Companion Dog

[Schneidox]

I know this has been suggested in the past. Just want to reiterate how cool this would be. Seeing as how it wasn't on the (very exciting) update list recently released, thought the devs could take another look.

The idea is to have a companion dog you find and whose trust you must gain by feeding him and interacting with him--petting, playing fetch--before he decides to follow you.

You have to keep him fed and hydrated. There can be a key binding for his interaction with you and/or your surroundings. 

For instance, if you walk into a room the key can trigger him to search for hidden food or drinks. If you're hunting rabbits the key will trigger him to catch one (with probability of failure) or fetch a dead one. And when attacked by a predator, you can choose to have him fight off the animal as a last ditch effort. Fighting the predator can result in the dogs death, the predators death, the predators retreat or a combination of these outcomes depending on the predators size and the dogs condition. He should also be able to sniff out predators before they get too close.

Maybe there could even be a list of items he could sniff out. If you're close enough to that item (100 meters or so) he'll bark and and run towards it. Or you would have to have one of that item on you and have him smell it and then search for it.

Thoughts?

[vonfalk]

Bad idea. If it would die, I would cry a lot and lose all motivation to play the game.

Jokes aside, I don't think it'll go well with sandbox. One of the core factors that attributes to the current gameplay, is that the player is and has to be alone. Adding a potential companion would change that. It might be a cool idea for Story Mode, though. 

[Schneidox]

I think it would make Sandbox even better! As in real life, having someone who would die for you and whom you would die for is the most rewarding experience of all  

[vonfalk]

6 minutes ago, Schneidox said:

I think it would make Sandbox even better! As in real life, having someone who would die for you and whom you would die for is the most rewarding experience of all  

True. I'm just saying it would change some things, but hey, it's still Alpha, and a lot of things are bound to change either way. ^^

[hauteecolerider]

And hey, there's always modding, when the game is finished! 

[boshmi]

While this idea is pretty cool, it's been addressed before and the calorie consumption of a larger dog, coupled with your own, makes for some very odd numbers. There's been suggestions for dog sleds where people have gone full-biologist in sorting out what realistic and what's not, there was something about dogs needing 2000+ calories a day, but I'm not sure.

[Schneidox]

Yeah that was my post over a week ago. Devs are adding a horse over the next year so let's see how calorie consumption works out there. And the dog being able to hunt would balance out the work in feeding him. So in the end it might net out to almost the same amount of work. 

[Vhalkyrie]

It's a cool idea, and I've thought of it myself at various times, but it seems too Fallout.  I was thinking TLD could do something more exotic and hasn't been done before, like Falconry.  Your falcon companion can help you catch rabbits, and maybe scout ahead for wolves/bears.

[hauteecolerider]

As much as I love cats, dogs and horses, I'm voting for Fox as the best companion here! Small, so not too many calories. Not picky about food, so you can give him fish as well as rabbits. He can distract wolves - I have an online friend whose long-term Skyrim character has a fox companion and said fox serves to distract enemies so the PC can get an arrow or ten in. 

[Schneidox]

Flying creatures that hunt...I can see why you chose your name, Vhalkyrie! Who knows, could work but would require a craftable glove. 

[Dirmagnos]

Im pretty sure that dogs cant smell tin cans 100 meters away. And in general, in terms of sniffing, if anything food-related would be present in the world, then bears would be there looooooong be4 dogs, since their sense of smell is like ten times better than dogs.