Devs, please explain Stealth mechanics to us

[Phoenix13]

Movement sound:
-when walking normally you make a lot of noise. What's the radius you are heard?
-when crouching it seems like you make less noise. Is it half of walking, 0 noise, or something else? What's the radius on this?
-Is running even louder? What's the radius npcs can hear you run?
- how exactly does the suit upgrade silent
footsteps affect both normal walking, running, and crouching sounds?

Gun sounds
-do all guns make the same noise levels? What is the radius npcs can hear each gun?
- how much noise reduction do the 2 noise upgrades make and what then is the noise reduction?

Light
-do NPCs see you or notice you from further distance with your flashlight on? What is the distance they notice you?
-do npcs notice you from further with your shield on? If so, at what distance?
-do npcs notice you from different distance when in a different state (like casually walking their beat vs searching for you cuz you tripped an alarm)?
-do npcs have a harder time noticing you are there when the lights are out?
-do npcs have a harder time noticing you during night time?
- do npcs have a harder time seeing you when you are in the shadows vs in the broad daylight or near a streetlight?

 

[=71st=RuSh]

Movement sound:
-when walking normally you make a lot of noise. What's the radius you are heard?
-when crouching it seems like you make less noise. Is it half of walking, 0 noise, or something else? What's the radius on this?
-Is running even louder? What's the radius npcs can hear you run?
- how exactly does the suit upgrade silent
footsteps affect both normal walking, running, and crouching sounds?

Gun sounds
-do all guns make the same noise levels? What is the radius npcs can hear each gun?
- how much noise reduction do the 2 noise upgrades make and what then is the noise reduction?

Light
-do NPCs see you or notice you from further distance with your flashlight on? What is the distance they notice you?
-do npcs notice you from further with your shield on? If so, at what distance?
-do npcs notice you from different distance when in a different state (like casually walking their beat vs searching for you cuz you tripped an alarm)?
-do npcs have a harder time noticing you are there when the lights are out?
-do npcs have a harder time noticing you during night time?
- do npcs have a harder time seeing you when you are in the shadows vs in the broad daylight or near a streetlight?

This is not ARMA 3 yet!

 

[Phoenix13]

This is not ARMA 3 yet!

Lol it's what i can think of, but some of them clearly make a difference... but i really want to know exactly how and the limitations before grinding mods to walk and and shoot "quieter".

Talking with squad mates, I'm not the only one looking for more info on this

 

[=71st=RuSh]

Lol it's what i can think of, but some of them clearly make a difference... but i really want to know exactly how and the limitations before grinding mods to walk and and shoot "quieter".

Talking with squad mates, I'm not the only one looking for more info on this

It will take a while to get there I think, in the end, there are many more important things to fix in Odyssey, and that the crybabies and trolls are taking care of gutting in multiple threads. Anyway, I hope everything evolves even if it is to the ARMA level at some point.

 

[Ydiss]

I could answer a lot of these (almost all) but you specifically asked for Fdev to answer so I'll leave this one be I have been burnt enough times when trying to help in these threads and it usually results in "I'm not asking you, I want an official answer". But if you are interested then I can at least let you know what I know about these points.

One thing I will say is that you'll probably find these out quicker by just doing what I did (trying it for yourself and finding out) than getting Fdev to deep-dive into their mechanics and tell us how it all works intricately.

 

[Phoenix13]

I could answer a lot of these (almost all) but you specifically asked for Fdev to answer so I'll leave this one be I have been burnt enough times when trying to help in these threads and it usually results in "I'm not asking you, I want an official answer". But if you are interested then I can at least let you know what I know about these points.

One thing I will say is that you'll probably find these out quicker by just doing what I did (trying it for yourself and finding out) than getting Fdev to deep-dive into their mechanics and tell us how it all works intricately.

Obviously id like to see fdevs quantitative numbers but if you have info from playing please share! I best i have is that it seems crouching makes little to no noise so idk if silent footsteps improve crouch- moving at all or if it even affects sprinting

 

[Ethaidan]

Obviously id like to see fdevs quantitative numbers but if you have info from playing please share! I best i have is that it seems crouching makes little to no noise so idk if silent footsteps improve crouch- moving at all or if it even affects sprinting

Dont expect actual quantitative numbers - giving us metrics would be useless without a means to measure everything as we move around.

There is a red circle on your minimap - that must have some meaning... I think it's the personal space or scan radius.
There are also engineering effects, including ninja foots for suits and sound suppression for weapons. So, sound detection must be variable. I hope it is also tied to surface types, but who knows.

I think your best bet is to learn it in game. I spent a fair bit of time at an agricultural settlement today - off-mission, just wandering about testing line of sight, guard reactions to walking/running/jumping, red zone reactions, and eventually response to sounds... as I killed all the scientists one by one. I did hear a "did you hear something, moving to check...", and then I had to kill a guard.

 

[Ydiss]

Obviously id like to see fdevs quantitative numbers but if you have info from playing please share! I best i have is that it seems crouching makes little to no noise so idk if silent footsteps improve crouch- moving at all or if it even affects sprinting

Ok I'll do my best:

Movement sound:
-when walking normally you make a lot of noise. What's the radius you are heard?

Approximately to the red circle on the radar

-when crouching it seems like you make less noise. Is it half of walking, 0 noise, or something else? What's the radius on this?

No sound at all, you can get right up behind someone without them detecting you - just so long as you're behind them
Crouching also doesn't reduce the sound made when you open lockers (they attract attention in the restricted areas if you're too close). Standing up and shuffling about is louder than doing it when crouched. So staying crouched is advisable.

Walking works the same as crouch, it's just slower. Annoyingly.

-Is running even louder? What's the radius npcs can hear you run?

Good question, never tested 100% but in my experience no. You're either "audible" or you're not.

- how exactly does the suit upgrade silent
footsteps affect both normal walking, running, and crouching sounds?

Good question, this is one I cannot answer as I've not got this one yet.

Gun sounds
-do all guns make the same noise levels? What is the radius npcs can hear each gun?

Executioner seems to attract attention from a lower radius than other guns but then I think there's a good reason for that: It'll kill a shieldless target in one hit. So they don't fire (which will result in a wide radius of alert).

Gun sound radius is huge. Not quite settlement wide (as in the biggest settlements, you can get away with it if the NPC is on the other side). But I'd say around 200m or so? Haven't guaged the exact range but it's really far.

- how much noise reduction do the 2 noise upgrades make and what then is the noise reduction?

Good question, I want to try this out very soon trust me

Light
-do NPCs see you or notice you from further distance with your flashlight on? What is the distance they notice you?

Not further distance but they'll see it if you're behind them. Never use a flashlight when sneaking.

NPC's have a large range of detection (approximately within 2 circles on the radar, not including the red circle). But the thing is, they'll behave depending on their disposition toward you. If they're aggressive, they'll react to you at that range. Otherwise, they don't react until the red circle, so that includes guard scans, workers turning around to see you if they hear you, getting annoyed at you carrying a tool or weapon (which you're not allowed to do).

But, that long radius will apply if they see you doing something wrong. So if you're in a restricted area and the have a LOS to you, they'll see you at maximum range. Same if you're seen scanning someone or cloning someone or killing them.

-do npcs notice you from further with your shield on? If so, at what distance?

Not tested but I doubt it.

-do npcs notice you from different distance when in a different state (like casually walking their beat vs searching for you cuz you tripped an alarm)?

Yes, definitely. At any alert state, they'll see you at max range.

-do npcs have a harder time noticing you are there when the lights are out?

I'd like to think so but I don't think it works this way. I've been spotted in darkness before. Remember... when we look at someone, we see their name show up on our HUD. Assume NPCS get that too. The AI cares more about whether it wants to react to you or not, so for this just stay out of LOS if you can. And if so, keep quiet.

-do npcs have a harder time noticing you during night time?

As above, no, I don't think so. We have no trouble seeing NPCs at night. If we "look" in the right direction, we will see them show up at 3 rings range on our HUD. So assume it works that way for NPCs.

- do npcs have a harder time seeing you when you are in the shadows vs in the broad daylight or near a streetlight?

Same as above. But being out in the open is obviously going to have major disadvantages if you wish to remain undetected.

NPCs have a roughly 1 second response time. Maybe slightly less. Having cover nearby is essential if you want to stay hidden.

 

[Phoenix13]

Thanks, this helps quite a bit! I never really thought what that red circle might be for