Stealth kill bounty

Dash · May 30, 2021

So I zapped somebody in the back and killed them (thought it would just stun them tbh), but whilst there was nobody about and the base didn't go insta-hostile, I got a bounty for it. How does that work? Now if a guard scans me, they'll turn hostile. Doesn't feel very "realistic".

The stealth mechanic seems shot to bits. I accidentally threw a grenade out of sight from anybody which caused a bang, I heard somebody say "what was that", but then a few minutes later, I'm hostile. Somehow magically, I've been penned as the person who threw the nade.

ferus · May 30, 2021

Stealth mechanics definitely need to be refined.
A stealth kill with instant bounty makes no sense. Unfortunately, Odyssey is riddled with illogical things like these.

Dash · May 30, 2021

I've been exploring getting up to no good on the planet without kicking off alarms, and it is very frustrating. They've half done stealth, you can do things without being noticed and get away with it, and other things not.

Also what I found was quite surprising was I stole something, and somebody spotted me and I got a fine - all this is ok, but they immediately opened fire for a small gizmo. I get frontier rules, but it seems a little jarring and immersion breaking.

Leonis2010 · May 30, 2021

Dash said:
Я изучаю, что делать на планете бесполезно, не включив сигнализацию, и это очень расстраивает. Они наполовину сделали скрытность, вы можете делать что-то незаметно и уходить от этого, а другие вещи - нет.

Также было довольно удивительно то, что я что-то украл, и кто-то заметил меня, и я получил штраф - все это нормально, но они немедленно открыли огонь по небольшой штуковине. Я понимаю пограничные правила, но это кажется немного раздражающим и нарушающим погружение.

Я полностью согласен!

CMDR Rabbit · May 30, 2021

Dash said:
So I zapped somebody in the back and killed them (thought it would just stun them tbh), but whilst there was nobody about and the base didn't go insta-hostile, I got a bounty for it. How does that work? Now if a guard scans me, they'll turn hostile. Doesn't feel very "realistic".

The stealth mechanic seems shot to bits. I accidentally threw a grenade out of sight from anybody which caused a bang, I heard somebody say "what was that", but then a few minutes later, I'm hostile. Somehow magically, I've been penned as the person who threw the nade.

Weird because i bug-zapped an assassination target earlier today and didn't get a bounty.

Interesting side effect, he was a guard, he saw me, but was already in motion to scan me when i zotted him.

CMDR Rabbit · May 30, 2021

ferus said:
Unfortunately, Odyssey is riddled with illogical things like these.

My favorite is the obstructed landing pad fine in an empty and powered down settlement (along with actually being able to request landing permission)

Morbad · May 30, 2021

Probably have suit/life support telemetry to know how everyone is doing, though how they know for sure who popped who is less certain. But, if you're the only stranger in a base, inferences could be made.

Still, NPC behavior has been full of similar holes forever.

Dash · May 30, 2021

Morbad said:
Probably have suit/life support telemetry to know how everyone is doing, though how they know for sure who popped who is less certain. But, if you're the only stranger in a base, inferences could be made.

Still, NPC behavior has been full of similar holes forever.

Feeble hand-wavium. It's just not well thought out, and slightly jarring. I flew away from a hostile base (the time I made a bang, but otherwise didn't do anything wrong), and then for curiosity requested docking - it was denied to hostile commanders. Yet, fly out of range and back in, and they forget the incident and welcome you with open arms.

CmdrKull · May 30, 2021

I don’t think this needs to change. It may not feel realistic but it feeds into crime and punishment gameplay. You can do illegal things that will get you what you want quicker, but it has negative effects. I’m not saying some additional stealth gameplay wouldn’t be appreciated, but it’s ok that this isn’t the direction FDev went.

It’s not broken, it’s not a bug, it’s just not what you might expect. It’s still fun though, sneaking around, trying not to get caught, and then if you do get caught there’s no quick and easy “I’ll just zap this guy then everything is normal again” fluff, it escalates quickly. If I kill someone, I know I’ll need to get somewhere safe, watch out for system authorities, don’t get scanned, and clear my name so I can go back to carefully sneaking around.

Dash · May 30, 2021

Problem with that is it's jarring to the suspension of disbelief. And inconsistently implemented. If it is known that you have killed somebody in a base, then the alarms need to go off immediately. And what about other crimes? Some how me zapping somebody is reported, but zapping a secure access panel doesn't get logged?

You could make up tenuous excuses until the cows come home, it won't fix how unenjoyable inconsistency is. If you create a universe, then you need to honor the rules that are created within that system. Otherwise, it's bad story telling.

Vardaugas · May 30, 2021

Espionage satellites. If in doubt, blame espionage satellites. Notice how there is no aluminum foil to loot anywhere? It's because it would make you invisible to espionage satellites.

Just · May 30, 2021

Victim probably had Platinum Trauma Team membership and his vitals monitoring shard triggered a 360 degree ID scan when it detected electric discharge.

No, wait, its the other bugged game...

Sorry

Morbad · May 31, 2021

Dash said:
You could make up tenuous excuses until the cows come home, it won't fix how unenjoyable inconsistency is. If you create a universe, then you need to honor the rules that are created within that system. Otherwise, it's bad story telling.

Been complaining about this for almost seven years. The lack of internal consistency is so bad we often don't even know what the rules are supposed to be until they are patched out or enshrined via being doubled down on months or years down the line.

That said, there isn't any plausible way to have a whole lot of varied stealth gameplay in a settlement of twenty people, given capabilities we take for granted for our CMDRs and a bare minimum of common sense. It's going to be obvious when the green indicators on settlement security's InSights are in trouble. Basic radio comms means anything anyone notices, everyone notices. Absolutely anything that goes wrong, or seems out of place, is obviously going to be blamed on the outsiders. Either they know your CMDR is around, or they don't.

Leonis2010 · May 31, 2021

Morbad said:
Been complaining about this for almost seven years. The lack of internal consistency is so bad we often don't even know what the rules are supposed to be until they are patched out or enshrined via being doubled down on months or years down the line.

That said, there isn't any plausible way to have a whole lot of varied stealth gameplay in a settlement of twenty people, given capabilities we take for granted for our CMDRs and a bare minimum of common sense. It's going to be obvious when the green indicators on settlement security's InSights are in trouble. Basic radio comms means anything anyone notices, everyone notices. Absolutely anything that goes wrong, or seems out of place, is obviously going to be blamed on the outsiders. Either they know your CMDR is around, or they don't.

Example: A room with two people in it: any NPC and me. I kill the NPC. Why am I immediately accused? After all, no one has yet entered the room, no one knows about the murder. This is the main reason for the confusion.

Morbad · May 31, 2021

Leonis2010 said:
Example: A room with two people in it: any NPC and me. I kill the NPC. Why am I immediately accused? After all, no one has yet entered the room, no one knows about the murder. This is the main reason for the confusion.

Yeah, there are plenty of situations like this where there is room to delay the security response, or to at least better explain it. If a settlement (high security?) has everyone's life signs monitored at all times and sensors in all areas, it should be listed somewhere, and reflected in game, consistently. I just took issue with some of the examples cited as requiring some sort of magical omniscience when a logical inference or basic surveillance would suffice.