1 00:00:03,810 --> 00:00:07,779 Stealth game heroes always have the best gadgets. 2 00:00:07,779 --> 00:00:13,770 From Agent 47’s piano wire, to Sam Fisher’s goofy goggles, to Emily Kaldwin’s fistful 3 00:00:13,770 --> 00:00:20,280 of superpowers - these sneaky boys and girls are often defined by their iconic inventory items. 4 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:25,220 Because the truth is: stealth games aren’t just about waiting for guards to move out 5 00:00:25,220 --> 00:00:27,259 the way before you sneak past. 6 00:00:27,259 --> 00:00:32,989 Instead, they’re about using gadgets, super powers, and abilities to tip the situation 7 00:00:32,989 --> 00:00:34,430 to your advantage. 8 00:00:34,430 --> 00:00:39,840 So welcome back to the School of Stealth - a mini-series about the design of sneaky games. 9 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,510 For episode two, we’re now deep behind enemy lines, and ready to move on. 10 00:00:44,510 --> 00:00:50,910 So it’s time to reach into our utility belt and pick out the five types of stealth game gadget. 11 00:00:50,910 --> 00:00:57,480 So, like I said, most stealth mechanics can be bundled into five key categories. 12 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,960 Category one covers gadgets that let you gather information. 13 00:01:00,970 --> 00:01:05,220 Anything that lets you see beyond the limited viewpoint of your character. 14 00:01:05,220 --> 00:01:10,249 So while a shut door would usually restrict your knowledge of what’s behind it, Sam 15 00:01:10,249 --> 00:01:14,590 Fisher can slip an optic fibre camera underneath and spy on the room ahead. 16 00:01:14,590 --> 00:01:17,730 There’s also the motion tracker in Alien Isolation. 17 00:01:17,730 --> 00:01:20,369 Peeking through keyholes in Invisible Inc. 18 00:01:20,369 --> 00:01:22,469 Leaning around cover in Dishonored. 19 00:01:22,469 --> 00:01:25,630 And night vision goggles that highlight enemies in the dark. 20 00:01:25,630 --> 00:01:30,140 You could even count Snake’s interrogation skills, which force enemies to give up intel 21 00:01:30,140 --> 00:01:33,310 on guard patrols and ammo caches. 22 00:01:33,310 --> 00:01:37,079 These gadgets give you an informational advantage over the enemy. 23 00:01:37,079 --> 00:01:42,159 And as Gunpoint creator Tom Francis says “when you know more about the enemy than they know 24 00:01:42,159 --> 00:01:45,060 about you, you can factor them into your thinking. 25 00:01:45,060 --> 00:01:49,460 [And that] information is the raw material plans are made of”. 26 00:01:49,460 --> 00:01:52,670 These gadgets also dictate the pace of the game. 27 00:01:52,670 --> 00:01:57,630 The rhythm of a stealth game is defined by a moment of carefully observing the next room 28 00:01:57,630 --> 00:01:59,520 - and then moving through it. 29 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:04,640 It’s a constant, repeating loop of observation and execution. 30 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,800 Category two covers gadgets that let you manipulate enemies. 31 00:02:08,810 --> 00:02:14,340 On the previous episode, I talked about how stealth game guards can see and hear the player 32 00:02:14,340 --> 00:02:17,330 by using simulated eyes and ears. 33 00:02:17,330 --> 00:02:21,939 These gadgets let us use those sensory systems to our advantage. 34 00:02:21,940 --> 00:02:28,360 So the Playboy magazine, the decoy, and the dropped weapon can pique a guard’s visual interest. 35 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,380 The sonic Batarang, the speaker on the sticky camera, and the trusty ol’ rock, meanwhile, 36 00:02:33,380 --> 00:02:35,480 can trigger a guard’s hearing response. 37 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:40,769 Sometimes, the distracting element is actually found within the world itself, like overflowing 38 00:02:40,769 --> 00:02:42,030 a sink in Hitman. 39 00:02:42,030 --> 00:02:47,810 All of these allow us to move AI characters off of their patrol path, and into a position 40 00:02:47,810 --> 00:02:49,390 that works for us. 41 00:02:49,390 --> 00:02:53,870 For some, that might have you open a tiny window in the guard’s patrol so you can 42 00:02:53,870 --> 00:02:55,120 slip past unnoticed. 43 00:02:55,120 --> 00:03:00,189 For others, it’s about luring enemies into traps or guiding them into the dark for an 44 00:03:00,189 --> 00:03:01,430 easy takedown. 45 00:03:01,430 --> 00:03:05,709 You can also go further and use gadgets to change the guard’s behaviour. 46 00:03:05,709 --> 00:03:10,900 In Mark of the Ninja, the Terror Dart causes an enemy to become panicked and paranoid, 47 00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:15,780 and you can use this to make them accidentally kill their own team mates. 48 00:03:15,780 --> 00:03:19,799 Category three covers gadgets that let you redefine space. 49 00:03:19,799 --> 00:03:23,910 And to make sense of them, we need to take a moment to consider how stealth game levels 50 00:03:23,910 --> 00:03:25,040 are designed. 51 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:30,209 Thief’s project lead Greg LoPiccolo talks about “space being the commodity that you 52 00:03:30,209 --> 00:03:34,540 are trading in”, and points out how a stealth game level is split between areas of 53 00:03:34,540 --> 00:03:36,520 safety and danger. 54 00:03:36,530 --> 00:03:42,319 In Thief, that idea operates on two axes: light and shadow on one axis, and loud and 55 00:03:42,319 --> 00:03:44,040 quiet on the other. 56 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,286 Other games might have a different split, like high and low in Batman 57 00:03:48,286 --> 00:03:50,260 or public and private in Hitman, 58 00:03:50,260 --> 00:03:55,580 but the idea is the same: a stealth game level is like a sea of danger, and you’ve 59 00:03:55,580 --> 00:03:58,329 got to swim between the islands of safety. 60 00:03:58,329 --> 00:04:02,109 However, these gadgets let you manipulate this set-up. 61 00:04:02,109 --> 00:04:08,319 So in Thief, the water arrows can douse candles - turning a brightly-lit area of danger into 62 00:04:08,319 --> 00:04:10,540 a dark corner of safety. 63 00:04:10,540 --> 00:04:15,629 On the other axis, the moss arrows can create grassy rugs that you can stand on without 64 00:04:15,629 --> 00:04:20,170 making noise, changing that zone from loud to quiet. 65 00:04:20,170 --> 00:04:24,710 Another twist on this, is letting you change your character so that you can exist in a 66 00:04:24,710 --> 00:04:30,000 dangerous space, but with relative safety - like using the camouflage system to blend 67 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:35,610 in with the surroundings in Metal Gear Solid 3, or using disguises to upgrade Agent 47’s 68 00:04:35,610 --> 00:04:37,970 credentials in the Hitman series. 69 00:04:37,970 --> 00:04:43,010 These gadgets let you see levels as not just a static puzzle to solve, but an opportunity 70 00:04:43,010 --> 00:04:46,560 to change things so they put you at an advantage. 71 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,200 Category four covers gadgets that let you alter your movement. 72 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,949 Typically, these are mechanics that let you reach spots that guards can’t get to. 73 00:04:54,949 --> 00:04:58,590 So, there’s Batman’s grapnel which lets you shoot up to the gargoyles that are high 74 00:04:58,590 --> 00:04:59,990 above the room. 75 00:04:59,990 --> 00:05:05,080 Sam Fisher’s split jump, which - in certain corridors - lets you stand above enemies without 76 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:06,240 being seen. 77 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,870 And there’s Dishonored’s wonderful short-range teleport move: Blink, which lets you clamber 78 00:05:10,870 --> 00:05:14,650 up to high up places - and also dart between areas of cover. 79 00:05:14,650 --> 00:05:18,639 We don’t see these audacious moves in every stealth game, though. 80 00:05:18,639 --> 00:05:23,830 Mostly, these games concentrate on stances - like standing up, crouching down, and laying 81 00:05:23,830 --> 00:05:30,039 prone - all of which confer different levels of visibility, noise, and speed of movement. 82 00:05:30,039 --> 00:05:34,950 Finally, category five covers gadgets that let you incapacitate enemies. 83 00:05:34,950 --> 00:05:40,039 Where would stealth games be without the blackjack, the trip-mine, or the trusty (and admittedly 84 00:05:40,039 --> 00:05:42,509 unrealistic) silenced pistol? 85 00:05:42,509 --> 00:05:46,197 The stealth game fantasy doesn’t preclude taking out guards 86 00:05:46,197 --> 00:05:48,509 as long as you cover up the evidence. 87 00:05:48,509 --> 00:05:54,410 Importantly, though, stealth games don’t often give you machine guns and rocket launchers. 88 00:05:54,410 --> 00:05:58,880 Because, if you think about these five types of gadget - they’re about letting you find 89 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:04,639 an advantage over the enemy on practically every axis - except sheer brute force. 90 00:06:04,639 --> 00:06:09,260 You know more, you can move more freely, and you can manipulate guards into doing what 91 00:06:09,260 --> 00:06:15,180 you want - all of which puts you in total control, until you get into a straight up firefight. 92 00:06:15,180 --> 00:06:19,680 But more on that in a future episode. 93 00:06:19,690 --> 00:06:24,949 The other thing that these gadgets all have in common, though, is that they must be balanced. 94 00:06:24,949 --> 00:06:29,370 Without careful consideration for how these mechanics should be limited or countered - they 95 00:06:29,370 --> 00:06:32,509 can cause all sorts of problems in the design. 96 00:06:32,509 --> 00:06:38,759 So, unrestricted use of gadgets that let you manipulate enemies and space can lead to dominant 97 00:06:38,759 --> 00:06:44,460 strategies - which are simple and incredibly effective tactics that you can use again and 98 00:06:44,460 --> 00:06:47,379 again, in place of more interesting solutions. 99 00:06:47,379 --> 00:06:51,800 Things like using an endless supply of rocks to slip past braindead enemies, or dousing 100 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:53,650 every torch you see. 101 00:06:53,650 --> 00:06:57,729 Gadgets that confer too much information can break the flow of the game. 102 00:06:57,729 --> 00:07:02,470 So in Assassin’s Creed Origins, you can fly your eagle buddy over a base like a feathered 103 00:07:02,470 --> 00:07:05,250 drone, and tag every enemy you see. 104 00:07:05,250 --> 00:07:09,700 This then gives you complete knowledge of where that enemy is, for as long as they’re alive. 105 00:07:09,700 --> 00:07:15,140 This breaks that wonderful stealth game rhythm, essentially flattening it out into a single, 106 00:07:15,140 --> 00:07:21,620 effortless observation stage - followed by an unimpeded, and relatively low-stakes, execution phase. 107 00:07:21,620 --> 00:07:26,660 And using overpowered weapons to kill (or permanently incapacitate) every guard you 108 00:07:26,669 --> 00:07:31,159 see can actually reduce the complexity of the situation. 109 00:07:31,159 --> 00:07:35,580 Game design professor Robert Yang says that killing foes in stealth games “depopulates 110 00:07:35,580 --> 00:07:39,659 a level, severs connections between systems, and makes the game boring”. 111 00:07:39,659 --> 00:07:45,100 If you’ve ever had to exfiltrate a Dishonored level by simply walking past all the corpses 112 00:07:45,100 --> 00:07:47,590 you made earlier, you’ll get what he means. 113 00:07:47,590 --> 00:07:52,759 Oh, and there’s also that problem of x-ray vision modes being so helpful that you never 114 00:07:52,759 --> 00:07:57,449 want to turn them off - making the entire game look like it’s being played on an airport 115 00:07:57,449 --> 00:07:59,270 security monitor. 116 00:07:59,270 --> 00:08:02,700 So how can we balance the power of these gadgets? 117 00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:06,270 One way is to give systems inherent limitations. 118 00:08:06,270 --> 00:08:11,590 Look at Ghost Recon Wildlands, which has a very similar system to the eagle in Assassin’s 119 00:08:11,590 --> 00:08:17,189 Creed, but the bird is replaced with a UAV that has a limited battery, a short range, 120 00:08:17,189 --> 00:08:19,830 and can be shot down by observant enemies. 121 00:08:19,830 --> 00:08:23,159 It lets you gather information, but it’s not omnipotent. 122 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,960 Likewise, The Last Us does let you see enemies through walls - 123 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,780 but only when the enemy is making noise. 124 00:08:29,780 --> 00:08:35,320 And Deus Ex lets you tag enemies, but there’s a limit to how many you can track simultaneously. 125 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,250 Another way is to make your power temporary. 126 00:08:38,250 --> 00:08:42,959 Sam Fisher can overflow fuses to turn off lights, but they’ll soon flicker back on. 127 00:08:42,959 --> 00:08:48,150 A smoke bomb creates a tiny and temporary pocket of safety within a danger zone. 128 00:08:48,150 --> 00:08:52,600 And when you knock out enemies in Invisible Inc, they’ll wake back up after a few turns 129 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,110 - unless you sacrifice one of your team mates to pin them down. 130 00:08:56,110 --> 00:09:01,350 A rather obvious way to restrict something’s power is just to limit how many you have. 131 00:09:01,350 --> 00:09:05,790 In Chaos Theory, you only get a few sticky cameras per level, and in Thief you have to 132 00:09:05,790 --> 00:09:09,800 pay for water arrows with the money you stole in previous stages. 133 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,899 While some games let you throw infinite stones with a touch of the button, Dishonored makes 134 00:09:13,899 --> 00:09:16,529 you find physical objects in the world. 135 00:09:16,529 --> 00:09:20,980 And in Hitman, you can only stuff two enemies in a cupboard before it’s full up. 136 00:09:20,980 --> 00:09:25,089 You can also give AI the ability to counter your best moves. 137 00:09:25,089 --> 00:09:30,339 Enforcers in Hitman are characters who can see through disguises, so private areas keep 138 00:09:30,339 --> 00:09:31,680 some of their danger. 139 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:36,970 And in Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, enemies who wear straw hats simply aren’t 140 00:09:36,970 --> 00:09:37,970 distracted by rocks. 141 00:09:37,970 --> 00:09:39,740 I don’t know the logic behind that decision. 142 00:09:39,740 --> 00:09:41,779 But, hey, video games. 143 00:09:41,779 --> 00:09:46,150 This can also be handled adaptively, like in Metal Gear Solid V where guards will start 144 00:09:46,150 --> 00:09:49,040 wearing helmets if you’re too handy with the headshot. 145 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:54,149 An even bolder take on this idea is the game ECHO, where enemies learn and then copy your 146 00:09:54,149 --> 00:09:58,630 tactics, which means if you stick to one powerful technique, you shouldn’t be surprised if 147 00:09:58,630 --> 00:10:01,269 your opponents start using it against you. 148 00:10:01,269 --> 00:10:06,420 There’s also an opportunity to provide unique set-ups for certain levels or areas, which 149 00:10:06,420 --> 00:10:08,820 temporarily thwart your favourite plans. 150 00:10:08,820 --> 00:10:12,620 In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, for example, there’s a level on a ship where the engine 151 00:10:12,620 --> 00:10:17,269 room is filled with gas - which means you can’t use your weapons or everything will 152 00:10:17,269 --> 00:10:18,269 go boom. 153 00:10:18,269 --> 00:10:21,639 Then there’s the layout of the level and the guard patrol patterns. 154 00:10:21,639 --> 00:10:26,399 One guard on their own can be easily dispatched, but two guards who are looking at each other 155 00:10:26,399 --> 00:10:29,570 will require a much more complex plan to overcome. 156 00:10:29,570 --> 00:10:35,410 And, finally, there are abstract systems that exist outside of the current situation. 157 00:10:35,410 --> 00:10:40,540 So killing a guard in Invisible Inc causes the alarm system to ratchet up one level, 158 00:10:40,540 --> 00:10:45,120 and using lethal takedowns in the Dishonored games makes you miss out on certain grades 159 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:50,050 on the end-of-level score system, and can cause changes in the narrative. 160 00:10:50,050 --> 00:10:54,930 The idea is to make players more thoughtful about the tactics they use, and try to stop 161 00:10:54,930 --> 00:10:58,650 the game from veering into a more simplistic experience. 162 00:10:58,650 --> 00:11:02,680 So using weapons should be risky, not effortless. 163 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:06,800 Information should be carefully gathered and imperfect, not handed to you. 164 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,550 And strategies should be mixed up, not endlessly repeated. 165 00:11:10,550 --> 00:11:12,529 That’s it for lesson two. 166 00:11:12,529 --> 00:11:16,510 Come back next time for more deep dives into sneak ‘em up design. 167 00:11:16,510 --> 00:11:20,840 For now, let me know your favourite stealth game mechanic in the comments down below. 168 00:11:22,260 --> 00:11:24,000 Hey. 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