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Mod Suggestion: Turn off Guard Omniscience.

veradin

veradin

Sailor Apprentice
Storm Modder
Am I the only one who gets seriously irked by cleverly landing on the blindspot of some port and entering through the back way only to be savagely attacked by every guard within 10 miles? I find it simply ridiculous that the factions are so black and white, so what I'm suggesting is some kind of modification (if possible) that prevents guards from knowing your alliance when entering through the 'back door'. I'm guessing it could involve a trick like the switching flags when entering port but I'm not sure just how detailed it is. I really think it would improve the believability of the guards and still allow you to conduct your business if you're fast or clever enough to find another way in aside from the front entrance.

Would this be possible? I'd be greatly appreciative if someone could do this because I know several missions that have taken me to rival ports where the guards instantly come after me or track me down to talk to me, and it's just bollocks.
 
Well, I'm not sure just what all can be done about that. We'll have to look into the AI and see what is modifiable in the scripts. Some of that may be hard-coded, so we may not be able to change some reaction types.

But from what I've head of the way some of the quests work, that should be very possible.

Cap'n Drow
 
No it doesn't, because I don't exactly see wanted posters on walls with my face anywhere and not everyone has a perfect memory of what someone looks like. Having all the guards in a town immediately hone in on you like you've got a siren roaring over your head just breaks immersion and makes the game needlessly annoying. If a guard bumps into me and I stick around long enough for him to start asking questions then I don't have a problem with that one guard coming after me. If I sneak into a port at night through the back entrance and all the guards instantly flock to me, that's just bollocks. There needs to be some logic injected into the factions system to keep things realistic and reasonable.
 
The solution to your problem is the <b>Stealth Skill</b>.

The guards arent omniscient. They have to see you first. If you enter at night there are no guards at the gate, so you get to skip that check. After that, how easily they spot you is based partially on your stealth skill, and partially on how patient you are in waiting for them to turn.

For roleplaying purposes.....

Imagine Stealth = 0 as someone in a Spanish town, who can't help but sing "God save the Queen!" in a heavy English accent. Of course the guards are going to notice him from a great distance.

Imagine Stealth = 100 as a master of disguise, who can walk straight through the front door, tap a guard on his shoulder and talk shit to him, maybe even pass himself off as the guard's mother.

IMO this works fine and doesnt need a fix, but I would like to see a mod that adds a few more disguises (+stealth clothes), other than the rags you find in the CoAS. The game already allows for multiple models to be used for the same character based on equiped clothing, so +stealth uniforms for each country are very possible.
 
even if guards see you just run to the jungle exit wait a few hours and come back, they all forget quick enough.
 
Just as a test I used the debug trainer to set stealth to 100 and the guards still jump all over you, so no, stealth doesn't really level the playing field. The guards simply have an uncanny level of knowledge of who is friend and foe, far too much for it to be any fun to actually do the 'sneak into town' missions for rival countries. I saved outside of Maracaibo and failed to infiltrate the town consistently (the mission was to talk to the city money lender, who was only accessible in the daytime). I tried to get a heads-up by infiltrating by night, and after about 10 failures (the guards would consistently see me through the bordello by the tavern) I managed to get to the tavern and sleep til day, figuring I'd have some kind of chance. This was only partly successful because running and hiding in corners works about 20% of the time even at max stealth. The guards almost always make a beeline or talk at me from across the city to sound me out. Seriously, they actually launch conversations from the other end of the city because the LOS coding is so broken their sight is not obscured by objects and has a seemingly infinite length. After about 15-20 tries I managed to get the guards to open up enough that I got into the moneylender and got the package, though the moment I walked out I kept getting identified by guards and had to run for the exit. The easiest solution, I found, was just to cheat and add a french letter of marque long enough to do the quest and then turn it off. So what could have been a fun side quest was thoroughly frustrating and not fun at all. I even tried the temporary licenses but after a promising start those didn't work. The temporary licenses are essentially worthless because, while they DO allow you to dock safely you are immediately hassled by the guards and attacked, making them another broken gameplay element. The license should protect you from the guards unless you commit some insane murder spree in their presence.

Also, I find it bothersome that killing people in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no onlookers becomes common knowledge. At one point I killed a group of spaniards that saw me from across a jungle map (and they were all looking in the opposite direction), called up a dialog from across the map accusing me of being a spy and then tried to kill me, in the middle of the night beyond a dense row of trees. I wish the game logic was smart enough that it would only report conflicts in public areas (excluding the save-the-woman events, because she promises to tell everyone about your deed). That particular event MAKES SENSE, but the random encounters in the jungle where you kill everything breathing and then go to a town and some guy congratulates you on wasting a dozen spaniards DOES NOT. This extends to ship battles at sea and the instant reputation hit for drowning rival captains that surrender or faction penalties for raiding a friendly vessel. You should be rewarded for being crafty and hunting ships and people where no word of your deed can get out.
 
You have to change the flag beyound the sight of fort and have a well developed (above 70) stealth skill. You get the flags of other nations via ship perk. paying the agent to reduce your bounty helps too as it's making the guards less prone to questioning. In city avoid patrols and don't get to close to stationary guards. With this method I can park my ship in every enemy port and infiltrate settlements without much problem. Still I noticed that English sentries are much alert that French ones (I play as Diego Espinosa) Too much wine I presume. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/buds.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":drunk" border="0" alt="buds.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=332107:date=Jun 23 2009, 06:54 PM:name=Nathaniel 'Gallows' Cord)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nathaniel 'Gallows' Cord @ Jun 23 2009, 06:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=332107"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Just as a test I used the debug trainer to set stealth to 100 and the guards still jump all over you, so no, stealth doesn't really level the playing field.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I'm very sorry to hear about your troubles. It does sound very frustrating. I can't tell you why, but that is not the case in my game. I am currently only about 20 stealth and the guards won't question me unless I am within about 5 feet and in their line of sight. This is of course with the correct flag being used in the Nations window.

As a solution, I recommend a mod that the Dread Pirate Roberts found... <a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=13796" target="_blank">Link</a>
Third post in that link.

His mod changes the behavior of neutral guards so that they wont seek you out. You should be able to mod his mod to include enemy guards as well. This should make them completely non hostile unless you enter port with the wrong flag, speak to them, or attack someone in town.

Good luck
 
I actually have that mod installed already and my status with Spain is 'neutral' but they come right after me, presumably because I was attacked by a Spanish Galleon on the map and claimed it, but again, 'I' was attacked just because I was British and they don't like the British. The game has some really strange faction issues that I think really need to be patched, because you can be considered an enemy of a country for defending yourself when you've done nothing to provoke them. Also, as I stated before, I did NOT moor at the town but at a cove on the opposite side of the island (La Vega) and made my way throught he forest to it, so the flag/ship doesn't apply. The one time I did try that was with a license and while it allowed me to land, as soon as I got near a guard the entire town turned on me. The factions are just a 'tad' overboard and bloodthirsty and could use some tweaking in logical, fair ways, like them not knowing who the hell you are if you enter from the jungle and perhaps ask you a few rudimentary questions.

I do know there are about 3 things that determine your stealth effectiveness, like bounties on your head, faction hostility, actual stealth skill, but none of the factions are listed as hostile for me and my stealth skill is 100. As for bounties, the only way I've ever found out about them was when a pirate ran up to me and said someone paid alot for me to die, which really shouldn't give guards a danger sense or perfect idea of what I look like, anyway. I can't actually complete a treasure hunt right now without completely taking Curacao because the beach is too close to the fort and won't let me land there even by night, which really makes things frustrating instead of fun. I'll probably get tired of it and give myself a spanish letter of marque like I did with Maracaibo. Blah.

I will try editing the mod though and see if that makes matters reasonable. Thanks!
 
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