Give high-rank NPCs ship kits.

DemiserofD · Mar 29, 2022

I don't think I've ever seen an NPC using a ship kit. It would be cool if you could visually identify high-rank NPCs by the presence of a ship kit.

Plus it would be a kind of constant teaser to encourage players to buy them for their own ships.

Seems like it should be fairly easy to implement, wouldn't it?

Riverside · Mar 30, 2022

Using NPCs to advertise cosmetics that can be bought in the ARX shop would be a great way to both increase variety in the game and improve the likelihood of shop sales.

DemiserofD · Mar 30, 2022

Riverside said:
Using NPCs to advertise cosmetics that can be bought in the ARX shop would be a great way to both increase variety in the game and improve the likelihood of shop sales.

If they do choose to apply paintjobs to NPCs as well, I would prefer it if different factions tried to use the same color themes. It would be a bit jarring if every ship in a CZ had a different color of paint and it stops looking like a war zone and starts looking like a disco.

But if one side were all red and the other side were all blue, that would not only be fine, it would actively help to pick out correct targets and avoid bad ones. Just like uniforms in real life.

Misty_Dark · Mar 30, 2022

DemiserofD said:
If they do choose to apply paintjobs to NPCs as well, I would prefer it if different factions tried to use the same color themes. It would be a bit jarring if every ship in a CZ had a different color of paint and it stops looking like a war zone and starts looking like a disco.

But if one side were all red and the other side were all blue, that would not only be fine, it would actively help to pick out correct targets and avoid bad ones. Just like uniforms in real life.

I like this. Factions authority ships should have the same paint job, and civilian ships could be either default colour or the faction colour.
And Anarchy faction can have any colour, since they are anarchy, making a war between two anarchy factions a real colour spectacle...

Sylow · Mar 30, 2022

Maybe my memory plays tricks on me, but i even think that many years ago higher ranked NPCs in RES sometimes had custom paintjobs. (Not national flags or the likes, nothing fancy, but different colors. ) Also, if my memory does not play tricks on me, all NPCs reverting back to the default paintjob was stated to be a bug and to be fixed again soon.

I still wonder when "soon" will be.

That being said, i like both parts: NPCs having more colors on their ships again and them sometimes having one or two ship kit pieces on them.

And on CZs not being too colorful: matter of taste. Actual military ships might indeed stick to the default paintjob or one color, but considering that we players (read: mercenaries) are paid by either side to do some fighting, i would not mind some oddballs NPCs on either side, either... NPC mercenaries should be there just as we are.

Greybeard Seawolf · Mar 30, 2022

Good idea, would love to see a bunch of Raider themed ships in a CZ

Sylow · Mar 30, 2022

Greybeard Seawolf said:
Good idea, would love to see a bunch of Raider themed ships in a CZ

Hmm... now i ponder if i should add a Raider or Twix joke... and how many people would actually get that joke...

Rubbernuke · Mar 30, 2022

A nice idea- from memory ATR use ship kits but it would be nice to theme ships accordingly

SlickPBW · Mar 30, 2022

Would be cool if they were consistent with their role like the search & rescue ships.

Imagine cops, pirates, passenger ships, onionheads, etc actually looking like they should. Also each PP faction npcs should be consistent. And while I’m thinking about it, the festive paint jobs should be used at the appropriate times.

I think they should be common enough to see them occasionally but rare enough to be a special sight. Definitely NOT all npcs should have paint or ship kits. 10% max I would say.

Vadim Kleitsin · Apr 13, 2022

Misty_Dark said:
I like this. Factions authority ships should have the same paint job, and civilian ships could be either default colour or the faction colour.
And Anarchy faction can have any colour, since they are anarchy, making a war between two anarchy factions a real colour spectacle...

Given that anarchy factions have colours in their names, eg System Blahblahblah Purple Dragons, you could have them painted in that colour, or one that matches the hair/outfits of the mission givers for that faction. I recall that anarchy portraits had themed hair and clothing, but I haven't played in ages so I can't be sure.