Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has already wowed me with how immersive its NPCs are, and it turns out a complicated feature had to be implemented in the first game just so two of its NPCs, somewhere in the mix of 550 persistent characters, could figure out where to go.
In a panel at GDC, Matej Marko, AI programmer at Warhorse explained: "There is a part [of the NPC AI behavior trees] that is called Long Distance Move. This, for example, handles longer moves such as from home to a workplace, or to the pub." So far, it seems easy enough to understand.
Games like Oblivion revolutionized the way we all see NPCs. No longer static beings or simple digital signals that walked in circles, these games gave characters routines and needs. It actually had to be toned down because too many NPCs were leaving cities to go hunting for food and getting killed. Smart, but not that smart.
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 just got even better to me after watching this video showing NPCs scavenging and a dev explaining "nobles might ignore cheap items, but beggars will pick them up"
- If you liked Red Dead Redemption 2's ultra-realistic horses, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 devs also used a real horse in the motion capture studio
Kingdom Come: Deliverance's system had to take more than just human legs into account, though. "What it does handle for some NPCs, if they own a horse, they will use a horse to get to whatever place," Marko tells us. "But it's very limited use, because I think in the end, only two NPCs in the whole game own a horse. If you want to have this feature, you have to support it."
This is the kind of thing I love about video games, but producers probably hate. Imagine a dev saying, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if rich NPCs could mount their horses to travel long distances?" Now imagine a producer's face when they tell them it will take hours of extra work to code it in.
It's a neat addition, though, as horses in medieval times were important. You ride one a lot in the game, and in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 you can even duck under branches by looking down so you'll no longer get bonked off your steed.
While you're here, check out our list of the best RPGs you can play right now. A lot of them have horses, but not all.
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