Okay... one of the games i am working on is working under the title 'Heist'
Heist is a competitive stealth / thieving game set on the grounds of a large residential compound (think the Mansion scene in True Lies). All players take the form of a different thief trying to sneak onto the compound to steal some form of valuable or priceless artifact. The mansion is home to a variety of valuables (priceless art, important data files, valuable jewelery, etc) and no one thief knows whether the other thieves are after the same things as they are, or something different.
The primary mechanic in the game is that actions create noise. Every action the thieves take whether it be movement, breaking a window, picking a lock, throwing a grappling hook onto the roof, etc makes noise; with different types of actions making different levels of noise. This noise attracts the guards, and if the guards come across evidence that something is wrong (an unconscious guard, a broken window, a grappling hook and rope hanging from the roof) the alert level of the guard rises, and puts more guards on the board.
To make the map large enough i am looking at using a multiple grid map. The whole map is made up of small squares of roughly 20mm each, and 9 small squares make 1 medium square of 60 mm, while 9 medium squares make 1 large square of 180 mm. The whole map is roughly 6 large squares high by 8 large squares wide (approximately 42" high by 54" wide)
Okay, with all that said. The chief problem i am coming up against is how to effectively move the guards around the board so that they don't bunch up and are unpredictable enough so as to make players have to change their plans and strategies on the fly. To make the game challenging i feel i need a combination of sentries (guards that don't move), patrols (guards or dogs that cover large areas or sections of the map) and regular guards (who walk back and forth between two fixed points).
I need to figure an easy way for guards to move from area to area on a fixed path, yet every once in a while either turn and head the other way, or stop to light a cigarette. I also need to find a way to make it so the patrols don't bunch together ... i need to the guards to spread out, but still have gaps in their patrol zones which the thieves can exploit.
Thanks Fri
I checked out that thread and i didn't find it all that valuable. For the most part it seemed focused on a computer based algorithm ... which obviously is not much use to me.
I do understand what they were getting at with talking about getting the guard to head where they 'think' the player is ... but i kind of already have that covered with my noise mechanic. My primary struggle is with randomizing the way guards move. I cant have the guards just move along in easy to determine fixed patterns all the time ... as that makes for a game that works the same every single time (and that would be boring)
I have also played Burgle Brothers before (which i totally suck at) and it is sort of what i am looking for, but i need it on a grander scale that works on a much bigger map and with multiple types of guards.