Basically, I want to change an NPC's speech and clothing Anyone knows how? Also, post your obscure StarCheat tricks here too.
Build a bar. Build an arena. Build a criminal undercity. Have a group of friends there to-boot. Have that group of friends tell their friends. You'll eventually be the next Avalon.
RP there. Drag a couple friends residents w/e there. Advertise, build, expand, RP, RP, RP All you need is at least 3 regulars including yourself. Who then bring other friends or w/e in doesn't have to be for long, just get people. Find excuses to bring others in. If it is forever empty, with even the colony leader gone, it will just become a wasteland. Currently the most populous place, the closest we have to an Avalon gig, is LM Which is actually better than Avalon was in some aspects, as there are some consequences to things, and worse in others. I.E. the horde of terribly roleplayed pcs who wander in and inflict their shitty "HAHAHAHA I AM BADASS UNBEATABLE CLUSTERTHUMP" And proceeds to antagonize anyone and everyone for the sole purpose of getting attention, and never realizing, they're pissing on the RP/Vibes. Granted, that's likely why some colonies remain private. Despite the app process, a few turds manage to squeeze through the filter. TL;DR Tender Loving Care + active leader/small group of regulars, should gradually draw others in by showing that the place has some life (RP) too it. LM is the current Avalon with a new set of pros and cons, If you want to be the new Avalon, you might have to take those little factors into account and look at how Avalon was, and how LM is.
Everything is better than Avalon. I could go build a pure dirt hut on a random planet, better than Avalon. *kicks my own dead horse*
I actually tried to get some people involved, see the Stark ministries. But nobody has applied yet to three of them, and the one who did apply isn't doing much..
That's the hard part. Finding active people. I lucked out with Pixel, who is active, and has essentially recruited a large number of active people to the RA. The hardest part is honestly find those active peoples who can handle all that. As far as the rp goes though, they don't even need a position per say, it could just be Alice's bros stopping by regularly to help out or chill, who maybe bring other bros, and maybe some decide to stay, or just bring more bros. Etc. That's how TF got started up when it had it's population boom, LM may have been similar.
Most of Alice's friends are dead/inactive OOC. The real problem, however, is that (most) people finds Stark boring: They may visit it and hang around some time, but on less than hour and a half It'll be empty again.
I can tell you that having a group of regulars invested in RPing there from the jump is a huge help, because that's how LM got its rather inauspicious start. A round of wipes happened, there was nothing to do, and some of us were chatting in the IRC and/or Skype out of boredom while we waited. I dropped an idea I'd had once after having worked on helping to build a bar on someone's ship ("Steampunk jazzbar, yea or nay?"). Was never intended to be a Thing, I just thought it'd be fun to build. Then everyone else went positively apescat making a city around it. And we sort of... kept going back. Just to hang out and make stuff we thought was neat-looking. Then we realized we'd created a monster, and needed to come up with a reason for it to be. So, the server now has a steam/dieselpunk Red vs. Blue industrial company town colony. We tried it out a couple times when other people were bored, it was late, and they wanted to RP, got good reviews, and opened it up. And, all the while, the same core of people who built and brainstormed it have consistently RPed there, added on things as they needed adding (prison, subway system, hospital), and just kind of kept it running. While, as Tarl mentioned, I'm not entirely happy with everything it's turned out to be... it's a consistent RP spot, and it's caused some decent story arcs and conflict, so I can't really complain (Lie. I can totally complain. One more billy badass, and I am going to have an apoplectic fit). Teal deer version? LM's popularity was a combination of good timing, luck, and good friends. Mostly the latter, and a crapload of the second. Having style definitely doesn't hurt, either, but I'd say the biggest boon was the fact that LM was a group effort even before it began.
LIKED AND UNLIKED SEVERAL TIMES SEAL OF APPROVAL 10/10 BEST ADVICE I'VE READ FOR A COLONY EVER View attachment 1559
Although to respond to your first question about npc's; it isnt. Well, it is, but it is very risky if you dont do it correctly. You can however spawn plain old human villagers if your desperate.