Sneaking

From Shadowrun: Awakened

Sneaking happens whenever a character is trying to stay quiet and out of sight. It is meant to operate in real-time with a certain conceptual interpretation similar to games such as Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell.

Game Rules Description

Shadowrunners are known for their ability to operate with discretion. That means a fundamental capability to not be seen, even while moving through adversary controlled territory, such as your local corporate headquarters. Sneaking in SRA hopes to portray sneaking as a tense thrillseeker that can be practiced by all members of a team, but mastered by only some. Much like combat, this is an area where we will reward player skills primarily in decision-making, but inject a lot of character-level dependency on outcomes.

Sneaking uses the infiltration skill plus agility attribute. Characters counteract stealth using perception plus intuition. SR4 lays out several situational modifiers for contested situations, such as visibility (light, dark, fog, etc) and environment. Sneaking is about being both silent and unseen. The player may use scenery and other aids to help his/her character and move cautiously to avoid making too much noise.

Characters will be able to walk, crawl, and hustle in short-bursts while sneaking. Stealth also interacts with the cover system. Characters hiding behind cover are safe from bullets and difficult to spot. We will implement a capability for players to guide their character from cover-to-cover by designating a destination then using a "hustle over there" command, much like in the Splinter Cell: Conviction. The system will enable us to easily inject character skill into the sneaking system and players to focus on the timing of sneaking as opposed to technique.

Characters who are currently undetected will be able to perform surprise attacks against enemies, just like in SR4. These will be uncontested attacks that catch the opponent completely flat-footed. In most cases, this will be the most efficient way for a runner packing only small arms to take down an opponent with a single attack. Attacks will also generate noise, to melee weapons and silencers are the sneaking professional's friends.

Infiltration is not the only stealth-oriented skill in Shadowrun. Shadowing, the act of following someone in a crowd, and disguise, using a costume to blend in, will also interact with the stealth mechanics. They will each depend on behavior in NPCs and the fundamental idea of not being seen while acting normal under observation.

Technical Implementation

The UDK features AI and character controllers that support detection of enemies. This capability will be customized to represent a sneaking system that represents our core goals. It will incorporate line-of-sight oriented detection, modified by intervening terrain and visibility conditions.