DraQ
Arcane
There is something off about stealth in games (RPGs and non-RPGs alike). Even if it's supposedly the focus of the game it usually doesn't really stand on its own.
Curiously, this seems to be the case even in games where you can't really point anything wrong with their stealth system.
And I think I know why. Stealth fails to stand on its own as primary mechanics because stealth fails to be worthwhile resolution mechanics.
Why? Because it's pretty much always better to use stealth as tool enabling use of other mechanics for actually solving the situation than solving it on its own.
For example, you'll be better off using stealth to kill off or KO the patrols or get into superior position or mess around with any sort of security systems that can then be used to kill the guards and so on. Stealth (by its very nature) doesn't solve the problem permanently so it pretty much always better to use something that does, with stealth as, at most, intermediary step.
But what if:
So far I've seen #1, 3 and 5 in STALKER, but it didn't really incentivize stealth as shootan was always a viable, and usually preferable option.
Curiously, this seems to be the case even in games where you can't really point anything wrong with their stealth system.
And I think I know why. Stealth fails to stand on its own as primary mechanics because stealth fails to be worthwhile resolution mechanics.
Why? Because it's pretty much always better to use stealth as tool enabling use of other mechanics for actually solving the situation than solving it on its own.
For example, you'll be better off using stealth to kill off or KO the patrols or get into superior position or mess around with any sort of security systems that can then be used to kill the guards and so on. Stealth (by its very nature) doesn't solve the problem permanently so it pretty much always better to use something that does, with stealth as, at most, intermediary step.
But what if:
- Patrols reacted to people being disappeared and environment changing and went into full alert, sounding alarms and shit? This would make any spurious interactions undesirable when stealthing, either you ghost, or detection becomes the question of not if, but when. Cleaning up the entire area, unless it's actually isolated should also trigger investigation of communication blackout and arrival of aggressive, fully alerted search team.
- Solutions involving violence or otherwise leaving traces would invoke delayed consequences? If your goal is obtaining something (especially information that doesn't need to be removed physically) from a hostile or neutral group, then letting this group know it's been taken is already a fuckup, more so if it can be tracked to you.
- There were no fast, easy and reliable KO mechanics? Even games that try to incentivize true stealth or at least non-violence tend to immediately trip over themselves by allowing "non-violent" solutions functionally identical to good old, reliable violence. What if any KO mechanics was unreliable, or at least partially violent by default (in addition to the whole people getting disappeared causing alert)? Missing Link had a step in that direction, but unfortunately it only involved words - one throwaway line to be precise. Whacking someone over the noggin with a blunt object or injecting them with some tranquilizer then leaving them unsupervised in a crumpled heap has a good chance of leaving them dead or crippled.
- The only way you can reliably disable someone without killing them is gagging them and tying them up, but it's quite a bit more involved than just bonking them or choking them out, requires resources, and let them be returned to action as soon as someone finds out. It also triggers inevitable search for the missing person, see #1.
- There was no lenient, "totally just rats" not-actually-seen mechanics allowing player to skirt patrols' FoV with ease?
So far I've seen #1, 3 and 5 in STALKER, but it didn't really incentivize stealth as shootan was always a viable, and usually preferable option.