the super hero becoming harder to hide his true personality

If we're talking about Really Powerful Characters, then it is assumed that they are near the top of the proverbial food chain in the game world.

This means that, for the sake of consistency, we can assume that there are only a handful of individual powerful antagonists that could be a match for the character, and even fewer (if any) that should feel confident enough about their ability to defeat the character.

The purpose of allowing the player to achieve such level of power (in a single player game) is for them to gradually experience their growing power, and along with that the change of status and shift in the attitude of his chief adversaries. They no longer see the PC as a meddling menace to be dealt with by their innumerate minions, but as a dangerous rival instead.

How does all this relate to the subject? A legendary hero parading the streets in all his glory would not be likely to invite attacks and ambushes. His arrival would more likely serve as a warning to the agents of his adversaries, who would have enough time and common sense to pack up and vanish from the area, thus hindering the hero's progress towards his goals. Should the character dress as a ragged traveler instead (perhaps even sacrificing some of his powers by doing that, such as those granted by his equipment), he would be more likely to catch those agents off guard, and score one against their boss.

The general idea is that a Really Powerful Character is, in the vast majority of cases, a predator rather than a clueless target practice he used to be as a lowly adventurer. Hence the challenges he faces should also be designed to reflect this. When such characters hide or cover up their identity, they usually do it not out of caution or fear for their own lives, but the fact that it gives them better opportunities to explore, investigate and achieve their goals.

I've considered this from a shapeshifter point of view, for example wishing that WoW had quests which required acting in various animal forms. I prefer to approach the idea from the perspective "Why could it be beneficial to be in disguise?" The obvious answer is that NPCs should have different reactions based on the MC's appearance. There could be quest-quivers who only talk to in-disguise people. If the MC is a friendly-looking dog, NPCs might drop clues they wouldn't say in front of a stranger or famous person. They might give a dog food, or even take it into their house/room. People would not be shy about undressing in front of a dog either. Or say everyone in town A is blond; perhaps the currently-red-haired MC would be more trusted if he dyed his hair blond. Dressing as an enemy soldier or a person of the opposite gender are classic examples of going in disguise. Dressing in poorer clothes might get one lower prices or give one the element of surprise in a fight because opponents might underestimate you or assume you are of the wrong elemental type or class. Dressing in richer clothes or looking like a famous person might get you access to exclusive stores and deals.

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Original post by sunandshadow I prefer to approach the idea from the perspective "Why could it be beneficial to be in disguise?" The obvious answer is that NPCs should have different reactions based on the MC's appearance.

I've thought about this a lot, too. The wall I ran into was that it might often be impossible for the player to determine how someone will react to a given identity until they try it. So in order to get the desired result, the only full-proof strategy would be to try them all. Unless the game gives obvious hints (NPC: "Hi there, I really like policeman and dogs!"), there's going to be a lot of guessing, and a lot of headache when the guessing goes wrong. Especially if the player needs to run off somewhere to change clothes.

The only thing I question about dressing up to disguise your own identity is that you're always going to be building up your own identity in disguises. The population won't be looking for someone with long blond hair who wears a blue cape, they'll be looking for someone in disguise who goes out of their way to save innocent people. Wouldn't the dressing up part lose its meaning after a short time?

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Original post by Kest Some interesting concepts in here. I appreciate the ideas. Quote: Original post by popsoftheyear But if it's as black & white enough as to make the game worse/harder/punish you for bragging, you might as well not even have the option of letting people know who you are, because who is ever going to choose it? That eliminates the player feeling like they have chosen what they prefer (even though you're trying to bend their preference). There should still be some motivation to choose to tell people you are "that dude" in order for there to ... be more of a sense of the player being in control, even though you really bent their desires. I think you're looking at it as more of a left or right decision, where left does bad things. I want it to be more of a dodge the sword or take damage kind of gameplay choice. The decision part is supposed to be easy, but executing it flawlessly will require some planning, caution, or playing skill. Consider something like detection in the Hitman series. The player WANTS to prevent enemy characters from noticing that they're a hit-man. No one is going to question this, even if the designer had other reasons to make the player want to fit into the crowd. Actually, that's probably a bad example, since some players would enjoy jumping into an impossible firefight, but I think you understand where I want to go with this.

I guess this goes to popsoftheyear and Kest...

Looking at it black/white might be key here. You hide your identity in-game and then the game will be easier. Choose to reveal your identity, then the game gets really hard -- harder enemies come after you. Give the player some family members that villains will kill, threaten, or kidnap.

In "Thief," you can go around and kill everyone, but it's so much easier to just stealthily hide in the shadows and swoop down and kill your foes that way. This is kinda the same situation. Either stay in character as a thief, or as a madman with a sword.

Making vigilantism illegal, a la Watchmen ?

Making super-powers illegal, a la X-Men ?

Having his hero-identity actively chased, a la Zorro ?

Having a social status that is needed for the super-hero part but incompatible with it, a la Batman ?

Having the hero-identity heavily unpopular due to a misunderstanding, a preconceived idea or a dark prophecy ("so they say that the one who carries the MightySword(tm) will end the world. I tell ye, he better not show in my shop, friend.")

Bug him with tons of fans. Make them annoying fans.

NPC's that you need to talk to that otherwise would be a fast conversation, takes longer as they are concerned with him being in front of the hero rather than attending what the hero is asking. Maybe they only help you after giving him an autograph or taking a picture.

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Original post by Kest Quote: Original post by sunandshadow I prefer to approach the idea from the perspective "Why could it be beneficial to be in disguise?" The obvious answer is that NPCs should have different reactions based on the MC's appearance. I've thought about this a lot, too. The wall I ran into was that it might often be impossible for the player to determine how someone will react to a given identity until they try it. So in order to get the desired result, the only full-proof strategy would be to try them all. Unless the game gives obvious hints (NPC: "Hi there, I really like policeman and dogs!"), there's going to be a lot of guessing, and a lot of headache when the guessing goes wrong. Especially if the player needs to run off somewhere to change clothes. The only thing I question about dressing up to disguise your own identity is that you're always going to be building up your own identity in disguises. The population won't be looking for someone with long blond hair who wears a blue cape, they'll be looking for someone in disguise who goes out of their way to save innocent people. Wouldn't the dressing up part lose its meaning after a short time?

I think the experimentation could work if there were specific puzzle-situations that clued the player that some kind of costume was needed here, then the experimentation could be the fun part of trying to solve the problem (provided it wasn't expensive and there was no penalty for getting it wrong a few times). Or a different approach would be where there were only a few standard types of disguises for all players (such as shapeshifted forms). Then it wouldn't be too hard to give every NPC a logical reaction to every form.

Kest, just because you can go in disguise doesn't mean that there can only be one, or a few that work. The experimentation can be good for finding the best, but a huge variety should work well enough to get through the situation and the ones that don't work should be reasonably logical.

Say I want to deal with a blackmarket dealer. I change into civ clothes and stop acting like a hero and that should be good enough. Maybe I don't get the best dope that way, or the best prices, but I get enough access. A better disguise might get me better stuff, but its not needed. On the other hand, I wouldn't turn into a dog if I wanted to buy some dope, and I wouldn't show up as the hero, or as the law. Thats reasonable enough to expect of the player.

And again, if I wanted to be ignored completely, I'd show up as a dog, but as a dog, if I wasn't quick about what I was doing, I might draw suspicions. Not they I'd be found out, but I might well be chased away and kicked in the ribs, maybe even shot at for fun.

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Original post by JasRonq Kest, just because you can go in disguise doesn't mean that there can only be one, or a few that work. The experimentation can be good for finding the best, but a huge variety should work well enough to get through the situation and the ones that don't work should be reasonably logical.

You're right. On top of that, if save and reload isn't available, and if NPCs detect it when the player changes disguises for quick successive encounters, the cheapness of it can pretty much be destroyed.

Unfortunately, my game doesn't allow players to carry clothing or armor unless they're wearing it, so it complicates things a little. They would need some type of believable "Resident Evil trunk box" gadget in each general area, or some way to cheaply obtain specific outfits in nearby areas.

But I guess this is wandering off topic some. In regard to hiding one's fame, disguises would really only work if the player has a visual reference for the population to catch onto. Otherwise, a random disguise IS that visual reference.