Dev Log #3 - NPC Personalities!

Hi everyone! Welcome to the third dev log for Oi, Innkeep! Today we're going to look at what goes into our NPCs + provide an overview of how the game is shaping up. We'll probably feature a few more of these NPCs, but for now, meet the fearsome, bearded warrior who hails from the lands to the distant north. His name is Ragnah Bad-Breath, but his boys call him "Ragz' for short.

(NOTE: The artwork for Ragz is not finished.)

Ragz is one of many unique NPCs that you'll meet in Oi, Innkeep! Most will have their own unique appearance and storylines that you will be able to progress through at your own pace. With Ragz, he came to these shores to do do what he loves best: raidin' and murderin', but things went south for him and his crew and they abandoned him here. It will be up to you to help him overcome his anger-management issues and fit in with society. You progress through these storylines in different ways such as giving advice, providing certain foods, giving money or simply just listening to what NPCs have to say. There are also special, unique rewards for going through different character storylines. For example, progress with Ragz long enough and maybe he'll ask you to sponser a raid back on his homeland or other places. If successful, he might bring back some items that you can use in your inn. Here's some - but not all - of the northern themed items you can get:

Different characters will give different things for their storylines. Carpenter Kate will give you access to new furniture, Huntin' Harry will provide new mounted animals for your walls, Pierre the Painter will sell you new paintings to art the place up, etc. Some characters will give decorative items, but others will provide new cooking recipes and other upgrades.

In addition to storylines, characters all have personality traits, occupations and shedules that define and bring them to life. Occupations influence schedules. Blacksmith Barry and the Bennet triplets working at the mine might only come in of an evening after work. Ragz is unemployed, so he might drop in for a beer any time of the day. Ragz has personality traits like Violent, Heavy-Drinker and Dancer. These make him more likely to start fights, drink lots of beer and bust a move. Meanwhile, the quiet, shy witch, Sola, is less likely to chat with others and is far too scared to dance. All these different traits come into play when characters interact with each other as well as the player. Sola doesn't like violence, so if Ragz starts talking to her about it her opinion of him could decrease and she might walk away. NPCs that chat about topics they both like will get an increase of their opinion of one another. Eventually, they may become friends and visit your inn together. With a little prodding from the player, some may even fall in love - or out of it.

Ragz enjoying a meal with Carpenter Kate. Traits are dynamic, so maybe in time you'll be able to rid Ragz of his violent ways, or talk Sola into finally having enough courage to brave the dance floor. There's more to it, but that's enough for now and we hope you like the idea of what we're cooking up!

At the moment we're figuring out the storylines and traits for the NPCs. We really want to make it so these NPCs are dynamic and feel alive. We have schedules and occupations and everything mentioned above already in and working. We're also getting art done. At the moment, we're focusing on different themed kits that you can get off different NPCs like the Northern themed stuff you see above. We're also working on getting the Magi-Tab up and running. I briefly mentioned it in the last dev log, but the Magi-Tab is basically like a magic powered tablet that does some very cool stuff in Oi, Innkeep! Hopefully that will be in a more polished state within the next week or so and we can cover it in another dev log. Thanks for reading!

If you're interested in Oi, Innkeep! please add it to your Wishlist on Steam + do the following: Find Bad Bandit Games on twitter Here! Like and share Oi, Innkeep! on Facebook Here! + Tell all your mates! - Hayden