What makes you visible?

**Avs** · 12-24-2008, 04:32 PM

http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...d.php?t=770256

Quote:

I've been doing some testing with my wonderful volunteer, z95, earlier tonight. This testing was a good thorough look at exactly what makes the survivor's outlines visible in Versus mode.

When you stop doing things that make you visible, your outline gradually fades out to nothing over about 3 seconds. Once your outline fades completely, your name text disappears too.

First of all, the things that do affect it. Doing any of the following will make your outline become visible, until you stop doing it.

* Running around. This is basically normal wasd movement.
* Melee attacks. Swinging your gun around makes you visible
* Firing. Any weapon. This includes the mounted minigun. Firing any weapon causes you to be visible.
* Starting a grenade throw. You become visible as soon as you press the fire button. But, whether you throw it immediately, or hold your arm back keeping it ready to throw, you do not become visible again from a grenade. Even when you release it.
* Boomer bile. Having bile on you turns your outline purple, and makes it completely visible to all infected, regardless of what you do. You can't hide until the effect wears off.
* Taking damage. Whenever you take damage from anything, your outline briefly flashes visible. Note that it's the damage, not the hit that causes it. A distinction few will care about, but it doesn't happen if god mode is turned on.
* Voice commands. When your character speaks, you temporarily flash visible. This includes using any of the rosetta commands, and "vocalize" commands in the console. It also applies to things your character says automatically in various situations.
* Shouting while incapped. Although being incapped on it's own, doesn't make you visible. Your survivor will shout for help every few seconds while they're down, and that DOES make them visible.
* Helping someone up. You flash visible briefly when you start to help up an incapped survivor. It fades before you finish helping them though.
* Using pills. Self explanatory.
* Smoker/hunter attack. When you're pinned, or tongued, you become visible until freed.

Now, some other important things. All of the following things do NOT make your outline visible.

* The Flashlight! Whether it's on or not is irrelevant. The flashlight does NOT affect the visibility of your outline. Given that, there's pretty much no reason to ever turn it off.
* Walking. If you hold shift while moving, you walk instead of running. This is slower, of course. But your outline remains invisible while you walk. Good if you want to reverse an ambush by sneaking up on a hunter.
* Crouch walking. Moving while holding crouch (ctrl) is exactly like walking. Holding the walk key while crouched does nothing.
* Releasing a grenade throw that you had ready. This is covered above.
* Reloading your weapon. Doesn't make you visible, but sometimes your survivor will shout "reloading!" and voice clips do make you visible, so beware of that.
* Healing. As with reloading, using a medkit itself doesn't highlight you, with the caveat that the voice clips can.
* Aiming. Didn't really need to be said, but mouselooking around doesn't highlight you. This includes when you're manning the mingun. you're only visible when you fire it.
* Jumping. An odd one. Juumping up and down on the spot doesn't reveal you. Moving forward will, of course.
* Being seen. The outline is completely independant of actual visibility. A survivor can be standing right in front of you, and their outline still invisible if they're not doing anything to cause it. Likewise, other infected seeing them doesn't affect it.
* The tank. In case anyone was wondering, the tank is identical to all other infected in terms of seeing outlines. If you follow these guidelines, you can hide from the tank too. good if you've set it on fire and need to buy time.

**peardog** · 12-24-2008, 04:51 PM

Good Info... I usually try to kill the flashlight...to avoid the Zombies in VS... now I know it's not an issue..

THANKS

**DrBeat** · 12-24-2008, 05:02 PM

I've been wondering about what makes the outlines go away. Great find!

**Kulmar** · 12-24-2008, 05:31 PM

Nice...

We tried (Sloppy and my team) to go invisible mode by ,

Quote:

* Crouch walking. Moving while holding crouch (ctrl) is exactly like walking. Holding the walk key while crouched does nothing.

, but it didn't work (According to Whiskey). We crouched for around 3 seconds, then crouch-walked over to another point about 30 feet away. Saw us the whole time. We weren't doing anything else either.

**WhiskeySix** · 12-24-2008, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kulmar

Nice...

We tried (Sloppy and my team) to go invisible mode by ,

, but it didn't work (According to Whiskey). We crouched for around 3 seconds, then crouch-walked over to another point about 30 feet away. Saw us the whole time. We weren't doing anything else either.

Maybe i wasn't looking at you when you did that? You were visible the whole time I was looking at you

(great find AVS)

=Sarc= · 12-24-2008, 09:51 PM

Wouldn't it still be prudent to turn off your flashlight? Even though it doesn't affect your outline, it still matters how easily you're spotted in a dark area with line of sight.

**DrBeat** · 12-24-2008, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =Sarc=

Wouldn't it still be prudent to turn off your flashlight? Even though it doesn't affect your outline, it still matters how easily you're spotted in a dark area with line of sight.

It would be interesting to see a sort of energy meter like in Half-Life where you can only use the flashlight for a certain amount of time before you can use it again. Makes for more resource management.

**Kulmar** · 12-25-2008, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiskeySix

Maybe i wasn't looking at you when you did that? You were visible the whole time I was looking at you

Well, if you saw anything at all... then it didn't work. Because we were all doing the exact same thing =P

Celestial1 · 12-25-2008, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBeat

It would be interesting to see a sort of energy meter like in Half-Life where you can only use the flashlight for a certain amount of time before you can use it again. Makes for more resource management.

But... batteries do not work this way.

Rather, how about valve actually makes a flashlight glare for 3p models, so that a survivor could let keen infected know where they are by shining it out of a door.

Morganan · 12-26-2008, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =Sarc=

Wouldn't it still be prudent to turn off your flashlight? Even though it doesn't affect your outline, it still matters how easily you're spotted in a dark area with line of sight.

Only you see your flashlight to begin with. The infected dont see it, your teammates dont see it, nobody else does but you. The flashlight is a dynamic light, and dynamic lights are only processed in this game on the client side and even that depends on your settings.

You can test it out yourself, go in a dark area that normally would require you to use a flashlight to see. Turn your flashlight off and try and use your teammates flashlights to see, you will notice rather quickly it doesnt work. You will see your teammates flashlight being on, but it will not give off any light for you to see by.

The infected on the other hand have their "flashlight" always on, but it doesn't use dynamic lights, it just increases ambient lighting in their viewing area. Infected players due to higher ambient lighting effects don't see flashlights at all.

Enjoy

**Kebab-Kastike** · 12-27-2008, 03:10 AM

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Avs again.

Good find man! I would leave the flashlight off, the lighbeam it shoots out still might be enough for the zombie bosses to spot you.

Pistolfied · 12-27-2008, 03:14 AM

Just a tip, crouching makes you move faster than walking, you are also a smaller target which is an even bigger plus, almost no reason to walk.

Kind of strange how the flashlight can still be on, it's still better to keep it off however so the random infected don't rush at you.

**sparhawkxx** · 12-28-2008, 01:44 AM

Flashlight does effect zombies. You can see it lol

Mech__Warrior · 12-29-2008, 11:50 PM

When you hold Shift down, you walk. Maybe that can help you be invisible.

**Boot** · 12-30-2008, 01:07 PM

This is great stuff. Now this said, it must not be that only outline alone is important when sneaking past the witch. I have startled the witch crouch walking past her on a couple occasions. Any comments?