Official Ghost Rules - clarification

[Peter Smith]

In the FM Ghost Results thread, Sneak recently raised the issue of some typos and missing information in the official ghost rules that are found in our ancient archives. I would like to clarify the official ghost rules and post them again in the current forum's archives. Then I can edit the old archive web page and point to the clarified rules in the new archives.

Below, in two separate posts, are the original rules written by clayman followed by my attempt to clarify them. Most of the clarifications have already been agreed in threads from the Old Forum that have been lost forever. These are the original rules, folks. I have not attempted to change anything that has not already been agreed and officially adopted two or more years ago. I hope we can agree to adopt these clarifications or something similar and not use this thread to debate numerous changes in intent, such as occurred the last time we were discussing bugbeasts in the Cistern.

So, I give these to you for your consideration, invite suggestions for improvement, and run for cover.

[Peter Smith]

--------------------------------------
Original by clayman in archives
--------------------------------------

Ghost Mode Official Rules :

1.) Expert difficulty only

2.) No damage taken or received in the final stats. Damage from falls, machinery, lava etc. is allowed but frowned upon, as is the use of potions.

3.) No alerts of any AI are allowed. This includes undead, fire elementals, spiders, bots etc, all human and non-human encounters in the game. Rats are excluded due to their lack of reaction to Garrett. Watchers that go "yellow" bust the Ghost. Bots that freeze/pivot/search bust the Ghost. If a human grumbles, shifts in place and goes back to "relaxed", you are clean.

4.) No property damage allowed, no banners cut, no things burnt or destroyed. No broken glass.

5.) No loot cheats or walkthroughs allowed. A point of honor that cannot be enforced.

6.) Doors re-shut, torches re-lit, keys returned, etc. are are not necessary unless you just want to....or the condition requires it to avoid a bust.

7.) There is no time requirement, no Ironman type requirements etc., just finish the mission clean, damage free and alert free.

8.) No alerts means no distractions, noisemakers, artificial diversions that cause an AI to search for you, even if it is away from where you are. No Garrett/artifically induced suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause AI to attack each other. No use of frog eggs allowed.

Amendment #1 : Any mission requirement that demands that the player break one of the rules above is OK to complete. For instance, like in Return to the Cathedral in Thief Dark/Gold, there is a requirement to kill all Haunts in the mission. As long as you do this without alerting other AI or breaking any other rule, it OK, have some fun...live a little. Same will apply to any similar situation in T2.

Amendment #2 - The techniques of "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" are grudgingly allowed under the Ghost rules.

Amendment #3 - The use of the "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" techniques, as well as the use of speed, inviso, and slowfall potions are considered last resorts and should be reported when posting results. Version/release of the game should also be reported since there are sometimes significant differences in gameplay between versions.

Perfect Thief Mode is defined as completing the above requirements and also obtaining the maximum loot for the particular mission.

[Peter Smith]

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by clayman. Edited and clarified by Peter Smith
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Ghost Mode Official Rules :

1) Expert difficulty only.

2) No damage dealt or taken in the final stats. Damage taken from falls, machinery, lava, swimming under water, etc., is allowed but frowned upon and must be reported.

2a) No knockouts and kills of any kind are allowed unless they are explicitly required by a mission objective, in accordance with Amendment #1. When such objectives are met, they must not alert any other AI according to rule #3.

3) No second level alerts, that is recognition or hunting alerts, of any AI are allowed. Examples of first level (allowed) and second level (busted) alerts are given in Amendment #4. This includes alerts of undead, fire elementals, spiders, bots, etc. -- all human and non-human encounters in the game. Rats are excluded due to their lack of reaction to Garrett.

4) No property damage allowed, no banners cut, no things burnt or destroyed. No broken glass.

5) No loot cheats or walkthroughs allowed. A point of honor that cannot be enforced.

6) Doors re-shut, torches re-lit, keys returned, etc. are not necessary unless you just want to... or the condition requires it to avoid a bust.

7) There is no time requirement, no Ironman type requirements etc.. Just finish the mission clean, damage free, and alert free.

8) No alerts also means no distractions, noisemakers, or artificial diversions that cause an AI to search for you, even if it is away from where you are. No Garrett / artificially induced suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause AI to attack each other. No use of frog eggs allowed.

Amendment #1 - Any mission objective that explicitly demands that the player break one of the rules above is OK to complete and does not bust the ghost. Examples of such an objective are:
"Kill the bad guy."
"Kill all the Haunts" (in Return to the Cathedral)
"Kidnap Cavador" (he must be KO'ed to be picked up)
So long as you do this without alerting other AI or breaking any other rule, it is OK. Have some fun...live a little.
It is not acceptable, however, to incur a ghost bust that is "necessary" to meet another objective. For example, it is not allowed to KO an AI or slash a banner simply because they stand in the way of meeting another objective, such as to steal something.

Amendment #2 - The techniques of "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" are grudgingly allowed under the Ghost rules.
Banner Transmigration: going through a banner without slashing it, as done in Shipping and Receiving (see ghosting archives).
Nudging: moving an AI by applying pressure to it's body, causing it to shift position without noticing you.

Amendment #3 - The use of the "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" techniques, as well as the use of speed, inviso, and slowfall potions are considered last resorts and should be reported when posting results. Version/release of the game should also be reported since there are sometimes significant differences in game play between versions.

Amendment #4 - Examples of second level alerts that bust the ghost include but are not limited to:

Humans go into a hunting behavior, with arms or weapons raised.
Humans confirm that they have seen or heard you with statements like "I see you", "You can't hide any longer", or "Show yourself."
Watchers that go "yellow".
Bots that freeze/pivot/search.
Zombie that turns and heads for you.
Burrick that howls or belches green gas
Spider stops rotational motion and looks at you and/or raises feelers

Examples of first level alerts that do not bust the ghost include but are not limited to:
Human grumbles, shifts in place and goes back to relaxed.
Statements like "Must've been rats".
Human stands up in bed motionless. May grumble, as "Must've been rats."
Zombie stands up, does not hunt, and simply places chin on chest.
Watcher making a clicking noise.
Burricks that grunt.
Spider making a chirp sound without raising feelers and without deviating from its normal path or rotation pattern.

Amendment #5 - Knockouts from gas and kills using a hammer or mace do not register as damage in the stats. These and similar things are still disallowed unless explicitly required by an objective.

Amendment #6 - Melees that occur beyond Garret's control, as part of a game script, are allowed. An example is the fight between archers in Life of the Party, which is caused by Garrett approaching an area, even if he is unheard and unseen. Another example is the Night of the Living Dead event in the Fan Mission Calendra's Legacy.

Amendment #7 - Some alerts that are caused as a scripted reaction to meeting a mission objective, even though Garrett is neither seen or heard, may be allowed if agreed by a consensus of senior members of the ghosting community at the Eidos Thief Forum, on a case-by-case basis. Such alerts that have been allowed in the past include the silent alarm when taking the Eye in Return to the Cathedral and the alarm when taking the Talisman in Undercover.

Amendment #8. In spite of exceptions that have been allowed in the past, it is preferable to report doubtful results as a bust and to avoid attempts to dilute the rules with exceptions or new modes of play. There is no shame in failing to complete a mission in Ghost mode. It is intended to be a challenge that is not usually achievable.

Perfect Thief Mode is defined as completing the above requirements and also obtaining the maximum loot for the particular mission.

[Gumdrop]

Techneques such as banner transmigration and nudging are mentioned in the amendments, so I think it would be a good idea to briefly explain them, or add hyperlinks to brief explanations
in the archive. It would be better than scouring the "shipping" thread for answers.

A few mistakes I noticed...

Amendment #5 - Knockouts from gas and kills using a hammer or mace to not register...

Amendment #1... As long as you do this without alerting other AI or breaking any other rule, it OK.

Amendment #7 - Some alerts that are caused as a scripted reaction to Garrett's meeting a mission objective...

[Peter Smith]

Thanks, Gummie. I made the grammatical changes to the ammendments. I think "Garrett's meeting" is gramatically correct (posessive, like his meeting or your meeting), but it is really the player anyway, so I just removed Garrett from consideration and omitted the modifier.

I have clarified banner transmigration and nudging to some extent. I think I shouldn't try to explain transmigration in detail, and I hesitate to link to another thread. I think the rules should be self contained and not too complicated. Transmigration is relevant to only one mission so far, and there is no point in belaboring it.

[amievil?]

im gonna throw a monkey wrench in the works.........rats DO alert to the player seriously they do, they just dont do anything after the fact. i noticed if you let a rat see you it then takes two sword slashes to kill it. hehehehehe...

[Peter Smith]

To answer your question, yes, you are evil. To answer the technical issue, who cares? Nobody wants to mess around with rats.

[Old Man]

Wha!? I Ghosted the basement Rats in First City Bank & Trust. They visibly react to Garrett by squeeling and running fast for cover.

[Peter Smith]

Old Man,

I just knew you would come back with that! In truth, based on reports and comments I have read, I think you are the only ghoster who really cares about rats. Are you suggesting that we should change the rules? My preference is to leave the rules intact, as I think they are the majority consensus on rats, which were discussed at length a long time ago, when T2 first came out. Instead of changing the rules, I suggest that we award you with an additional honor, such as "supreme rat ghoster."

[dafydd]

[Peter]

All right, so Sisterhood is UN-ghosted.

How's come nobody objected to Vanguard not reporting his use of a couple of gas mines as busts -- but when I do it, all heck breaks loose?

Dafydd

[Peter Smith]

Sorry Dafydd. There are no preferential rules or treatment here. The gas rule clarification has nothing to do with your Sisterhood post. The gas rule has been around for a long time, even if it was not written in Clayman's post. I did not see Vanguard's claim of success with gas. I think Vanguard knows that gas is not permitted. If not, it is about time he found out.

The spirit of ghosting is that your presence should not be detected. Leaving BJ'ed bodies and gassed bodies around is exactly the same thing. The fact that gas does not register as damage is a quirk of the game that the no-gas rule is intended to rectify. It is the KO that matters, not the damage it creates. This is one of the reasons Sneak suggested this clarification.

[amievil?]

ah lighten up guys i was only kidding about the rats


i just like the squeeling sound they make when i hack them to peices with my sword.....

[Peter Smith]

That's OK, amievil? I never took you seriously. I was only kidding with Old Man. Did you see my winkie?

[Old Man]

And I don't often bother with smilies feeling rather that what I've said is obviously enough a tease. And since you're the one what brought the rats up, amievel?, it's somehow fitting that you're the one that got sucked into this one. Nice teamwork Peter.

[Sneak]

Thanks Peter!

I think what is in the archives was chewed on by Rats cuz it isn't all there. Amazing that I had never paid attention to it before. And I may not have even seen it if Dafydd had not made an arguement based on those rules which was perfectly logical for what was written. Thanks dafydd.

What you have above now is clear.

Only point I can make are, there's a lot of amendments above. To me most of those aren't real amendments but explainatory statements. So amendment might not be the best word for some.


Am real glad this is not a debate on rules changes and just a topic on typos and missing info that needs maybe minor attention.

Honestly if some semblance of this line below was back in there it would cover a lot.

2a) No knockouts and kills of any kind are allowed unless they are explicitly required by a mission objective, in accordance with Amendment #1. When such objectives are met, they must not alert any other AI according to rule #3.

And the No damage taken or received typo is an easy one.

I am not endorsing or un-endorsing at the moment. You know who may have a peek at this and go re-read what rules are in the archive. So I will hold. Being that this is not some major appeal before the World Ghost Court which hopefully disbanded, it should be an easy one.

And agreed, you haven't made any changes to the Heart and Soul of the Rules.

Clayman,
If you happen to read this, it came from a bit of discussion towards the end of the FM Ghost Reports thread. I was reading some of dafydd's Reports and came across it. I then read the archives and tossed the perverbial flag out on the field.

[Peter Smith]

Sneak,

Thanks for the silent near endorsement. Yes there are a lot of ammendments. These were in fact all discussed and agreed after the fact in various threads that have disappeared, apart from the last one, which exists now but also existed a long time ago. So they are kind of amendments to the original rules even if explanatory. I can't think of a better name right now, but feel free to suggest one.

I could sweep all these amendments into the rules and reorganize it to make it cleaner if you can clayman want me to. I did not do that in this round because the way it is written now you can see the original rules there with the original numbering and slightly modified wording, and you can see the progression of thought in the amendments. So the genealogy is traceable. Now, if wanted, I could take all the same words without changing any thoughts and make a clean document out of it.

As for inserting a couple of small changes "back in there", I do not think that is appropriate for a couple of reasons.

First, I copied those old threads into an HTML page without changing anything of significance, apart from one user status (ghoster extraordinaire) you may remember. There may have been another more complete version somewhere else that I did not have at my disposal. I would not want to revise history, but I could add a link to a new and clarified set of rules.

Second, I think that these detailed explanations, as opposed to minor corrections, are really needed, especially for ghosting newbies. Without the explanations, many people will not understand the rules. For example, the players at TTLG sometimes use relaxed and watered down interpretations. I think it is better to have it all in one place so I could simply point people to the clarified rules without having to explain the details countless times.

[dafydd]

[Folks]

Did you see my winkie?

(This begs the philosophical question... does anybody here really want to see Peter Smith's winkie?)

While ease of etymology is nice, I think clarity is better. Here is a very brief rearranging of the rules and amendments, with the amendments worked into the appropriate places as notes. Much of these constitute TMI, from my perspective, but that's a more substantial change than I want to attempt yet. I did remove the phrase "are considered last resorts," as this is completely meaningless -- how do you tell? -- retaining only that they "must" (changed from "should") be reported.

One more substantive emendation I made: in the definition of perfect thief, I remade the phrase as "also obtaining the maximum loot actually available for the particular mission." This is meant to cover situations where the stats claim that there is 2317 possible loot -- but in reality, 200 of it is unobtainable due to an error in mission design. The danger with my rephrasing is that maybe there really is that much loot, and it's just that nobody looked behind the couch for that 200-loot tiara yet, and we all just assume that if Nightwalker and Peter both missed the loot, then it's not really extant.

Thus, I'm not arguing in favor of this clarification, just suggesting it as a possibility. I really have no dog in this fight!

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by clayman. Edited and clarified by Peter Smith. Reedited by Dafydd ab Hugh.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Ghost Mode Official Rules (explanatory notes in italics interspersed):

1) Expert difficulty only.

2) No combat damage dealt or taken in the final stats. Damage taken from falls, machinery, lava, swimming under water, etc., is allowed but frowned upon and must be reported.

3) No knockouts or kills of any kind are allowed, by any means whatsoever (including gas, hammers, and maces), whether or not they show up in the final stats, unless they are explicitly required by a mission objective in accordance with the note below. When such objectives are met, they must not alert any other AI according to rule (4).

4) No second level alerts, that is recognition or hunting alerts, of any AI (other than rats) are allowed. This includes alerts of undead, fire elementals, spiders, bots, etc. -- all human and non-human encounters in the game. (Rats are excluded due to their lack of reaction to Garrett.)

Note
Examples of second level alerts that bust the ghost include but are not limited to:

* Humans go into a hunting behavior, with arms or weapons raised.

* Humans confirm that they have seen or heard you with statements like "I see you", "You can't hide any longer", or "Show yourself."

* Watchers that go "yellow".

* Bots that freeze/pivot/search.

* Zombie that turns and heads for you.

* Burrick that howls or belches green gas

* Spider stops rotational motion and looks at you and/or raises feelers

Examples of first level alerts that do not bust the ghost include but are not limited to:

* Human grumbles, shifts in place and goes back to relaxed.

* Statements like "Must've been rats".

* Human stands up in bed motionless. May grumble, as "Must've been rats."

* Zombie stands up, does not hunt, and simply places chin on chest.

* Watcher making a clicking noise.

* Burricks that grunt.

* Spider making a chirp sound without raising feelers and without deviating from its normal path or rotation pattern.

5) No property damage allowed, no banners cut, no things burnt or destroyed. No broken glass.

Note
Any mission objective that explicitly demands that the player break one of the rules above is OK to complete and does not bust the ghost. Examples of such an objective are:

"Kill the bad guy."

"Kill all the Haunts" (in Return to the Cathedral)

"Kidnap Cavador" (he must be KO'ed to be picked up)

So long as you do this without alerting other AI or breaking any other rule, it is OK. Have some fun...live a little.
It is not acceptable, however, to incur a ghost bust that is "necessary" to meet another objective. For example, it is not allowed to KO an AI or slash a banner simply because they stand in the way of meeting another objective, such as to steal something.

The techniques of "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" are grudgingly allowed under the Ghost rules.

Banner Transmigration: going through a banner without slashing it, as done in Shipping and Receiving (see ghosting archives).

Nudging: moving an AI by applying pressure to it's body, causing it to shift position without noticing you.

The use of the "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" techniques, as well as the use of speed, inviso, and slowfall potions must be reported when posting results, along with version/release of the mission (since there are sometimes significant differences in game play between versions).

6) No loot cheats or walkthroughs allowed. A point of honor that cannot be enforced.

7) Doors re-shut, torches re-lit, keys returned, etc. are not necessary unless you just want to... or the condition requires it to avoid a bust.

8) There is no time requirement, no Ironman type requirements etc.. Just finish the mission clean, damage free, and alert free.

9) No alerts also means no distractions, noisemakers, or artificial diversions that cause an AI to search for you, even if it is away from where you are. No Garrett / artificially induced suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause AI to attack each other. No use of frog eggs allowed.

Note
Melees that occur beyond Garret's control, as part of a game script, are allowed. An example is the fight between archers in Life of the Party, which is caused by Garrett approaching an area, even if he is unheard and unseen. Another example is the Night of the Living Dead event in the Fan Mission Calendra's Legacy.

Some alerts that are caused as a scripted reaction to meeting a mission objective, even though Garrett is neither seen or heard, may be allowed if agreed by a consensus of senior members of the ghosting community at the Eidos Thief Forum, on a case-by-case basis. Such alerts that have been allowed in the past include the silent alarm when taking the Eye in Return to the Cathedral and the alarm when taking the Talisman in Undercover.

In spite of exceptions that have been allowed in the past, it is preferable to report doubtful results as a bust and to avoid attempts to dilute the rules with exceptions or new modes of play. There is no shame in failing to complete a mission in Ghost mode. It is intended to be a challenge that is not usually achievable.

Perfect Thief Mode is defined as completing all of the above requirements and also obtaining the maximum loot actually available for the particular mission.

[Sneak]

Believe me, I am not knocking explainations. Clear ones could stop a lot of you know what. And actually thinking about it, what some of those amendments may be are explainations.

An amendment to me is altering or adding an exception to a rule.

But maybe thats all trivia.

Some of those could just be say: An example or an explaination to rule such and such. Or maybe as you say, some of thos thing could be rolled into the rule itself. No probs with that as long as they are succinct.

But out of ye olde groveling respect I should defer to Sir Leapfrog. If he doesn't chime in I can go for a link to the rules for the explaination corrections ect. Would rather have the completed full version in the archives though. Thats really his call.

That was my noisey near endorsement

[dafydd]

[Folks]

And here is my preferred version, with Tanakh and the Talmud split into separate posts:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by clayman. Edited and clarified by Peter Smith. Reedited by Dafydd ab Hugh.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Ghost Mode Official Laws:

1) Difficulty: Expert difficulty only.

2) Damage: No combat damage dealt or taken in the final stats, unless explicitly (not implicitly) required by a mission objective.

3) Consciousness: No knockouts or kills of any kind are allowed, by any means whatsoever (including gas, hammers, and maces), whether or not they show up in the final stats, unless they are explicitly required by a mission objective. When such objectives are met, they must not alert any other AI.

4) Alerts: No second level alerts, that is recognition or hunting alerts, of any AI (other than rats) are allowed. This includes alerts of undead, fire elementals, spiders, bots, etc. -- all human and non-human encounters in the game. (Rats are excluded due to their lack of reaction to Garrett.)

5) Property: No property damage allowed, no banners cut, no things burnt or destroyed. No broken glass.

6) Reporting: Damage taken from falls, machinery, lava, swimming under water, etc., is allowed but frowned upon and must be reported. The use of the "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" techniques, as well as the use of speed, inviso, and slowfall potions must be reported when posting results, along with version/release of the mission (since there are sometimes significant differences in game play between versions).

7) Cheats: No loot cheats or walkthroughs allowed. A point of honor that cannot be enforced.

8) Freedom: Doors re-shut, torches re-lit, keys returned, etc. are not necessary unless you just want to... or the condition requires it to avoid a bust. There is no time requirement, no Ironman type requirements etc.. Just finish the mission clean, damage free, and alert free.

In spite of exceptions that have been allowed in the past, it is preferable to report doubtful results as a bust and to avoid attempts to dilute the rules with exceptions or new modes of play. There is no shame in failing to complete a mission in Ghost mode. It is intended to be a challenge that is not usually achievable.

Perfect Thief Mode is defined as completing all of the above requirements and also obtaining the maximum loot actually available for the particular mission.

[dafydd]

The Talmud of Ghosting

Commentary on the entire Law:

Any mission objective that explicitly demands that the player break one of the rules above is OK to complete and does not bust the ghost. Examples of such an objective are:

"Kill the bad guy."

"Kill all the Haunts" (in Return to the Cathedral)

"Kidnap Cavador" (he must be KO'ed to be picked up)

So long as you do this without alerting other AI or breaking any other rule, it is OK. Have some fun...live a little.
It is not acceptable, however, to incur a ghost bust that is "necessary" to meet another objective. For example, it is not allowed to KO an AI or slash a banner simply because they stand in the way of meeting another objective, such as to steal something.

Commentary on quirks of the Dark engine.

The techniques of "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" are grudgingly allowed under the Ghost rules.

Banner Transmigration: going through a banner without slashing it, as done in Shipping and Receiving (see ghosting archives).

Nudging: moving an AI by applying pressure to it's body, causing it to shift position without noticing you.

Commentary on the fourth law, Alerts

No alerts also means no distractions, noisemakers, or artificial diversions that cause an AI to search for you, even if it is away from where you are. No Garrett-induced suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause AI to attack each other. No use of frog eggs allowed, as they necessarily alert AI.

Examples of second level alerts that bust the ghost include but are not limited to:

* Humans go into a hunting behavior, with arms or weapons raised.

* Humans confirm that they have seen or heard you with statements like "I see you", "You can't hide any longer", or "Show yourself."

* Watchers that go "yellow".

* Bots that freeze/pivot/search.

* Zombie that turns and heads for you.

* Burrick that howls or belches green gas

* Spider stops rotational motion and looks at you and/or raises feelers


Examples of first level alerts that do not bust the ghost include but are not limited to:

* Human grumbles, shifts in place and goes back to relaxed.

* Statements like "Must've been rats".

* Human stands up in bed motionless. May grumble, as "Must've been rats."

* Zombie stands up, does not hunt, and simply places chin on chest.

* Watcher making a clicking noise.

* Burricks that grunt.

* Spider making a chirp sound without raising feelers and without deviating from its normal path or rotation pattern.

However, melees that occur beyond Garret's control, as part of a game script, are allowed. An example is the fight between archers in Life of the Party, which is caused by Garrett approaching an area, even if he is unheard and unseen. Another example is the Night of the Living Dead event in the Fan Mission Calendra's Legacy.

Some alerts that are caused as a scripted reaction to meeting a mission objective, even though Garrett is neither seen or heard, may be allowed if agreed by a consensus of senior members of the ghosting community at the Eidos Thief Forum, on a case-by-case basis. Such alerts that have been allowed in the past include the silent alarm when taking the Eye in Return to the Cathedral and the alarm when taking the Talisman in Undercover.

[Sneak]

Hmmm,
Where is the succinct Curmudgeon when ya need him?

[Peter Smith]

Dafydd's suggestion to divide it up into rules and interpretations makes sense to me. It definitely improves readability. Tanakh and the Talmud? I am not sure that Ghosting to be identified as a Jewish pursuit. Anyway, I like the basic idea. I would change three things and maybe edit it a slight bit. If this format is agreed, then I will do so and propose a final revision after all comments are in.

1. Call them rules and interpretations, not laws and Talmud.

2. The last paragraph of the rules, concerning failures and excuses for same, is out of place. It belongs in the interpretations.

3. I would format both of the sections the same way, using bold, not italics, for the subtitles.

EDIT: I modified my list after further reading.

[dafydd]

Ghost Mode Official Rules

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by clayman. Edited and clarified by Peter Smith and Dafydd ab Hugh.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Difficulty: Expert difficulty only.

2) Damage: No combat damage dealt or taken in the final stats, unless explicitly (not implicitly) required by a mission objective.

3) Consciousness: No knockouts or kills of any kind are allowed, by any means whatsoever (including gas, hammers, and maces), whether or not they show up in the final stats, unless they are explicitly required by a mission objective. When such objectives are met, they must not alert any other AI.

4) Alerts: No second level alerts, that is recognition or hunting alerts, of any AI (other than rats) are allowed. This includes alerts of undead, fire elementals, spiders, bots, etc. -- all human and non-human encounters in the game. (Rats are excluded due to their lack of reaction to Garrett.)

5) Property: No property damage allowed, no banners cut, no things burnt or destroyed. No broken glass.

6) Reporting: Damage taken from falls, machinery, lava, swimming under water, etc., is allowed but frowned upon and must be reported. The use of the "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" techniques, as well as the use of speed, inviso, and slowfall potions must be reported when posting results, along with version/release of the mission (since there are sometimes significant differences in game play between versions).

7) Cheats: No loot cheats or walkthroughs allowed. A point of honor that cannot be enforced.

8) Freedom: Doors re-shut, torches re-lit, keys returned, etc. are not necessary unless you just want to... or the condition requires it to avoid a bust. There is no time requirement, no Ironman type requirements etc.. Just finish the mission clean, damage free, and alert free.

Perfect Thief Mode is defined as completing all of the above requirements and also obtaining the maximum loot actually available for the particular mission.

[dafydd]

Commentary and Interpretation of Ghosting Rules

Commentary on rules in general:

* Any mission objective that explicitly demands that the player break one of the rules above is OK to complete and does not bust the ghost. Examples of such an objective are:

"Kill the bad guy."

"Kill all the Haunts" (in Return to the Cathedral)

"Kidnap Cavador" (he must be KO'ed to be picked up)

So long as you do this without alerting other AI or breaking any other rule, it is OK. Have some fun...live a little.
It is not acceptable, however, to incur a ghost bust that is "necessary" to meet another objective. For example, it is not allowed to KO an AI or slash a banner simply because they stand in the way of meeting another objective, such as stealing something.

* In spite of exceptions that have been allowed in the past, it is preferable to report doubtful results as a bust and to avoid attempts to dilute the rules with exceptions or new modes of play. There is no shame in failing to complete a mission in Ghost mode. It is intended to be a challenge that is not usually achievable.

Commentary on quirks of the Dark engine.

The techniques of "Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" are grudgingly allowed under the Ghost rules.

Banner Transmigration: going through a banner without slashing it, as done in Shipping and Receiving (see ghosting archives).

Nudging: moving an AI by applying pressure to its body, causing it to shift position without noticing you.

Commentary on rules of alerts

* Examples of second level alerts that bust the ghost include but are not limited to:

- Humans go into a hunting behavior, with arms or weapons raised.

- Humans confirm that they have seen or heard you with statements like "I see you", "You can't hide any longer", or "Show yourself."

- Watchers that go "yellow".

- Bots that freeze/pivot/search.

- Zombie that turns and heads for you.

- Burrick that howls or belches green gas

- Spider stops rotational motion and looks at you and/or raises feelers


* Examples of first level alerts that do not bust the ghost include but are not limited to:

- Human grumbles, shifts in place and goes back to relaxed.

- Statements like "Must've been rats".

- Human stands up in bed motionless. May grumble, as "Must've been rats."

- Zombie stands up, does not hunt, and simply places chin on chest.

- Watcher making a clicking noise.

- Burricks that grunt.

- Spider making a chirp sound without raising feelers and without deviating from its normal path or rotation pattern.

* No alerts also means no distractions, noisemakers, or artificial diversions that cause an AI to search for you, even if it is away from where you are. No Garrett-induced suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause AI to attack each other. No use of frog eggs allowed, as they necessarily alert AI.

* Melees that occur beyond Garret's control, as part of a game script, are allowed. An example is the fight between archers in Life of the Party, which is caused by Garrett approaching an area, even if he is unheard and unseen. Another example is the Night of the Living Dead event in the Fan Mission Calendra's Legacy.

* Some alerts that are caused as a scripted reaction to meeting a mission objective, even though Garrett is neither seen or heard, may be allowed if agreed by a consensus of senior members of the ghosting community at the Eidos Thief Forum, on a case-by-case basis. Such alerts that have been allowed in the past include the silent alarm when taking the Eye in Return to the Cathedral and the alarm when taking the Talisman in Undercover.

[dafydd]

[Folks]

If no one has any more suggested changes, should we just vote?

Or just accept it by fiat? Reject it by fiat?

Dafydd