Hiding and searching

Author:Frór
Date:Sun Nov 17 14:26:59 2002
Id:1899
There have been some changes to the way hiding and searching are handled.
The main change is that now MUME keeps track of which characters know where
someone is hidden, rather than assuming that a character is hidden to everyone
or to nobody at all.

As a consequence:

- It is possible to hide even if other characters are watching you. Those
  characters will know where you are hiding, and will see you as (hidden).

- Just like before, "search <effort>" looks for a hidden character. The longer
  you search, the higher the chances of finding whoever is hidden.

- Once you find someone, you can "reveal <character>" to show the hidden
  character to your group members. Other bystanders might or might not
  understand your signal.

- If you find and attack someone who is hidden, you have a chance of gaining
  a "surprise" advantage. This chance decreases if you reveal the hidden
  character before attacking.

- As a shortcut, you can "reveal <effort>" to search and reveal at the same
  time. When more than one character is searching, using "reveal" is more
  efficient than "search" (you are communicating to each other that such and
  such hidey-hole is empty). On the other hand, doing so ruins your chances
  of a surprise attack.

- Lastly, you can still "flush <effort>" to attack the first hidden person
  you find. Since this is a rather crude search ("whack first, check later")
  there is no surprise bonus.

- If you change your hiding place (using "hide <effort>" when already hidden)
  those characters who knew your old hiding place (and are not currently
  watching you) will no longer be able to see you.

Some other changes:

- High perception and the "search" skill still improve your chances of finding
  hidden characters. However, the situation is somewhat better than before
  for characters with "average" perception and skill.

- Spamming in-out of a room with paranoid alertness will no longer reveal
  characters who are hidden reasonably well. You need to search to do that.

As usual, expect some fine-tuning in the near future.