Disguise and Social Infiltration System
Advanced
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
- Status
- Released
- Year
- 2016
- Genre
- Indie, Strategy
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
1. Summary
A disguise state lets an eligible infiltrator adopt mission-specific civilian clothing (e.g., geisha or priestess attire) and move through regular guarded spaces without triggering normal visual detection. The system is gated by acquiring clothing in levels where disguise is available, has an exposed activation animation, is countered by Samurai, and can be extended into a conversation distraction that holds one enemy or an entire patrol facing the disguised character so other squad members can slip past or set up ambushes.
3. Design Intent / Job Story
When I need to pass through or manipulate a guarded area that would normally expose my squad, I want to acquire and use a disguise plus conversation distraction, so that I can bypass regular guards, redirect enemy attention, and create safe timing windows for coordinated infiltration.
4. Role in Gameplay Loop
- Creates a non-lethal infiltration route through spaces controlled by regular guards
- Converts enemy attention from patrol/path surveillance into a controllable face-to-face interaction
- Opens timing windows for other characters to sneak past, reposition, retrieve objectives, or prepare ambushes
- Adds enemy-type counterplay by making Samurai a hard check against disguise routes
- Turns clothing acquisition into a mission-specific setup objective before social infiltration can begin
5. Preconditions
- Eligible disguise user is present, alive, and controllable
- Current mission supports a disguise source
- Disguise clothing has been acquired from a clothes line or designated civilian source
- Character is not climbing, swimming, carrying a body, or performing another blocking action
- No Samurai is close enough to immediately see through the disguise during activation or movement
- For conversation, the character is already disguised and has a valid enemy or patrol member to address
6. Parameters
| Parameter | Value | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disguise availability | Mission-specific | mission flag | Whether the level provides a usable disguise source |
| Valid clothing source | Clothes line / Designated civilian | enum | Source types evidenced for acquiring disguise clothing |
| Disguise forms | Geisha / Priestess | enum | Civilian appearances the disguise can adopt once clothing is acquired |
| Activation duration | A couple of seconds | duration | Time spent standing/exposed while entering disguise |
| Regular guard response | Ignore disguised presence | enum | Non-Samurai enemies do not detect the disguised character from normal presence |
| Samurai response | See through and attack on sight | enum | Hard counter that bypasses disguise safety |
| Break condition: climb | true | boolean | Climbing vines removes disguise |
| Break condition: water | true | boolean | Jumping into water/lake removes disguise |
| Break condition: witnessed kill | true | boolean | Being seen killing a guard removes disguise safety |
| Conversation target scope | Single enemy / Patrol group | enum | A single target turns to face the character; patrols stop as a group when a member is addressed |
| Conversation persistence | Until character moves away | condition | Conversation continues while the disguised character remains engaged, unless interrupted |
| Conversation interruption | Sight or sound stimulus | event | Other suspicious events can redirect enemy attention away from the conversation |
| Patrol auto-release duration | TBD | duration | Source mentions hearsay that patrols may move away after a while; exact behavior needs validation |
7. Core Rules
- Disguise is only available in missions that provide a valid clothing source.
- The disguise state cannot be entered until clothing has been acquired from a mission-specific source such as a clothes line or designated civilian.
- Activating disguise has a short exposed animation during which the character stands upright and can be detected by normal stealth rules.
- While disguised, regular guards do not detect the character by normal presence inside guarded areas.
- Samurai see through the disguise and attack on sight, bypassing the normal disguise protection.
- Disguise is lost when the character climbs vines, enters water, or is seen killing a guard.
- While disguised, the character can initiate a conversation with a valid enemy target.
- A conversation target turns to face the disguised character and keeps attention on them unless interrupted by seeing or hearing something else.
- If conversation is initiated with a patrol member, the entire patrol stops and faces the disguised character.
- Conversation persists until the disguised character moves away; patrol auto-release timing is unconfirmed and must not be treated as a fixed value.
- Conversation distraction creates a safe attention window for other squad members to pass behind enemies or prepare coordinated takedowns.
- Hostile actions performed while watched can break disguise safety and escalate into detection or combat.
8. BDD Scenarios
Scenario: Acquire and enter disguise
- Given
- the mission contains a valid disguise source
- When
- the player activates the disguise ability
- Then
- the character begins a short standing activation animation
- And
- the eligible character has acquired the clothing
- And
- after the animation completes the character enters disguised state
Scenario: Disguised movement past regular guards
- Given
- the character is in disguised state
- When
- the player walks through the guarded area
- Then
- the guards do not detect the character from normal presence alone
- And
- nearby enemies are regular guards rather than Samurai
Scenario: Samurai exposes disguise
- Given
- the character is in disguised state
- When
- the disguised character approaches the Samurai
- Then
- the Samurai sees through the disguise
- And
- a Samurai has line of sight within detection range
- And
- the Samurai attacks on sight
Scenario: Conversation locks a single enemy's attention
- Given
- the character is disguised
- When
- the player initiates conversation with that enemy
- Then
- the enemy turns to face the disguised character
- And
- a valid enemy target is available
- And
- the enemy keeps attention on the conversation unless interrupted by another sight or sound event
Scenario: Conversation stops an entire patrol
- Given
- the character is disguised
- When
- the player initiates conversation with one patrol member
- Then
- the entire patrol stops
- And
- a patrol contains multiple enemies moving together
- And
- all patrol members face the disguised character
- And
- other squad members can use the attention window to move behind them
Scenario: Disguise breaks from traversal
- Given
- the character is in disguised state
- When
- the player climbs a vine or enters water
- Then
- the disguise state is removed
- And
- normal stealth detection rules apply again
Scenario: Disguise breaks from witnessed kill
- Given
- the character is in disguised state
- When
- the kill occurs
- Then
- the disguise state is removed
- And
- an observer can see the character kill a guard
- And
- detection or combat can escalate according to the observer's rules
9. Edge Cases
- Disguise source is absent in a mission, so the ability cannot be used even if the character is present
- Character starts disguise activation inside a vision cone and is detected before the animation completes
- Samurai patrol path crosses a route that is safe against regular guards, invalidating the disguise route
- Conversation target sees or hears another suspicious event and breaks attention from the conversation
- Conversation with one patrol member stops the full group, potentially blocking the player's own route
- Player moves the disguised character away before other squad members finish passing the attention window
- Character climbs or enters water while disguised and unexpectedly loses access to guarded spaces
- A witnessed kill breaks disguise and can trigger immediate alarm or combat
- Patrol auto-release duration is not confirmed by available evidence and should not be hard-coded without further validation
10. QA Notes
- Verify disguise cannot be activated before clothing is acquired
- Verify clothing acquisition works from each supported mission source type: clothes line and designated civilian
- Verify the activation animation leaves the character standing and vulnerable for its full duration
- Verify regular guards ignore the disguised character during normal movement through guarded areas
- Verify Samurai detect and attack a disguised character at their intended detection range
- Verify disguise is removed by climbing vines, entering water, and being seen killing a guard
- Verify conversation turns the target enemy to face the disguised character
- Verify conversation with a patrol member stops the full patrol and redirects the group toward the disguised character
- Verify conversation ends when the disguised character moves away
- Verify sight or sound interruptions can pull enemies out of conversation attention
- Verify other squad members can pass behind distracted enemies without those enemies detecting them through normal facing rules
- Verify Ability Command Bar reflects disguise availability, unavailable state, and any state changes after disguise breaks
11. Mechanic Dependencies
- Stealth Detection System (The disguised state modifies normal visual detection for regular guards and reverts to standard stealth detection when disguise breaks or activation is interrupted.)
- Character Ability System (Disguise and conversation are active character abilities governed by the shared ability-slot, availability, and character-state rules.)
- Enemy Type Hierarchy (Enemy type rules define the key counterplay: regular guards can be bypassed while Samurai see through disguise and attack on sight.)
- Civilian Interaction System (Some disguise sources are designated civilians; acquiring clothing from them depends on the broader civilian interaction rules for non-guard NPCs.)
- Shadow Mode Coordination System (Conversation distraction creates facing and timing windows that can be combined with queued multi-character movement or takedowns.)
12. UI Links
- Ability Command Bar - The Ability Command Bar exposes the disguise/conversation command, communicates availability after clothing is acquired, and should reflect unavailable or broken-disguise states.
- Shadow Mode Command UI - Shadow Mode can coordinate other squad members to exploit the attention window created by conversation distraction.
- Enemy Vision Cones - Enemy Vision Cones remain the spatial planning layer for judging whether activation, movement, or Samurai proximity will expose the disguised character.
- Detection Feedback Overlay - The Detection Feedback Overlay shows suspicion, alert, and Samurai exposure feedback when disguise protection fails or is bypassed.