I don't like that the right way to play this game is: sneak+fast mode

[Archaven]

It made sense and reasonable to me that you need to sneak to detect traps. Also, given the options to sneak with fast mode, that's already a plus. I don't mind if they make an option for thread poster to detect traps without sneaking. But then dont force it on everyone just to satisfy ONE person. I wonder if we give him that, what else he will come up with? Please play the game automatically for me Obsidian as it's very annoying? There's already plenty of silly post like this already which i wonder people should take them seriously.

[Terminull]

I don't mind the mechanics of it. I think you should be moving slowly since you're actively searching the area. I just wish they would change the full party stealth. For some reason it feels off. If they could separate stealth and search, so that you walk at the slow speed while searching but not have the entire party turn invisible, I would be thrilled. Maybe have them with their heads down, moving left and right, looking like they dropped their keys or simply have them walk. It's a small cosmetic change mainly but I would enjoy it.

[InfiniteEternity]

I agree with OP.

 

"If a mechanical trap or deadly contraption is being approached very silently and without being seen it wont trigger"

 

Poor logic.

[Sleazebag]

I'd change stealth so it's not party wide, and make trap and hidden object detection have a wider range. Otherwise I'm pretty pleased with the system.

[Lady Evenstar]

Do townsfolk ever react to the high-speed skulking our characters do? Personally, I find it idiotic to require every character constantly to sneak--unless you're willing to miss items that may be hidden anywhere.  I'd be much happier if mechanics were just traps and lockpicking (and manipulation of any other mechanical devices we may need to interact with) and detection of other hidden items depended on perception, i.e. how likely you are to notice things.

 

Every character needing to sneak certainly limits the ways we can RP our characters.

Edited April 4, 2015 by Lady Evenstar

[AstroCat]

Being forced to constantly use sneak mode for fear of missing items is bad game design in my opinion. Agreed it should be passive.

[Caerdon]

Your fear of missing items is your own. I don't feel at all forced to sneak around.

[Dongom]

It's comically bad,  the entire team skulking around like some WB Cartoon characters the whole game.  It does feel mandatory, and a lack of separate stealth doesn't help.

 

One of the few design decisions I don't like with this otherwise near perfect game.

Edited April 4, 2015 by Dongom

[Mangonel]

Given what this game is, having fast mode is a quality of life option because stealthing/scouting in IE games is tedious as hell.

 

Personally, when I'm actually scouting a dungeon I don't use fast mode because my scout is still moving so fast they run into the traps they detect. I also send my scout out independent of the group since I don't want a custom formation with my scout in front. (otherwise my party lead does the good ol' disarm-trap-with-foot)

 

That said, I do agree mechanics should be operating even when you're not in 'stealth' mode. Doesn't really make sense that you suddenly don't see things you normally would because you're not being sneaky. In lieu of scout mode being an on/off for mechanics I think making scout mode give mechanics a range bonus would be adequate. This would help with scouting as a party since if your mechanics guy is in the back he would still be able to detect the traps before the party leader runs over it.

[superjoust]

I do think it has been fun to discover something new when I thought to set it to stealth mode.

That said, I have to admit that I end up stealthing around everywhere in fast mode as my default.

I'm not sure what solution to suggest here. *shrug* 

[redneckdevil]

Ummm u know u can detect treasures, containers, etc by pressing tab right without going into stealth. Now if we talking strictly about hidden things, then I'm gonna say so far it feels natural. Tbh the hidden stuff seems like u could tell if a location would have something hidden or not most of the time out in the wilderness and towns, but dungeons...well that's up to you. My first plaaythru I missed some things but it's okay lol. Tbh I've enjoyed setting off traps carelessly and finding out the hard way because I maybe strange but liking that the traps are there as a balancing act in being careless and speeding thru.

[Molcho]

As far as gameplay goes, there is no reason not to be scouting all the time, making the skill kind of pointless. The only drawback can be mitigated by activating fast mode and you're bound to miss hidden items if you're not scouting. It's not a big problem by any means, but it's not good either.

[Asmodean-]

I've been doing the same thing. Sneaking + fast mode almost all the time, while out and about, because of hidden items etc. It's a bit ridiculous. Imo, it should be perception that counts towards finding things like that, and sneaking should exclusively be for ..well, sneaking.

[NathanH]

Given that there appears to be never a disadvantage to having both sneaking and scouting activated, beyond slower move speed which is rarely relevant in game terms, it seems to make sense to have both scouting and sneaking as always-on abilities. I never see any reason not to have the mode on, and if you were to split the modes I would never see any reason to not have both modes on.

 

I'm disinclined to advocate for splitting the modes because I don't believe that would affect the core problem: that both modes should always be on.

[Kurgen]

Your fear of missing items is your own. I don't feel at all forced to sneak around.

 

...and the traps? If there was any kind of logic or pattern to their placement, then we could at least have a challenge on our hands, but as it is, we have to pad around ninja-fashion in order to not fry your entire team because we stepped on a.n.other brick that looks just like all the others.

[Sabin Stargem]

Here is how I would like it to be:  You can detect without being in stealth mode, but effectiveness is halved.  Being in sneak mode will give you the full bonus.

 

Adding in extra mechanics like range penalties, darkness, vision cones, and so forth would also be good for improving Eternity's ruleset.  For vision, I suggest the applying the full bonus for objects directly in front of a character's viewpoint, with an increasing penalty as objects go to the side and rear of a character.

[Bayzent]

How did you "Sneak + Fast" Raedric?

[kalniel]

 

I think it's great as is. Makes sense to me that if you're taking extra care then you move more slowly. As for 'right' way to play the game, that's nonsense: The right way to play it is whatever's fun for you - for me my characters move at their normal speed most of the time and only slow down to search if they're looking for something in particular or being wary of traps.

 

I could have agreed with this sentiment if the secrets in the game at least tried to stick with a certain formula of logic. As it stands now most of the secrets are arbitrarily placed in hallways or in randomly placed cupboards. You'd expect to find a secret in a vault room, a puzzle or as a secret compartment in a suspiciously looking wall.

 

 

"You'd expect.." Aha but maybe they wouldn't be such good secrets if they're where you expect them to be

 

[Eggnog]

I like it the way it is.  I have to slow down to smell the roses ... and the traps.

[RedSocialKnight]

WHY ISN'T THERE AN AUTOPAUSE ON TRAP SPOTTED OPTION?!

God, this. So many times this.

[Caerdon]

Autopause for "hidden object found" doesn't work for traps?

[Bersercker]

Like i suggested in a previous thread, make "secrets only detectable in scouting mode" an option for expert mode. I'd suggest leaving traps as it is, but making hidden switches and containers detectable in normal mode if that option is off.

Don't like the suggestion about reducing mechanics skill while out of scouting mode, you'd still have to use it all the time then.

[Rack]

Given that there appears to be never a disadvantage to having both sneaking and scouting activated, beyond slower move speed which is rarely relevant in game terms, it seems to make sense to have both scouting and sneaking as always-on abilities. I never see any reason not to have the mode on, and if you were to split the modes I would never see any reason to not have both modes on.

 

I'm disinclined to advocate for splitting the modes because I don't believe that would affect the core problem: that both modes should always be on.

This man has it. As it goes the pros and cons go like this.

 

Pros.

 

Can get closer to enemies without being seen,

Don't run the danger of running into traps.

Spot hidden objects.

 

Cons 

 

None/looks a bit silly

 

That's not a decision. In the IE games it was worse because the con was "is boring"

 

Ultimately I don't mind overly, as flaws go it's pretty minor. I don't think there really is an interesting decision to be made here, unless harsh time limits are applied being absolutely meticulous is really the only option, no matter how you try and balance it. You need something in that con column.

[Andarvi72]

Autopause for "hidden object found" doesn't work for traps?

It works just fine..

 

Also looking for traps/hidden stuff while sneaking is fine. It's a trade of.

 

But I would welcome a way to play without having to sneak all of the time. Say use the survival skill to increase your vision.. each level gives you 5% bigger vision, so you can spot monsters before they spot you.

[CatatonicMan]

Trap and secret detection without also slowing your character down will fail, because people will move past secrets and run into traps before they detect them. 

 

Pause on trap / secret detection exists, you know.