No kill runs allow killing animals?

[happyninja42]

Just random question, sitting here thinking about different trends in gaming, and thought about one of my favorites the no kill run.

Any of you recall a game that prohibited killing animals as part of a no kill run? Excluding games where like, everyone are animals obviously.

The usual distinction I can think of offhand, is basically Sentient vs Non-sentient. So things like animals are ok to kill, and even undead (potentially, depending on context).

Can you think of any game where they were like 0 Fatalities, period, animal or otherwise, to get the no kill achievement? 'Cause I can't think of any, but there are a bajillion games out there.

Not asking as part of some ethical criticism or anything, just curious what the common trend is when it comes to that requirement, as far as game design and theory.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

The usual distinction I can think of offhand, is basically Sentient vs Non-sentient. So things like animals are ok to kill, and even undead (potentially, depending on context).

I think you mean Sapient vs Sentient. ,)

 

[happyninja42]

The usual distinction I can think of offhand, is basically Sentient vs Non-sentient. So things like animals are ok to kill, and even undead (potentially, depending on context).

Fine, whatever, pedantic nitpicking aside, can you actually cite any examples of gaming where they prevented you from killing anything for a No Kill Run? Or are you just posting to correct terminology?

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

No kill run in something like skyrim would be meaningless if it allowed you to kill animals. You can easily grind on stuff like bears and spiders enough to be able to easily breeze through everything which would negate the reasons why no kill runs are impressive.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Depends on the game?
I mean, sorry but i think that's the best answer you'll get. I don't think there's a widely respected consensus among devs on "What constitutes a no-kill run".

Personally, "no kill" means "NO kill" to me, so that would make animals being out of question too, unless addendum is included.

 

[Nuuu]

While Thief 2 didn't have spiders/machines count against its no-kill objective, it at least tracked it towards the total kills and machines deactivated/destroyed counter for your own sense of accomplishment. But a lot of stuff in Thief 2 is purely for bragging rights.

Can't think of any games that count animals against you the same way as a human kill does though. A really old game might have that.

 

[wings012]

I think being pedantic about the definition of no-kill and allowing people to kill robots or undead just kinda ruins it. I mean isn't the point of a no-kill that you are able to bypass all obstacles without removing them?

 

[Batou667]

Err... it would honestly depend on the game.

Are the animals part of the game's normal roster of enemies? In that case they would be counted alongside the normal human (robot, alien, whatever) enemies.

Are they just environmental hazards, like in Far Cry? That would be a grey area.

Do animals mostly just constitute food, like in Minecraft? That would be a challenge for different reasons. I was actually thinking the other day about whether a vegan-only adventure mode in Minecraft would be a fun challenge... the survival part would be easy enough once you got iron armour and were able to farm wheat, whether most of the hostile mobs are considered animal, human or other is more complex. *shrug*

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Assassin's Creed games chastise you for killing animals but is perfectly fine with you killing guards/soldiers, even if they're not attacking you. Then again the assassin parts of Assassin's Creed are just a computer simulation. Veer too much from historical canon and the game chastises you because "Your ancestor didn't do that!". You could make the argument you don't actually kill anything or anyone in the games.

 

[Avnger]

The Assassin's Creed games chastise you for killing animals but is perfectly fine with you killing guards/soldiers, even if they're not attacking you.

Nitpick: Only really pre-Assassin's Creed 3. From 3 on, animals were generally either "environmental hazards" (ie: fair game) or necessary to kill for crafting.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Assassin's Creed games chastise you for killing animals but is perfectly fine with you killing guards/soldiers, even if they're not attacking you.

Nitpick: Only really pre-Assassin's Creed 3. From 3 on, animals were generally either "environmental hazards" (ie: fair game) or necessary to kill for crafting.

Don't you get penalized for killing dogs and chickens in 4?

 

[Saelune]

Nethack.