Hi all,
Don’t have all the trophies (never intend to get them all), but have played a lot of hours (+1000). Right now, I’m waiting for bastards to come out so i can start a new playline with amorous, the tourney and bastards all as first time experiences. In the meantime, loaded up an old save file on vanilla PS4 v1.7.2. traveled from Talmberg to Rattay to test popins and textures. Popins were fine, but textures not so fine.
Being sated with enemy NPC harvesting and being perturbed by the performance degradation, I went medi-evil to stress test the death mechanic. Before I get into the details of that bloodbath, I’d like to outline my expectations. Please share yours - which align, which differ.
Expectations
(1) Upon killing livestock within view, i expect other livestock to bolt and i expect a visceral (immediate) and negative response from villager and allied (traders, etc) NPCs. either call the guards/watchmen or confront me. the confrontation doesn’t have to lead to combat… at least initially. could be something like ‘what the kurva are you doing?’ and, then escalate (or de-escalate) from there.
(2) Upon killing a villager (or allied NPC), i expect others to call the guards/watchmen, recruit other villagers for mob reaction, flee (notifying others on the way away), or fight (conditional based on perception of Henry)
(3) After some threshold of mayhem, i expect a mass response. This happened in Rovna during Run!. It should happen elsewhere (Neuhof, Ledetchko, etc).
(4) Upon being within proximity of dead or (gravely) wounded, i expect a reaction. i don’t expect an NPC to ignore the bloodshed. Maybe the NPC faints, panics/flees, draws a weapon, shouts for support, calls for the local guard/watchman
Observations
(1) (a) a herd of sheep was grazing E of where you meet Sir Bernard. (didn’t notice before – nice touch WH!) they spooked a little which was good. made approaching for melee not easy which is consistent with the sheep in Skalitz. equipping with a bow changed the dynamic. the sheep didn’t spook. missed arrow shots. stayed basically in same place. sheep didn’t spook after fellow herd members less than 50cm from were shot dead. killed the whole herd and none ran away. NPCs in area but no response.
(1) (b) a cluster of cattle between Neuhof and Rattay. same thing. no NPCs in area
(1) (c_) all the horses in Neuhof stables. same thing. horses dying didn’t elicit much response, certainly not as much as i expected.
(2) (a) Neuhof: i got 1 Neuhof villager to run to the authorities. the guard fought. others tried to flee. the lag though of those sitting was way too delayed. the NPC reactions at the stables were in waves.
(2) (b) Inn in the Glade: some NPCs tried to flee. others just sat there even after several-few others met their demise. nobody really tried to fight. and, can’t remember anyone running off to Talmberg for back up.
(3) (a) Neuhof: even as slaughter was in the air, there was no coordinated or mass effort. i was shocked out how easy it was for the grim reaper to go from house to house without a coordinated or mass effort (mob attack or mob escape). as the bloodletting went from significant to every inhabitant, the offenses shifted from being fined to jailed. killing all didn’t eliminate the jailing threat alert.
(3) (b) Inn in the Glade: that initial indifference was alarming. dead bodies were everywhere and yet some guys were still nursing their beers. unlike Neuhof, people were clustered together. but, the mass response was no better… even with lots of liquid courage flowing through their veins.
(4) (a) Neuhof: Ginger and some of the others tried to run away upon seeing dead stablehands.
(4) (b) Inn in the Glade: Matthew ran away and then he came back and initiated combat. so, there’s some nuance in there. just not widespread enough. Fritz literally sat in the same spot as a victim and proceeded to drink. dead bodies were everywhere so i cannot understand Fritz’s reaction
… just kidding
