I think stealth is fun as it is, same as Skyrim et al. That said, I would like to see some improvements. Hopefully mods will take care of it.

Phantom mechanics are in the game. Enemies will open fire on you, even in a caution state, from the location you shot at from originally. So, if you relocate, they'll continue shooting and moving towards the spot they thought you were in.

The thing is in games like splinter cell and sniper elite, the AI is tightly scripted and isolated from outside influence. I am a big fan of stealth too but i am a bigger fan of the true open world. Bethedsa's game world is too dynamic and unpredictable to add in just any game mechanic from any other game. This is something most people just don't understand.

To make it more like he describes they shouldn't give up looking so quickly

Actively entering a stealth mode is a cue that you are attempting to be stealthy, not really an attempt to "lower a silhouette"... Iused to entertain my kids by sneaking. You know, hands held forward like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, shoulders hunched, stepping forward with exaggeratedly high steps, done on tiptoe... What I'm saying is, it's all about the player perception of stealth. Suppose for a minute that the games version of sneaking was animated like my version, eh? It wouldn't make the slightest difference in success or failure, but it certainly would change the perception of sneaking.

I think the stealth system is pretty much fine as is, with the exception of target reactions. A little while ago, I shot a supermutant with a suppressed .308 that all but killed him. He He roars out "who's there" and I hear his suicide bomb begin to beep, he wanders around for 30 seconds, and says "No blood to spill today. Pity..."

I personally don't believe that if you've been shot, you're going to search for a few seconds, and then just dismiss the whole event. Just like Skyrim, the guy with the arrow stuck dead center in his forehead says "Must have been my imagination!"... That bothers me.

About "magic eyes", I'm not sure how much sneaking you might have done in life, but here's the thing. Once you've been seen or your position is known, every slight sound will give you away, and it's far easier to track an opponent after that. Myself, if I don't know exactly where fire is coming from, I'm fairly likely to toss a molotov in the general direction I think they they might be.

My current issue with the mode is that when I enter sneak mode it somehow makes enemies blind, deaf and in some cases unable to feel sensations at all.

I've had situations where I could be stealthing a few feet from an enemy directly in their line of sight. I've moved around enemies when directly in their line of sight from a few feet away. Worst of all though? After blowing the head off of a raider his two partners proceeded to "search" for me and actually bumped into me without them detecting me.

I haven't even used stealth boys in this game because they don't seem to be necessary. The one time I tried to use one was when I attempted to sneak around infected mole rats, but they magically knew where I was and broke through the ground behind me and immediately began attacking.

I'm talking about first person shooters and such games. Games that are comparable to Fallout 4. But I guess "no games" is a bit of a stretch.

Just like the original fallouts had a sneak mode based on a percentage of effectiveness that could change depending on your position, light, etc. Most older RPGs with rogue classes had a sneak mode as well, except those gave you a visual feedback of your character being invisible, when you maxed out your stats you could use sneak mode to stay in front of an enemy without getting spotted. Bethesda games are a mixture of these old classic RPGs, with more action oriented ones, and a few mechanics of the thief series and metal gear. The main difference between Bethesda's one and the old school RPGs, is that you can kill enemies without getting spotted and you can easily return to sneak mode even if that happens. In older games you had something similar to one chance to defeat the enemy, that's why these classes were usually dependable on crits. In bethesda's games you can spam crits without getting spotted, and you get the best out of all stealth mechanics, you can crouch in front of an enemy when your skill is high enough without being seeing, and you also benefit of the enviroment. There are not many drawbacks to this system, but I find it certainly better than the original Fallouts, the original fallouts were more pure RPGs so your success at sneaking was entirely dependable on stats without any sort of skill involved, but it was just pressing a button and be done with it. Bethesda's version are more complex and full of variables, the only drawback is that there are little penalties for getting spotted, I think in this game enemies forget about you a lot faster.

I personally prefer games which have a stealth mode over some weird autosneak when to're not moving quickly. It makes more sense to me.

Actually, that's not true in Fallout 4. I've been caught because of making sound. Hell, a Gunner heard me pull out my knife when I was going for the kill.

I just hate that I can't tell where the enemies are unless I'm sneaking and get the Caution or Danger status. If I'm hidden, I can't tell where the enemies are. If I'm hidden and an enemy hears me, all the sudden I can tell where all the enemies are, even on different floors and behind walls. What the hell is that?

Your Pip-Boy can sense nearby hostile targets but they aren't hostile when you are hidden, which makes a lot of sense actually. Science can explain that even.

But the same thing was done in Skyrim. I don't think I had a Pipboy in Skyrim.

It doesn't make sense. But when you will get a targeting HUD on your power armor helmet you will see enemies in red even in [Hidden] mode. Enemies that are in your line of sight of course. It's awesome. You can even see a Deathclaw from 4 football fields away.

Targeting HUD, is that a helmet mod you can add? Honestly I haven't played with the PA's much. I collect them (of course) but don't use them.

No, you had FUS-DO-PIP! There was the shout that let you see all nearby enemies, like infrared scanner.

But the slealth was the same. You hide and are hidden and everyone is hidden. You hide and noticed and you see every enemy's location. Whether they were in your POV or not. Exactly the same.

There should be a better way. Either I can have my Pipboy locate all life around me, whether I'm hidden or not, OR I can't see any life behind walls. Either would make more sense than what we have now.

Of course in Skyrim, many of us turned off the HUD or indicators and floating markers. In my Skyrim game, I had HUD only on demand, and no floating markers at all... I imagine once modders get busy, we'll have something similar for FO4, eh?

True, it doesn't make sense in Skyrim. But at least it makes sense for Fallout.

What? No it doesn't, in fact it makes even less sense in Fallout since in skyrim you have the "coz magic" excuse. You can't claim "science" for the pip-boy detecting enemies only when they're hostile, it either detects them all the time or not at all.

Look up how your body changes when you are in specific moods. It makes sense how the Pip-Boy can detect changes in bodily functions and thusly label them on your map.


The only thing that doesn't make much sense is that it doesn't label allies whom are fighting (which it really should due to how this science works).

Let's concede that point and say you are right, why isn't there a mode that detects all life-forms then just so you have an idea of what's surrounding you in general? Answer is simple, because Bethesda wasn't thinking along the lines you were, or at all in general.

Yes, a PA helmet mod. It's way better than vats display of enemies as red squares, that only tell you in witch direction the enemy is. This mod actually makes the enemy red as you look at him.

Screenhots/spoilers: http://dropcanvas.com/kqhqd

I have noticed this as well.

If there is a "Scripted" attack, then they seem to know right where you are and the level of stealth seems to make no difference.

Having said that, some events aren't attacks and so the mobs enter the area, but if you are stealthed, they then go into "Acting Natural" mode.

No, enemies do not have "Magic Vision" ... however, that is what you are suggesting with your Phantom Actors and associated Perk for them.

I play on Survival and there have been plenty of times when enemies spot me, engage in combat, but I eventually manage to elude them and they search, cannot find me, and finally give up thinking I have run away even if I have not.

Sounds like your save game is bugged.

Think how boring your game would be if you had this perfect stealth ability with no possibility of detection. "Somebody's coming this way!! *Stealth mode ON* Phew! That was close".


I want to get caught by surprise sometimes, it makes each encounter different and edgy despite my initial approach remaining broadly the same. In practical terms, that can seem like the enemy has magical vision as you put it, but recognise it for the necessity it is, a randomizer.


They could have included laying prone and many other stealth mechanisms, but they settled for a one size fits all system and I think it works OK personally.