I do prefer that much lower level creatures stop attacking for no other reason than it's nothing more than irritating to fight mud crabs and bunnies off when you're essentially a demi god.

:facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
i fixed it.

While it would be more....... realistic..... fleeing enemies can get quite annoying after awhile.




I'm not familiar with Earthbound (played other SNES & later system RPGs), so I've a couple questions....

- were monsters visible on the map as you walked (fight triggered when you touched them) or was it a "random encounter happens as you walk" system?
- did areas restock with monsters when you entered them again? (having weaker stuff run away is fine if there's always a ready supply of higher level stuff to fight)



...basically, I'm wondering if the combination of having weaker enemies evading you and needing to fight a probably limited number (respawns are really slow in Oblivion) of enemies to level your skills, might be a bit of an issue. Or not. Just a thought.

- enemies were visable on the screen. they physically ran away and you only had to enter battle with them if you wanted to (triggered when you touched them). if you touched them from behind you got a pre-emptive strike, and vice versa. also if you were powerful enough you would just touch the enemy, the screen would flash, and it would display "YOU WON", just skipping the battle sequence entirely

- areas restocked but never with a higher level monsters. you had to go to a different location to fight harder monsters. not all monster would run though.

I voted Other. I don't really think everything should be immediately hostile or runaway from you.

Take for example all the little camps you find all over the world in OB. Why does every bandit in the world immediately start shooting as soon as they see you? That never made sense to me. I always thought they should just kinda chill when you walk up to the camp until you do something aggressive or threatening. I can see being hostile if you are invading a bandit lair or cave or something but not even all of those. Hostility should be appropriate for the location.

As for running away, while it can make sense, especially if they are loosing, it is something I always find extremely aggrivating from a gameplay perspective. You're trying to kill this guy and all of the sudden he bolts down a corridor at 100 mph past other hostiles and dodging everything you throw at him even though his back is to you and blah blah blah.... No thanks.

As for creatures most should try to avoid you, again only becoming hostile once threatened or otherwise backed into a corner. You should have to be actively hunting a wolf or mountain lion before you ever even see one, more or less have one every 50 feet jumping out of cover to attack you.

Wait so I'm confused a Tiger is dim-witted? Felines are usually damned smart and if you can "tame" dragons, a very intelligent and powerful creature in fantasy games/lore, why should a feline or any of the other like animals not be able to realize it's outmatched? The only things I could understand not knowing whether they're outmatched or not is the mud-crabs, but then why would they attack on sight anyways, they gain no benefit... The rest of the animal population though should be able to assess the situation and make a judgement call, but if you've got the power to command dragons, all the animals should be able to recognize this, in my opinion.

The game could take your level, add a factor based on your currently equipped weapon and armor, and another factor based on general magicka pool, which would combine to form a "threat" value. Then take the aggressiveness of the creature or NPC and add a random number to it when it spawns, and if it comes up higher than the "threat" figure for your character, that particular creature or NPC attacks. Having the value purely based on any one characteristic, or using a simple cutoff line, would cause silly things, like creatures ALWAYS attacking spellcasters, or always running away from you if you wear a particular set of armor, or not being able to fight certain creatures at all, because they always flee from you. The random element creates that little bit of uncertainty that keeps it interesting.

That way, some will always attack; most of them either may or may not, based on whether they believe that they have a chance of beating you; others will never attack. What you bump into depends on where you are, what level you're at, and the luck of the random number generator.

Bandits should definitely flee if theres a big difference in lvl. If im walking around yolked like a [censored], in my spiked 3 inch thick armor, wielding a flaming sword mere bandits should definitely be aware that they dont stand a chance

but yeah low lvl animals should flee only upon getting hit, and animals shouldnt even be so damn agressive like they were in oblivion

I think there should be a morale check of some kind, if the PC is obviously unusual looking.
There definitely should be a morale check after the first hit in combat.
If your target hits you like a ton of bricks with the first punch...
even if it doesn't almost kill you, its clear that they are out of your league, and the next few hits surely might.

I don't think animals will be able to tell, but weaker humanoid enemies, definitely. I'm sure a leather-wearing bandit with a rusty knife wouldn't think of taking on a proud looking Khajiit wearing elven armour and two glowing blades.

It would be kinda lame if at higher level all would run away from you, but I do wish lower level ppl would unsheathe their weapons and ask you to stay away, and only engage if you get too close with yuor weapon drawn.

and also only is you're really famous / decked out in full deadric / glass and such.

By Azura, i hope bandits don't get deadric plate and glass armor again. That was one of my sole complaints about Oblivion.

No one, not man, mer, beast, giant, dragon, or daedra should have knowledge of a character's level. Though I am still for the idea of having some enemies flee and/or not engage you in combat. So here's how I think it should work.

For 'People'(Civilized Races):
-First of all this should only apply to 'wild' enemies- like a roving group of bandits- and not quest-specific or 'nest' (in their hideout, etc) enemies.
-It could be applied in a different way to townspeople. I always find it strange when I walk up and brutally kill a guy in town and most people try to attack me, shouldn't some people run? Like, not just for guards, but for their lives.
-The major defining factor should be your Fame, Infamy, and 'Renown' (Fame + Infamy).
-The minor factor should be your [equipped] equipment.
-At an encounter the NPCs (henceforth referred to as Bandits) should preform a check to determine a Risk vs Reward type value.
--If your Fame and Renown are high as well as your equipment rating, the Bandits are not likely not attack.*
--If your Fame and Renown are high but your equipment rating is low, the Bandits are almost certain to leave you alone.*
--If your Fame and Renown are low as well as your equipment rating, the Bandits have a good chance of attacking.*
--If your Fame and Renown are low but your equipment rating is high, the Bandits are almost certain to attack.*
--*All Bandits should spawn with the chance for a random modifier. For example if they spawn as 'Desperate' then they will always attack, if they spawn as 'Cowardly' then they will only attack low/low types, etc.
--If your Infamy and Renown is high then there should be a chance that the Bandits will attempt to 'recruit' you (give you a Radiant Story type Quest to rob some people or something) or trade with you instead of attacking. (Basically they should be friendly- to a point anyway).

For Animals and [Unintelligent] Monsters:
-As far as animals, some should by default be more weary of humans.
-Unlike for 'People', aggressive animals should always attack. However they should still be able to flee.
-Weaker/Lone animals should be easily spooked by magic, Dragon Shouts, and a person fully garbed in threatening/inhuman armor**.
-After losing a certain amount of HP/Comrades even some stronger animals should have a percent chance to flee.
-Monsters should follow most of the same rules, but be more aggressive by default and have modifiers like the 'Bandits' above (Cowardly, Determind, etc.)

**Let's be honest, most people/creatures/life/everything should be near terrified of someone in a full suit of glowing, enchanted, Daedric Armor.

Awesome ideas!

If this is added in, I hope you can wear a cloak to conceal you Identity to make bandits attack you thinking you're easy prey, you can shed it at the last moment for a "OMG!" effect, or keep it on. walk the broad steps of a hero only when you don't want to be bothered.

this would work well with a disguises mod.

Fantastic ideas. One thing I would like to add is that citizens and bandits should respond differently based on your fame and infamy. For example, an infamous person could walk amongst some bandits (given he passes a speech check), maybe even smack one around while his buddies laugh, provided you don't hurt him too bad. But most civilians should keep their heads down and shuffle past you as you walk through a city and guards should be wary of you. I personally would like some shopkeepers refuse to do business with you (unless you have to for a quest), but no one major, mainly like the fancy inn owner not wanting a violent psychopath there.

On the other hand, a really famous person (fame as in good deeds, not total renown) should make some bandits flee on sight. and have people compliment him and flock to him when he is in a city. If he attacked a person in a city the person should be more inclined to yield, guards should be more open to you explaining yourself, and if you really go nuts on someone (like if you decide to just kill Glarther to shut him up) some people might even come to your aid.

Finally, if your renown is high you should just be able to get away with more. Look at how we treat celebrities. They can do whatever they want and no one even tries to send them to jail. Hell, once a Disney teen star starts to flag after trying to stand on their own the first thing they do is take a bunch of drugs and drive around, because they know they will get caught but not get in trouble. It's an easy way to go from cutesy to edgy. And some people should just get away with whatever they want because they rule (Charlie Sheen).


I agree, If a system like this is in place there has to be ways to trick the system. Want to be attacked? Wear a cloak. Want to be safe from most bandits? Acquire yourself a set of guard or soldier armor.

^this
so detailed and i agree 100%

I changed the poll question:

from
If you're a MUCH higher level than an enemy... (please read OP first)
to
If you're a MUCH higher level or too intimitating for an enemy... (please read OP first)

and added Omicrons rules to the OP

Lower level critters should either become neutral or attack you to find out your incredibly strong and possibly flee for their lives.

as a side note - i played risen recently and it has a cool threat system - most creatures, if you get too close, will make threatening gestures without attacking until you retreat, and only attack if you persist in staying too close, some creatures are more hostile and attack on sight - it works really well, and makes a lot more sense than every single mudcrab going all jihad on your ass

lol "GOD MOD"

i think ur idea is nice...but only who knows u will fear u...and not anyone just by seeing ur armor/weapon!

i mean lets say u are level 100...some of the people still dont know u...u are not the U.S. President lol..

but if u can get "FAME" in some cities...so why not, maybe people will honor u with discounts and call ur name over the streets...

If they detect you and detect that you're overpowered, they should flee towards their buddies and attack you en masse. If they cannot find a buddy closeby, they will turn towards you and attack. Not just flee, because that poses some core gameplay problems (everybody in certain low-areas will just flee, which is bad for players who like to return to those locations and grind for loot).

I feel the animals would always attack you. What I would like to see more of is running away. A bandit fights you and is losing to your impressive power I want to see more people try to withdraw from the fight or try running away.