feel stuck in a "dialogue screen". How awesome would it be for dialogue options* to simply pop up when you were near enough to someone. If you walked away, the options would disappear. But now I'm just dreaming.

*And their gif-style animated portrait up in the corner of course

[ffordesoon]

I dunno if this necessarily needs to be in W2, given the viewpoint, but Bioware needs to start doing this shit post-haste.

[b0rsuk]

There is another benefit to this.

You meet an PC pointing a gun at you:
"Don't come closer or I'll shoot you !"

In Fallout:
Option 1: say "Go ahead, make my day." Combat is initiated.
Option 2: say "Oh, sure, please don't hurt me !" No combat

In Wasteland 2, it could be:
Option 1: say "Please don't hurt me !"
Option 2: just walk closer or defend yourself.

It's not very old-school, but if they could implement it without glaring bugs, I don't think any old school gamer would complain.

[Sub-Human]

'So, the Mayor's wife is kept hidden in the gang's HQ. You gotta rescue her. There are two entry points - here... Wait, come back! Come back!'...
(After aimlessly wandering for a week)
'So, as I was saying, there are two entry points - here and here...'

That would obviously qualify as "long enough" to make him angry .

Yeah. Point is, I don't know if it makes sense for you to just walk away from someone while they're speaking. I mean, do it in real life, and people will think you have a mental handicap. In the wasteland? When you're not hurrying for some business meeting or the bus (even so, you'd say 'Gotta go!') and have got all the time you need?

[Zombra]

You meet an PC pointing a gun at you:
"Don't come closer or I'll shoot you !"

In Wasteland 2, it could be:
Option 1: say "Please don't hurt me !"
Option 2: just walk closer or defend yourself.

It's not very old-school ...

Ever play Law of the West? Now there was a game that blurred the lines between "conversation mode" and "combat mode". Depending on what you said, the person you were talking to might shoot you at any time. And you could shoot them at any time. Yet it had the same feel of normal conversation trees. 1985, three years before Wasteland. So yeah, I'd call it old school

[ffordesoon]

I don't think any old school gamer would complain.

Really? You really think that?

Clearly, you haven't been here long enough.

[BlackGauntlet]

If we could walk and talk at the same time, could we talk and jump, talk and eat, talk and sneak quietly, talk and feed some lead into your listener, talk and engage in some activities with hookers & etc?

[Tagaziel]

Sounds like a needless gimmick to me, much like the system in Skyrim (whose only real change was that conversing didn't magically stop the entire world around you). Normal dialogue trees with the ability to end dialogue at every branch suffice. Kind of like in Planescape: Torment.

[AgentTate]

... much like the system in Skyrim (whose only real change was that conversing didn't magically stop the entire world around you). Normal dialogue trees with the ability to end dialogue at every branch suffice. Kind of like in Planescape: Torment.

Something I've always hated about Bethesda games of late is pulling a weapon out mid conversation and menacing people with it elicits no response whatsoever.

[Canageek]

Baldur's Gate had a lot of stuff like this. NPCs would comment on things (Very limited selection), your party members would occasionally comment on the surroundings, and once in a while they'd even have conversations with one another.

That was in 1999, so it doesn't seem impossible to do.

However, if you have that stop or I shoot thing? Pause the game after it. Please. Or at least stop my characters walking forward automatically. And disable pathfinding through his anger radius, so that one of my characters doesn't walk in there while I'm trying to back away slowly, since he decided the door was blocked, but there is another one on the other side of Mr Shotgun.

[ForeshadowingPeanuts]

In any case, I like the idea of being able to sit down, or otherwise use furniture.