Non-player character

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The non-player character ( NPC ) or often English non-player character ( NPC ) is a class of game characters. The name, borrowed from English , is based on a false friend ( English character in the dramaturgy: ' Rolle , Figur '), whereby non-player figure would be the more precise German translation. The term is primarily found in the area of ​​role-playing games, but basically includes all figures that appear in games that are not directly played by a player.

In pen & paper role-playing games , NPCs are controlled by the game master , in computer games, based on the principles of artificial intelligence, by the computer. In the representational variant of the role play, the LARP , NPCs are embodied by people.

The term includes actors in the plot as well as extras : This is based on the concept that the players are the protagonists of the course of the game.

Pen & paper role-playing games

In the pen & paper role-playing games , non-player characters are a design element of the virtual world against the background of which the game takes place. They are described by the game master and serve to convey background information. The players can be given an impression of their environment through the choice of the language style , the description of the external appearance and the manners between several NPCs. The focus is on the interaction with the player characters. This fulfills different functions, e.g. B. the simple entertainment of the players (involvement in fights, disputes, laying the wrong tracks, situations that require intervention by the PCs), conveying key information (through targeted contact persons or casually snapped up conversations) and also advancing the storyline (through guiding actions of an NPC, revelation of an adversary, intervention of high personalities).

Live role play

In the live role-playing game (LARP), non-player characters are embodied by people. The game management provides them with background knowledge and appropriate clothing for their respective role and act independently within the given framework. The opposite of an NPC is the so-called player character (short: SC, or PC from player character ), whose decisions and actions are almost exclusively guided by the player's will.

In the live role-playing game, the distinction between so-called Springer NPCs and fixed roles has become established - especially with regard to the actors . While fixed role NPCs are integrated into the game plot over a longer period or recurring, Springer NPCs cover the characters that appear briefly (monsters, ghosts, "passers-by" etc.). The term alludes to jumping between the different roles as needed.

Computer games

Nick Montfort, Professor of Digital Media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , defines NPCs in computer games as computer-controlled characters that are simulated within the game world, are not completely under the direct control of the player and are not merely mentioned. They are also to be distinguished from the bots used in multiplayer players, which take the place of human players with the aid of computers and therefore usually only have limited opportunities for interaction. NPCs often have a primarily narrative function: With them, the player can, for example, hold conversations, trade (common in computer role-playing games ) or accept orders that determine the further course of the game.

In contrast to role-playing games , in which NPCs tend to have a pictorial appearance ( i.e. they are represented as such on the screen ), they are usually not (figuratively) represented in real-time strategy games , but mostly just called NPCs . This naming is generally only made in the game settings ( e.g. in the so-called skirmish mode , from English skirmish for "battle" or "dispute"), where the number of computer opponents or their strength (i.e. the level of difficulty) are set or changed can. An example is the Command & Conquer: Tiberium game series, in which the KIs EVA and CABAL, which are integrated into the background story, compete against the (human) player.

Outside of games

Outside of computer and role-playing games, NPC-like applications of controlled roles are possible: In computer simulations (e.g. for crowd behavior) such characters are also called virtual agents , each of these agents corresponding to an NPC, i.e. H. each NPC has its own routine , including behavior.

Since September 2018, some users of the 4chan and Reddit websites have been using the term "NPC" to discredit people who think differently from politics, in particular people from the environment of progressive liberalism , the so-called liberals . The starting point was the assumption that liberals adopt unreflective opinions. From this reinterpretation of the term "NPC" a meme developed , the NPC meme .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b D. Cook: Dungeon Master's Guide . In: AD & D2E . TSR, 1989, ISBN 978-0-88038-729-3 .
  2. ↑ Focus Online Technik-Lexikon: NPC (Non-Player-Character). Retrieved January 26, 2016 (German).
  3. ↑ Ina Dahm: LARP - entry into a fantastic hobby . Magic Feather, 2013, ISBN 978-3-938922-38-5 .
  4. ↑ LarpWiki: NSC. Retrieved January 25, 2016 (German).
  5. ↑ Nick Montfort: Twisty Little Passages - An Approach to Interactive Fiction . The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2003, ISBN 0-262-13436-5 , pp. 33 .
  6. ↑ NYTimes.com: What Is NPC, the Pro-Trump Internet's New Favorite Insult? Retrieved March 20, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Cicero.de: We are all NPCs. Retrieved March 20, 2019 .