The People of 2077
Hmm. There was no way I could make this a poll. I tried.
So, we've talked quite a bit about NPC AI, world-interaction, random NPCs, convoluted histories, (see - I'm trying, Dragon, but this "pleasantly friendly" thing is REALLY HARD), however we haven't really talked much about the characters that make up this world. OOh, let me go back and bold that. There.
The NPC Person of Night City 2077.
Who lives in 2077? What kind of people are walking the Street beside you? Where are they going? What do they do for a living? Why are they in Night City? Here are some samples that might be seen strolling or jogging rapidly away from a possible crime scene:
SINGLE PARENT: Parenting in 2077 is as hard or harder than ever. Usually a woman, she is seen walking rapidly to her Ford-Mazda from her work at a small business or as a paralegal, probably in Upper Eastside. She has one hand to her ear as she talks to the daycare about picking up the kids and the other in her purse on her Budgetarms. Just in case.
TIRED NIGHTWORKER: Clinging to the grips as they crowd the aisles of the Night City Transit Corporation buses, these people are generally seen wearing plastiform coveralls and some kind of meshcap. They sweep buildings, maintain facilities and run late-night street machines and they don't care about much other than getting home and going to sleep.
ANGRY DOGOWNER: A lot of people own pets in 2077 and some of those pets aren't even short-life pre-sterilized clones! This fellow walks his PoodleWeiler, RexKing, in Little Italy every morning. Along 2nd, up Zelazny and back down 1st, glaring at the world the whole time. He's wearing a heavy coat and green canvas pants with boots, is balding and seems unarmed. Careful observation reveals the heavyset suits of Italian descent a half-block behind him however. They do not seem unarmed.
FLAGRANTLY CORRUPT COP: You've seen "Training Day" with Denzel? Yeah, that guy, only he's Serbian and openly carrying a damn assault shotgun. Usually seen rousting drug dealers outside The Ratskellar near NCU for whatever money they pulled out of the college kids. His ride is flash and his eyes are pounded metal, gleaming in the neon. Occasionally his head twitches involuntarily and you can hear servos if you are close enough.
JUNIOR NETRUNNER: No older than sixteen and usually a lot younger, this kid has more bravado than brains. Carrying the deck she managed to order online from the money she hacked out of her school principal's "hidden" kickbacks fund, this wunderkind is just sure she's the next Rache Bartmoss. Only cool and not old and dead. She's moving purposefully but you're not near Style enough to know why or where.
CYNICAL MEDTECH: They've seen it. They've seen it done. They've fixed it or watched it die, pretty much anywhere in the world you can imagine. This professional is dressed in subdued tones, stepping off the Rapid Transit on their way to dinner at Manfred's. They're also sporting lightweight Skinweave, serious neural work, cyberaudio and a cyberarm with built-in GangJazzler for really bad surprises. On the other hand, if you suddenly start to seizure, they can probably save your life. For money.
HARBOUR POLICE: These two women are dressed in a mishmash of dark blue and grey MetalGear and Kevlar, with no uniform pattern other than their badges, prominently displayed on their upper chests. Both are talking easily and neither misses anything around them. Ever. The taller of the two has a skullplate and a series of flickering images run along the lower rim. Her partner's legs are Corvette cyberlegs, their gleaming chrome and obsidian gearing carrying her smoothly towards the waiting patrol boat in New Harbour.
Who do you see walking the streets in 2077?
Hmm. There was no way I could make this a poll. I tried.
So, we've talked quite a bit about NPC AI, world-interaction, random NPCs, convoluted histories, (see - I'm trying, Dragon, but this "pleasantly friendly" thing is REALLY HARD), however we haven't really talked much about the characters that make up this world. OOh, let me go back and bold that. There.
The NPC Person of Night City 2077.
Who lives in 2077? What kind of people are walking the Street beside you? Where are they going? What do they do for a living? Why are they in Night City? Here are some samples that might be seen strolling or jogging rapidly away from a possible crime scene:
SINGLE PARENT: Parenting in 2077 is as hard or harder than ever. Usually a woman, she is seen walking rapidly to her Ford-Mazda from her work at a small business or as a paralegal, probably in Upper Eastside. She has one hand to her ear as she talks to the daycare about picking up the kids and the other in her purse on her Budgetarms. Just in case.
TIRED NIGHTWORKER: Clinging to the grips as they crowd the aisles of the Night City Transit Corporation buses, these people are generally seen wearing plastiform coveralls and some kind of meshcap. They sweep buildings, maintain facilities and run late-night street machines and they don't care about much other than getting home and going to sleep.
ANGRY DOGOWNER: A lot of people own pets in 2077 and some of those pets aren't even short-life pre-sterilized clones! This fellow walks his PoodleWeiler, RexKing, in Little Italy every morning. Along 2nd, up Zelazny and back down 1st, glaring at the world the whole time. He's wearing a heavy coat and green canvas pants with boots, is balding and seems unarmed. Careful observation reveals the heavyset suits of Italian descent a half-block behind him however. They do not seem unarmed.
FLAGRANTLY CORRUPT COP: You've seen "Training Day" with Denzel? Yeah, that guy, only he's Serbian and openly carrying a damn assault shotgun. Usually seen rousting drug dealers outside The Ratskellar near NCU for whatever money they pulled out of the college kids. His ride is flash and his eyes are pounded metal, gleaming in the neon. Occasionally his head twitches involuntarily and you can hear servos if you are close enough.
JUNIOR NETRUNNER: No older than sixteen and usually a lot younger, this kid has more bravado than brains. Carrying the deck she managed to order online from the money she hacked out of her school principal's "hidden" kickbacks fund, this wunderkind is just sure she's the next Rache Bartmoss. Only cool and not old and dead. She's moving purposefully but you're not near Style enough to know why or where.
CYNICAL MEDTECH: They've seen it. They've seen it done. They've fixed it or watched it die, pretty much anywhere in the world you can imagine. This professional is dressed in subdued tones, stepping off the Rapid Transit on their way to dinner at Manfred's. They're also sporting lightweight Skinweave, serious neural work, cyberaudio and a cyberarm with built-in GangJazzler for really bad surprises. On the other hand, if you suddenly start to seizure, they can probably save your life. For money.
HARBOUR POLICE: These two women are dressed in a mishmash of dark blue and grey MetalGear and Kevlar, with no uniform pattern other than their badges, prominently displayed on their upper chests. Both are talking easily and neither misses anything around them. Ever. The taller of the two has a skullplate and a series of flickering images run along the lower rim. Her partner's legs are Corvette cyberlegs, their gleaming chrome and obsidian gearing carrying her smoothly towards the waiting patrol boat in New Harbour.
Who do you see walking the streets in 2077?