Wednesday, November 18, 2009

moving with NPCs

"Follow me!" the NPC says. So I do.

Well, I try to.

When I walk, the NPC is moving faster than me. I fall behind. When I run, the NPC is moving slower, and annoyingly alternates between walking and running because he or she is incapable of matching my pace precisely.

Why is this a problem? Why does it show up in every single game that has me follow an NPC or has an NPC follow me?

2 comments:

  1. it works right in descent freespace and wing commander... but for some reason theres only a "run" and "walk" speed in MMO's, even though in real life there's all kinds of in-betweens. I think its jsut this way because nobody ever really made and issue of it.

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  2. I think part of it is that it'd be pretty jarring if the NPC on the ground immediately match your every change in speed. Whereas with a spaceship, it's easier to explain this behavior away with the setting.

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