In Oblivion, I've been working on a mod that revamps sneaking and detection. One thing that struck me as kind of odd is how line of sight (LOS) works. As far as I can tell, regardless of skull structure and eye position, every NPC and creature in the game has the exact same field of view. And there are no modifications that take into account peripheral vision.

I think it would be swell to provide the option to set a creature's field of view (fov), and decide whether or not they had peripheral vision, and if so to what extent, and scale the effect accordingly. And with the advancements in the design, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to implement.

That feature would significantly enhance the strategy required to sneak up on a target. You have to anolyze the target and figure out where their best blind spot is going to be. Coming sideways at a human would be much easier than against a horse or an argonian for example.

Anyway, I figured out all the math on calculating peripheral vision angles and effects and got it working in Oblivion, so if anyone is interested (cough), feel free to PM me.

saebel

p.s. I'm really looking forward to playing Skyrim. It just looks marvelous. And I'm torn between reading the forums to find out what's going to be in it, or just wait in ignorance and be surprised when I play it.

As far as they have said, there won't be any sudden stealth breaking AI, but it will a bit slower realize you are there, making it possible for you to sneak back into the shadows. Which is a really good idea imo. But as for a wolf seeing as high up as a giant.. Yeah, I hope they have individual sight, making objects with some height able to block the view from small foes.

With this in mind, it would be literally impossible to sneak up on a giant spider - based on there ability to detect the slightest vibrations. But yes maybe some creatures should be able to see further and create a wider field of view.

And again with this in mind, taking spiders as an example, why stop at eye sight as the only sensory improvement:

Here is some 'fun' info on spidies!!!! (courtesy of google)

The eyes of spider differ greatly between families. Spiders who hunt without a web like wolf spiders (Lycosidae), lynx spiders (Oxyopidae) and jumping spiders (Salticidae) have a well-developed eyesight. Jumping spiders can see nearly as well as humans. Experiments have shown that they are even capable of seeing colors. Cave spiders, which live in the dark, have no or hardly any eyesight. They depend completely on sound and feeling.
The structure of the eye is in basic similar to our eye; behind a single cuticular lens lays a cellular vitreous body and the visual cells. Together with pigment cell this forms the retina.
The spider has two types of eyes; the main eyes and the secondary eyes. The main eyes are always the middle largest ones of the eight eyes the most spiders possesses. There are a few families of spiders with six eyes
Sometimes the secondary eyes have a light reflecting layer (tapetum). This can be easily observed if one shines with a light in the eyes of a spider during the night.

Our well-known orb weaving spiders, like the Araneus diadematus, have very small eyes. They do not depend heavily on their eyesight to catch their prey. They have a good developed feeling mechanism that makes them capable of detecting the movements in her web.

Spiders detect smell with scent sensitive hairs located on their legs. A sense of taste in their mouth is missing. A spider feels her prey with chemo sensitive hairs on her legs and senses if the prey is consumable.

Now wasn't that 'fun' Ha!

Im blown away !