I really think the cities in inZOI need more NPCs and more activity happening around us. The things NPCs already do are great, but the cities can still feel way too empty and quiet because there just aren’t enough people around .
It would be really nice to see more children coming home from school , kids playing together at playgrounds , teenagers hanging out, and more people just walking around the streets and doing their own things. I’d also love to see more everyday stuff happening, like people walking their pets , riding bikes , sitting on benches, taking photos , talking with friends, or just going for a walk.
The activities are already there, but there just needs to be more people doing them. Even having more groups of NPCs naturally appearing around the city instead of so many empty areas would make a HUGE difference.
At the same time, I think there should still be quieter areas for people who enjoy peaceful places . Parks could have more people playing with their pets , walking them, or just relaxing together , while other parts of the city can be much busier.
I just want to walk around and feel like I’m surrounded by a real population living their everyday lives, while still having some quieter places to escape to.
I’m honestly a little confused about what the new part of this suggestion is supposed to be.
First, props to @daria for already linking several similar discussions above .
There are quite a few existing topics about city activity, NPC spawns and making the world feel more alive, so I think these ideas could have been added there instead of creating another separate topic.
There is also something important happening on the development side already: Kjun has been talking extensively about rebuilding Zoi autonomy.
In “[07.17.26] Rethinking Autonomy: Making ZOI Feel More Alive”, he specifically explains that they want Zois to make more natural decisions based on their needs, traits, personalities and relationships, instead of just selecting random high-scoring interactions. He even uses couples staying together at a park as an example.
And in the much more recent “[08.21.26] Sticks and Stones”, Kjun says they are now reviewing autonomy from the ground up because everyday routines and NPC behavior have become inconsistent, and that they deliberately reduced new feature development while working on these fundamental improvements.
So things like NPCs behaving more naturally, having a clearer purpose when they are somewhere, interacting appropriately with other Zois and generally making the city feel like people are actually living in it are already very much being worked on.
Then there are some examples in this post that aren’t actually activities “already there” yet.
Walking around, sitting on benches, talking, taking photos etc.? Sure.
Riding bicycles? Kjun already showed that bicycles are being developed and even mentioned that they added two-person bicycle riding in a development update. But not there yet.
Walking pets and playing with pets in parks?
…we don’t even have the dog yet xD
A proper pet system would first need to exist before NPCs can autonomously walk their dogs, play with them, relax with them in parks and so on. And ironically, I would much rather have exactly that proper pet gameplay first than animals simply existing as background objects as they are now, when we encounter a cat/dog outside. And this MIGHT actually be a DLC, depending on how fleshed out it will be.
So between:
- several already existing wishlist topics about lively cities and NPC activity,
- Kjun currently rebuilding autonomy specifically to make Zois behave more naturally,
- bicycles already being worked on,
- and pet activities depending on a pet system that doesn’t exist yet,
I’m honestly not quite sure why this needed another standalone topic instead of contributing these additions to one of the discussions that already exists, like @daria already presented.
I absolutely agree with the general wish. I want to walk through Dowon or Bliss Bay and actually feel like people are living their own lives around me too. Under the condition that the game still runs properly with all the autonomous acting NPCs. I’m just starting to feel like we’re getting “Make the City Feel Alive: Remastered Edition” when some of the previous discussions are already right there
More NPCs to Make inZOI’s Cities Feel Alive
. The things NPCs already do are great, but the cities can still feel way too empty and quiet because there just aren’t enough people around 
.
, kids playing together at playgrounds 
, teenagers hanging out, and more people just walking around the streets 
and doing their own things. I’d also love to see more everyday stuff happening, like people walking their pets 
, riding bikes 
, sitting on benches, taking photos 
, talking with friends, or just going for a walk.
. Parks could have more people playing with their pets 
, while other parts of the city can be much busier.
