18/1/13- NPC categories importance

I identified a fair while back before my project properly formed that there were different types of NPCs like there are different types of extras in films.

Background Characters
Background characters in games as in films are there to make a world feel more realistic, they generally have no sway in the main storyline and only in some games with a lot of side "quests" do they really have any direct influence on a character's decision. In most games the player has very few ways of interacting with the player.

GTA4 Background NPCs

Skyrim Background NPC

Minor NPC's

These are the character's which may have a part to play in a side quest and may be encountered multiple times in one game. They will need to have more personality than a background character because of the increased need for interactions. An example of a minor NPC is Ysolda in Skyrim. She asks you to get a mammoth tusk for her to help her enter the world of business. She has a name and you can perform more interactions than a background character and her mini storyline can result in the world changing slightly with her taking over one of the buildings but there is no influence on the main storyline and it wouldn't matter if you didn't finish her quest or even speak to her at all.

Ysolda, Skyrim Minor NPC.

Major or Pivotal NPC

The most important and most detailed characters in terms of backstory and level of interaction available, pivotal characters have direct sway on the main storyline. For example Walter in Fable 3, or Roman in GTA4

Walter ,Fable 3

Roman, GTA4

Why is this important to consider?

Bringing the categories up again now is vital. As in a previous post where I expressed the difficulties of creating one animation library for different builds and genders of the characters, the type of NPC I create the library for will affect the level of detail the library goes into. There would be no need for a background NPC to have an animation for greeting the player unless the background NPC specifically was required to like a waiter or doorman.

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To Do:

Game specific animations (animations that are only required for specific games)