Greetings, all! Let's assume I want to have a party of 3 PCs and 5 NPCs. (This is reverse of normal with 5 PCs.) Do I need to modify ToEEFE-X's settings to account for having more NPCs?
When you open the Front End X, select Options, and then Max Number of Players in the Party. The total party slots equal 8. Whatever number you choose for Player Characters, the remaining slots are available for NPCs. If you choose 3 PC spots, then you will be able to add up to 5 NPCs, but not have more than 3 PCs even if you have no NPCs. If you only have one PC, then you are still limited to 5 NPCs. (I think 3 PCs is the minimum setting.) If you choose 8 PCs, then even if your party has fewer than 8 at any given time, you cannot add any NPCs. It may be possible to reset the Max Number of Players each time you open the Front End. I am not sure of that though.
I understand I can reset the number of PCs in the party. Are PC slots 'reserved?' Thus, if I choose to have 6 PCs slots in the front end, but have a party of only 3 PCs, can I bring along 5 NPCs?
No. If the PC number is set to 6, you are limited to adding 2 NPCs even if you have fewer than 6 PCs. You might be able to reset the number each time you start the game.
I am pretty certain that you can reset the party/NPC number each time you load. I don't know what this would do, though, if you had more of a certain type in the party already. For instance, if you had 3 NPCs and then changed the Front End to a party size of 6 with 2 NPCs. It would probably randomly boot one.