Actually, Ren'Py would not work for this game. RPGMaker, yeah. But that being said,
GateKeeper said it when he told his position on changing the game format:
No.
I do have a couple of suggestions to make in regards to the teleporting NPCs:
1.) If the character is assigned elsewhere as in the dining room or kitchen for mealtimes that person will not appear in a location other than the dining room or kitchen, for instance.
2.) When a character completes a task, event, what-have-you, a flag should be thrown. At the beginning of an event that flag will be checked, if thrown there will NOT be an event. Reset the flag of course and walla.
(I dislike moving from room to room chasing the same individual or being pummelled by events in the same room, a lot of the time with the same event.)
3. When an event has an individual they should be shown in the location pic.
That does it for me now.
Originally that's what I had it set up as, but I untethered them from the NPCs movement when we were in early development so content would be easy to encounter in game rather than needing to summon characters from place to place in order to see scenes in a location.
The goal is to set up the characters who they will move around on their own.
Work: Will be split into three priorities. 1. Important locations. 2. Neutral locations. 3. Low priority locations. The amount of time and likelihood of that location drawing a character assigned to certain jobs will be affected by this (Say you have someone assigned to house work. Cleaning the hallways or master bedroom would be high priority, something like guest rooms or servant's area would be neutral, and places like the attic or pantry would be low priority.
Non-Work: Will be split into three priorities. 1. Likes the room. 2. Neutral room. 3. Dislikes the room. The amount of time and likelihood of that location drawing a character during non-work hours will be affected by this. (Using Anna as an example: She loves the library and the bathing room, and likes spending time with Eve in the living room. She'll naturally gravitate toward those places. Neutral locations like hallways or gym are places she might be seen in, but she's not going to be as likely to appear in those places. Places she has no reason to go, like the storage area, attic, or guest rooms are unlikely to draw her.)
You'll be able to assign jobs. Someone assigned to house work is going to appear in the mansion during work hours. Someone assigned to yard work will be seen on the grounds, Cooking is going to involve the kitchen and dining room mostly. Animals will include the kennels and stables. There are other things planned as well, but that should give some idea of what is being planned.
Once job assignments are working properly, all scenes are going to be split into one of two groups. 1. If there is a character present in the location and you meet the conditions for ANY of their scenes, then a character scene will trigger. or 2. If no character is present, or no scenes you meet the requirements for are in that location, then one of the many ambient scenes in the game will trigger.
We actually have the game set up right now so that if a character is present, their art will appear in the location. (Summon them to your location, you'll see Anna and/or Eve appear.
The final thing is that once character movement is a thing, we intend to have a display that will tell you where a character is. Characters will remain in a location for +15 minutes at a time so you'll be able to run them down much easier when you're looking for them.
I think that covers everything you just mentioned?
