
This suggestion describes some changes that I feel would make the immersion factor of the game greater, increase realism and make the game more fun.
One of my complaints is that the player guards are alerted from the getgo. Unless you've set off an alarm or been spotted and the word has spread amoungst the guards, why should they know you are there? Yes, I know game balance reasons but I'd prefer realism and game balance. Make the guards work to lay a perimeter of traps. Or just start with default alarms laid. I want a reason they know I'm there. Not some immersion invasive "game balance."
What I loved about Thief was the immersion factor. Having the guards all running around looking for you the second you come in and having Thief objectives posted to the guards who shouldn't have any clue really carves up the immersion factor.
I think all guards should be open to critical strikes as they were in Thief. If this means increased guard respawns to balance the game, so be it.
I think all guards should not be able to run except very infrequently unless they have spotted or heard a thief in that match or been alerted to by another guard that has spotted or heard a thief. The same triggers that alert the AI guards to a Thief's presense could be used to allow a player guard to be on alert. The argument here is, normally these guards guard night in and night out and it's not all that interesting. They want to keep their jobs yes but running a marathon in armor every night? I don't think the most diligent of guards would ever do that but this is what we are supposed to accept? No. Guards will walk their rounds and try and do a good job but running is not likely to be a normal activity.
An additional implementation (that might be difficult to code or take up too many resources) would be that if a guard sees something suspicious like a door to a room being open that shouldn't be or opens without a guard there would trigger a temporary alert. An alert could also be raised if a guard notices more than a certain cash value of items missing or a major objective object missing. Also too many wet torches would be a good sign that something is wrong and an alert should be raised.
I think there should be realism arguments for any knowledge that guards have about the thieves. From a realism argument player guards could be considered elite members of the guard and given special information by their employers or others that other guards aren't BUT any such information should make sense. The intro for guards could detail the information came from an informant, a mage with divinatory powers or maybe some ancient magic wards that raise an alert when "enemies" are about. Obviously, that guards ALWAYS know that the thieves are about and have completed their objectives is not realistic.
If game balance is affected by these changes, guard respawns could be increased, default traps could be laid in maps before even starting, additional flares placed in supply chest or in other areas of the maps, etc.
I think it would greatly enhance the immersion and playability of the game if the guards were not omniscient about the thieves' presence and objective completion. This non-omnicience means all guards should be susceptable to critical strikes until the guards realize that thieves are there. Guards should not be able to run but infrequently until such time as thieves are detected or something substantial enough occurs to cause the guards to raise the alarm.
Some of these changes would likely require more serious coding than others but I think all of them would greatly improve game play.
I would like to hear comments and suggestions about these ideas.
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