Npc what is

There's no shortage of abbreviations and acronyms in the video game world. Among those abbreviated terms is NPC, which is used to refer to specific "non-player" characters in a game. NPC is an acronym that stands for "non-player character.

They're not usually meant to act like real people. For example, visiting shops to stock up on supplies is a common scenario in games. In these cases, the shopkeeper — who doesn't move from their spot or dynamically change their behavior in any way — is an NPC. They just exist to be interacted with in the same way whenever you like. Other than serving a functional purpose, NPCs can also have relevance to a game's plot, filling the roles of villains or other important characters.

They might also just be there to fill the world. In games with large cities like "Grand Theft Auto," NPCs are used as citizens on the street, simply walking in a single direction or running away from you. They help make the game's world feel more immersive and alive. In essence, NPCs generally serve a single purpose, and have a very limited number of actions and reactions to the player.

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A non-player character NPC is a video game character that is controlled by the game's artificial intelligence AI rather than by a gamer. Non-player characters serve a number of purposes in video games, including:. A non-player character describes characters the gamer interacts with throughout the game. Interaction covers the gamut from plot-advancing conversations to regular commerce to get the next best sword.

NPCs do not include enemy units, as blasting, slashing, bombing and sniping are not really interaction in any sense. Generally speaking, NPCs are the characters controlled by the game itself.

In late , just weeks before the U. But how did a term used to describe the computer-controlled townsfolk in popular games like Skyrim transform into a political insult? Like with most video game jargon, the answer lies in the tabletop games that predate electronic gaming entirely. Video games run all of these processes in the background as players navigate seamless virtual worlds.