Communicating with NPC ships

[Tel Prydain]

This is a feature that really should have been in place prior to Horizons. While there are many things that could be improved in Elite, I don’t really seem to see people asking for this very often, and without it, the whole universe feels a bit hollow and lifeless… How many of us, after learning how to request docking from a station, then tried to hail other ships, only to be surprised and disappointed when it didn’t work? NPCs we can interact with would bring the whole game to life, and make the NPCs feel more like real pilots.

I’m not talking about long RPG conversations or anything…. That would be silly. But there should be the option to send simple messages to other ships and get a response. For example:
* Surrender (to anything attacking you)
* Request help (from system authority, allied or similar faction)
* Demand Cargo
* Taunt
* Offer assistance
* Demand retreat
* Offer escort (to traders or (in the case of system authority) offer to join wing)
* Request escort (to system authority, allies or bounty hunter)
* Apologise (after bumping or firing on something)

These were options in very basic space sims in the past, so it’s always a tad disconcerting that there’s no option to communicate with other ships at all in Elite Dangerous.

 

[Ouberos]

I agree.
Demanding cargo and getting the message across to an NPC that they really *should stop* is something that would be very useful.

To be fair though getting the same message through to players is often difficult.

 

[Captain Thea Kreutzer]

Would love for this to be implemented. Would make the NPCs seem alot more alive then them just screaming not the paint lol. also shouldnt this be in Suggestions & Features.

 

[Feros-da-Grundig]

I find Plasma Accelerators to be great NPC comms devices [big grin]

More seriously, until they pass the Turing test I won't ever find them interesting.

I do understand why OP and others would want them to be less-dumb than they are now.

But for me, that would only delay me getting bored with them for 10 more minutes, then I learn the pattern and it's not interesting again.

The only games I have ever found NPCs interesting is where they had extensive hand crafted writing and preparation, Olgierd von Everec from the Witcher 3 DLC being an example I liked. That's clearly not in the scope of ED sadly.

 

[Tel Prydain]

I do understand why OP and others would want them to be less-dumb than they are now.

But for me, that would only delay me getting bored with them for 10 more minutes, then I learn the pattern and it's not interesting again.
[...]
The only games I have ever found NPCs interesting is where they had extensive hand crafted writing and preparation, Olgierd von Everec from the Witcher 3 DLC being an example I liked. That's clearly not in the scope of ED sadly.

It's less about making them interesting and more about enabling gameplay.
At the moment there's no way to tell an NPC trader that you want their cargo, not a fight. Plus it enables things like joining system-sec on patrol.

 

[[PS4 Pro - PC] earthtone99]

Totally agree, this has my backing!

Just thinking of Wing Conmander III and the NPC comms that game had at the time, way ahead of it’s time. In fact most of the Space games I used to play back in the 90’s had some form of command/taunt you could give to the NPCs.

I don’t think X-Wing or Tie Fighter did though, but that had the PIPS system which Elite copied from. I seem to remember Freespace having comms and a PIPS system?!?!

Oh man, the 90’s were a long time ago...

 

[Feros-da-Grundig]

It's less about making them interesting and more about enabling gameplay.
At the moment there's no way to tell an NPC trader that you want their cargo, not a fight. Plus it enables things like joining system-sec on patrol.

It's totally fair, I was just expressing my view. The only gameplay styles that interest me either involve other humans, or remind me of when I owned a ridiculously fast sportscar, so NPCs mostly irrelevant to me.

But whatever playstyle is most fun for someone is fine by me.

 

[Speedcuffs]

1/. 'Get out of my way!'
2/. 'Die, criminal scum!'*


*also for other players.

 

[moorison]

Basic chatbots that react to your input, that would be nice.

• Keywords could be listed in a box accessible by moving right from the chat window (like you can switch between chat types by moving left).
• And if you want to write a novel in the textbox, that would be fine (the bot could react on the number of characters in the message). Or if the NPC pilot is friendly, you get the background story similar to those from the crew lounge.
• You could demand a little more time in pirate encounters while you convert the requested amount of credits in cargo.
• You could give the name of the current high ranking contact of the local pirates faction, your current mission or the name of the elite-ranked pirate you killed minutes ago to let the pilot reconsider his attack.
• It would be an opportunity for easter eggs and cryptic hints.
• Hardcore roleplayers could be able to request docking in their own words instead of clicking a button. And if they make a mistake (leave something out, misspell the ID of their own ship, etc) they could get laughed at by the traffic controllers (unless they are allied).
• A certain amount of common misspellings would have to be checked as well.
• Encounters with mission related contacts could involve previously given passphrases to make sure you are not compromised.

But I am not sure if most of these suggestions would make sense on console, with the limited text input options.

 

[MoonRacer]

This is a feature that really should have been in place prior to Horizons. While there are many things that could be improved in Elite, I don’t really seem to see people asking for this very often, and without it, the whole universe feels a bit hollow and lifeless… How many of us, after learning how to request docking from a station, then tried to hail other ships, only to be surprised and disappointed when it didn’t work? NPCs we can interact with would bring the whole game to life, and make the NPCs feel more like real pilots.

I’m not talking about long RPG conversations or anything…. That would be silly. But there should be the option to send simple messages to other ships and get a response. For example:
* Surrender (to anything attacking you)
* Request help (from system authority, allied or similar faction)
* Demand Cargo
* Taunt
* Offer assistance
* Demand retreat
* Offer escort (to traders or (in the case of system authority) offer to join wing)
* Request escort (to system authority, allies or bounty hunter)
* Apologise (after bumping or firing on something)

These were options in very basic space sims in the past, so it’s always a tad disconcerting that there’s no option to communicate with other ships at all in Elite Dangerous.

I agree too!

In the old game Freelancer there was an option to simply 'hail' other ships (only outside combat, a fighting ship would not answer) and it responded with its mission and its route. This was actually quite nicely done, if essentially useless. You could do nothing with this information, but it added to the immersion.

If we could hail ships (without any demands or threats) and just receive a short answer depending on the relationship to the faction this would be nice and easy.

 

[Feros-da-Grundig]

But I am not sure if most of these suggestions would make sense on console, with the limited text input options.

Actually the only thing USB keyboard on PS4 actually can do in ED is text input. No key binding.

But sadly many CMDRs do not have a spare keyboard to plug into their console so I accept comms responses that are short and sweet for their sake.

 

[Captain Thea Kreutzer]

Actually the only thing USB keyboard on PS4 actually can do in ED is text input. No key binding.

But sadly many CMDRs do not have a spare keyboard to plug into their console so I accept comms responses that are short and sweet for their sake.

You could do the same on xbox. But im sure they wouldnt make the text pass the limit with controllers.

 

[Feros-da-Grundig]

Disregard, I completely misunderstood the post I replied to, dumb feros is dumb

 

[Jenner]

Yup, that would be very cool!

 

[Tel Prydain]

Totally agree, this has my backing!

Just thinking of Wing Conmander III and the NPC comms that game had at the time, way ahead of it’s time. In fact most of the Space games I used to play back in the 90’s had some form of command/taunt you could give to the NPCs.

I don’t think X-Wing or Tie Fighter did though, but that had the PIPS system which Elite copied from. I seem to remember Freespace having comms and a PIPS system?!?!

Oh man, the 90’s were a long time ago...

All the old Origin games had something like that... X-Wing and Tie Fighter were already mission-based, so there wasn't so much need for it. It was a big part of Privateer though.

Basic chatbots that react to your input, that would be nice.

• Keywords could be listed in a box accessible by moving right from the chat window (like you can switch between chat types by moving left).
• And if you want to write a novel in the textbox, that would be fine (the bot could react on the number of characters in the message). Or if the NPC pilot is friendly, you get the background story similar to those from the crew lounge.
• You could demand a little more time in pirate encounters while you convert the requested amount of credits in cargo.
• You could give the name of the current high ranking contact of the local pirates faction, your current mission or the name of the elite-ranked pirate you killed minutes ago to let the pilot reconsider his attack.
• It would be an opportunity for easter eggs and cryptic hints.
• Hardcore roleplayers could be able to request docking in their own words instead of clicking a button. And if they make a mistake (leave something out, misspell the ID of their own ship, etc) they could get laughed at by the traffic controllers (unless they are allied).
• A certain amount of common misspellings would have to be checked as well.
• Encounters with mission related contacts could involve previously given passphrases to make sure you are not compromised.

But I am not sure if most of these suggestions would make sense on console, with the limited text input options.

That sounds fine - like the old Ultima games used to do. Console have keyboards and chatpads... or they can just use the pre-typed option.

 

[moorison]

• Find single use override codes for disabling an attackers weapons at data points (Time limit: 30 days like most in game countdowns).

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Yup... by now, NPC interaction and communication almost deserves its own Major Update.

The interaction means remain extremely simplistic, that sure leaves alot of room for improvement - be it random NPCs, Mission NPCs or our NPC Crews and their limited abilities/lack of flexibility.

 

[UFO Reality]

I find Plasma Accelerators to be great NPC comms devices [big grin]

More seriously, until they pass the Turing test I won't ever find them interesting.

I do understand why OP and others would want them to be less-dumb than they are now.

But for me, that would only delay me getting bored with them for 10 more minutes, then I learn the pattern and it's not interesting again.

The only games I have ever found NPCs interesting is where they had extensive hand crafted writing and preparation, Olgierd von Everec from the Witcher 3 DLC being an example I liked. That's clearly not in the scope of ED sadly.

Good point.

The pattern could be randomized by having RNG-generated mentally-disturbed-NPCs that act irrationally and also adding different languages in the game so that there is the random language barrier as well.

 

[VR Golgot]

Yep this could be great, and I like your list of examples.

It was kinda hinted at way back in the day:

Sandro - Feb 2016

A declaration of piracy ties into NPC comms, both of which are currently not on the *immediate* roadmap.

---

I've always liked the idea of making smuggling more nuanced by having a:

• Bribe / taunt comms options for thinning out the security services around a station. IE you could risk a bribe attempt, dropping the bartered amount for them to pick up and turn a blind eye. Or have a wingmate try to taunt them into chasing them for a bit

It's something that could be further expanded by:

• Having NPC chat give you hints about which approach could work best. Maybe a security pilot chats about wanting a drink, and might be open to receiving a ton of liquor. (Maybe others joke / hint that one of them is on an onionhead comedown ). Maybe one of them's just really obviously up for some action

And the real dreamscape would be if they ever got persistent NPCs into the gameplay world. IE not just stumbling on those options, but knowing a certain security guy has a certain foible. Potentially going further and being able to blackmail them due to gained knowledge etc

 

[Feros-da-Grundig]

The pattern could be randomized by having RNG-generated mentally-disturbed-NPCs that act irrationally and also adding different languages in the game so that there is the random language barrier as well. ��

Lol so you're proposing NPC comms system that is only slightly easier to decipher than 3.3 BGS? You sadist!!!! And they call me a murderhobo.