At last, the recognition I deserve.
Even after the 2.0 patch brought Cyberpunk 2077 its own little renaissance, Night City’s inhabitants have always left the megacity feeling a little lifeless. No matter how much neon clothing’s on display, crowds don’t feel very vibrant when they’re oblivious to anything short of lethal peril. Sure, basic nudity might not chart very highly compared to the daily grotesqueries of living in a dystopian future, but you’d think seeing V leap through traffic while hanging hog would get somebody’s attention. And finally, now it can, thanks to the Responsive NPCs mod from MistaChedda.
The mod adds systems allowing crowds, gangs, and law enforcement to dynamically react to and comment on V’s behavior, driving, weaponry, and clothing—or lack thereof. Streaking, for example, can cause nearby pedestrians to comment that you’re a pervert before trying to put some distance between you, and it’ll make you more noticeable to NCPD and other armed NPCs. Apparently your nudity will be more alarming to NPCs as your cyberware level increases, which I’ll admit feels a little odd to me. Personally, I feel like somebody’s robotic bits are a little unremarkable compared to their unprompted genitalia, but maybe I’m just too open-minded for 2077.
Your clothing and visible weaponry will likewise earn you some attention. If you’re holding heavy weaponry or wearing military attire, you’ll be a lot more noticeable to everyone around you, because people generally tend to pay more attention when somebody’s walking around with a big gun. Realism! Similarly, wearing gang-affiliated clothing will make you less obvious to that gang’s members, but its rivals will definitely be more aware of you. As a nice touch, the mod adds a tag-based clothing reaction system allowing NPCs to comment on your outfit, which other modders can incorporate for their own custom clothing additions.
The mod adds behavior-based NPC reactions, too. Pedestrians will “actively dodge” your car if you honk at them while you’re driving on the sidewalk, while other drivers will respond with comments or answer with honks of their own. And thanks to the unsettlingly-named “Stalking System,” NPCs will notice if you follow them around, eventually getting freaked out enough that they’ll flee or—if they’re armed—potentially get hostile.
Responsive NPCs is available for download on Nexus Mods, where you can also find MistaChedda’s roadmap for potential future additions, including reactions based on V’s origin and the ability to drop NCPD wanted levels with an outfit change.
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