So, do they get better too, or...?

[Express]

deherro! I've just been wondering, as everyone's characters get better and better, what about the NPCs? Do they improve, too? I think this would be a good thing, but I'm not sure if it's already happening, etc.
Will factions eventually have their own bases, or maybe build them?

[Kamos]

Dunno about base building but NPC's do get better I believe. Just try and keep a prisoner for training purposes for instance. Eventually he'll become to badass to train against.

Real Conan moments lying in wait.

[Allen]

Dunno about base building but NPC's do get better I believe. Just try and keep a prisoner for training purposes for instance. Eventually he'll become to badass to train against.

Real Conan moments lying in wait.

This is actually quite a fun idea.
Decided to make my own training area with some mercenaries taken of a Dead cat town. They seem to be persistent too (static guards never dissapear?).

[windows 98]

static guards only disappear if you kill them, ive done it invading eye-sprocket, hit them hard enough in the chest to make them go -100 they just die, and never come back lol.

[Express]

right, but the only reason they are getting so good is because the player is going out of his/her way to do it. I meant like if you leave them alone, they just get stronger and stronger, and then...
KER BLAM!

[windows 98]

yeah, the imperial lords guys will snowball really quickly because i haven't seen them lose against anything lol.

[Jamaica Jones]

I have been bandaging and picking up unconscious police men around my outpost and carry them to my base quite a time now (giving them some shirts and plenty of med kits, too). Got 2 sergeants and 3 regular police men patrolling around my town. They've reliably defended my town against any bandits and got considerably stronger over time. They don't really wander off. Well, at least not until I crippled a stupid dust bandit's right arm and he ran away at full speed with all the police men chasing him for hours. Funny to watch (you have to speed up time and put some funny music on for that). They finally got him (lucky hit to the leg when he changed direction) but ended up quite far away from my base.

Later I took my squad and went to the next city. When they returned my private police force had completely vanished. Game seems to clear areas that are too far away.

[Mattk50]

They improve, however the game currently has a lot of trouble with NPC persistance. Im not even sure if its supposed to exist atm, usually the npc's skills just get reset after awhile. I've reported it before but i think its just an incomplete side of the game.

[Tolwrath]

right, but the only reason they are getting so good is because the player is going out of his/her way to do it. I meant like if you leave them alone, they just get stronger and stronger, and then...
KER BLAM!

Ah you're asking if the world itself will level up. Here's an excerpt from the "game design" section on the front page.

At the start of the game, just about every NPC and enemy in the game is stronger than you. Your starting strength is that of a weak civilian. You have one character and a rusty sword and no money.
The game balance I would like to aim for, in terms of levelling, would be something similar to Gothic 2, if you've ever played it.  There is no level-scaling in kenshi, as it goes against my tenets as a game developer and ruins an RPG.  So everything and everybody in the whole world is at a fixed level and does not change as your own characters level up.  The player must avoid the stronger enemies until he is ready to take them on.  This can be done by being careful not to make certain enemies in the first place, and avoiding the most dangerous map areas.  Likewise when you are stronger and find things are getting easy, you can always find something more dangerous to do.

So to answer your question, no they do not level up with you.

[hbrown]

They do lvl up (or not?) but not to acompany you as you grow, similar to you when you fight and increase stats or when do something, to the NPCs happen the same, or not?

[Jamaica Jones]

They do lvl up (or not?) but not to acompany you as you grow, similar to you when you fight and increase stats or when do something, to the NPCs happen the same, or not?

Exacly. They do not level up with you but the same way you do.

[Zalzany]

In the begining its an amazing concept, then once you get good, and the bandits near you become little nats, it loses its charm, yes you can look for harder things to fight, but the weaker things still look for you. So you have to abandon your base or get more men.

Basically what I got from the original concept trailer was your not suppose to be tethered down, but right now since the outposts got the most love you are. There is no quests, and your far better off making your own weapons and eventually gear, then wandering around trying to fight guys with better skill then you and similar gear.

I think the game is missing a key part the in between phase of running your own outpost, and being a lone guy with a rusty sword. Right now anything minus the free people start inevitably leads to the same place, build a base, make gear, and trade goods, then fight till your better then everything near your outpost. This is why some people get bored on the steam forums they build the base right at the bat in lowbly land then for like 12 hours the low end bandits chase them off to guards, then suddenly they are face stomping them, and out of things to research, and already got the best weapons they can craft, so no need to leave their base and venture out, besides they have to defend it from the lowbies to keep trade going.

[Mattk50]

Zalzany, you are right. The most i've played kenshi was before construction, wandering around picking fights until i could take on the elite of the elite, outpost guards... building a base doesn't have the same charm for a very obvious reason. There is no challenge, no escalation.

That will have to come when wars, raids, etc are implemented. That gap between wanderers and building a home base will be filled when the player realizes he cannot set up a base if he is unprepared, because he will lose it all. Right now, owning a base is risk free infinite income, you can mine forever without any real threat if you have a very low minimum enough to kill wandering bandits. If there is a threat however building will become more rewarding but also more risky and make other gameplay more viable.

edit:
Also, i've noticed the disconnect between player cities and npc cities grow with some anticipation: im expecting a rework of the world/cities and stuff so they produce things themself, have busy industry, and of course for the player to get access to all the same structures and the big walls.


BY THE WAY we really need some of that awesome AI Chris was talking about during the earlier stages of the project. It doesnt even need to be awesome, i'd just like some basic fear and less suicidal npcs