Dev Diary 148: Circle of Thieves, Vol 2.

Heya mutants, let’s continue our overview of the new gameplay changes done by modder dekrus that are going to make their way into v0.6. Today’s topics are Sneak and Steal mechanics.

Sneak

• Randomness from the Sneak skill check has been removed. Now the detection area does not depend on random dice rolls and gradually decreases with increased Sneak skill level and the area’s illumination.
• Added a low light condition penalty to the NPC check ranging from -8% in basement light to -40% in cavern darkness.
• Sneaking Mode is automatically enabled when a charged Stealth Boy is activated.
• Activated Stealth Boy allows running in Sneaking Mode. Just like if you had the Silent Running perk.
• Color-coded Sneaking Feedback: While the sneaking player is within sight of a nearby NPC, that NPC will be highlighted with an outline. This helps player observe and adapt to the changing current situation and move to another, better sneaking path.

* Colors in the video use an older color scheme. See the list below for the final version.

5) Grey - The player isn’t detected, it’s safe to approach.

4) Dark Yellow - The player isn’t detected, but will be detected if he approaches 4 steps closer.

3) Yellow - The player isn’t detected, but will be detected if he approaches 1 step closer.

2) Orange - The player has been detected, but the NPC will not notice if you steal from someone else who is nearby.

1) Red - The player has been detected and any nearby steal attempts might be noticed.

Steal

• Successful steal chance is now displayed when you hover over an item.
• If the chance of stealing is 0%, right-clicking an item will display the required minimum Sneak level points to attempt.
• If there is more than one item in a stack, the steal chance is displayed for the maximum number of items that can be stolen with the greatest success. Right-click to see the probability of stealing a larger amount of items.
• If a steal fails, reaction to it will vary. For example, guards will react to it more agressively than commoners. A penalty will be imposed on Barter and Speech skill checks in dialogues. The presence of the Harmless perk reduces chance of the situation escalating.
• Penalties will gradually decrease and disappear if the player has not been caught stealing in that town for a week or hasn’t visited it for a long time.
• Targets of an unsuccessful steal will remember for a couple of days that the player tried to steal from them and any further failed steal attempts will be harsher.
• Experience for successful stealing/planting is awarded even if the success streak is interrupted by fail.
• The calculation of the probability of a successful steal is similar to the original formula with the addition of dependence on the target's Perception stat.
• If the Steal skill points are over 140%, then for every additional +1%, the maximum steal chance is increased by +0.1%, up to a maximum of 99%.
• To peep into a target's inventory, you need to meet minimum skill requirements now.

Conditions that make stealing harder:

1) The player stands in front of the target.

2) The player is seen by the target's allies.

3) The weight and size of the item, unless the player has the Pickpocket perk .

4) The number of items stolen at once.

5) Stealing from merchants is harder.

6) More expensive items are harder to steal.

Conditions that make stealing easier:

1) Sneaking Mode activated: the bonus depends on the Sneak skill level. A significant bonus is applied if the target cannot see the player.

2) Low-light conditions: caves, cellars, nights, etc. — the darker it is, the easier it is to steal.

3) The target is blind.

And with these two covered, we can wrap up today’s dev diary. Plenty to dive into, so let us know what you think.

See you tomorrow with more exciting news from the wasteland,

- PJ Hexer & Co