Sneak (Skyrim)

''Sneaking is the art of moving unseen and unheard. Highly skilled sneaks can often hid in plain sight.''

The Sneak system is slightly different in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to that of previous games. For instance, your visibility is depicted through use of an eye that remains closed while you are undetected, but opens more and more as you become more detected. If it is fully open then they are completely aware of your presence and your exact location. People around you will also change "modes" depending on whether they view you sneaking. For instance, they will be passive if they are unaware, or cautious if they are aware of you sneaking. Their ability to notice you is dependent on the Sneak skill.

Sneak attacks don't deal as much damage as they did in The Edler Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This leads to the conclusion that one of the big perks in the Sneak skill-tree will be to increase the amount of damage dealt by weapons while sneaking.

Another apparent difference since the previous game is that attacking an enemy does not neccesarily give your presence away if you kill him. In one of the gameplay videos, the player killed one man from a distance, and while the other man was alerted to an enemey presence, he was not immediately aware of the player's location, as would be the case in Oblivion.