What makes a good/interesting stealth game?

Alright, so this is my 2nd post on the GD forum (Yay). What I'd like to know is: What makes a good stealth game? Now, I know some people will have different opinions, but I'm mainly asking about few things - The AI, player capabilities, level design and gameplay. Let me break these down:

• AI: So, what I'd like to know, is what (in your opinion) makes a good enemy/hostile AI for a stealth game?
• Player capabilities: The gadgets and equipment available for the player. What would you like to see/have/use in a stealth game? (Something that came in my mind is a grenade that makes the area covered by its blast completely silent, and a grenade that would create shadows).
• Level design: Would you like to have a direct route to your goal? Multiple paths? How about secret passages (Caves, cracks in the wall, and the good ol' cliché human-sized air vent)? Anything else?
• Gameplay: Pacing of the game. Should the player be able to advance at their own pace, or should they be encouraged to complete the map as fast as possible? How about being able to damage your enemies? Would that make the game more interesting, or would it make the player lose their vulnerability?

I'm just trying to do (a lot) of research for a stealth game I'm making, and I haven't found too many good tips or things that players appreciate in stealth games
Thanks for reading,
TAP

 

On Pacing - I've always liked rewards for unique or difficult feats rather than just speed. Speed can factor in (you need to move through this part quickly and precisely to avoid patrols), but i am not a fan of 'complete the entire level in 7 minutes for bonuses. 'Avoid being seen' is always the more enjoyable challenge, in my mind.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I really do agree with you on pacing, I think it should be up to the player to choose the speed at which they complete the level. And yeah, going full stealth an actually not getting detected, is really enjoyable.

 

As weird as this might sound.
Sometimes adding some ridiculousness, to these stealth games.
Like in MGS, makes it a bit more interesting/enjoyable too.

http://www.fiftyshadesofgeek.org/uploads/1/4/7/4/14741292/188751_orig.jpg

http://www.toplessrobot.com/mgs-5gameplay.jpg

Lol!!

 

Heh, I see how that can be useful and enjoyable for the player I think disguises are a nice element in stealth games, but there aren't too many games where disguises are used (Hitman, MGS and a little scene from Far Cry 3 come to mind). Thanks for the reply

 

I haven't played a pure stealth game before, but I like having a variety of methods to use to enable stealth. If I can only use timing on my movement, that gets a bit old. Being able to distract, camouflage, disguise, smokescreen, flash, turn invisible, outrun, hide ... for me those mechanisms make it more fun.

 

Thanks for the reply That's something I agree with. Having multiple ways of dealing with situations is always more interesting and enjoyable.

 

I've been playing a lot of Assassin's Creed lately. Previously, stealth games didn't really click with me for some reason... Probably because they're too prescriptive in their level design. Some of the AC4 missions had that problem, and (from what I've been reading) it was even worse in older ones.

AC Unity and AC Rogue are a lot looser, though. They give you more freedom to do things your way. Ironically, I find myself favoring more stealth-based approaches now that I have freedom than when they were trying to require that I use stealth. Combat really is a last resort usually now.

AC Rogue also seems to have a lot better level design, with paths on both the ground and in the air, via trees and rooftops. AC4 seemed to only have them along prescribed routes they wanted you to follow, and everything else was just tough to traverse. AC Rogue has them practically everywhere that I've wanted to go.

 

It's all about the AI. (Well, and everything else, too, but mostly the AI. ) NPCs don't have to be super-smart, but they have to make sense within their setting. Their perception, thoughts, and intent must be clear to the player, and they need to act appropriately and consistently on them. This is the foundation that lets players make plans to use the environment and tools cleverly. If NPCs don't behave right, there's no point having freedom to do things in the level, since the player won't be able to take advantage of that freedom to do anything fun.

So the foundation has to be a good perception system. It doesn't have to be sophisticated, but it has to make sense to the player. You can throw in twists later, like surprising the player with NPCs that have night-vision goggles when earlier NPCs couldn't see into shadows, but these twists only work because you've already established consistent rules about perception.

On top of the perception system, NPCs need to communicate their perceptions and plans of action to the player. This is the player's primary means of gameplay feedback. Without it, everything's going to seem random, and the player will quit in frustration.

 

I'll disagree (maybe by a hair) with Tony on this. While I'd want a reasonably robust AI on NPCs in any game, if I'm still limited in my tactics to timing my movement, that is going to get old. I need options to consider so I can get my brain juices roiling. I need to be able to travel vertically, to jump, climb, to crawl horizontally behind cover, to pick alternative routes, to use methods to detect my enemies before they detect me, and to hopefully be able to plan out certain things, like letting a group of guys see me and then follow me into an area where I can lock the door on them or otherwise ditch them. I want to be able to decide on my own to take out their surveillance equipment, or their power, their alarm system, or whatever, simply because it helps me, not because it is a quest objective. Now of course enemy AI plays into this, as the AI and environment has to be built to permit and behave properly in all these sorts of situations. But repeatedly stealthing corridors by timing your movement can become as boring as a piano with one key.

 

@hopeful - I completely agree with you. Let me clarify my point: consistent AI is necessary, but it isn't sufficient by itself for a good stealth game.

 

I also think AI is extremely important in stealth games, and it's probably the hardest to do right. But in many games I've played (that incorporate stealth somehow), I've seen either 'meh' AI's, or bad AI's. Never really good or perfect AI's. And what I mean by 'meh' AI's, is enemies that don't have enough diversity (right word?). I think that in a stealth game, the enemies/NPCs should be able to do more than just attack you, run away, or yell random words at you. They should alarm other enemies (this is used in quite many games, actually), hide from the player, try to flank the player, etc. And if the enemy has a gun, maybe it could throw the gun at the player if it runs out of ammo. These are just things I'd like to see in many stealth games. And of course there's buggy AI's. Far Cry 3 (a good game example in many cases ) has some OK stealth mechanics, but sometimes they seem a bit dull and buggy. If you were to shoot in the middle of enemies, the enemies would either shoot at you, or run in a random direction (I actually had an enemy run off into the ocean and drown ).
And also, I agree with the freedom of movement. What I'm going for in my game, is atleast 5 possible routes, and all of those routes have something different added to them (hidden passages, more enemies, more vertical ground, etc.)

Again, thanks for replying it's a big help

 

AI definitely makes or breaks a stealth game. Something I can't stand that seems to happen a lot, is when a guard completely sees you and identifies you or a dead body, searches for you for a couple of minutes, then goes back to his normal patrol as if nothing had ever happened.

If you get detected, the guard should first either search for you, or if he has a radio he should communicate with other guards (or just shout for help). If he can't find you he should not just give up. He should make sure every other guards knows of your presence and the area should go into full lockdown. This should happen over a period of time so that the player has a chance to prevent it at the different stages.

If the guard finds a dead body then reaches for his radio, the player will need to act quickly to disable the radio and/or the guard before he can contact his friends.

I've played stealth games that just display a game over screen as soon as you're detected, but I don't think that's the way to go. Most stealth movies you watch, the protagonist will normally be seen at one point and have to act quickly to diffuse the situation before it escalates.

This is where good level design comes in, certain portions should require the player to be patient and study the guards patrolling patterns, but too much of this will get tedious. Some areas should force the player into getting discovered and having to quickly throw a shuriken at a door to close it and prevent the guard from getting out and warning others. You would have to somehow make it obvious that you can't avoid being discovered so players won't get frustrated trying to sneak around in these cases. maybe with a slow-motion effect if you're into that kind of thing.

Having periods of easy sneak-past, good timing, necessary takedowns and high-intensity situations will keep the player on their toes while giving them a break once in a while.

 

Riddick was probably my favourite stealth game. In it the player slowly gets more and more weapons. When you finally get a stun gun you feel invincible. Despite the fact that you are going up against fully automatic weapons. And you can only fire at a rate of two shots a minute.

As indicated it's important to have more then just stealth. The player should be able to figure out a precise sequence of actions to pass each stage. Something like "wait till guard a turns, switch off light, pull pin on fire extinguisher, trip guard b as he comes to investigate, climb ladder behind b and enter vent system". There should be more then one way to pass each sequence.

 

All of the above plus: Good player feedback! As a player I want to know when I'm doing the stealth and hiding part right and when not. It's frustrating to sneak around somewhere only to get caught without knowing why.
Let the player know when he's being spotted or when he's doing fine. Have the enemies and environment give clear feedback when being distracted or in higher alert. Make the difficulty come from the game situation not from guesswork.

 

Rick Dangerous 2

 

AI is pretty much the most important thing in stealth games (Although it's the hardest one to make ). Also, giving the player a chance to prevent the enemy from alarming others is something I've been thinking about, it's just a matter of how it's done, as there are many ways to do it.

Also, @the_motionblur 's reply is extremely helpful. I agree with player feedback 100%. There are a few stealth games I've played, that sometimes don't give you any kind of hints that you're about to get spotted/are spotted, which is really frustrating.

Huge thanks to @BoredMormon too. I was planning on giving the player a way to mess with the lighting in the level, but I never thought about using other props in the environment, too. Although fire extinguishers might not really work with my game, as the player travels through sectors in an AI facility.

One thing I'd like to know, still - What do you guys think about minimaps in stealth games? Should there be a way to tell the player if there's an enemy behind the corner, or should the player just peek around corners? And as I'm making traps into the levels, I'd probably rather not show them on the map, simply because it might ruin the surprise.

Thanks for the replies!

 

Fire extinguishers, valves, explosive barrels, security cameras, light switches, toilets, showers, machinery.

Whatever makes sense for your environment should be present and intractable. Deliberately making a noise to cover your movements or distract the guards should be a viable short term strategy.

 

Oh how silly of me.
I forgot to mention,
The music is also one of the things, that can have a strong impact, on your stealth game as well.
And when put in the right use or the right case scenario too.

Song has good tension build up, when the bad guy troops, are searching for you.
Nice start up this track.
After 23 secs, 1:11 secs and after 1:55 secs.
The buddhist monk chant effect after 2:52 secs.
AWESOME!!
This song still gives me chills any time I play MGS Twin Snakes!

Story:
This is the armoury's music track.
The Armoury is somewhat dark and located somewhere in the bottom floor level, of the Alaskan military base.
Over run by rogue psychiclly brainwashed US troops.

You have to get the secret weapons, hidden in the bunkers.
While at the same time, avoiding guards who walk all over the place.
And the floor death trap, located at, the left hand corner of the level.

So you see how appropriately used, the music is used here, for this MGS stealth game.
To give the added scary tension build up effect.

 

Good point! Sound is a really important feature in games, especially in stealth games. Thief (the newest one), does sound pretty well, by having different surfaces make different amounts of sound. For example, glass shards make high-pitched, loud cracking noises, while grass and carpet muffles your footsteps. Music is also a great way to build tension, but that's probably something I'd rather outsource to someone else, as I'm not too great at making music

Thanks for the reply

 

I don't know if someone has already come up with this general idea, but Metal Gear Solid has a lot of features that stealth games need and then some and they keep improving (can't wait for MGSV: The Phantom Pain). Anyway, as for an indie stealth game it all depends on how much work you are willing and able to put into the game. A lot of the mechanics you need can take a long time with a small team. Basic things like getting around your enemy with multiple paths that add or take away difficulty would be the best route. If you get caught, that's it. The would be the simplest way to do it. Honestly though, I think silent take downs would be a huge plus. It adds an element to the game when you can approach an enemy up close and personal and not alert anyone. There's a million more things I could thought out there but then I'd be here for a while. If you want to continue this discussion, get ahold of me at TristanLConrad@Gmail.com

 

As a big stealth game fan (esp Splinter Cell) for me the most important quality is that your successful path though the game world is extremely limited and difficult to find and follow, even though it might seem that you have a lot of freedom. It might sound a bit counter-intuitive but for me too much freedom breaks a stealth game, you have to feel like you're dancing on a series of moves that need to be timed to perfection. Its fantastic to have several ways to do something but they should all be difficult and challenging.
Anyway thats why I chose Fast-Paced Gameplay and Interesting/Useful Equipment.
Just my 2c.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

About the amount of work I'm doing - I don't really have a maximum amount of time I want to invest on a single part of the game, but I still don't want to get stuck on working for days on a single part. (And yes, I'm a one-man team.) I like your take on player freedom. I agree with multiple paths, as well. Takedowns are extremely important in my opinion, being able to just devastate your enemies while they don't even know you're there is extremely satisfying, and it makes you feel less like prey.

Interesting take on player freedom. You kind of lost me at "your succesful path through the game world is extremely limited and difficult to find and follow" . So, what you're saying is that the path shouldn't be obvious to the player? That there would be some sort of secrets that would lead on the correct path?
Also, on difficulty, I am planning on giving the player multiple ways of completing the game, with every way being different. One path may be more crowded with enemies, while another one is pretty much empty, but is full of traps and is hard to navigate. There could also be an easier but longer route.
Basically I'm going for balance in difficulty.

 

I that regard I like how Metal Gear Solid rewards you for taking the most difficult route. You can finish the game with action and killing but you get bonuses, easter eggs, rewards and better score for not killing and remaining undetected. The game lets you decide how difficult you want to play and rewards you for making it harder on yourself.

That's the best kind of freedom, I think. Make the player WANT to take the hard route. Not dictate it.

 

@TheAlmightyPixel yes thats what I mean. For me being a player in a stealth game should feel like you are largely on your own, with no one to tell you how to do your job, a big toolkit offering lots of different actions, and most importantly, a complex, changing environment that exposes you very quickly if you put the slightest foot wrong. The windows of opportunity to make a kill or move from one hideout to another should open and shut fast, and preferably rely on a succession of fluid moves. Your hideouts should always be on the point of being compromised. The greatest feelings I've had from stealth games are when I work out e.g. the moving spotlight patterns, guard movements, land mine locations and then start a long dance all the way to my target point where the moment I stop I'm dead

 

@the_motionblur I mostly disagree, I like to feel I have no choice but to find the right route and find it fast, doing it for rewards spoils the urgency.

 

Well I disagree there. I always felt urgency in MGS. After all you get several stages of penalties depending on how bad you play. Hostages get moved or killed ... doors close or get locked. Sneakier routes vanish ....
If you have only ONE choice and it feels wrong or isn't even logical to me as a player (but has to be taken) then this doesn't increase urgency but frustration. I'd usually rank rewards higher as important feedback than penalties - even though this is of course very depending on each situation.

 

Well I can't speak about MGS as unfortunately I've never played it (I'm a graphics addict, can't enjoy older games very much) although I've been kicking myself for not having checked out MGS 4...and MGS5 looks incredibly unrealistic and totally the opposite of my point...anyway...
I totally agree regarding choices, there must be choices, but every route should be tight and difficult. And what you said about penalties, sounds much better than rewards. Penalties are psychologically harder to ignore than rewards.
For me, the overall feeling of a good stealth game is that you're surrounded in a complex, hard-to-read environment and there is potential danger everywhere and in every action, with no second chances. That's why I think stealth games are probably by far the most difficult games to develop and you see very few indie ones, as it is easier to give the player more choices than it is to apply the right kind of pressure.