Hiding in plain sight?

[trakko]

Hi there, just thinking about the clothing system in the game and the way that you’re able to dress your character in the uniform of both dead AI and things that you purchase (As far as I am aware).

What I am wondering is what are your thoughts on a sort of disguise system whereby donning the outfit of an enemy will fool his comrades under certain circumstances. I’m not saying putting on the uniform is going to allow you to saunter up to them and have a jolly good old chinwag (Conversation), what I am saying is that if you were to take part in a siege/large scale battle maybe donning the uniform of an enemy scout would allow you to ride closer to enemy lines and analyze the situation you are facing.

I want it to feel real though so if you run into enemy pickets or patrols maybe they’ll ask for a password to prove you friend or foe, and if you get to close to the enemy there is a risk that they may not recognize you and become suspicious.

Also to make it convincing at closer ranges it could depend on the clothing quality, E.g if there was blood on the clothing from the unfortunate victim then getting up close would be a bad idea whereas you may still be able to get away with further afield recon, just some stuff like that. P.s sorry for the long post

[Fimbul]

Are you asking for a quest or are you talking about player driven strategy? Because it was stated before that there will be no strategy element in the game. But you’re right about the clothing system being perfect for something like that and since Victor talked about infiltrating a besieged castle it would be a nice occasion to implement the feature you’re asking for.

[trakko]

Failing player driven strategy then I suppose a quest would be the next best thing, it’s not entirely necessary but seeing what they’ve done with the clothing system it just provides them with the perfect premise and setup for some subterfuge. I believe when they were talking about player driven strategy they meant you wouldn’t control any battles/sieges etc they never said anything about your lord requisitioning you as a spy or asking you to scout the enemy fortifications before a battle. For example if your lord tasked you with one of the above then you could rely on your speed on horseback to get you in and out of the area or you could play it stealthily and attempt a disguise. This then leans it on the edge of quest/strategy based. I think the option to control your own individual decisions like that would be a good twist on things. It would mean you could form a better report having got closer to enemy positions and your Lord would then be better informed for the battle to come and his decisions would be better. So you would indirectly have an affect on the battle/siege.

[213]

you’d get killed by friendlies. this is not medieval thief, hitman, whatever. i doubt enemy would just allow rider to get into their lines without suspicion.

[trakko]

Well read what I said initially, “I want it to feel real though so if you run into enemy pickets or patrols maybe they’ll ask for a password to prove you friend or foe, and if you get to close to the enemy there is a risk that they may not recognize you and become suspicious.”

Of course the sword swings both ways and if you stumble back into your lines dressed in the enemy clothing then there’s a good chance you’ll take an “arrow to the knee” (forgive that), but that’s all down to you, just remember to remove their clothing when necessary. I’m suggesting the complete opposite to what games like hitman offer and if you had read the question properly you would have seen that.

Quick edit - I’m going to bed now rather early so it is. I’ll check back tomorrow to see what you lovely folk have to say, goodnight all.

[Monty]

I like the idea. It might be very hard to implement but if they will manage it can add so much to the game. Also if taking into account if you are showing your face or not but people are suspicious if you keep your helmet closed outside battle and so on.

[trakko]

Aye sort of like that, like you’d be a stranger to the enemy, and it would be even closer to suspicion if a battle was looming so it might not always be an advisable approach.

I’ve read through the Simon Scarrow series of Macro and Cato books and his use of this sort of subterfuge and on the fly thinking is some of the more interesting aspects of the books. For example at one point a small section of romans are moving upstream looking for a second ford in the river to provide them with a crossing point, they encounter a single Briton scout and manage to kill the man, although they think they are secure moments later they hear a strange tongue calling down the river towards where they had just dispatched a scout.
One of the men takes the cloak and helmet off the scout, mounts his horse and trots out into the river hoping it will be enough to throw the other britons off the fact that their comrade has yet to appear, they throw some more of their harsh tongue down stream when they see him and he waves his hand in recognition, that fortunately seems to be enough for the Britons who then continue back upstream presumably to check another scout/sentry position. So I’m not asking for I’m the hitman and as long as I tilt my hat I can get past anybody, I’m just suggesting maybe a small gameplay feature such as this would be cool even if it turned out to be a set piece mission, or even if it wasn’t available till act II or maybe even III. Every suggestion is valid at this moment in time eh.

[Forbidding]

Your suggestion reminds me of a Skyrim mod that would allow you to fool the enemy into thinking you were one of theirs if you donned the appropriate attire. There was a system in place where if you went and started chatting everyone up or got too close they would either recognize you for their enemy or become suspicious.