NPCs: How the Population Works

Every region in Virtual Nations is home to a population of NPCs (non-player characters). They aren't scenery. NPCs work in player companies, buy goods off the market, pay taxes, build infrastructure, fight in wars, vote in Governor elections, and sometimes start uprisings. If you run a company, govern a region, or lead a nation, NPCs are a large part of your economy.

This page explains what NPCs do and how your decisions affect them.

Where NPCs come from

New NPCs arrive in a region when its Appeal is high enough. Roughly, a region can support one NPC for every 10 points of Appeal, and new NPCs keep arriving until that number is reached. They are born as citizens of the region's original nation.

NPCs also migrate between regions on their own (see Moving & migration), so a well-run region can attract people from its neighbours, and a badly run one will lose them.

Vital stats

Each NPC has the same basic stats as a player:

What makes NPCs unhappy

Every game day, an NPC loses 1 Happiness and gains 1 Discontent for each of these that is true:

• They haven't eaten in the last 24 hours

• They haven't had a drink in the last 24 hours

• They haven't worked in the last 24 hours

Their Hunger also goes up by 1 every day. An NPC whose Hunger reaches 10 without eating for a day is starving and loses 50 health.

What makes NPCs happier

• Eating, drinking, working, receiving welfare

• Moving somewhere new (clears their Discontent entirely)

• Levelling up or earning a military promotion

• Living in a region with the right infrastructure. These apply daily to everyone in the region:

When a nation wins a battle for a region, Discontent is wiped for all of that nation's citizens living there.

A day in the life

NPCs act in "turns". Once an NPC has built up enough AP (at least 100) and hasn't acted in the past hour, they take a turn and go through the routine below, in this order. In practice most NPCs take about one turn a day.

1. Think about moving if they are discontented

2. Visit the Hospital or use medicine if wounded

3. Work out at the gym

4. Help build or repair national infrastructure, or take paid work on player-owned infrastructure

5. Find a job if they don't have one, then work a shift

6. Eat

7. Have a drink if they're not fully happy

8. Go shopping for longer-lasting goods

9. Consider rebelling if they live under occupation

10. Military training, then fight in any local battle

NPCs under 18 don't do any of this yet.

Working

This is where NPCs matter most to company owners.

Hiring NPCs

From your company's Staff panel, post a job offer and set the number of NPC Vacancies for that tier. NPCs looking for work pick one at random from all vacancies that match them. To match, your company must:

• Be located in the same region as the NPC

• Belong to the nation the NPC lives in and pay in that nation's currency

• Have NPC shifts left for the day

• Have a minimum Health and Happiness requirement the NPC meets

An NPC looks for a new job when they're unemployed and haven't worked in a day, when they haven't managed to work in 3 days, or when the company has more NPC staff than vacancies.

What happens on a shift

Each shift costs the NPC 25 AP, and an NPC works at most one shift per turn. How much they produce depends on:

• Their skill for the industry (gathering, manufacturing or building)

• Their general fitness: the average of their physical stats

• Their Happiness and Health. A happy, healthy worker produces far more than a miserable, injured one

Other modifiers:

• No power: −50% production for industries that need it. Companies with a maximum power price set will try to buy power automatically.

• Industrial Complex: each one your nation owns in the region gives manufacturing workers +15% production.

• Hard Worker trait: these NPCs produce twice as much, and are paid for it.

• Road bonus: NPCs who drive to work (see below) get +5% production per road level in their region, up to +20% on a highway, and are paid for it. This matches the bonus players get for driving.

Wages are your offered salary scaled by how much the NPC produced, and never less than the nation's minimum wage. Income tax is taken out before the NPC is paid.

Driving to work

An NPC who owns a Motorcycle or Car drives to work if their region has roads and they have fuel. Driving gives them the road bonus: +5% production and pay per road level. After a successful shift, the drive uses 1 fuel and makes the NPC a stronger member of the Motorist demographic (see Politics & demographics). A failed shift costs no fuel. NPCs with no fuel, or in a region without roads, still work. They just don't drive, and don't get the bonus.

When a shift fails

A shift fails, and nothing is produced, if:

• The company can't afford the wage

• The company is missing raw materials (companies with a max price and target stock set will try to auto-buy them from the market first)

• The region's natural resources for that raw industry have run out

Every failed shift risks the NPC quitting. The chance is equal to their Discontent, and NPCs who have never completed a shift for you quit right away. When an NPC quits an unworkable job, the region loses 1 Appeal and gains 1 Unrest.

Every successful shift does the opposite: the region gains 1 Appeal and loses 1 Unrest. Polluting industries also add pollution to the region.

Other things to know as an employer:

• NPCs who haven't worked a shift in a week are dropped from your staff automatically.

• Firing an NPC adds 2 Discontent to them.

• If an NPC moves away, they leave their job.

Spending money

NPCs earn wages (and possibly welfare) and spend them in their nation's market. Their purchases are a large part of consumer demand.

Daily needs

NPCs missing at least 25 health first try their region's Hospital, which heals them in one treatment using the nation's medicine stockpile. They pay the nation's medicine prices and treatment fee, and always keep 5 back for food. They only buy medicine from the market if the Hospital can't treat them.

NPCs won't pay more than 5 (in local currency) for any single unit of food, drink or medicine, before tax. NPCs who can't afford what they need are counted as living in poverty, which shows up in regional statistics.

Other goods

NPCs also try to keep a small stock of:

• A vehicle (up to Q3), plus fuel if they own one

• A couple of transport tickets, used for travelling by train or boat

• Housing (up to Q3), if they don't have a home yet

• Weapons, armour, ammunition and military gear, when they're about to fight

Sales taxes, and import/export taxes on foreign goods, apply to NPC purchases exactly as they do to players.

Moving & migration

NPCs who are discontented will try to leave. Each turn, an NPC who hasn't fought in the last day has a chance to move equal to their Discontent. They try these options in order:

1. Train: if their region has an active Rail Station and they have a transport ticket, they can go to any other region with a Rail Station

2. Land border: walk to a neighbouring region

3. Go home: if they're living abroad, return to a region of their own nation

4. Boat: sail to a coastal region (needs a transport ticket)

When travelling by train, border or boat, they only go somewhere at least as attractive as where they are now (Appeal minus Unrest). They won't move into a region that already has 1,000 NPCs.

When an NPC moves:

• Their Discontent drops to zero

• They leave their job

• Their spouse comes with them

• Leaving their nation of residence lowers their patriotism towards it

If a discontented NPC wants to leave but can't, the region gains Unrest and loses Appeal. NPCs who don't try to leave but have more than 50 Discontent also add to the region's Unrest.

Family life

Once a day, adult NPCs who are single look for a partner of the opposite gender in the same region who is within about 15 years of their age. Married couples share a surname and always live in the same region, so if one moves, so does the other. NPCs who can't find a partner are slightly less happy.

Welfare

If a nation sets a Welfare payment (by passing a law under Politics → Policies), it's paid once a day to NPCs who:

• Are citizens of the nation and live there

• Haven't worked in the last 24 hours

• Have less money than 7 days' worth of welfare

Welfare is paid from the national treasury. It makes the NPC happier, reduces Discontent, and slightly increases their patriotism. NPCs who received welfare in the last day won't try to move.

Citizenship & patriotism

NPCs track their patriotism towards each nation. It goes up when they work, build, receive welfare, or fight for a nation. It goes down when they emigrate from it, fight against it, or rebel against it.

NPCs living abroad can change citizenship. Once a week, an NPC living in a foreign nation gets a chance to naturalise if they are:

• Happy (75+ Happiness)

• Well fed (low Hunger, eaten in the last day)

• Working for a company in their nation of residence and worked in the last day

The base chance is 10%. Higher patriotism towards their new home makes it more likely, and higher patriotism towards their old nation makes it less likely (between 1% and 30%).

Building & repairing

NPCs who live in a region owned by their own nation donate their labour to it. Each turn, they'll put work into any infrastructure project under construction in their region, or repair damaged structures if nothing is being built. This uses the nation's stockpile of construction materials, so projects won't advance if those run out.

Building skill, strength, Happiness and Health all affect how much work they contribute.

If there's no national infrastructure for them to build or repair that turn, NPCs take paid work on player-owned infrastructure in their region instead. They pick the best-paid job, and only take it if the wage is at least the minimum wage of the nation holding the region and the owner can afford it. The materials come from the owner's construction site, not the nation's stockpile.

Military

Training

Each turn, NPCs with enough AP, at least 30% health and 30 Happiness do one military training session. Infantry and Medic training is always available. Tank and Jet training also becomes possible if their nation has a Military Base in their region. Training is much more effective at a base, and the nation's military training bonus applies.

Fighting

NPCs fight in active battles in their current region when their nation of citizenship is involved. They need more than 100 health, and they won't fight if their nation's battle orders are set to abstain. Before fighting, they try to buy weapons, armour, ammunition and APCs from the market.

Their damage depends on military rank, weapon quality, and combat and marksmanship skills. It's also affected by:

• Night time: −10%

• Sunny weather: +2%

• Enemy air superiority: −20%

• Enemy Bunkers in the region: −5% each

NPCs with the Militant or Patriotic trait will actively travel to battles their nation is involved in.

NPCs earn combat XP and are promoted through the same military ranks as players.

Uprisings

NPCs living in a region that has been conquered from their nation don't always accept it. Each turn, an occupied NPC may start an uprising if:

• The region's Unrest is high compared to its population

• There's no battle already happening there

• There hasn't been a battle there in the last 24 hours

An uprising creates a battle for the region, starting 12 hours later. If the defenders win, the region is liberated. Starting one resets the region's Unrest to zero. Only a limited number of uprisings can run at once across the whole game.

Levelling up

NPCs gain experience from working out, working, building and training. When they level up, their max health increases (100 per level), they're fully healed, and they get a small cash reward.

Traits

Most NPCs have up to three traits, rolled when they're created. Some traits change how they behave:

Other traits (such as Genius, Strong, Xenophobic or Albino) are flavour for now.

Politics & demographics

Each NPC belongs to several demographic groups, which reflect their views:

• Capitalist or Socialist

• Conservative or Liberal

• Environmentalist (cyclists, swimmers and joggers are more likely, bikers and rev heads less likely)

• Patriot

• Religious

• Farmer (grows by 1 each time they work in farming industries, up to 100: fibers, grain, spice or chocolate)

• Motorist (grows by 1 each day they drive to work, up to 100. See Working.)

These matter for Governor elections. When you nominate yourself, the pledges you make appeal to different demographics. On election day, every NPC who is a citizen of the region's nation and lives there votes for the candidate who best matches their demographics. The Governor page shows the demographic make-up of the region's voters.

Quick reference for players

Company owners

• Post NPC vacancies in the same region as your company

• Keep enough cash for wages, enough raw materials and power, and auto-buy settings configured

• Happy, healthy NPCs produce more, so the region you choose matters

Producers of consumer goods

• NPCs buy food, drinks and medicine every turn, up to Q3, for no more than 5 per unit

• List in large quantities (100+), or NPCs will skip your offer

Governors & national leaders

• Build Courthouses, Temples, Hospitals, Nightclubs and Arenas to cut Discontent

• Rail Stations let NPCs migrate in by train

• Working companies raise Appeal, which brings in new NPCs

• Welfare keeps unemployed citizens fed and loyal, but it costs the treasury

• Keep Unrest low in conquered regions, or expect an uprising