How does the new Guard detection work in Thief: The Black Parade

PlasticSorcerer on 1/9/2024 at 20:10

Amazing FM, but I do have a question about the touted new feature: guards who notice Hume when walking into him, even in a perfect shadow.

In og Thief 1 and 2, guards will walk into you when in a perfect shadow, or when they're on the lowest level of search. The Black Parade changes this by allowing the guards to "notice" Hume when bumping into him in a perfect shadow. The guard does hit a low-level search after bumping into you, however as long as you stay still they will give up after a few seconds, even walking straight into you again without hitting a higher alert. When this happens, it sort of defeats the purpose of them being able to notice you from touch.

My first question is: is this how this new feature is meant to work, or is my game glitched?

Is there a way to make a mod that would make the guards be able to hit a high alert when they bump into player, even when in a full shadow?

Thanks everyone

Kubrick on 2/9/2024 at 16:36

I assume the change is possible with a dlm file but people would understandably be unwilling to make it since it's a departure from a well crafted experience made by some of the best modders, but perhaps one of the makers creates it

PlasticSorcerer on 2/9/2024 at 19:28

Quote Posted by Kubrick

Is the guard's behavior in Black Parade the same as I described previously? For example, if they bump into you while in a perfect shadow, they hit a low-level search, but if you stay still, they stop after a while. I ask because, on Reddit, someone says this is not the case for them, and I wonder if I've bugged it.

nicked on 2/9/2024 at 19:32

You can still hide if you're in a perfect shadow. It just makes non-perfect shadows more dangerous. Anything further would probably feel unfair, I expect.

PlasticSorcerer on 29/10/2024 at 01:46

Quote Posted by nicked

You can still hide if you're in a perfect shadow. It just makes non-perfect shadows more dangerous. Anything further would probably feel unfair, I expect.

I discovered that they do in fact notice Hume in a perfect shadow, well at least they hit a low level alert line. If it happens two more times they begin searching. This is cool to see because this always bugged me out in the og games.

Taylor on 15/11/2024 at 20:30

Guards do get a 1st level alert even in a normal gameplay (i.e. any random FM) if they bump into Garrett in normal shadows. Note that weapons usually must be sheathed else they discover you. They might not notice you in 2nd level alert. But in 3rd lever alert they will discover Garrett in a very close distance even in complete darkness.

In TBP the guards are more touchy but don't have supernatural detection skill. Probably they have some sort of script started in response to collision detection to let them react if they bump into Hume or Hume bumps into them.

There are some FMs (and as far as I understood/remembered, certain NewDark versions of Thief Gold altogether), where guards get super jumpy and can detect you in complete darkness even if unalerted or just slightly alerted when they come close enough. The farthest extreme is probably in The Rustler, where one archer will see you and start shooting you from quite a distance in complete darkness.

PlasticSorcerer on 28/11/2024 at 02:42

I believe even in OM's guards will hit a level 3 alert if they bump into the player character in anything less than a perfect shadow.

Taylor on 28/11/2024 at 12:36

Yes, they do. Unless you are in a perfect shadow (i.e. the light gem stays the darkest even with a weapon equipped), they'll always detect Garrett. As well as if any weapon is equipped. They might tolerate very little movement, and/or leaning if, but usually they detect Garrett the moment he starts moving around (leaning has no effect as far as I remember) -- I have some faint memories when a guard got stuck in me in a doorway and I tried hard to let him pass :cheeky:

Also one thing that came into my mind. As far as I remember worker bots by default get alerted if you bump into them. Whatever the guards do in TBP might be based on that behavior.

nicked on 28/11/2024 at 13:47

Notices Bumps is a stock property you can apply to any AI, which the workerbots use. All it does is make guards perform a 1st alert if you bump into them. The Black Parade uses a more advanced custom script.

PlasticSorcerer on 5/2/2025 at 22:01

In what ways does the custom script change gameplay in comparison to the stock notice bumps?