Category:Detection

Detection is Oblivion's stealth mechanic. The concept isn't complicated: every actor has a degree of awareness of every other nearby actor, called a detection level. If this detection level is above a certain threshold then the searching actor (the "detector") is fully aware of the hiding actor (the "target"). The detector can then attack, offer a greeting, report the target's crimes, etc. If the detection level falls below the threshold again, the detector "loses" the target and can no longer interact with it.

Quite a few variables go into calculating detection levels. They fall into three basic categories: Sight, Sound, and Sneak Skill. Sight basically describe how well the detector can see the target, and only matter if the detector actually has a direct line-of-sight. Sound measures how much noise the target is making, from movement and from being in combat. Skill measures the relative sneak skill of the detector & target. For all three, the distance from the detector to target plays a very important role.

The complete formula for Detection Level is given below. Because the formula is so complicated, it is broken into smaller pieces and organized in a table. Conditional terms are enclosed in square brackets, e.g. "[ + 400, if target is yellow]" means "add 400 if the target is yellow, otherwise ignore this term".

Detection Level Formula

0

-100

fSneakBaseValue 
[ + fSneakTargetAttackBonus, if target attacked detector]
[ + SoundBonus, if target is not swimming]
[ + fSneakSleepBonus, if detector is sleeping]
[ + SightBonus, if detector is awake and has line-of-sight to target]
+ SkillBonus

fSneakSoundsMult * DistanceFactor *
(
  [ MovementFactor, if target is moving]
  [ + fSneakTargetInCombatBonus, if target is in combat]
)
[ * fSneakSoundLosMult, if detector has no line of sight to target]

(
  fSneakBootWeightBase 
  [ + fSneakBootWeightMult * (target boot weight), if tgt Sneak mastery < Journeyman]
)
[ * fSneakRunningMult, if target is running & target Sneak mastery < Expert]

fSneakLightMult * DistanceFactor * LightFactor * ChameleonFactor * BlindnessFactor
[ * fSneakSwimmingLightMult, if target is swimming]  

fDetectionSneakLightMod + (light level on target) 
[ * fDetectionNightEyeBonus, if detector has Night Eye]

1 - (Chameleon level of target)/100

1 - (Blindness level of target)/100

fSneakSkillMult * 
(
  (detector Sneak skill) * DistanceFactor
  [ - target Sneak skill, if target is sneaking]
)

1 - (distance between detector and target) / MaxDetectionRange

fSneakMaxDistance 
[ * fSneakExteriorDistanceMult, if in exterior cell]

Detection Thresholds

If the Detection Level is greater than a certain threshold, the detector can becomes aware of the target. The thresholds are:

A final note: The target-is-in-combat bonus is fairly significant. Combined with the much lower combat threshold, this can make it very difficult for an actor to return to hiding once a hostile actor has seen them.

See Also

Sneak