Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this NPC fertility thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. I started with this idea to make my game characters more realistic, and next thing I know, I’m diving deep into the world of virtual baby-making.
First off, I had to figure out how to even get started. I mean, we’re talking about getting these digital folks to, you know, get it on and have little pixelated babies. I spent days just reading up on how people were doing this in different games. Some were using simple random chance, like, “Hey, there’s a 10% chance your NPC couple will have a baby this year.” But I wanted something more, something with a bit more depth.
So, I started playing around with different options. I thought about IUI, you know, that thing where they put the sperm right into the uterus? Sounds weird in a game, but it’s a thing in real life, and it’s cheaper than other methods. I figured I could add some sort of “clinic” in the game where NPCs could go for this. It would be a simple process: go to the clinic, pay a fee, and boom, higher chance of a baby.
- Step one: Make a clinic.
- Step two: Add a “fertility treatment” option.
- Step three: Set a price for the treatment.
- Step four: Increase the baby-making odds for treated NPCs.
But then I thought, what if the NPCs are broke? I didn’t want only the rich NPCs to have families. So, I started looking into how to make it affordable. I learned that in the real world, there are ways to get help with these treatments, like financing and stuff. Maybe I could add something like that to the game, a loan system or some sort of government help for NPCs who want babies but don’t have a lot of money. I really spent like a whole week just trying to balance the in-game economy to make this work. It was nuts!
Then there’s IVF. That’s the big one, where they mix the egg and sperm in a lab and then put the embryo back in. It’s super expensive in real life, but it has a high success rate. I read that the best clinics have a 99% success rate! In my game, I decided to make IVF a rare and costly option. It wouldn’t guarantee a baby, but it would significantly increase the chances. I ended up making it so only certain high-level NPCs could even access this option. I even added some special missions players could do to unlock IVF for their favorite NPC couples. That was a fun weekend, coding those missions.
Making it Work
The hardest part was making sure it all felt natural. I didn’t want it to be like, “Oh, you clicked the ‘have baby’ button, and now you have a baby.” I wanted it to be a process. So, I added a timeline. After an NPC couple decides to try for a baby, whether naturally or through a clinic, there’s a waiting period. It’s like they’re really trying. Then, if they’re lucky, they get a baby. If not, they can try again. For the age, I make the young couples have a higher chance, just like real life. I know it is not that easy in real life, but it is only a game. I just want to make it more real. It took so much tweaking to get this right, but I think I finally nailed it.
I also had to think about what happens after the baby is born. Do they grow up? Do they inherit traits from their parents? I ended up making a whole system for NPC genetics and aging. It was way more complicated than I initially planned, but it was worth it. Now, the NPCs feel more like real people with their own families and lives. I even made it so that these NPC kids could grow up and have their own kids. It’s like a whole virtual world of families, evolving and growing. I even shared some of these family trees on my social media, and people went crazy for them! I think the most liked one was a family of five generations!
It’s been a crazy journey, diving into this NPC fertility thing. But seeing these digital families grow and evolve is really something else. I’m still working on it, adding new features and tweaking things here and there. Who knows where it’ll go next? Maybe I’ll add adoption or surrogacy. The possibilities are endless!
