



Chatting with the critters of Critter Cove will be an essential and fun part of the game. We don't want players to talk to the NPCs just for functionary reasons (getting a quest, buying and selling, etc). Conversation should bring out a critters personality and help form a bond to them.

This is the first in a multi part series about critter behavior and conversations. This blog post will just go over the very basics and we will address deeper critter behaviors in future posts.





Different critters have different interests which will determine what they talk about. Olivia is a positive type character who likes music and dancing but isn't above

bragging about her talents.





We also want critters who have more aggressive or confrontational type personalities. Pokee is sassy and will sometimes say mean things to the player. But as you build a relationship with the character they begin to soften up so the relationship has a real sense of growth.





Remembering the hobbies, likes, and dislikes of different critters will really go a long way in establishing a strong relationship. Sammi loves scary movies. This might be useful information down the road.

Animation and how we present the text also helps give the critters voice. Here are two examples of the same conversation with Pokee. In the first example, Pokee doesn't animate and the text moves at a fairly uniform pace. In the second gif, her mouth is moving, she is performing emotes, and the text is pausing at natural points in the conversation. This helps bring the critters more to life!









That's all for today. Next time we will dig more into critter behaviors and how they are influenced by the player and by other critters. Also about how both the players actions and their own actions can lead to reactions.

If you like what we are doing, please sign up for our email list and share us on your social media pages, favorite forums, or just tell a friend about us. We would really appreciate any help we can get in spreading the word about Critter Cove. Thank you and see you next time!

#demo #relaxing #characters #conversation #talking #quests