According to the wiki, if you can see the monster, it can see you under the assumption that it has sight in the first place. I’m not sure whether to interpret this as mobs’ vision range # = player’s vision range # under all effects/changes or mobs’ vision range = x which happens to be the player’s default regardless of changes/effect on player’s vision .
For example, would Eagle Eye or binocular, which extends the player’s vision, allow him to see mobs before they can see him?
Similarly, if the former interpretation is true, then doesn’t this mean that by having the near sighted trait, mobs won’t be able to see you until you see them despite having a reduce vision range?
Your vision range in the game screen is NOT the same as your “scouting” range on the map screen. Range-increasing traits/gear generally increase the scouting range, not the vision range. That said, if something’s shortening your vision (night/dark, Boomered, etc) you don’t get to map much aside from the square you’re actually in.
(Numbers: max vision range in main-game is, IIRC, a 30-tile radius, creating a 60-tile large vision circle. That 50-tile diameter is also the “reality bubble” you may hear about from time to time–whether you actually can see that far or not, that’s how far out Things are–generally–Happening. On the map screen, you can usually tell what’s on a given tile up to 5 map tiles away; a map tile is 24x24 game tiles square. So you can map out to roughly 120 game tiles away, but it’s not fully processed until you get within about 60 tiles of it.)
Critter-definitions include a variety of flags: simply being able to see is one of them, and then there are a series that decrease their vision range in multiples of 10. Most zombies only have a 50-diameter vision circle, for instance. So if you see a critter at the edge of your sight, you’ll probably have good luck turning and leaving.
Correction, the optimal vision range is 60 squares, not 30. (I’m sure that was just a typo)
Maximum monster sight range is 50 squares, so yes, by default you can see 10 squares further than any monster.
Monsters are not affected by penalties (or bonuses) that reduce player sight range, like nearsightedness or being boomered (or nightvision). These conditions can cause an inversion where monsters can see you before you can see them, if you have a condition limiting sight range, be careful!
Monster sight range is affected by ambient light levels. In other words, light level from time of day and weather. They lose the same amount of range that the player does based on poor lighting, so if it’s dark and you can only see 40 squares, a monster that can normally see 50 squares can now only see 30. This means that if you can only see 10 squares due to low lighting, monsters can’t see you at all (unless you’re right next to them, everything that isn’t blinded can see things adjacent to them no matter the light level)
There is a VERY important caveat to this, which is light sources. If you are illuminated (for example by carrying an activated torch or flashlight), monsters can see you from up to their maximum sight range, walking around in the dark with a light source is extremely dangerous. To reverse this situation, you can illuminate a monster while staying in the dark yourself, for example by throwing a lit flashlight or flare at a zombie from outside its sight range.
There are currently no monsters with night vision, though there’s nothing keeping us from adding them. At close range however most monsters can detect you via hearing and/or scent.
