Feedback - Pleasant Valley v.196

[BAC]

I decided to start a new adventure after the release of the Pleasant Valley map and have spent my time (20 days) exclusively in this map by unlocking it in a prior adventure/death.

Likes

1)The functional transparent windows on the back porch of the farmhouse. I would love to see these implemented on more structures, especially the Trapper's Cabin

2)The new harvestable materials, especially the cattails.

3)The extended weather events. Very challenging when you get caught out and huddle in a car for over a day to prevent wind damage, slowly freezing to death

4) The doghouse is a nice touch. If it were just slightly larger it would allow a crouching player to crawl inside as a refuge. If these were placed randomly among the many burned out buildings it would offer a shelter and break from the wind. Also a fire could potentially be lit in front of the doghouse. I nice emergency addition for players thinking on their feet.

Dislike\bug?

1)After the v.196 hot fix, I have not seen a single wolf in over 10 days game time. The deer also seem to be slightly less populated. I had killed 3 wolves prior to the hot fix, but the proposed experimental population model was supposed to be in CH only I believe? Has anyone else witnessed a lack of wolves since the patch?

I have not ventured to another map yet, but will do so shortly. I'm not sure if it's related to a saved game issue and the patch or not.

2)The weather transitions - still extreme and too fast in my opinion. Going from calm to gale force whiteout in a matter of less than an hour in game on a consistent basis seems a bit extreme.

[Cosmoline]

The storms do seem to be getting a bit more brutal. I like this change, as it helps to keep the game from being about wolves.

Speaking of which, I've noticed the wolves have gone down a notch in aggression in PV and will now vanish even after you kill just one of their number. Specifically, to complete a coat I needed one more hide. So I approached a pack of three wolves near the barn on PV. One saw me and pursued, and I led him back toward the farmhouse away from his pack. Shot him, took the meat, etc. Since then the rest of the wolves have not returned. Another example--I did a double kill of a wolf on a deer. The second wolf in the distance was not shot but has truly appeared to vanish from the game. I'm not sure if this is a bug or intentional. I think it's more realistic, and it actually makes for more of a challenge since you really need those beasts to help generate meat esp. later in the game. But I can see it causing aggro from the players who do actually want the game to have wolves in the place of and taking the role of zombies.

[BAC]

Haha, no aggro intended here. I have actually been playing in Pilgrim mode to avoid the hassles of the wolf attacks. Pleasant Valley has been offering a great challenge just trying to survive and make it from shelter to shelter without dieing in a storm. But, as you say, the wolves provide a very necessary part in acquiring substantial meat and guts later on. I am proud to say that my deer herding skill has improved significantly.

I initially thought that the population model had carried over and perhaps the prior kills would cause a temporary lack of wolves in the area. But I then began to expect that through migration or just an opening in the ecosystem that more wolves would have begun to filter and spawn back into the area.

UPDATE - sorry about all the additional wolf concern. I have found another wolf in Pleasant Valley.