An idea about Overcharge stun.

[Three Stars]

I’m basically copying this from my other thread, so here goes:

The electrical attack should be a stun, not a kill, and it should have a time limit on its effectiveness. At least 5 minutes, but up to 10 minutes. The uncertainty makes it interesting, especially if you have to stick around longer. If you managed to overcharge an NPC when they’re unaware, they wake up in “mildly alarmed” mode but then get on with their lives. If you overcharge someone who sees you they’re still out for the 5-10 minutes, but when they awaken the settlement alarm WILL go off. I would have this override the alarm control…maybe have the affected NPC run for the alarm switch in SEC. if you see an NPC booking it across the settlement grounds then you know you have seconds to get out of the area.

If another NPC discovers the unconscious person then they revive and react just like above, according to whether they saw you or not. “I just passed out, dunno what happened” vs “Some dude in a very ARX expensive suit just zapped me, red alert!”

This gives you a 5-10 minute window to accomplish missions that require stealth and/or non-violence and then get out before all hell breaks loose.

I’m flexible on the time limit, but I feel strongly that it should have some uncertainty so you can’t just “turn off” a settlement’s personnel and then scamper around.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

[Ydiss]

I'm happy for stun to be a thing. I'd be unhappy if stun replaced the kill mode entirely. I think it should literally be charged up and you need to charge it to the right gauge to either stun or kill. Too little charge and it just hurts them (and alerts them, causing low damage), too much and you kill (and get the bounty). Get it in the middle and it'll stun (and all your rules above sound find to me).

Bear in mind that you do need to address how assault bounties work around this: it's still assault and still a bounty. So I still think all that should only apply if you're seen doing it (including the target if they saw you at all).

 

[Thorfinnsen]

I would prefer this also. Actually, this is what I had thought since at first you didn't get hit by a bounty when you used it. In my opinion, 'covert' doesn't usually mean 'bloodbath,' but that is apparently what the game designers think.

 

[Ydiss]

Basically a good idea, but it must not become too complicated. For this, you need state checks for every NPC in the environment, which are updated at short intervals. I am not a programmer and have no idea how big the possible impact on performance could be. But I can imagine that overly complex condition checks are a whole can of worms in themselves.

Honestly, I don't see it as required. If you take note of how NPCs work in settlements, they very rarely encounter each other. It's entirely possible to simply kill them in a way that they'll never logically get discovered by other NPCs. I don't actually think this process need be made more complicated (which is why I think the proposed body dragging is superfluous as a concept in EDO).

I'm happy for non lethal to be a thing and I actually think it could make the experience richer if done right. But a stunned NPC should be treated as a dead one in terms of how NPCs react to seeing it. Just go yellow alert and hunt for the culprit. Even as it is now, it's really easy to avoid getting caught because someone spotted a dead NPC. But I'd like it to be so that if they do, you get the bounty and if you don't, you do not. And stun just lets you keep that as a non-murder bounty at a slightly higher risk they'll wake up and you'll get the assault bounty anyway.

 

[Three Stars]

I'm happy for non lethal to be a thing and I actually think it could make the experience richer if done right. But a stunned NPC should be treated as a dead one in terms of how NPCs react to seeing it.

I agree to a point, but I’m also thinking of Hitman-style mishaps that could be blamed on things that aren’t you. Zap the NPC, zap the nearby console, and the passing security guy can put two and two together.

 

[davinator791]

Well, if they would recover in such a short time to set the alarms, then probably would end up dead instead, also the game doesn't allow that but most likely their body would be dragged out of the view.

 

[Frop]

You don't die, so they don't die either. They're just unconscious and right after you've left the settlement, the Rescue Rangers come in and help everybody to their feet. The on-screen reference to "murder" is just some dramatic hyperbole.

 

[Three Stars]

Actually, after you leave, someone yells “Aaaaaaand scene!” Everybody stands up, takes a bow, and then the curtain comes down.

 

[Vekt Ey'doom]

I'm happy for stun to be a thing. I'd be unhappy if stun replaced the kill mode entirely. I think it should literally be charged up and you need to charge it to the right gauge to either stun or kill. Too little charge and it just hurts them (and alerts them, causing low damage), too much and you kill (and get the bounty). Get it in the middle and it'll stun (and all your rules above sound find to me).

Bear in mind that you do need to address how assault bounties work around this: it's still assault and still a bounty. So I still think all that should only apply if you're seen doing it (including the target if they saw you at all).

Hows about, first discharge is a stun, and if you discharge again while they're KO, it's a kill? Would that be okay?

Okay, so the hard part is out of the way, now the easy part, programming entirely new mechanics in to the game, should take 15minutes tops, with 10minute coffee break factored in.