In my opinion, I want the First person realism to be like Killzone, Stealth stabbing an enemy should be like this:
Cover the enemies mouth.
Stab him in the face, or heart, or wherever.
Put him on the ground or drag his body so the guards aren't alerted.

Exactly as in the Thief games. Exactly!

I don't mind Oblivion's stealth mode. It could use some tweaks, though.

However, I also voted for Killzone's and Uncharted 2's (and Batman: Arkham Asylum and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions as well) kind of stealth mode. This is when, if you get close enough and with timing, you can press a specific button and then there is a quick animation special move that has your character grabbing the victim and then (usually randomized):
- slashing his/her throat
-stabbing him/her in the eye
-pushing him/her off into nearby freezing water or over the rails or cliff or whatever
-or just punching them, thus knocking the victim unconscious, etc.

But, either way, I would like the stealth-related AI/system to be improved (like guards not being psychic and stuff, lol). =)

Thief series type of stealth

its awesome

its amazing

its awesome

its what fantasy stealth should be like forever and ever.

Sam Fisher

Oh... when I saw this, I thought you meant the actual stealth system, not inconsequential sneak attack system.

I'd like the game to indicate, when stealthed, your noise compared to the ambient noise (Like the Splinter Cell games), and something to indicate your proximity to an enemy's FoV and ability to blend into the background like a "visibilty crystal" from the Theif games. Higher stealth levels should, in addition to lowering your character's sound, also allow you to "Hide in plain sight" better, as well as obscure your exact location from the AI. That way, you can even benefit from stealth after being detected, through misleading enemies.

As far as a Sneak Attack system goes, I think they should make it dependent on striking a vital hitbox (roughly corresponding to the Neck area and span) that increases in size with your stealth score, instead of an arbitrary "Hidden" status from the attacker. That way, you can still Sneak Attack someone when they detect you but haven't had a chance to react yet, and an accurate bow shot is still lethal even when you aren't crouched. It also allows precise strikes when you outmaneuver or confuse the enemies into lowering their guard.

This.

Yeah, pretty much my thoughts.

Thief of course. I long to be Garrett in Skyrim. Hmmm. His voice turns me gay.

I want stealth to be...

Splinter Cell.

Yeah Thief. Youd expect that to be easy given theyve got Emil Pagliarulo who worked on Thief (2 I think)

Mostly like Thief, adapted to fit with TES style gameplay a bit.
Depends a lot on how they handle armor.
I'd prefer locational damage, meaning a sneak attack doesn't need a modifier, but sneak attack innately gives you a lot of extra damage if you strike an unarmored area and even more if you hit an unprotected weak spot like their head/neck, stomach, etc.
Damage to the leg(s) forcing them to limp would be really nice to, particularly for archers.

Why should we try to emulate what's already been done? This is a new game and a new engine! Time to revolutionize the blend of Stealth gameplay into Heroic fantasy gameplay and character progression.

And the Thief-type games don't have a "Character stealth skill", making them entirely Player-based.

Here's a fresh idea that blends both Player and Character skill:

"Sneaking" shouldn't be a stance that grants you an arbitrary bonus, nor should "Not Sneaking" remove all stealth elements. Instead, crouching for stealthy movement should reduce your visibilty when near cover or in shadows, and lower your noise output. At low levels, running while sneaking is noisier than walking, but at higher levels, the Sneak Skill makes it nearly silent (Max Stealth means you never make noise just by moving). It also displays your visibility and noise meters (like in Splinter Cell). The Fable series had better Stealth Feedback than Oblivion and Morrowind, by indicating just "how" detected you were (Which is more important than knowing you're completely stealthy).

Sneak attacks shouldn't require you to be "Sneaking". Instead, they should be about hitting critical locations on the hitbox, such as the neck and Back (And Center of the Chest/heart and Head for ranged attacks) that gets larger as your Stealth skill increases. That way, you can deliver multiple successive sneak attacks for high damage with a fast weapon before the enemy can react.

NPC AI handling stealth: To avoid the problems of "It's just the wind" after they watch their partners become pincushions, and the opposite extreme of ALWAYS knowing where you are once detected, the AI should be confusable and misleadable. Instead of knowing where your character is, they'd react as if they know "He went thataway", or "He's over there" instead of supersensory precision. This way, you can lure enemies away from safety, then take them out with a reflexive sneak attack to the neck or back. And even once detected, it's not "Game Over" for a stealth-based character, though the enemy doesn't forget the PC is still around.

AI perception should be based on the actor's level. This way, stealth is still feasable at low levels, and not overpowered at higher levels. However, perception should not be a seperate skill.

splinter cell definatly..

i did the ship level on chaos theory last night... played on extreme without any kills/ko's. epic.

I beat you to half of your post
(@Scow2)

I think stealth should offer you new moves,instead of damage multiplier.Like backstab,neck break,pushing the enemy down the cliff / tower.

I ALWAYS thought having 3x damage in stealth mode was stupid...I think it's to stimulate backstab,but it was more like a mod's way of creating backstab.
The bow is the same bow.The arrow is the same arrow.The armor is the same arrow.Yet,you do more damage when undetected.Somebody explain this to me... :facepalm:

And how is this supposed to work in a RPG where enemies and the player both have stats? Your thief character with the 'neck break' perk approaches Umbra from behind and instant kill? It's not an action or action adventure game. An undetected sneak attack should give you a bonus and maybe the could even implement some cool animations if the game decides that your sneak attack was lethal (damage caused higher than target's health). But instant kill attacks simply don't work in a RPG like TES.

Which is why, there should also be an NPC Stealth Remover, for NPC's, or incredibly strong NPC's, should reflect back stealth attacks.
Example: Trying to kill umbra will result in your sword broken because of his/her armor strength. Problem solved

Where's the "Skyrim stealth style" option? :confused:

lol

me too

I want to hide in the shadows and knock people out with a black jack :sadvaultboy:

I was about to suggest almost the same thing.A solution can be found when you try.That's the job of the game designers.Creating something new isn't simply making a better graphics game...

This is an even worse idea... When the option becomes "Yes, you could make this guy's day hell... but there's the chance it would also screw you over", it becomes a lot less lucrative and overall unfun. Between taking someone down the slow way, and risking losing my weapon, I'll take the former any day of the week.

if it ain't broke don't fix it...

thief is the best fantasy stealth game in the world, in fact its the only one, make stealth in skyrim like in the thief games and you got the perfect system, their is no better alternative, if their is, present it (fantasy bow and arrow dagger type)

you can't.....

good because there is nothing else.

of course we only need the game-play system and not the story duh.

Alright, if that won't work, then how about when you try sneak attacking someone it has 20% chance of killing an NPC i.e: Umbra, and 50% chance of killing a normal enemy (% changes when you have a higher stealth skill.)