faetal on 30/5/2012 at 12:00
Quote Posted by Kolya
There, the guitarist has spoken.
I'm also a biochemist. Feedback loops exist everywhere.
Dia on 30/5/2012 at 12:12
I would like to see the light gem included, without a doubt. I think knowing how visible you are to your adversaries is essential - at least to my game. Forget the jewelry, just give me the light gem. I've been replaying SoC, and at one point had to do a mission during the dead of night & found myself relying on the 'detection' meter included in the minimap (upper lefthand corner) as well as the stance & stealth indicator. So yeah, some kind of indicator is needed that will let you know if you're about to be discovered is necessary imo.
hopper on 30/5/2012 at 12:23
Quote Posted by Kolya
I think of the lightgem as a helper to give you information that you cannot experience yourself, because you cannot see your own body. In a 3rd person game it would be useless.
Not quite, I think. Garrett needs to be visible to the player, even if the AI can't see him. To know when Garrett is invisible
to the AI, we still need the lightgem.
jay pettitt on 30/5/2012 at 12:49
How about a key that you press to enter hidden mode and slide into the shadows, complete with a swtich to 3rd person view for a moody animation and and a woosh sound as the veil of darkness slips over you - rendering you invisible to foes for a time limited period.
If you're a long way from darkness, the system could dynamically see you perform a man-twirl and stealth roly-poly to safety.
This way there is no need for a light gem as the frustrating uncertainty associated with old fashioned stealth gameplay is fixed.
nickie on 30/5/2012 at 12:56
I like it. :D
Briareos H on 30/5/2012 at 13:02
IMO the goal of the lightgem is to easily distinguish between three game states and choose the strategy accordingly:
* I am safe and cannot be seen, I have time to prepare and choose my route towards my goal. I can remain in that state as long as I need.
* I am in an intermediate state where direct eye contact might result in alert, I can usually concentrate on only one potentially dangerous AI and choose an avoidance strategy while pursuing my goal. I can remain in that state as long as I am careful but I am aware that reaching safety or goal may require me to be bold or quick.
* I am fully visible and any AI passing around will see me and chase me, I must avoid remaining in that state as much as possible and I do not have the liberty to concentrate on any other goal.
Relying on visuals alone without the lightgem makes it hard to differenciate between these states and thus brings an element of unneeded urgency which might detract from the empowerment provided by being the master of shadows. As demagogue points out, the two playstyles are rather different but I do believe the lightgem-enhanced one is a core component of what made Thief so enthralling, at least when we were still discovering it. Being able to toggle it on/off is fine by me.
Frostbite on 30/5/2012 at 21:53
I don't understand why people want the light gem placement to change. It's worked fine with it being in your HUD for the previous games. Why change it now?:confused:
In fact, I'd be most pleased if they retained the health shields and gem from the first two games.
If the developers are hell bent on modernizing things unnecessarily, maybe they can have the gem around your wrist and you have to press a key to check your visibility, like you do for your air filters in Metro 2033. But that would be extremely irritating seeing as you need to constantly know how exposed you are.
jtr7 on 30/5/2012 at 22:46
Do I want the lightgem? Yes.
Do I want it as a piece of jewelery? No.
With all HUD items, readables, and everything with a graphic representation involved with the UI and narrative, I hope that each element looks, reads, and sounds as though it was crafted by the inhabitants of, or formed from the matter of, that universe; and never breaks the fourth wall by referring, in aesthetics or words, to game systems, or the player instead of the protagonist, or things separate from that world.
I would hope it was dead-center on the bottommost part of the screen, as small as possible, as low as possible, and I hope every HUD item never obscures the view of the world excessively, as much as it is reasonable.
Beleg Cúthalion on 31/5/2012 at 15:38
About the lightgem...well, the whole idea of being hidden as soon as you enter a shadow area on the floor is defective. I might try to play without it, though.
DJ Riff on 31/5/2012 at 16:08
Quote Posted by Beleg Cúthalion
The old idea of foes waking up later might indeed be one way to balance this.
… and all old arguments why it's a can of worms. Placing un-blackjackable NPCs and making AI notice their allies missing is a much better solution.
Quote Posted by Beleg Cúthalion
well, the whole idea of being hidden as soon as you enter a shadow area on the floor is defective. I might try to play without it, though.
Deus Ex, Tenchu, Hitman, Stalker, MGS…
