Scars of War Dev Blog Update
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Category: News ArchiveHits: 670
What I eventually settled on was fairly simple. Basically, I track your notoriety in areas where it matters. This is just a stat which keeps track of how well known you are, how recognizable. When a character spots you a notoriety check is done vs perception, if they pass then they recognize you as a criminal and react. Townsfolk may avoid you, guards may attempt to arrest you.
Notoriety is increased by committing a crime in sight of witnesses. Basically, descriptions of you spread in that area.
Now, that presents logical loopholes. What if a witness sees you committing a crime but you then kill them? It would make no sense to increase your notoriety in that case. But I can't simulate the full complexity of gossiping and social networks. It needs to be abstract.
I contemplated making AI run to the guard barracks and report the crime, if they didn't make it then your notoriety doesn't increase. But there are pathfinding/area loading complexities in that case, and it still doesn't seem that realistic, people should be able to spread your description regardless of going to a barracks, days later.
