Deus Ex: Human Revolution - A Day At Eidos @ Worthplaying

Worthplaying has short-hand notes from a day at Eidos playing Deus Ex: HR.

One of the first things they told us is that they wanted to ensure that stealth players were rewarded since it takes a lot of work to stay hidden versus just powering your way through with a gun. If you are a total ghost, you will get more experience.

If you are not noticed, the NC patrols stay relaxed. They are easier to avoid. Once you are detected, the AI gets suspicious and aggressive. They will call alarms so other people can come out to find you. Alarms stay in the local area.

Stealth gameplay and combat are both based on the cover system. They do not rely on shadows; instead, it is all about line of sight. Each level has a stealth path, with cover.

One thing that was particularly difficult when creating a level in Human Revolution was the simple fact that the developers had no idea which augments a given player would have unlocked at that point. They had to make sure that there was a path through no matter what. In fact, they said one of the requirements was that you be able to play through the entire game without enabling any augmentations. It's much more difficult to do so, but it is possible.