v1.1.0 Stealth rewards, forgiving guards, instant actions & improved characters

This update includes 47 changes and additions to the game. Special thanks to Charem and Calame for providing most of the feedback that made this patch possible.

With this update, the game rewards the player for their stealth actions, (creatively) outsmarting guards and completing objectives. Even when caught, the player keeps their earned stealth rewards. They might have to bribe a guard when caught. Some objectives require the player to not get caught.

The guards won't be instantly alerted at the sight of the player. The player is notified with a visual line-of-sight from the guard to the player. Depending on the player rank and stealth skill, the player will have time to react before the guard is fully alerted. Even when the guard is alerted, the player will have a second to run away before the guard start chasing and catching.

Knocking out guards, climbing through windows, hiding and extinguishing lights are instant actions. The player is rewarded for all stealth actions. More creative strategies for dealing with guards have higher rewards. There are several hidden strategies in the game, and it is up to the player to discover them.

Previously, the characters had rather large heads, making them seem overly cartoon-y. I got used to this style, but thanks to player feedback I noticed it too. I changed all character models and animations to make them look more anthropomorphic. All thumbnails, screenshots and trailer have been updated.

Here is the full list of changes for version 1.1.0:

1. When guard is alerted, there is a 1-second delay before its catch area catches the player, so that the player has a chance to get away

2. When a guard is alerted, auto-switch player to running to help the player get away quickly

3. Make sure that the guard catch area is in front of the guard and not also behind the guard

4. Reduce the guard hit boxes for detecting and catching the player, but do not reduce the visible light cone of the guards so it is exaggerated in favor of the player

5. Hide chests and the gold percentage in the escape intro level

6. Allow players to knock-out guards in the escape intro level

7. Clearly mark the exit with a label and arrow in all levels when the exit is active

8. Allow players to switch between sneaking and running while paralyzed after failing and being reset in the sneak tutorial

9. Allow players to freely choose mission types at all times. Do not force a "required first mission type" on each new player rank

10. Clearly state the mission objectives and optional hint at the start of a mission level

11. Count player stealth actions (extinguish lights, knockouts, getaways, open locks, steal from chests) as XP towards the next player rank. Show these XP rewards as label above the player after they have performed such an action

12. Whether mission completed or failed, show a rewarding player performance evaluation, increasing the player rank with stealth XP, and successful objective XP. Also clearly showing failed objectives. Show gold penalty when caught.

13. Enable player actions such as hiding, climb through window and knock-outs through contextual button presses instead of proximity timers. Lock-picking and sabotage keep their proximity timers.

14. Move "guard knock-out and move body" in-game hints to the first mission level.

15. Remove the guild member message about guards not sleeping after knockouts, because they will fall asleep again.

16. Replace "area entered" triggers with regular interval "is player in area" triggers, because "area entered" triggers sometimes fail the player, resulting in an unfair situation when area actions are critical.

17. Reduce raindrops and overlapping lights to improve game performance

18. Clearly add minimap icons in the objective descriptions along with a textual hint (see mini-map)

19. Target guard icon should stay on the minimap after being knocked out

20. Play a short "press A to confirm" animation message on UI whenever a contextual player action icon shows up

21. Remove ambient outdoor sound effects like bells, because these are mistaken by players for important events

22. Make dialogue boxes more transparent when the player moves underneath them

23. Decrease player collision shape, so the player doesn't get stuck between boxes in intro level

24. Slow down guards in challenges, some are moving too fast

25. Disable player actions (hiding / go through window / knockout) after getting caught

26. Cancel guard actions (light, revive) after getting knocked out

27. Allow player to skip mission / challenge reward screens with a simple button press

28. Do not shrink guards when they fall asleep

29. Reduce character head sizes. Increase player and guard size to compensate for smaller heads.

30. Add a "Thieves Guild" title screen to the guild hub

31. Add clear UI text labels, such as "distractions" and "gold"

32. When pressing left and right arrows at the same time, the character should not be spinning

33. Keep mini-games open after winning them

34. When entering the mission menu from the guild hub, even when repeatedly pressing "confirm" on a button, the slide-in transition should not repeat itself for the same screen

35. Slowly turn guard lights red when player is in light or direct sight of a guard, warning the player in advance before becoming alert

36. Disable (hidden) bonus objectives when in guild hub

37. Allow player to throw an unconscious guard into a trap. The trap does not have to be sabotaged

38. Do not auto-revive knocked out guards

39. Use a different button for carrying unconscious guards than the run button

40. Reduce the size of challenge level 10

41. Reduce footstep particles

42. Highlight exit when picking up target guard during a kidnap mission

43. Add "Return to exit" with exit minimap icon to the list of main objectives

44. Add animated paw icon for picking up a guard

45. Player should start in sneak mode by default in missions instead of run mode

46. When a guard sees the player, draw a visible line from the guard's eyes to the player's eyes

47. Guard skills also partially increase with player rank, not solely based on player skill level