NPCs and questing-style games

I've held the view for a while now that the best kind of game SL is suited to is a regularly updated quest style game where a large part of the gameplay involves talking to NPCs, carrying things back and forth, finding quest items and reading the storyline.

While it's cute to have sculptie mannequins and the like, this eats into your prim count fast if you want them to look at all cool. With this in mind I've had a look at LibSL for creating scripted NPC bots to help advance the storyline.

So, my questions are:

Is LibSL accepted as an OK way to connect to the grid, or does it have bad mojo surrounding it?
Is this a violation of the ToS?
Has something like this been done already?

1. It's fine, and I've only heard good things, really. SLeek is another similar program, though I don't think as good for this situation (Though unsure, as I've only used SLeek)

2. Nope

3. Yep. A lot of stores where you see 'models', those are actually bots. They help with traffic rating, save prims, and look better than mannequins.

Hehe, I'm actually running SLeeK already to put some mannequins in my store. I thought it was a circumspect way to ask.

So before I put too much of that nasty 'effort' thing in, what do you think is the best option for scripting an NPC? Write it in C# and compile each one as its own application, or do it with SL scripting? I very much prefer C# but SL scripting puts a nice frontend on inventory interaction.

I've optimistically started putting together some NPCs without even checking if everything I want to do is possible. Anyway. You can have a look at my efforts here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tiramisu/13/154/2601/?title=Skull%20Service%20Platform%2077&msg=Skull%20Service%20Platform%2077

You interact with the little yellow exclamation mark, not the NPCs. Feedback is welcome.

Is there a way to give an item to another object? Specifically it'd be great to drag the quest item on to a table to hand in the quest. Perhaps some sort of inventory check? Or should I just have the quest item talk to the main quest controller when it's interacted with?

Second, what's the best way to maintain what could end up being a large amount of data recording who is at what quest step? A flat file in the inventory? A flat file per resident?

I hauled ass and there is now a three-stage quest available. Proof of concept: done.

I'm going to have fun making missions around my home base for a while, but I'm interested in finding other parcel owners - particularly sci fi themed parcels - who don't mind hosting a scripted object or two to help advance the storyline. You'll hopefully gain the benefit of having a few more visitors through and there's room for at least one "go to X vendor to collect Y object" situation.

These are strictly free quests, of course, but it's like free advertising. Except it's not free, you have to keep my quest objects there or I'll write you out of the story. I'm pretty sure the potential power has now gone to my head. Anyway.

If this all goes to plan and residents find it enjoyable, there's room to make something themed along regular, suburban lines. I foresee bad dates, spying on exes making out, petty theft and drug muling galore. It'll be a fucking blast and we'll bring the whole tone of SL down while we do it. SL is a community effort and therefore I demand you help. Hit me up now if you'd like to be a quest destination in the subversive future.

$5 says this post gets no replies.

Can I have my $5 now please

Great concept there

I wouldn't shout too hard that it 'saves' prims. well it does save prims but...
In my expirience avatars are the biggest form of lag! If you sculpt an NPC with say 5 sculpts and 1 scipt this will be much less lag then 1 avatar in your SIM! (Ever been to a sim with 50 avatars? compare that to an empty sim with 250 prims and 50 scripts, you'll feel the difference!!!)

But there are other pre's for BOT-NPC's as described by others.