Will dogs ever be added in-game?


thekillergreece

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This is a highly popular request that the community wants to see in. A companion dog with its own needs (hunger, thirsty) which can reduce your resources significantly, following the character on the journey. Protecting the master, attacking wildlife on order (including hunting), etc.

If I remember correctly, Raphael has stated that it is indeed a fact that everyone wants a dog in and is probably interested to add that. I might be wrong, that was ages ago.

Now that the team has hired more animators and bought a better motion capture equipment, it will be no doubt they will add cougar, horses, etc. What do you think?

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I'd love to see this, plus one thing I'd always wanted is a pull sled of some sort. A dog sled would even be better. 

I'd settle for the first draft of it even just being a menu thing, non animated dog. Maybe some text pop ups that let you know there is one you found , gaining trust ect then it can show in your menu. show its stats etc. 

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Guest jeffpeng

I'm probably in the vast minority, but I actually wouldn't really like that. The entire "solutide" thing is something I thoroughly enjoy in TLD. As for if they are going to implement it: if they can I guess they will. It's a community favorite since like forever. If they sold it as some sort of DLC, it would probably be a much needed cash cow. My biggest "problem" with that, however, is that I just think, that TLD has bigger and more important fish to fry, first. But that's just me.

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I'm against adding companion animals (or NPCs, by the way). Apart from the trouble of feeding your animal (which could actually be interesting) there'a the high mortality issue. Sneak attacks by wolves aren't unlikely, and I have a hard time figuring out a way to protect an animal. Then what? You wait for another one to be delivered in an orbital drop pod?

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2 hours ago, Doc Feral said:

I'm against adding companion animals (or NPCs, by the way). Apart from the trouble of feeding your animal (which could actually be interesting) there'a the high mortality issue. Sneak attacks by wolves aren't unlikely, and I have a hard time figuring out a way to protect an animal. Then what? You wait for another one to be delivered in an orbital drop pod?

While I like the imagery of a man and his dog v. the wilderness, I admit that in other games I've generally shied away from pets and mounts. In Minecraft, for instance, tame wolves and horses can actually be a bit of a pain to deal with and/or keep alive. I am very much a dog person IRL (see my pic) so I also don't like the idea of getting my pooch killed while dealing with an angry bear or some such. Perhaps it could be a custom setting, like turning on or off rifle spawns? Or maybe they don't appear on higher difficulty levels?

A variation that would be interesting to me -but honestly probably doesn't fit the game's aesthetic- would be finding ways to accommodate wolves with more than a decoy. Like if you shot a deer and left the whole carcass for the wolves (or at least the meat and guts), they'd be less hungry and ignore you for a few days. I know that part of the point is that the wildlife is acting weird because of the aurora, but it's fun to think about.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you read the notes that you find in Wintermute you will learn that the dogs on the island did not fare so well after the wolves started multiplying and becoming more aggressive. We have lots of empty dog houses, lots of cans of dog food, no dogs. I get the feeling that wolves find dogs very tasty, and would kill them off in a hurry, as trespassers, or competition. Why would they add a companion animal to the game that is likely to die the first time we take it outdoors, and run into a wolf, bear or moose?

Horses make no sense in my mind. There is no indication of stables where people kept horses, or a need to have them. People had cars, trucks, tractor trailers, tractors. No need for horses to get around. Horses would have been an expensive luxury to feed and keep up on a remote island that was undergoing financial downfall and experiencing natural disasters. I could see cows or goats, as they may have provided fresh milk, cheese and meat to island residents, and hides for leather tanning, but I would not expect to find any alive once people started leaving or dying off.

I honestly don;t see how having a pet would make the game "deeper", it would honestly feel really fake to me, much more fictional and over-the-top imaginary, than being solo, alone, finding nothing but wild creatures and dead humans around. I just don;t see the point of adding any domesticated animals that tend to need humans to help them survive, when all or most of the humans are dead. Maybe in Wintermute, but no way in Survival Mode. 

 

Would you be able to kill and eat Spot, if it came down to either you or your dog freezing and starving to death? Or harvest it for meat and guts if/when it dies from cold, thirst and starvation? Seriously, the way the game brutalizes us, are you expecting it to be like The Sims and treat your pet like a prince or princess?

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All of the above ... survival in a solitary wilderness doesn't sound like a journey with your pet dog to me. 

It wouldn't be lots of fun gameplay-wise either, if you ask me. A scared dog will make it impossible to go into stealth mode to avoid wolves and bear (and the moose, I don't know the plural form of that word, sorry). It may  bark, run, or attack in a close (or not so close) encounter. Nope, I'd rather sneak around on my own. 

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I'm not sure that pet is a good idea either. In game I see dogs only as corpses. To the presence of the dog canned food didn't look so ridiculous. Also I think if the dogs added to the game, they would have been yet another threat. A wild dog is dangerous.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If the Aurora has been affecting wildlife and making them more aggressive, it's quite possible that any dogs alive on the island are as well. They most likely would hunt for themselves and be skittish/aggressive around humans. 

On 11/29/2018 at 6:13 AM, k0s0ff said:

A wild dog is dangerous.

I can confirm, ever play "One Shot One Kill" in C0D Modern Warfare? ;)

On 12/7/2018 at 6:06 PM, ThePancakeLady said:

Moosen

"MOOSEN! I saw a flock of moosen! There were many of 'em. Many much, moosen. Out in the woods—in the woodes—in the woodsen.

The meese want the food. Food is to eatenesen!" -Brian Regan

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I think it was "Life After People" that said domestic dogs would be immediately outranked and outcompeted by wolves and other predators. Cats would probably do okay. Rabies might kill them all. (I'm skeptical about the rabies. It would suck but is it really that rampant in the wild? eh).

The issue with the snowpocalypse is the cold. Domestic dogs who aren't Saint Bernards and the like would freeze to death. (So would most cats I'm guessing lol). 
The only hope a dog would have of surviving is if he found a human quickly and that human wasn't starving. 
Just my only mildly-informed opinion.

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On 11/29/2018 at 7:13 AM, k0s0ff said:

I'm not sure that pet is a good idea either. In game I see dogs only as corpses. To the presence of the dog canned food didn't look so ridiculous. Also I think if the dogs added to the game, they would have been yet another threat. A wild dog is dangerous.

They'd form packs quickly. This happens on the streets of some countries where domesticated dogs are let out at night and they just patrol in their packs. Some of them are strays and I'm guessing some even feral. So, yeah. If dogs do that when people are around, you bet if dogs could survive on the island, they'd be in packs no safer than wolf packs---and just as hungry.

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Guest kristaok

I think either an ability to tame a wolf should be added, or a Husky / Alaskan Malamute companion with the ability to craft a sled that has the ability to hold a certain amount of gear.

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On 20/12/2018 at 11:21 PM, reginaphalange said:

They'd form packs quickly. This happens on the streets of some countries where domesticated dogs are let out at night and they just patrol in their packs. Some of them are strays and I'm guessing some even feral. So, yeah. If dogs do that when people are around, you bet if dogs could survive on the island, they'd be in packs no safer than wolf packs---and just as hungry.

I don't think that applies to the situation on Great Bear Island. The human population was very sparse before The Event, and the domestic dog population would have been equally so. How many dogs were there in Pleasant Valley? One? Two? Coastal Highway might have had 3 or 4. And when people left they'd have probably taken their dogs. 

I think it's likely that if there were any dogs left behind at all, they'd be very few and far between. If they survived the cold and the wolves, they'd still be domestic dogs and used to being around humans as companions. 

I think packs of aggressive feral dogs in The Long Dark would be pretty unbelievable.

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17 hours ago, Pillock said:

I don't think that applies to the situation on Great Bear Island. The human population was very sparse before The Event, and the domestic dog population would have been equally so. How many dogs were there in Pleasant Valley? One? Two? Coastal Highway might have had 3 or 4. And when people left they'd have probably taken their dogs. 

I think it's likely that if there were any dogs left behind at all, they'd be very few and far between. If they survived the cold and the wolves, they'd still be domestic dogs and used to being around humans as companions. 

I think packs of aggressive feral dogs in The Long Dark would be pretty unbelievable.

I still think any dogs who were left behind, or already living feral would have become quick food for the local wolf and bear population once humans were gone, or almost gone. And I doubt the Moose population would have reacted well to any hungry mongrels who dared to approach them.
And taming aggressive, "rabid" acting wolves, who tend to ignore obvious food (decoys) thrown in front of them, if you mistime the throw... not something I see happening. These are wolves who are not normal, and not friendly to people, and probably never were. We would need to find newborn pups, still strong enough to survive if we very carefully nurse them, and probably would need to have killed Wolf Mom to find it/them. Better have a good supply of condensed milk and blood from prey animals to mix with it for a few weeks, until puppers grows a few teeth capable of eating ground or softened raw meat. 

 

Honestly, this seems like something that would require an entirely new game, because the complexities of the mechanics and systems needed to make this work, and feel good in TLD, would not be an easy task, even with the expanded team.  It could happen, but... not sure it should.

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On 12/23/2018 at 1:28 AM, kristaok said:

I think either an ability to tame a wolf should be added, or a Husky / Alaskan Malamute companion with the ability to craft a sled that has the ability to hold a certain amount of gear.

Could take a page from novels I've read where a mama animal is killed and, lo, there be spawn lol. Taming an infant animal isn't that hard, though still a wild animal it could turn easily on its master. So, risky if a wolf. Different if a wolf-dog hybrid.

I think it would be spectacular to have a dogsled option but the practicality of maintaining it is nonexistent lol. What would be cool however: You tame a canine of some sort and they draw along a travois so you can, basically, drag an entire deer carcass home like that.

(that said... humans could drag along a travois too!)

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