Aerothorn on 10/1/2011 at 03:05
Inselaffe - what do you mean about the stealth model being changed? Is sound propagation removed or something? The "bouncing sound" model was one of the cooler features of Invisible War.
Edit: On a purely selfish level, I'm thrilled with the delay - because it postpones to exactly when my senior thesis is supposed to be turned in. DEUS EX GRADUATION PARTY
inselaffe on 10/1/2011 at 21:03
Well they are coming from the stealth aspect from a completely different angle more akin to metal gear solid and such like. The thing is, this is a completely different type of stealth than that seen in thief and it was thief's style of stealth that deus ex attempted to incorporate.
A lot of games don't develop sound propagation well - look at bioshock. i guess playing on a console, people don't see the need for that kind of immersion.
Even if they did implement a good sound engine, i just get the impression that it would only apply superficially to stealth, without the analogue of feedback and response.
If you look at most stealth games, this is the case. It is only those with a thief inspired stealth element that actually put a lot of weight behind sound as a mechanic.
Third-person peeking-round-the-corner stealth makes sound propagation for the player much less valuable.
The other use of a good sound system is that of the player being heard themselves. While this will no doubt still be present, it relies on how well the sound system it is built on is progressed and i can't see it being a great deal.
Even if there are multiple levels of alertness based on sound and also different loudness of movement based on surface material and type of movement, if the game has bad sound propagation then it makes no difference to the overall experience anyway as the sound will travel in an off-putting manner.
i can't really see those systems being in place though as it's a reasonable amount of work for something that really shines in an immersive first-person experience but to my knowledge has never been taken to that level in a metal gear solid style stealth game - as it has never needed to, being a far more action and puzzle based line of stealth sub-genre.
Considering that knock-outs are no longer manual but instead a quick time event, it would imply a similar lack of depth regarding stealth and sound.
Mind you, even in the first two games, an invisible augmentation was available, which can turn the stealth into arbitrary pointlessness. This seems to be again encouraged, but to a greater extent if their promotional videos are anything to go by. i can't imagine it is much fun.
Thief / Deus Ex / Invisible War's implementation of stealth is a much more subtle varient to that of Metal Gear Solid's faster paced, more out-of-body, action and puzzle oriented approach. The game trailers ooze a camp and over the top demeanour. This certainly goes along with squaresoft tradition, however i would say the studio was in this mindset even before the takeover.
The game may be good, but i have my feelings that the stealth will be lacking. This is not to say metal gear solid is a bad game, on the contrary, but a poor imitation of its stealth mechanic will not really mesh with deus ex in a rather pleasing manner.
Sorry for this long bullshit post, but you did ask.
