Despite its emphasis on realism, in many ways Red Dead Redemption 2 still feels like an action-packed Western epic. Players can get into gunfights, hunt dangerous animals, and stir up no small amount of trouble if they so choose. However, life isn’t as glamorous for the game’s large multitude of non-playable characters (NPC’s). In fact, one dedicated YouTuber recently showed that Red Dead Redemption 2’s NPC’s lead surprisingly intricate (if still mundane) lives.
Red Dead Redemption 2 NPC Schedules
The YouTube channel DefendTheHouse recently conducted an interesting experiment. For an entire in-game day the channel chronicled the exploits of three different Red Dead Redemption 2 NPC’s. The NPC’s chosen for the experiment weren’t hardened criminals or rugged hunters, they were just three ordinary folks from Valentine. The full DefendTheHouse video is worth a watch thanks to its high production value and the insights it discovers. We chronicled some of the more interesting (and odd) insights below.
NPC 1
- A sheep yard worker who’s up and off to work bright and early (8:00 a.m.)
- Work consists of “watching the sheep” (i.e. standing around lazily) and carrying bags of grain into a barn.
- Keeps working at the sheep yard until 9:15 p.m. (13-hour workdays!!!)
- Unwinds after a long day at work by drinking at the local saloon until midnight.
- Returns home at 12:15 a.m. and goes to bed.
NPC 2
- A construction worker with a clear fondness for booze.
- Doesn’t appear to have a permanent residence, he just passes out at the saloon each night.
- Wakes up at 6:45 a.m. and drunkenly stumbles over to the building he’s helping to construct
- Takes a “drinking break” at 9:45 a.m. using a flask he keeps in his shirt pocket.
- Has an hour-long lunch break from 1:45-2:45 and spends it, where else, drinking at the saloon.
- Gets off work by 6:30 p.m. and is back drinking at the saloon by 7:15.
- Passes out at a table at about 1:00 a.m. and sleeps through the night.
NPC 3
- A grizzled old stablehand who’s up chopping wood for personal use by 6:45 a.m.
- Heads off to work at the stables a little after 7:00 a.m.
- Fills water buckets and collects hay bales for the horses.
- Takes shelter and chats with the other workers when it rains.
- Ends his workday at 8:00 p.m. and heads to the saloon for some evening drinking.
- Returns to his camp at about 11:30 p.m. and stays up playing the harmonica by the campfire until 1:00 a.m.
The amount of detail which Rockstar put until Red Dead Redemption 2’s world is hardly surprising. Still, it’s fascinating to observe up-close the lives led by ordinary NPC citizens. For more on RDR2’s many oddities, be sure to read about how killing KKK members actually awards Honor. Or about how to trigger the game’s vampire easter egg. And yes, you read that last sentence correctly.