Noisemaker Arrow Deluxe

[Shadowstar]

The footstep arrow is hardly used, and doesn't seem all that useful, but I had some ideas for how it could be made useful, by basically bringing back the Noisemaker Arrow from Thief 2.

However, this noisemaker is different from the Thief 2 noisemaker. The new noisemaker would produce random sound effects for about 1 minute. The sound effects would be random sounds from the game.

For instance, you could have a set of sfx recorded directly from game sessions, one set could be a thief walking across various types of floor, and another set could be a thief running across various types of floor (about 20-30 secs each).

One of the sounds could be the gulping of a potion, since guards often use that to detect thieves.

Another sound could be 20-30 secs of lockpicking, since thieves usually are the only ones that lockpick.

You could have a track of metal clanks, such as the sound produced by a thief trying to KO a guard.

There could be a bowstring pull sound, which is often associated with a thief about to attack.

I'm sure there are other sounds that could be used as well.

You may even want to have the sounds come from a little device that moves in random directions as it rolls across the floor. This way, the sounds would seem to move, making the distraction all the more realistic for guards who weren't looking at it. Of course, a guard who was looking at it could see the noisemaker device and know that it wasn't a real thief. Perhaps guards could then walk over the device to destroy it (and stop the distraction) much the same way as you step on a rat.

[Cliff]

I for one like it. I think it would confuse guards and make them think more. Great suggestion!

[Stakhanov]

Excellent...
Perhaps make that noisemaker object emmit more sounds at first , ranging from gulps to bonks ; it would play thief footsteps when boucing , then plays more random sounds later.
That noisemaker should have an invis modifier to be really usefull. If stepped upon , it would play a mine blast sound
As it would be used mainly for diversion , why not letting it fool sentries or even whistlers too ?

[Taffergirl]

Randomizing the sounds a noisemaker arrow makes to confuse the human controlled guards, thus making them do some actual thinking, sounds good to me.

The footstep arrow's pattern is too recognizable by now.

[Tieom]

I think it should just find out what kind of floor its on (by dropping an invisible rope, if necessary) and play the appropriate sound.

[LaughingRat]

Neat idea. Especially the inclusion of sounds other than just footsteps. As long as the arrow didn't make the usual clack or thud when it hits, this would be a lot more useful than the existing footstep arrow. It even helps solve the problem of the sound of the bow being drawn some, because guards would never know if that was actually a bow, or a sound from the arrow.

[Shadowstar]

I think it would be cool if the noisemaker device used the same movement behaviors that those little motorized ferret toys with the ball attached to thier nose do...

Imagine one of those things skittering around a level making funny noises!

It could even hop occasionally and bounce off walls and things...

Or it could be modeled after the proxies from ChaosUT...

[[E.D.G]Chief]

yeah I like this idea-at the moment the arrows hardly ever distract the guards-especially on any floor other than wood :roll: maybe the alarm sound would be better so that all the guards in the area run to the arrow so that you have a clear passage to wherever u were going to go- But i DO like the idea of standing on the arrow and having a mine explosion sound :grin:

[Arrowgrab]

And what if the thief could select what sound to produce? You press the keybind for noisemakers, and you ready an arrow which makes running sounds. You press it again, now it makes lockpicking sounds. Again, it makes bow drawing and arrow firing sounds.

[Anonymous]

All this would just confuse people. No one would ever trust any sounds they were hearing again.

[Taffergirl]

All this would just confuse people. No one would ever trust any sounds they were hearing again.

That's the whole point. To make it more challenging. :roll:

When you enter the game as a guard, you already KNOW there are thieves about.

If the Thievery world was OUR world and you were a guard, you wouldn't know if there were thieves around or not. Would you?

There has to be a certain amount of uncertainty put back into the perceptions of the guards, otherwise we lose realism.

[LegalAssassin]

Finally! This is great!

[Shadowstar]

There has to be a certain amount of uncertainty put back into the perceptions of the guards, otherwise we lose realism.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

For what it's worth, I usually play guard (I think I'm better at it), so I have a fairly good idea how a good guard thinks. At present, playing guard is pretty much all about dropping traps in the right places and either standing next to objectives or patrolling objectives closely while listening for the all-too-distinct sounds of thieves. Believe me, after you play guard a few times you can tell the difference between a thief footstep and a guard footstep (or should i say footstomp?), and you know all the sounds thieves typically make. At that point, it becomes a simple matter of hunting the thief down without getting too far away from the light.

There's alot of strategy there, sure, but not as much as there could be. Thievery could only benefit from things that make thieves rely more on outsmarting and evading the guards than overpowering them in head-on combat.

In a fully-lit cage, a guard should ALWAYS be able to kill a thief, regardless of who has what items. This isn't always the case. With a flashbomb (or two), good ping, and a fully-charged blackjack, a thief can take out a guard without losing too much health (if any at all - depending on whether the guard tries to fight blind)... There's some chance involved, but it does prove a point that thieves can decimate guards with the right loadout, and guards have no defense against the flashbomb. Thievery should be more about stealth.

Getting back to the original discussion, I realize the noisemaker doesn't really change anything about DM-Thieves, but it can be a small part of a process that could eventually achieve that.

Ok, I'm going to stop rambling now...

[Tieom]

Well, if we're going for the random noises idea, then some of the AI 'help' sayings would be good to add in.
"A need a few men over here!"
*glug*
(Sound of helmet shattering)

That would bring guards running...

[LaughingRat]

There is a defense against flashbombs....