Covering your tracks

[Anonymous]

Suppose you were running form somebody and you were out in the wilderness. Is there any possible way to like sweep your footprints away so that if they 'hunt' for you, there would be less of a chance of finding your tacks?

[Larrath]

I like this idea.
Naturally, there should be a delay on this to represent the fact that people can't run away from a wild gortok and still cover their tracks all the time.  Doing that takes a while.

[jhunter]

That and I think it should be a ranger skill.

[Agent_137]

there's a way to do it, and i wouldn't call it code abuse, either. basically, cover it with other tracks.

[Delirium]

If you want to make it harder for others to track you through an area, slow down and step carefully. If successful, and depending on the skill of your tracker, you may just be able to put plenty of distance between yourself and your hunter.

[WarriorPoet]

I like it, but I would also like to see it penalized in certain places, such as sandy dunes with no rocks, silty places, etc etc In areas like this it would be hard to avoid making tracks, and if you tried to 'rub' them out, that would leave tracks of its own, no? To balance maybe give a small modifier to boost the skill during high wind storms, or rocky areas, where tracks would be easy to conceal, or where wind would obliterate them quickly.

*shrugs* Good idea, though.

-WP

[Anonymous]

I think the Storm and Weather code should obliterate tracks, or make the time they remain shorter or harder to read.
On a sandy dune, with the winds that are prevalent in Zalanthas, shifting the sands constantly, tracks would be erased as quickly as they were made.

[Forest Junkie]

there's a way to do it, and i wouldn't call it code abuse, either. basically, cover it with other tracks.

This always worked for me. Confuse the tracker with numerous pathways.

There are more ways to do this though. Go find them.  :wink:

[fearwig]

I think the Storm and Weather code should obliterate tracks, or make the time they remain shorter or harder to read.
On a sandy dune, with the winds that are prevalent in Zalanthas, shifting the sands constantly, tracks would be erased as quickly as they were made.

Check your helpfiles. If they're accurate, they do.

[joyofdiscord]

I think the Storm and Weather code should obliterate tracks, or make the time they remain shorter or harder to read.
On a sandy dune, with the winds that are prevalent in Zalanthas, shifting the sands constantly, tracks would be erased as quickly as they were made.

Check your helpfiles. If they're accurate, they do.

Oh, that's kind of embarrassing, then, because I idea'd that in game.  Nevertheless, I certainly have seen tracks that were "many hours" old in the middle of a severe sandstorm.

[Agent_137]

If you ever read dune, they have somthing that looks like a carpet that you wear that drags agaisnt the ground as you walk, eracing all tracks in the sand.

>
track
>
You see the recent tracks of a large carpet, heading east.
>
think I've got you now, my rug!!!
>
emote laughs maniacally.
>
east


Somehow, I just don't see that as being too effective.

[xX_Cathedral_Xx]

If you ever read dune, they have somthing that looks like a carpet that you wear that drags agaisnt the ground as you walk, eracing all tracks in the sand.

>
track
>
You see the recent tracks of a large carpet, heading east.
>
think I've got you now, my rug!!!
>
emote laughs maniacally.
>
east


Somehow, I just don't see that as being too effective.

It could be effective, just not entirely. I believe you would still be able to see the smoothing of the sands, but there is a great possibility that you could loose those tracks with little trouble.

[fearwig]

I know we're not all that familiar IRL with sandstorms and tracks, but you can probably use a heavy snow as a good analogy, at least for this part of the discussion.

If you walk in the snow, you leave deep tracks. Now, a few hours later, when another 4 or 5 inches have fallen, you don't see footprints--you see dark indentations in the snow where footprints were covered by lots of fresh snow.

Similarly, sand would pour into the track-holes--as your tracks become faint, they would become indentations in the sand, not tracks per se. Something that flattened your tracks out as you walked, like a heavy cloth, would do a lot to help your tracks become ruined in a few hours' less time.

Then again, a heavy sandstorm should ruin tracks entirely. If what someone said above about the degree to which this is implemented is accurate, I'd suggest toning the skill down somewhat by making weather affect it quite a lot, especially in sandy places. Superb tracking is a great idea, so long as the weather suits.

[fearwig]

Bingo. Shallower the tracks, the faster they disappear.

I actually feel halfway comfortable referring to Herbert as a technical reference. He's got that nitpickery down to a science.

[Angela Christine]

Tracks aren't just tracks.  It's also distrbances in the vegitation, spoors, stuff that has been dropped or torn off, blood trail, and scent trails (at least in the case of animal trackers, which may explain being able to track in 0 visibility).  Storms will disrupt all of that to some degree, but the entire trail will not instantly disappear just because the weather is bad.


Angela Christine