Hi everyone,

Today I’m breaking down the other half of stealth: the enemies themselves. The goal is for each enemy type to be readable at a glance and to force different decisions, without turning encounters into trial-and-error.

Each enemy answers two questions:

• How do they detect you?

• What do they do once they do?

Most enemies follow the same baseline rules, then each variant adds one clear constraint that changes how you approach them.

1) Standard Guards

These are the baseline patrol enemies.

• They patrol routes or hold positions.

• They carry flashlights, so light and shadow matter.

• They react to distractions and investigate points of interest.

• If they spot you with line of sight, they will chase you.

They’re designed to be consistent and learnable. If you understand how to manipulate a standard guard, you understand the foundation of the game.

2) Helmet Guards

Helmet guards exist to shut down a very common tactic: throwing items directly at enemies.

• They behave like standard guards in patrol and detection.

• Thrown objects won’t stun them because of the helmet.

• Items bounce off, so you lose that instant “free opening.”

This pushes you toward indirect play: lure them away, throw past them, or use distractions that move them instead of disabling them.

3) Trained Guards

These guards are dangerous up close.

• They behave like standard guards in patrol and detection.

• You cannot choke them from behind.

They’re meant to break the habit of solving every problem with a silent takedown. If you want to get past a trained guard, you need timing, positioning, and tools rather than close-range grabs.

4) Scientists / Civilians

These aren’t fighters.

• They don’t behave like normal guards.

• If they see you, they panic.

• Instead of chasing, they try to trigger an alarm.

They create a different kind of urgency. With guards, you can sometimes recover by breaking line of sight. With civilians, the danger is how fast they can escalate the situation for everyone else.

The intention is that you can identify the threat instantly and adjust your plan:

• Standard guard = baseline rules: patrol, flashlight, distractions, chase on sight.

• Helmet = don’t waste throws on their head.

• Trained = don’t rely on choking from behind.

• Scientist/civilian = sighting becomes an alarm risk.

Here are some intended use cases:

• Standard guard: create a gap in a patrol cycle and slip through.

• Helmet guard: lure them away from a doorway instead of trying to stun them.

• Trained guard: treat them like a moving camera and route around them rather than going for a choke.

• Scientist/civilian: prioritize line-of-sight control and cut off their path to an alarm.

Hi everyone,

Today I’m breaking down one of the core stealth tools in the game: distracting enemies. The goal is to give you consistent, readable ways to manipulate patrols without the AI feeling random.

Distractions create a point of interest that can:

• pull an enemy off a patrol route,

• split a pair of guards,

• open a timing window to cross a hallway,

• or lure someone into a safer spot for you.

A distraction is designed to be predictable. You should be able to plan around it.

There are a few types of distraction sources:

• One-off noise that an enemy will investigate e.g. throwing a coin / knocking on a door

• Interactable devices that stay on until someone turns them off e.g. a water cooler spilling water on the floor

• Environmental actions that redirect enemy behaviour e.g. brewing delicious coffee might make an enemy stay in a different room

When an enemy detects a distraction, they move through a simple chain of behavior:

1. NoticeThey register a sound/trigger within range.

2. Investigate
   They path toward the source to confirm what happened.

3. Search
   If they don’t find anything, they’ll do a quick look around. If they find something that they can turn off, they will do that.

4. Return
   They resume their normal route/guard position.

This structure keeps their reactions consistent, so you can learn the rules and use them deliberately.

A few guardrails keep distractions from becoming too powerful:

• Distance. Being too far away will stop the effect.

• Obstruction. If there is a wall between the enemy and the distraction they won't notice it. If there is a door they will, even if the door is closed. If the distraction is a light that has been turned off, they need line-of-sight before they notice something is wrong.

Here are some intended use cases:

• Create a gap in a patrol cycle to slip through.

• Pull a guard to the far side of a room to reach an objective.

• Break line-of-sight by moving the guard’s attention away from your approach.

• Stack distractions (small sound → reposition → bigger sound) to create a longer window.