Target Practice

[beechel]

I don't know if anyone else has posted this idea before, they may have and it may well have been dismissed.  But it would be great if Hinterland would add a sort of target practice area, available from outside of actual game in the menu, where players could go through sims to practice their shooting and fighting skills.  Im now an 'alright' shot with the rifle when it comes to deer.  I have not tried shooting so many wolves - i generally run off in the other direction at the moment! Anyhow, my point is, even with practice I won't make every shot every time, not even close, but with the limitations on ammo and resources for bows it would be welcomed (certainly by me) if Hinterland produced a practice area.  I personally don't think that it would take away from the actual gameplay, people will still miss when shooting a bow and arrow or a rifle, they will still scare pray, they will still get maimed and mauled many a time  in game, and they will still have limited resources.  But a practice facility would enable familiarity with the mechanics - I still struggle with the mouse sensitivity, to practice different fighting/shooting/stalking approaches - without the wasted resources in game.  For me the biggest problem currently is an unwillingness to shoot an arrow or a bullet because of the limited amount of them but what I need is to do just that so that I can gain the experience.  

 

Just an idea

[Wastelander]

I think something along those lines will emerge from the modding community once mod support is added (i's on the roadmap). In my honest opinion, the idea is okay - I personally wouldn't use it since I have plenty FPS experience, but it would help new players a lot. However, I don't think Hinterland should use their resources on this as, as I said, the modding community will (probably) take care of this, and they've got some pretty cool stuff planned for the next 12 months.

[beechel]

I completely see your point, it actually sprang to my mind whilst writing that Hinterland have a lot of other things far more important to focus on.  Someone will probably make a mod along those lines - even if they don't I am excited to see what Mod's do come out in time.  I suppose in the meantime, there is nothing stopping me from opening a new game - going and finding a gun/bow and arrow and just using that game from practice... it would just be easier if I didn't have to  However, on a positive note - I am so much better than I was when I started!

[Wastelander]

It would certainly be easier if you didn't have to, yes. However - and this is just my opinion - I don't believe that Hinterland likes it easy. Consider the backstory of the sandbox - you just crash-landed in the middle of Itscoldhere, Canada, population zero. You probably never received any formal firearms training, yet alone any experience in archery. You have to gather this experience in-game. And I think that makes finding a gun or crafting a bow a much more powerful experience. "I can use this... but not very well." upon first finding it. 150 days later "Yeah, I got this."

I would like to apologize in advance if my reply sounds in any way aggressive or offensive. English is not my first language, and I may sometimes not sound as intended. I do not intend to insult you or to sound condescending or anything.

[Tbone555]

for the topic, i don't agree with it. it is an interesting idea, but i think this game is all about learning from your mistakes! you will gradually become a better shot with the rifle / bow with time. i think it would make a good mod (for those that want to use it), but i wouldnt want it to be something implemented into the game by hinterland.

2 hours ago, Wastelander said:

I don't believe that Hinterland likes it easy. Consider the backstory of the sandbox - you just crash-landed in the middle of Itscoldhere, Canada, population zero.

this is now my quote of the day. it made my night xD

[SteelFire]

There's also the option of going out and finding a half decent single-player FPS and practicing your skills in that. If you can learn to shoot straight in something a little faster paced than TLD, then you'll be one-shotting critters with your rifle in TLD easy. Bows... those are another issue and you're only going to get that practice in-game.

I'm hoping seasons, when we get them, offer some relief on the limited, RNG supply of birch saplings. But even as it stands now, you should be able to find enough saplings across the various maps to last a long time. The real problem is when you start hitting critters and lose track of them, and your runaway arrow, while trying to chase them down.

[Wastelander]

Quote

There's also the option of going out and finding a half decent single-player FPS and practicing your skills in that. If you can learn to shoot straight in something a little faster paced than TLD, then you'll be one-shotting critters with your rifle in TLD easy. Bows... those are another issue and you're only going to get that practice in-game

I agree with this. There's plenty of free FPS-games out there you can find with a quick google search. If you play these for a couple of hours you should get a good feeling for the hunting rifle. Also, the hunting rifle in Fallout 3 seems to work quite similarly to the one in TLD, so if you own this game or are willing to pay a few bucks for it, this could help you.

[beechel]

I think some of what I find confusing is watching past techniques that don't work now - for example, I found a wolf - decided to try the throwing the flare technique that I saw on a video - and that didn't work.  I spent furious hours using LMB and RMB in hand to hand combat with wolves - only to find out that this was no longer the game mechanic.  Frustrating as that was - its par for the course in game development and I understand that.  Rifles are not much of an issue now, I am comfortable with the mechanics of the rifle - but need more practice on the mechanics of shooting a wolf with a rifle. Someone suggested dropping a decoy to give time to aim and fire in another thread - so I plan to try this.  I certainly need to practice more with the bow and arrow, this is my fault though as I always view that as my reserve because of the limitation on amount of arrows - Im not at the point where I have made the run to the forge in any of my games and therefore I view any arrows as gold dust and don't fire them - silly really.  

I completely get the point about it being a harsh game, I suppose my point was more about somewhere to learn the mechanics more than anything.  I think I occasionally find the use of a mouse for this game a bit awkward - which is silly as I don't feel that for other games, I am considering using a game controller instead (I think thats possible with this game) anyhow, either way I know that its trial and error and practice to find what works and get it nailed.  Soon I will be shooting my bow in mystery lake and killing a deer in coastal highway  

[Scyzara]

There's an archery target near the red barn in Pleasant valley. Just in case you want to practice bow shooting there before you start to go hunting.

[ChillPlayer]

16 hours ago, beechel said:

 Rifles are not much of an issue now, I am comfortable with the mechanics of the rifle

There's a simple "trick" to hunt down wolves with a rifle: crouch

Walk a bit backwards until it goes for it's final approach, crouch and track it with your aim. By crouching you are approximately aiming at it's heart/lung and most hits will be deadly. Going for the head is more tricky though and needs more practice/luck.

[beechel]

5 hours ago, Scyzara said:

There's an archery target near the red barn in Pleasant valley. Just in case you want to practice bow shooting there before you start to go hunting.

Thank you!  Never knew that - will definitely have to go there!

2 hours ago, ChillPlayer said:

There's a simple "trick" to hunt down wolves with a rifle: crouch

Walk a bit backwards until it goes for it's final approach, crouch and track it with your aim. By crouching you are approximately aiming at it's heart/lung and most hits will be deadly. Going for the head is more tricky though and needs more practice/luck.

Another thing I will have to try - thank you

[Dahoset]

there is a target in pleasant valley near a red farm  you can practice with a bow  it s help me a lot 

[the_watdabney]

I'll let you in on my little trick to make the shots more accurate. 

When hunting deer, I always try to get in front of them and have them walking towards me strait on.  Side shots for me seem to hit them but not always kill them right away, so by standing in front of them as they walk directly towards me, you have a much better chance on a head shot, or a shot directly to the chest cavity/heart/lungs area that drops them to the ground instantly.  I always crouch down and I let them walk as close to me as possible.  This works almost every time without too much in the way of misses.  I am using the rifle for this and have not tried the bow much, but maybe this can help.

For wolves, I just try to wait till they are charging and aim directly at their head.  This does not always work and the wolf will keep charging regardless of the gunshot in their face, which I still think is a bit much.  I was able to do this with a bow ONCE and got the wolf dead in the middle of it's forehead, but the next wolf that charged the arrow went wide and I got mauled.  Using the gun and trying to limit your losses on wasted bullets, I suggest only shooting wolves in the most dire of circumstances, but from a distance as I described above for the deer.  Even if you do miss, the wolf will probably run away from the noise.

The bow is a tough thing to aim and get kills regardless of how much you practice, but people have mentioned the target behind the big red barn in Pleasant Valley, so go give that a try for some practice.  I suggest trying the target from different distances to get your eye in on the arc of the arrow, as the further back you are, the more the arrow will need to be aimed higher to allow the arc to hit the target.  Good luck.