Stealth in Assassin's Creed- What's needed | Forums

[shobhit7777777]

Hi all
I am an Assassin's Creed fan and have absolutely loved the way the series blends stealth and action. The Social Stealth in ACII and ACB is innovative and fun. But it is still lacking.

Playing AC:B I sorely felt that the stealth needs a bit more depth.

Social Stealth: The crowd blending mechanic is great and the ability to sift from cluster to cluster is intuitive and fun...like moving cover spots, but what it lacks is deeper Crowd Manipulation. The closest we have come is using money to draw a large crowd. This mechanics needs to be further developed. In a game where a large part of the Stealth is dependant on 'blending' in I'd assume that we would have a more interactive crowd. In terms of Blending I would like to see more ways of attracting a cluster of people and getting lost in them.
I was playing a mission in AC:B where you have to escort a wounded thief to a safe point without getting detected (Notoriety was 100%), the crowd mechanic seemed shallow and like a frogger game in this instance. I'd like to see more ways of manipulating crowds and in turn the guards. I tried to draw the guards away from a spot by making a disturbance in the crowd (threw money, poisoned a guy) in both AC2 and AC:B but none of the guards came to investigate. I'd assume if people were clamoring about at least one of them would come over. The mission felt a simple game of moving into a crowd and remaining there. The crowd movement felt repetitive and the whole experience destroyed immersion as the NPCs kept moving about in clusters like mindless automatons..no dialogue, no random paths...just the same crowd moving between two points.
Here are some ideas to increase the social stealth aspect

*Ability to initiate chaos and lure guards or vanish.
It could be like Picking someones's pocket and planting the purse on a nearby NPC or blaming it on him, to start a fight. This should create enough of a fuss to draw the nearby guards for you to Assassinate/Evade.
Using explosives to cause a rush and divert the guards. Plant a bomb ANYWHERE, the crowd panics and starts running and the guards come to the source of the explosion

*Disguise. This has oft been repeated on the forum but it seriously needs a mechanic which allows you to alter the character's appearance to hide the weaponry and armor. Less of a Hitman-esque disguise but enough variation to fool the city guards. It totally destroys the game when you are a wanted Assassin and simply walking with the crowd negates the fact that you're carrying a crossbow, a sword, a dagger and wearing pauldrons, greaves and heavy armor. The weapons, the color of your clothes on your last mission etc. should have an effect on 'stealthiness'. Clothing as a rich aristocrat, the guards will not bother you much unless your notoriety is high, you can ride a horse and generally go everywhere unmolested by the guards. Cloth as a common man you are better able to blend into the crowd and makes you disappear easier when your Notoriety is high, following people, losing guards, blending etc. becomes easier when you're just another peasant.

*Notoriety
It should be applicable both ways...on the crowd as well as the Guards. The crowd seems oblivious to your wanted status and does not react accordingly. The higher your notoriety the lesser the crowd clusters to hide in. If you remain in a crowd cluster too long they disband and move away from you, recognising you as a wanted criminal. The aforementioned disguise system should also increase/decrease notoriety. The crowd currently feels like a bunch of mindless random NPCs.

*AI
The sight lines and field of views of the guards is ridiculous, not to mention that they all are deaf. I am 30 yard away standing on a rooftop during a bright afternoon, dressed like a shiny Peacock and the guard is completely OBLIVIOUS! This really undermines the whole experience and is immersion breaking. Kindly increase the sensitivity of the guards, it is understandable in the streets with crowds and the noise but up there in the rooftops....

*Crouching and a corner cover system
The game desperately needs a crouch-walking mechanic. The stealth aspects are incomplete without it. Playing the castello mission where you have to rescue Caterina Sforza, two things really killed the otherwise super fun mission:

1.Extremely idiotic AI- I shot a guard 20 feet from another..only to be ignored...INCREASE VISUAL SENSITIVITY. It makes the game more fun and challenging. Please Ubi, increase the AI FOV and sight range. Also giving them a pair of ears won't be such a bad idea.
The moment you kill a guard in plain sight of another and expect that guy to come rushing and he doesn't is a massive buzzkill.

2.INABILITY TO CROUCH- forget the other gripes....crouch walking is desperately needed in ANY game with remotely stealthy gameplay. Several times I have felt the need to duck beneath a low wall and creep along it. Countless times I have been spotted when a simple duck would have hidden me from sight and allowed me to ambush my prey.

I PRAY that the stealth is broadened and the said additions are made.

[shobhit7777777]

Hi all
I am an Assassin's Creed fan and have absolutely loved the way the series blends stealth and action. The Social Stealth in ACII and ACB is innovative and fun. But it is still lacking.

Playing AC:B I sorely felt that the stealth needs a bit more depth.

Social Stealth: The crowd blending mechanic is great and the ability to sift from cluster to cluster is intuitive and fun...like moving cover spots, but what it lacks is deeper Crowd Manipulation. The closest we have come is using money to draw a large crowd. This mechanics needs to be further developed. In a game where a large part of the Stealth is dependant on 'blending' in I'd assume that we would have a more interactive crowd. In terms of Blending I would like to see more ways of attracting a cluster of people and getting lost in them.
I was playing a mission in AC:B where you have to escort a wounded thief to a safe point without getting detected (Notoriety was 100%), the crowd mechanic seemed shallow and like a frogger game in this instance. I'd like to see more ways of manipulating crowds and in turn the guards. I tried to draw the guards away from a spot by making a disturbance in the crowd (threw money, poisoned a guy) in both AC2 and AC:B but none of the guards came to investigate. I'd assume if people were clamoring about at least one of them would come over. The mission felt a simple game of moving into a crowd and remaining there. The crowd movement felt repetitive and the whole experience destroyed immersion as the NPCs kept moving about in clusters like mindless automatons..no dialogue, no random paths...just the same crowd moving between two points.
Here are some ideas to increase the social stealth aspect

*Ability to initiate chaos and lure guards or vanish.
It could be like Picking someones's pocket and planting the purse on a nearby NPC or blaming it on him, to start a fight. This should create enough of a fuss to draw the nearby guards for you to Assassinate/Evade.
Using explosives to cause a rush and divert the guards. Plant a bomb ANYWHERE, the crowd panics and starts running and the guards come to the source of the explosion

*Disguise. This has oft been repeated on the forum but it seriously needs a mechanic which allows you to alter the character's appearance to hide the weaponry and armor. Less of a Hitman-esque disguise but enough variation to fool the city guards. It totally destroys the game when you are a wanted Assassin and simply walking with the crowd negates the fact that you're carrying a crossbow, a sword, a dagger and wearing pauldrons, greaves and heavy armor. The weapons, the color of your clothes on your last mission etc. should have an effect on 'stealthiness'. Clothing as a rich aristocrat, the guards will not bother you much unless your notoriety is high, you can ride a horse and generally go everywhere unmolested by the guards. Cloth as a common man you are better able to blend into the crowd and makes you disappear easier when your Notoriety is high, following people, losing guards, blending etc. becomes easier when you're just another peasant.

*Notoriety
It should be applicable both ways...on the crowd as well as the Guards. The crowd seems oblivious to your wanted status and does not react accordingly. The higher your notoriety the lesser the crowd clusters to hide in. If you remain in a crowd cluster too long they disband and move away from you, recognising you as a wanted criminal. The aforementioned disguise system should also increase/decrease notoriety. The crowd currently feels like a bunch of mindless random NPCs.

*AI
The sight lines and field of views of the guards is ridiculous, not to mention that they all are deaf. I am 30 yard away standing on a rooftop during a bright afternoon, dressed like a shiny Peacock and the guard is completely OBLIVIOUS! This really undermines the whole experience and is immersion breaking. Kindly increase the sensitivity of the guards, it is understandable in the streets with crowds and the noise but up there in the rooftops....

*Crouching and a corner cover system
The game desperately needs a crouch-walking mechanic. The stealth aspects are incomplete without it. Playing the castello mission where you have to rescue Caterina Sforza, two things really killed the otherwise super fun mission:

1.Extremely idiotic AI- I shot a guard 20 feet from another..only to be ignored...INCREASE VISUAL SENSITIVITY. It makes the game more fun and challenging. Please Ubi, increase the AI FOV and sight range. Also giving them a pair of ears won't be such a bad idea.
The moment you kill a guard in plain sight of another and expect that guy to come rushing and he doesn't is a massive buzzkill.

2.INABILITY TO CROUCH- forget the other gripes....crouch walking is desperately needed in ANY game with remotely stealthy gameplay. Several times I have felt the need to duck beneath a low wall and creep along it. Countless times I have been spotted when a simple duck would have hidden me from sight and allowed me to ambush my prey.

I PRAY that the stealth is broadened and the said additions are made.

[triforceman5]

tl;dr



Nah, just kidding. You have some god ideas. But Ubisoft generally doesn't us forum post ideas in their games. I still think they should add a crouch feature, it's true.

[crash3]

i think the range/distance at which guards spot you is really short sometimes your in plain sight but they dont get suspicious but when youget to a set distance from them the seem to magically spot you

also something less cartoonish is needed to show guards being suspicious instead of some arrow on top of the guards head that fills up

[notafanboy]

i like your ideás, also you should be able to throw coins to distract guard in restricted areas

[shobhit7777777]

It only makes sense for Ubi to improve the Stealth in the next game, we have seen consistent improvements in the series in ALL aspects..economy,parkour,combat,crowd mechanics..I hope they make an innovative and fun stealth experience in the next one.

[zipper009]

Where's the LIKE button!? Always found it a bit odd that,dressed as a cockatoo and revealing metal armour plates all over my body,after a chase,I could just blend into a small group of 3 people... Or even approach guards within a group of 3,full notoriety,I'm just another civilian...
The first game,the white outfit made sense,because of the monks(scholars?) and the climate.But these last games... I know you can colour and dye,but the 25 throwing knives,1 knife,1 sword,and crossbow are just a bit revealing of your intentions. Even a covering sheath can dim the glow of the shining sword,or even a deep pocket in your robes.

[crash3]

it should be suspicious to be seen with your weapons drawn-need clothing to conceal weapons

should be suspicious to be seen climbing/running on rooftops by ground guards as well as rooftop guards

low profile hidden blade assassinations still look to obvious-should be more like the poison blade kill as you walk past dicreetly stab the person and move on, dont cover his mouth with your hand as that looks dodgy

only cover a guards mouth when killing him inside a restricted zone so other guards arent drawn to the area-stopping a guard from screaming as he is killed would keep you more silent if that makes sense

[Xanatos2007]

I think Ubi just needs to focus more on the whole "social stealth" aspect they were so proud of when revealing the first AC instead of all this running around on rooftops like a flashy Ninja business. The game wasn't designed for this kind of stealth.

[The_Thorn_MJ]

I can not say anythin more then that I am thinking the same way. What the Assassins were known for, and what we get out of the storyline of AC1, is that they were stealth-killers, and just looked like a person who you could see walking any street.
Altair was pretty stealthy in his looks, but the big sword, and all those knifes only make him look like a hitman, and not a stealth-killer. More bad-***, less realistic.