Getting away with murder / body disposal

Gameplay
#1

I could not find a topic like this, so I’ll make it myself. I am wondering how we will have to do it? In most open world games it is as simple as not being seen doing it, I am wondering if we kill someone, an innocent of some sort, would we have to take precautions, such as body disposal (river dumping?), killing witnesses, etc.

Also would people be able to piece 2 and 2 together? Like they walk into the room, their is nothing but a dead guy, and me, plus I’m holding a blood covered knife. They should be clever enough to figure out what happened… Right?

I’ve done this in skyrim, and I’m only met with “Oh, what happened?” I don’t know whiterun guard, I just don’t know… ◉_◉

2 Likes
#2

Yeah it would be awesome if they could implement a mechanism to represent that. It would be the first game that I know of doing it. I would suggest it could be done like this:

  1. The crime generates two flags, one on the crime scene and one on the corpse.
  2. Flags decay over time.
  3. Once somebody (an NPC) walks into either the corpse or the crime scene, the remaining strenght of the respective flag (both, if they are roughly at the same place) is compared to the distance the player is at. ie if the player is inside the home containing a crime scene, but no corpse is seen, he’ll be suspicious, but not directly guilty. If he’s found in the same room with both the corpse and the crime scene, he’ll be most likely acused.
  4. Calling the guards yourself lowers the flags strength, but doesn’t eliminate them completely.
#3

Oooo, how about framing? Place the blood covered knife in someone elses house, and tell the guards you think think you saw whoever you are framing, leaving the crime scene, they check his house, and suddenly, you are off the hook. >:D

I wonder how long until @Dekssan comes here and tells me “it aint goanna hapern”.

#4

Yeah that could be done too, it would only need to add a third flag for the murder weapon, which now that you mention it, makes a lot of sense. Of course this flag would only add up when another event (being a suspect due to proximity to one of the other two flags, holding the weapon in your hand, or somebody denouncing you) causes a check on it.

#5

This might be too much, however they did say clothes would become dirty… What if you could get your sleeves covered in blood? Then you’d have to change shirts really quickly.

Haha! They walk in and find a “sleeping” guy and someone standing next t him with no shirt onXD

#6

I see that there is a medieval Dexter Morgan mod in making here.

1 Like
#7

That’s a very interesting but complex question. This is some heavy AI development, which is not sure and not ready yet…., but let’s say… if nobody saw you… have you really done anything?! :slight_smile: … but if you stand next to a dead body… I would definitely call it suspicions! :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#8

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(must be twenty characters long)

1 Like
#9

:slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: you dream in the Night of him? :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

…there was a similar discussion, because it was about the kind, whether and how killed NPC to be replaced. Also funeral and manhunt for the killers were addressed as

#10

Manhunt is quite hard to code but there is an alternative - the guards and other NPCs could become very alert and surly. Your bard charisma would be useless the moment the murder knowledge becomes widespread, NPCs would arm themselves and their stamina would get boosted (it should get progressively harder and harder to murder strangers at random). NPCs would go to bed before dusk and could not be roused in the middle of the night (because they would be afraid to open the door), the grocer would close shop and move to some safer village, the prices of weapons and other useful stuff would go up, the pubs would get packed with people gossiping but there would be less drinking going on.

1 Like
#11

I wondered about that when Viktor casually plonked an arrow in that poor fellow’s neck on the stream. I suppose if there were no one about to see it AND you clear the area before it’s discovered with you in suspicious proximity, then you get away with it.

Then again, I’d also expect that the guards or patrols know the routines and behaviors of the townfolk and if poor old Mr. Man isn’t sitting on his stump that day (or seems to have become a pin cushion) they’d round up anyone about to investigate… with easiest suspicion on “the new guy”? Maybe, maybe not. Supposed it would depend on whether or not you’d made any of them angry and given them a reason to want to suspect you.

#12

Why do I doubt anyone would suspect murder if someone wasn’t doing their daily routine? That seems a bit too far fetched…

#13

[quote=“Wicker, post:1, topic:17764, full:true”]… such as body disposal (river dumping?), killing witnesses, etc.
…
[/quote]
hmm dismemberment and hiding bodies in pieces could be an option (fits right into the discussion on blood and gore). You could even link it to crafting minigames cooking/potions…
But I just may have consumed too many “creative” murder stories. :wink:

#14

I’m also curious as to what would happen to the bodies you don’t dispose of? If you kill someone and leave their body on the ground, will an NPC who finds it ‘dispose’ of it? Fetch the local priest, or the dead person’s family (Off-topic: Will NPC’s track their family members?), or throw it on a cart and take it to the church for ‘burial’? Kind of like ambulances in GTA. I mean, they could just leave it in a room in a church or the dead person’s house, and then it disappears after awhile. Doesn’t need to be anything fancy.

All I can think of is Skyrim, where dead bodies just lie in the middle of the road for in-game months, and everyone who passes by is like “Oh dear! What happened here?” and then just moves on :stuck_out_tongue: Not super immersive!

#15

impossible, no black plastic dumpster bags available in that time period :wink:
I would like to see you being able to kill and not face absurd consequences for it without someone being able to know of the murder. For instance it should take some time to get wanted in other places then the murder took place if you are spotted.

Getting rid of bodies and at least dragging, carrying some dead dude, should be in the game me thinks. Especially if you go for the thief type of gameplay style.

#16

Dexter had bags. Jindřich may have pigs. Much more effective.

#17

They’ll never catch me!

#18

Pull a Skywalker and stuff that corpse into the corpse of a sheep or cow.

I’m shocked at how long this thread has continued. :smiley:

#19

So now game is out. I have completed Main Story and start playing sandbox. I tried instead of rob blacksmith Zach, i tried to Kill Him. He and His son Vítek was working in night 3pm,nobody saw me. I killed them by stealth kill. Nobody was looking for me for murder:
First i left their bodies in workshop - sopmewhere around 9am when other citizens start weak up, their bodies dissapeared and MY REPUTATION WAS LOWERED.
So i loaded save, killed them again, nobody was looking for me for murder, even after 9 AM when everybody wakr up.
I took their bodies in night, take them out of villlage in bushes, i left there murder weapon (dagger) and wash my clothes. Even then my reputation was lowered.
Is it right or it is bug? Nobody was chasing me for murder, only reputation was lowered and thats bad because if i kill few citizens i could not buy even beer after hard work :smiley:

Did anybody commit perfect murder without lowering reputation?

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