Horizon: Forbidden West's Living World; Devs Discuss Settlements and NPCs
Not only machines will be more „alive” and diverse in Horizon: Forbidden West. The developers also emphasize authenticity of the game world and its human inhabitants.
- Guerrilla Games discussed the next feature of Horizon: Forbidden West - the living game world;
- The developers are making sure that each tribe is distinguished by behavior, appearance and animations, but they have also developed an attitude system for mobs and individual NPCs;
- The developers also mentioned settlements and a crafting system;
The developers of Horizon: Forbidden West have published another post dedicated to this upcoming game. Previously, we had the opportunity to learn more about Aloy and the machines faced by the heroine. This time Guerrilla Games focused on the world, in which we will encounter its living and mechanical inhabitants.
The developers have stressed in previous posts on the official PlayStation blog that they are keen to bring more variety to the new Horizon, whether through more varied robots and their behavior, or a wider range of abilities for the protagonist. Locations and the people who inhabit them will also be better characterized. Each tribe we'll encounter in Forbidden West is supposed to be different from the others at first glance, and its members will have their own unique behaviors and animations. Thanks to this we should be able to recognize them even from a distance, and the settlements will be more lively than in Zero Dawn.
Speaking of which, Guerrilla Games has mentioned an NPC attitude system that will affect the personality of all NPCs.. In addition, each of these characters will also be part of the crowd, within which the developers set behavior patterns and routes. The whole thing is supposed to fit within the narrative framework of Horizon: Forbidden West - each element is meant to feel authentic, fitting in with the rest of the game's setting.
What's more, the devs briefly discussed the settlements. These are important insofar as they are also the boundaries for the player's progress. After all, they're where we'll replenish supplies or strengthen Aloy's equipment - not necessarily at merchants, blacksmiths, etc. The heroine will be able to create and improve her equipment on her own, among other things, from parts of machines she's hunted down. We've already heard about this system on the occasion of the gameplay presentation in May, but now Guerrilla Games revealed a little more about it.
Items needed to work will not always be obtained automatically after defeating a mechanical beast - sometimes you'll have to knock them off the still "alive" robot. Better equipment may also require specific, rarer, and harder-to-get materials, often available only in specific locations. So the crafting system and settlements are meant to encourage and reward players who'll explore all corners of the Horizon: Forbidden West world.
