Creating fun & fair Stealth Gameplay

Designing a Stealth Encounter: 

Presenting a Stealth Challenge is best done as shown in the frame up here:

• Give players cover to safely hide from any guards in the area, where they can observe the behavior of the enemies for as long as they want
• Frame the Encounter in a way that players can easily overlook it from the position of cover
• Present the cover in a very obvious fashion, so the player is drawn to it
• This allows us to guide the player through the level, challenge by challenge
• Repeating this process creates a gameplay affordance, so the player will instinctively seek out these situations & covers

Pacing & Planning Gameplay for an entire area: 

I divided the level into 5 main areas, for an easier overview of what players are supposed to achieve at what point during the level, and keep track of the pacing of all the different paths.

I'm going to elaborate on the design intentions behind the gameplay Area by Area, they are displayed in the order that the player goes through them in the level.

1. 1st Floor Right Side (Parking Lot, Loading Bay, Kitchen, etc.)
2. 2nd Floor Right Side  (Cheese Tasting, Bar, etc.)
3. 1st Floor Middle Part  (Main Reception, Restaurant)
4. 1st Floor Left Side  (Spa, Sleeping Rooms, etc.)
5. 2nd Floor Left Side  (Upstairs Lobby, Security Room, Directors Office, etc.) 

1st Floor Right Side: 

• Let player have an easy introduction to the gameplay
• More linear gameplay
  
• Teach the player all the needed mechanics

2nd Floor Right Side: 

• Enable & encourage Exploration
• Encourage by rewarding exploration
• The longest path towards the goal, so it has the easiest challenges of the level (except for the tutorial area)

1st & 2nd Floor Middle Part:

• Free reign in the reception
• Reception is the hub, connecting most of the different routes
• Player can explore all the different routes & decide which one to follow

1st Floor Left Side: 

• Enable  & encourage Exploration
  
• Different types of rewards for exploration (Pickups, Shortcuts, Hiding Places)
• Show player mutiple possible route towards the goal & exfiltration points
• Give the player the room to calmly make a choice for which path to take going forward

2nd Floor Left Side: 

• The highest Level of Security/Difficulty
• Less cover -> increase in stress and difficulty, as players are not guided as heavily
• Less cover also means players have smaller windows of opportunity, to pass the challenge
• Force players show mastery of all the mechanics & a high understanding of the game