Autonomy and Death + Get a Signed Paralives Postcard 📩
Hi! 💌
Alex here to share a first look at our character autonomy and a first way to die in the game!
Before we get started, don’t forget to upgrade your current pledge tier to Hero or Legend before June 1st 2023 if you would like to receive an exclusive postcard signed by the whole Paralives team! ✨
We can’t reveal the new artwork that will be featured but here’s what the two previous postcard illustrations looked like:
December 2022 artwork featuring Eli and Sebastian getting ready for the holidays. Made by the talented Mario Miravalles.
June 2022 artwork featuring a great summer garden party. Also made by Mario Miravalles.
Also, don’t forget to check if your address is up to date on your Patreon profile to make sure that you will receive the postcard!
Parafolk Autonomy
In Paralives, your characters will be able to decide to perform some interactions on their own. This is what we call the autonomy system. Here are a few examples of what it can handle:
💼 A Parafolk will automatically add Go to work to their interaction queue when their work day is about to start.
🚽 Use toilet will be performed autonomously if your character really needs to go to the bathroom. The same goes for the other needs.
🎹 Your Parafolks will be able to find an activity to occupy their time if they don’t have anything to do. This could be watching TV or reading a book, for instance.
🍎 A character will automatically die if their hunger need is too critical or if other dramatic events happen. Dying is not an interaction that players can trigger by themselves in the game but we use our autonomy system to trigger this interaction based on specific conditions.
➕ There are more use cases not listed here!
Players will have the ability to turn off the autonomy in the options menu, if they prefer to control every single interaction their Parafolks do. However, some things will autonomously happen, no matter what, like for instance, your character dying of hunger if you locked them in an empty room between four walls… 😈
The Autonomy in Action
Roger and Kim are in separate living spaces and we are going to let the autonomy do its job to see what happens.
Nice chair you got there Roger, but how are you gonna feed yourself?
Ok now let’s delete Roger’s door.
I’m sorry Roger, this is necessary. For, ummm… science.
After a while, they are both becoming very hungry.
These Paras don’t look well…
Luckily, the character autonomy system kicks in and both Parafolks attempt to find a fridge so they can get something to eat.
Nothing like having a first bite after being hungry for so long!
Since the door was removed and there is no fridge in Roger’s room, the autonomy system is unable to do anything for him.
Roger is still looking hungry.
After many many more long hours, the inevitable is about to happen. The autonomy system declares that it’s time for Roger to go.
You will be remembered, Roger ❤️💐
We’re eager to build upon this first version of our autonomy system to do more and more! Parafolks could automatically clean the house or highly skilled musicians could decide to play music in their spare time, for instance. Adding more deaths to the game is also something I’m really looking forward to ✨
Have a great weekend and don’t forget to fulfill your primary (and less primary) needs!
Alex
Edit - August 17, 2023: This post is now public, feel free to share it!
Comments (74)
Would be so cool if, at the end of life their little soul would pop out like a cloud and cry or be cheerful - depending on the circumstances of death 🤔.
i am REALLY looking forward to more death types!!!
I don’t know if or how interests and hobbies will factor into the gameplay and character profiles, but I’d love if there was some way to have Paras be more likely to autonomously do activities they have a particular affinity for. If they’re really into reading or watching TV, or playing sports or whatever other activities and interests might be available. It would definitely feel more unique to each character if it worked like this.
I hope we get ghosts eventually someday I love ghosts!
It’s amazing I love everything you do so much❤️❤️❤️.But I thought in the death animation you could make it look a little bit more realistic .I mean,when someone dies from hunger it can be a little bit more dramatic than just laying on the floor .
I hope that the autonomous interaction will also align with their personality (example; having a Para that likes painting to paint when they're bored and not go to the computer). I've had moments in the Sims 4 where Sims that hated dancing started atounomously dancing when music was playing.
It would be awesome in full autonomy for paras to "overwrite" actions in order to meet basic needs like going to the bathroom or at least grabbing a quick snack (if not directed to make food when they are hungry). That way you don't have to plan when they need to go to wash up or go to the bathroom, etc.
Lol, poor Roger. Curious to know, though: how long does it take for a para to die of starvation? Do they die as soon as the bar gets too low or does the bar need to be in the red for a certain period of time?
Right now, they die after being in the complete red for a good while
Going to put Roger in my game and give him the best life possible - the poor moustache man doesn't deserve this fate
Awesome job!
i wonder if over time there will be a "very hungry" feature, like clutching onto their stomach and looking very visibly distressed and uncomfortable, calling for help etc. but this is really cool!
I love how the animation of him dying isn’t so over the top
I was actually hoping it would have been really funny like he'd just fall flat on his face. But this is better in the end
Please have pool slides and interactive pool waterfalls in the base game.
The fridge opens by itself, it's not realistic :(
They haven’t created all the animations yet.
I get a feeling Roger is gonna be a bit like Kenny from South Park...
Love this!! Do you plan to add the para physically opening the fridge door to the animation? Seems a little clunky for it to open without her touching it
at this very early stage of the game, these are just place holder animations until development is gone a bit further. They explain this a couple of posts back i think
:O are these like little apartments?? So cute!
I love that Roger's chair is knocked over in the last gif. Based on the type of chair I am hoping it's a reference to the 'we will rebuild' meme.
F Roger🤧
Why did the chair flip in the last pic lol
Obviously the solution is for the para to either: 1: Escape out the window in search of food 2: Break through the wall to get to the refrigerator like the Kool-Aid Man I am actually quite confused why the para didn't try to go out the windows though. That's a totally valid method of exit.
we have yet to see a para interact with any window iirc (opening, closing, drawing curtains, leaning out the window waving, etc.) so I assume they are currently not functional, but only.. window dressing (sorry)
I would love an easter egg to this patreon post when the game comes out in the form of a ghost named Roger just showing up in a specific house, lol. It all looks SO GOOD!!!
I like how Rogers chair fell over dramatically 🤣 RIP Roger and RIP his chair
Roger needs to be in the graveyard lot when the game is released lol
That'd be really funny :D
RIP Roger, your sacrifice was important 🙏
R.I.P Roger 😭😂😂 that was me in my workplace today 😅 amazing work Devs! love the autonomous features! ✨
Poor Roger, he was cute 😪
I hope books and libraries feel more fulfilling if there is a parafolk bookworm, I understand that skill books are valuable but fiction and non-skill-books sometimes feel undervalued and lackluster in other games. Like there is no consequence for reading a book other than to waste time. Usually after reading a good book I feel like I am floating and daydream for days about the story before craving another book. Sometimes I give up on books because it's boring or not what I expected. Fiction genres I love I tend to read fast at any chance I could get, even if it means reading under my covers with the thrill of getting in trouble with my parents. With non fiction and harder books I read slow because I am trying to comprehend the texts, even if I am very interested in the subject.
Since we die first going without water, it would be cool (but definitely more complicated, I know) if there was a thirst/water need level. Pretty cool to see the progress on this mechanic, though!
So, with this chair laying over. Did Roger kick it over when he was hangry? Or did he fall out of the chair? This is a little detail that seems interesting.
Weirdly yay! death! It looks great I love the smoothness in the animations
rip Roger. Skill issue tbh
I love that autonomy can also be used for a habit/routine system !!!
Would love to have the option to select different levels of autonomy, maybe even for different Paras. For example, Para A is on full autonomy, while Para B is on subsistence autonomy, while Para C is on no autonomy. I have a super micromanage-y play style, but sometimes I forget about a character if I'm focused on something else... would be nice if the forgotten Paras don't die, lol
Very exciting! I just love seeing the different ways to die, and I’m hoping that there will be a handful added in the base game with new ways to die in the future. I think it would be good (if possible) to add a variety of death animations for some of the normal deaths (starvation, old age, etc). It would be great for starvation if Paras could hold their stomach before death. And for old age, I’d love it if a para could pass away in their sleep (dead in a bed or on a couch or something). I think that would be great instead of them falling over (although that is still nice to add if they’re very active). Great work!
Hope you make the opening the fridge animation better
For the interactions, will they continue to do the same thing over and over again? Like if there’s a tv, bookcase, and computer will they switch around while using them or will they just continue to only use the tv whenever there’s idle time? In other games they seem to autonomously prioritize one hobby (like using the computer) and never really do anything else
It's too early for the devs to confirm more details on this but that would be really interesting to have an autonomy system that adapts to the characters' hobbies and switches between things they like to do!
Rip roger, there should be a little Easter egg roger painting, tombstone or statue as a tribute to his sacrifice 👀
Rest in peace Roger 😔👋 your sacrifice for science will be remembered
So excited to see the personality system and how it integrates with AI!
NOT ROGER!!😩😩🥺😭
I love the death animation and how it's done and it would be perfectly good if it stayed like that. But maybe for when they die of hunger since the paras would get weaker from time to time they could possibly sit down and lean against the wall after a while because they have so little energy left to do basic things like standing
That's a good idea, thank you for your feedback!
"However, some things will autonomously happen, no matter what, like for instance, your character dying of hunger if you locked them in an empty room between four walls… 😈" ...Oddly specific 😶 "Adding more deaths to the game is also something I’m really looking forward to ✨" Okay. 😨 The autonomy is such an important thing, yet it's "invisible" until it happens. I hope it takes into account more than needs, as you said things like skills or tastes would be nice to take into account. It's where a Para expresses themself. Honestly I kinda plan to let my Paras be more autonomous than in other games, where I tend to micromanage, so I'll be watching this space for sure. Sidenote : I loved how Kim ate with the door of the fridge still open. It showed how hungry she was, as opposed to a snack that feels less urgent. I wonder if different Paras will do that differently ; some with a more "neat" or "stingy" personality might actually dislike it XD
I agree, the autonomy is a really cool feature that we often don't notice! Sometimes, in other games, we only really notice the autonomy when something goes wrong or our character is doing something we would rather they did not haha We are still at the early stages of creating the autonomy system and there's so many details to discuss and include to make the gameplay as fun and interesting as possible :)
Not her leaving the fridge door open so long 😱 Also funny and tragic how Roger‘s chair died with him 😭
I am not a fan of the Sim's style of gently laying down in the fetal position and dying. I don't mean we need anything gruesome but it just dropping over for deaths a bad take?
I think for a death caused by hunger the fetal position makes sense, because the para is kind of curled in around their stomach. But I agree that it could be funny to have someone literally "drop dead" and just have them fall down for a different death type.
Please have this as easter egg when the game releases 🤣 A grave named Roger who died of hunger
And with a chair standing besides the grave 😅
RIP Roger! We barely knew ye! This is so cool! Quick question regarding autonomy. I noticed the one para got an apple out of the fridge instead of cooking a meal. Is that based on the level of hunger? Like if they’re only snacky they’ll grab an apple but if they’re really hungry they’ll make a full meal? I’m only asking because in other games when a character is really tired sometimes they take naps instead of going to bed.
For this post, we used an apple because it was an easier animation that we already had figured out. We haven't decided yet if levels of hunger will have an impact on what food Paras go for but that's a really good idea that we will consider! :)
Rest in peace roger 😔💔
Oh no, the chair also died!
collateral damage :/
YES WE HAVE DEATH!!!!
YAY! DEATH!
How many deaths other than hunger and age have you planned?
We are still working on them so we can't confirm that quite yet ;)
The dying animation is a 10/10
Thank you! 😊
Poor Roger. Anyways, his postcard will make a fine addition to my Paralives postcard collection 😌 Great progress on the game development.
Thank you so much for your support Julio! :)
Such a great job , congratulations team I am so excited and proud 🤩
Thank you so much Joseph!
NOT ROGER!! 🤣 Death by Rogercide.
say bye bye to Roger! 😈