Glancing through the search feature for the forums, I didn't see any previous suggestions for this, so I'd like to make a post recommending the inclusion of, in any future incarnation of Terraria, the ability to create gathering places where nearby town NPCs (if not all those in the world) can congregate during clear days.
Having played quite a bit of Terraria and having gone through several designs for grand castles and large hotels and resorts for NPCs to live within, I notice that they tend to stick to whatever floor they're on within whatever structures they call their homes. When you have multi-level buildings, this can usually mean that the NPCs will just stagger back and forth indoors within a very limited area, and while this may be fine for players who don't want their NPCs to wander to Narnia and back, I can't help but feel like this is very unlike what "living, breathing" characters would do. They would go outdoors more, talk with more people than just their neighbors on the same floor, and perhaps explore the entirety of their home.
It could be a nice addition, therefore, to allow players to designate areas where NPCs can gather during safe times, whether they're outdoor areas, like courtyards or open-air bazaars, or indoor locations, such as a lounge or party room. My current thought is that these areas could be marked using either objects, perhaps a special kind of brick or background object (i.e. stalls if the bazaar/marketplace angle is pursued), or an area selector, similar to how Camera Mode for the PC version works. If such an area is designated (and perhaps checked by the game as being "safe"), NPCs will attempt to wander to that area using existing pathfinding (or if no path exists, they can either remain where they are or warp to these locations off-screen as they would to their own homes at night or during rain). If multiple areas are designated, NPCs can either travel to the closest one from their home, move towards a random one, or otherwise wander between them freely at their discretion. No special deals or items have to be available from NPCs in these regions; these would simply be little areas set by players so that NPCs can get out of their rooms more often and see more of the players' beautiful creations, a way to add a little more liveliness to their existences.
Having played quite a bit of Terraria and having gone through several designs for grand castles and large hotels and resorts for NPCs to live within, I notice that they tend to stick to whatever floor they're on within whatever structures they call their homes. When you have multi-level buildings, this can usually mean that the NPCs will just stagger back and forth indoors within a very limited area, and while this may be fine for players who don't want their NPCs to wander to Narnia and back, I can't help but feel like this is very unlike what "living, breathing" characters would do. They would go outdoors more, talk with more people than just their neighbors on the same floor, and perhaps explore the entirety of their home.
It could be a nice addition, therefore, to allow players to designate areas where NPCs can gather during safe times, whether they're outdoor areas, like courtyards or open-air bazaars, or indoor locations, such as a lounge or party room. My current thought is that these areas could be marked using either objects, perhaps a special kind of brick or background object (i.e. stalls if the bazaar/marketplace angle is pursued), or an area selector, similar to how Camera Mode for the PC version works. If such an area is designated (and perhaps checked by the game as being "safe"), NPCs will attempt to wander to that area using existing pathfinding (or if no path exists, they can either remain where they are or warp to these locations off-screen as they would to their own homes at night or during rain). If multiple areas are designated, NPCs can either travel to the closest one from their home, move towards a random one, or otherwise wander between them freely at their discretion. No special deals or items have to be available from NPCs in these regions; these would simply be little areas set by players so that NPCs can get out of their rooms more often and see more of the players' beautiful creations, a way to add a little more liveliness to their existences.
