New Animals

[Forrest]

We want new Animals like 

Owl , squirrel and others . 

It will be interesting and it will make game alive 

[EjectedCasings]

This kind of thing has been brought up a lot, and there are good arguments to be made for or against it.

[Forrest]

Against it ? What is against it 

[odizzido]

Likely development time. Is it worth making squirrels over other things? I don't have an answer for that.

[Forrest]

I don't mean only squirrel . 

I mean new Animals like beavers , Squirrel , owls 

[EjectedCasings]

Adding different animals and sources of calories and hides would probably change the balance of the game. For instance, when timberwolves were added it changed the way a lot of people approached them. Granted, they're only in BI at the moment, but they're definitely something to plan for. All the animals serve a purpose. Rabbits are a decent source of easy to get calories. Their pelts can be used to make hats and mittens. Deer are fairly common, and are a larger source of calories. Wolves are your main adversaries, and should generally be avoided unless you want to make a good coat. Bears and moose are tanks that have a lot of meat on them, and they make some good equipment from their skins. All the animals in the game serve a purpose. Something like a squirrel would just be a reskinned rabbit, and I don't think that that is a good use of the devs time, when they could be making new maps and story mode episodes. Granted, more animals would add more immersion and maybe shake things up a little, but they would need to serve a purpose. The only animal I can think of that I would want is a beaver. They live in rivers and you would need a special trap for them. The real reason you would want to trap some would be for their hide, which could be crafted into a pair of very waterproof boots. Get rid of the deerskin ones and change it into a deerskin shirt or something.

[Willbonney]

Most of the "new animal" type suggestions I find not very well thought out.  The moose was a good add in my opinion based on population and region.  I believer cougars/mt. lions would make another good add for the same reason.  The lynx would be another decent add in my opinion based on the rabbit population, because in NA the lynx are the main predators of the snowshoe hare.

Birds however migrate away from the cold.  Sure the game has crows and somebody must have thought they were a good idea, but honestly I don't expect to see one in extreme colds.  Just Googling "crow migration" comes up with

Where do crows go in the winter?

• It has been stated that crows migrate out of those areas where the minimum January temperature averages 0 F. Certainly crows leave the northern Great Plains in the fall, leaving Saskatchewan and Alberta to winter in the lower Plains states of Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma (Kalmbach, E. R., and S. E. Aldous. 1940.

[Forrest]

@EjectedCasings

You have a point man . I am agree with you . And adding beavers will be perfect addition of new Animals in new chapters . 

I hope they could do that . 

I only want addition of owl and beavers 

[Forrest]

@Willbonney

You can't add crows in that . 

Yes you can add snow owls in that . 

We can hear owls in game but they are not present in game 

[Willbonney]

@Forrest

Again, not well researched.  Snowy Owls are tundra animals.  They prefer little to no tree cover, with shrubs, moss, and lichen.  They are also on the endangered species list, and to add them to a video game in a form where they could be hunted, that would be a bad idea.  Bad PR and I'm sure an animal rights group would get on Hinterland's case.

[Willbonney]

Sorry, Snowy Owls listed as VU or "vulnerable" currently on IUCN's "Red List," one level above endangered.

[manolitode]

On 11/24/2020 at 9:47 AM, Forrest said:

Owl , squirrel and others . 

It will be interesting and it will make game alive 

New animals is a recurrent idea as mentioned above. Surely this is an indication of some level of support for the idea. Owls haven't been suggested too often, it seems to me like a nice idea to introduce a bird with more meat on them than the crow. I'm not sure that realism is a big issue here, if we can have wolves with green glowing aurora eyes, owls that stay in winter aren't out of the question 😊 Perturbing the balance of the echosystem seem like the main issue, introducing one new animal means big time ripples on the water for how the game is played. 

2 hours ago, Willbonney said:

Snowy Owls are tundra animals.  They prefer little to no tree cover, with shrubs, moss, and lichen.  They are also on the endangered species list, and to add them to a video game in a form where they could be hunted, that would be a bad idea.  Bad PR and I'm sure an animal rights group would get on Hinterland's case.

Aren't they mostly about protecting real life animals and not pixel ones? I could be wrong but I don't recall Human Rights Watch getting on EA Games case for being able to throw incendiary grenades in Battlefield. 

[Forrest]

@Willbonney@Will

Not possible to case of hinterland . 

You can see 100 of games in which we use hunting of 100 of animals . 

Like hunting simulator 

Gta 

Red dead redemption 2 and other many games

[ajb1978]

 

23 hours ago, EjectedCasings said:

 The only animal I can think of that I would want is a beaver. They live in rivers and you would need a special trap for them. The real reason you would want to trap some would be for their hide, which could be crafted into a pair of very waterproof boots.

Beavertail hat! Protects the back of your neck, better defense rating than rabbitskin.  Although beavers would be very difficult to capture since they are very inactive during winter. They really only come out after dark to forage food or fix up their dams or whatever.  The actual beaver lodge itself would be way out on thin ice where you'd have no hope of actually reaching, so if you wanted to trap a beaver you'd have to break the dam, then set up a trap by the break.

 

[ManicManiac]

Another thing to keep in mind... there is also such a thing as cramming in too much "stuff."

There can come a point when folks want to add so many things that it could feel bloated, cluttered, and too densely populated that it undermines the very experience itself.

I get that some folks want Hinterland to painstakingly try to simulate a living forest/ecosystem... but I think careful balance is also needed to preserve the feel of the experience Hinterland has crafted.  I think feeling of loneliness, isolation, and desolation of the landscape is apart of that.

I think it's worth bearing in mind that this is an ecosystem that has been systematically stripped and exploited... so I think having dwindling animal diversities kind of fits that theme.  It also helps to drive home that life (in general) on the island has been struggling, and the island itself has been sort of "slowly dying" since long before the First Flare (as a result of the unsustainable and wholesale stripping of the island over the previous decades).

Edited November 26, 2020 by ManicManiac

[Willbonney]

15 hours ago, manolitode said:

Aren't they mostly about protecting real life animals and not pixel ones? I could be wrong but I don't recall Human Rights Watch getting on EA Games case for being able to throw incendiary grenades in Battlefield. 

Not really, no.  Was a game not long ago that allowed players to hunt polar bear.  A group got on their case and they no longer create games that allow it as an option.  Currently there is one other game I know of that's been getting similar attention.

[mayimbe]

Before thinking about adding new animals, it would be good to think about animals typical of the north of Canada, squirrels, beavers, lynxes and lions have nothing to do with the area and I do not think it is a good complement. there are crows in winter in the area of yellowknife and north that survive in sub-zero temperatures, there are owls and other fauna that could be included in the future. It is just my opinion.

[Willbonney]

5 minutes ago, mayimbe said:

Before thinking about adding new animals, it would be good to think about animals typical of the north of Canada, squirrels, beavers, lynxes and lions have nothing to do with the area and I do not think it is a good complement. there are crows in winter in the area of yellowknife and north that survive in sub-zero temperatures, there are owls and other fauna that could be included in the future. It is just my opinion.

Um, what?  Try Googling "Canada Lynx," quite literally a type of Lynx.  Or Google cougars (also called mountain lions or puma) in Canada.  British Columbia states over 4,000 in population and most sites I've read state the Yukon as it's most northern range.

[mayimbe]

1 hour ago, Willbonney said:

¿Um que? Intente buscar en Google "Canada Lynx", literalmente un tipo de Lynx. O los pumas de Google (también llamados pumas o pumas) en Canadá. Columbia Británica tiene más de 4.000 habitantes y la mayoría de los sitios que he leído afirman que el Yukón es el rango más al norte.

the yukon is not the northernmost place in canada. With reference to the pumas surely if there is in Canada.

[Willbonney]

12 minutes ago, mayimbe said:

the yukon is not the northernmost place in canada. With reference to the pumas surely if there is in Canada.

Again, huh?  Northern border of the Yukon is the Arctic Ocean... 

Edited to add:  Sure there's some more northern points in Northwest Territory and Nunavut, but islands.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Willbonney

[Willbonney]

As a reference:  https://www.discovervancouverisland.com/wildlife-on-vancouver-island/cougars/

[mayimbe]

14 minutes ago, Willbonney said:

Como referencia:   https://www.discovervancouverisland.com/wildlife-on-vancouver-island/cougars/

the pumas if it would be good to add them because they are from the north of america, canada. Animals from the Canadian environment would be good if they were added.

[Satouthedeusmusco]

First off. Let me say that I'm the kind of person that doesn't believe balance is the be all end all of a singleplayer game. I don't think every item should be as important as the other. And I don't think some strategies being objectively better than others will ruin a game like the long dark.

In my opinion, adding more animals is great as long as they are significantly different from the other animals. There are two animals in particular that I think would be great additions.

Boar: Don’t let your opinion of domestic pigs fool you, the boar is a dangerous beast. Boars prefer running away, but if they are cornered they might charge and initiate a struggle with the player. A boar struggle is slightly less dangerous than a wolf struggle and just like a wolf struggle you can fight back. Boars will also run from predators, players in the path of a fleeing boar will be knocked down, suffering a sprain. Gameplay wise, the boar could serve as a somewhat dangerous prey animals that isn't a moose. I think the game kind of lacks an intermediate

threat right now. Currently I find it a bit weird that there are so many predators but so little prey. Loot wise boar hides aren’t that useful. But they have good meat and plenty of guts on them.

Cougar: A new apex predator. The cougar will serve as a dangerous late game threat. She’ll be very rare and elusive. Like the moose, if you want to hunt her you’ll have to look for scratch marks on trees where she sharpens her claws. Like bears you might find a cougar sleeping in a cave, and like wolves you might find a cougar feasting on a recent kill.

But don’t think you’ll often be the one hunting her, she’ll challenge your position at the top of the food chain by hunting you. Cougars will actively stalk the player. The process will be very in-depth. The player will know that a cougar as begun stalking them when they wake up during the night to the sound of the cougars bloodcurdling screams. In the morning the play will find scratch marks surrounding their base. The stalking process will now begin. The player must avoid cramped passages and sharp corners where the cougar might ambush the player. The player must avoid sleeping outside without a fire or risk being awoken by sharp claws and teeth. Even caves and fishing huts aren’t safe. The player should also frequently look behind themselves for the cat might strike in the back. Gameplay wise the devs at Hinterland could save a lot of effort here while also making this stalking more tense by not actually spawning the cougar in during the stalking phase. If the player is prudent and never gives the cougar the opportunity to strike she might give up on stalking the player and leave them alone. Overconfident of desperate players will eventually be ambushed. During the ambush the cougar will actually spawn (either behind the player, around a corner or at the entrance of a cave that the player is sleeping in) and pounce. A cougar pounce leads to the most dangerous struggle in the game as while the player can fight back, losing it will always result in death (you're her next meal after all). Loot wise cougar hide could be used to craft a stealth robe that makes the player harder to detect. The meat is pretty bad, and there are few guts on the cougar.

 

And lastly there are a couple of animals that I think would make a fun addition, though they probably wouldn’t be that impactful.

I’d like to see some kind of bird that spends lots of time on the ground like a turkey or pheasant. I’m not actually Canadian so I don’t know what bird it would be or if they even exist. It’d be similar to a rabbit but rarer and harder to hunt. You wouldn’t be able to stone it like a rabbit. The bird would have some high quality meat but most important you’d be able to gather a large number of feathers from it that you could use to craft higher quality arrows that travel further.

I’d like to see some kind of ferret of weasel. It’d be incredibly rare and would hunt rabbits. It would also steal dead rabbits from your snares. You could stone it like a rabbit, but if you catch it you’d have to initiate a mini struggle where it will claw and bite at you before you can finish it off which could give you a nasty infected bite wound and cause bleeding. It would have little meat and guts but from his hide you could make a very high quality hat and gloves

[Avril]

Wolverine 

[mayimbe]

3 hours ago, Satouthedeusmusco said:

Antes que nada. Déjame decir que soy el tipo de persona que no cree que el equilibrio sea el final de un juego para un solo jugador. No creo que todos los elementos deban ser tan importantes como los demás. Y no creo que algunas estrategias sean objetivamente mejores que otras arruinarán un juego como el de la oscuridad.

 

En mi opinión, agregar más animales es genial siempre que sean significativamente diferentes de los otros animales. Hay dos animales en particular que creo que serían grandes adiciones.

 

Jabalí: No dejes que tu opinión sobre los cerdos domésticos te engañe, el jabalí es una bestia peligrosa. Los jabalíes prefieren huir, pero si están acorralados pueden cargar e iniciar una lucha con el jugador. Una lucha de jabalíes es un poco menos peligrosa que una lucha de lobos y, al igual que una lucha de lobos, puedes contraatacar. Los jabalíes también huirán de los depredadores, los jugadores en el camino de un jabalí que huye serán derribados, sufriendo un esguince. En cuanto a la jugabilidad, el jabalí podría servir como una presa algo peligrosa que no es un alce. Creo que el juego carece de un intermedio

 

amenaza ahora mismo. Actualmente me parece un poco extraño que haya tantos depredadores pero tan poca presa. Las pieles de jabalí sabias con el botín no son tan útiles. Pero tienen buena carne y muchas agallas.

 

Puma: un nuevo depredador ápice. El puma servirá como una peligrosa amenaza al final del juego. Será muy rara y esquiva. Al igual que el alce, si quieres cazarlo tendrás que buscar marcas de arañazos en los árboles donde afila sus garras. Al igual que los osos, puede encontrar un puma durmiendo en una cueva, y como los lobos, puede encontrar un puma que se da un festín con una muerte reciente.

 

Pero no creas que a menudo serás tú quien la persiga, ella desafiará tu posición en la cima de la cadena alimenticia cazándote. Los pumas acecharán activamente al jugador. El proceso será muy profundo. El jugador sabrá que un puma comenzó a acecharlos cuando se despierten durante la noche con el sonido de los gritos espeluznantes de los pumas. Por la mañana, la obra encontrará marcas de arañazos alrededor de su base. Ahora comenzará el proceso de acecho. El jugador debe evitar los pasajes estrechos y las esquinas afiladas donde el puma podría emboscar al jugador. El jugador debe evitar dormir afuera sin un fuego o arriesgarse a ser despertado por garras y dientes afilados. Incluso las cuevas y las cabañas de pesca no son seguras. El jugador también debe mirar hacia atrás con frecuencia para ver si el gato podría golpear en la espalda. En cuanto a la jugabilidad, los desarrolladores de Hinterland podrían ahorrar mucho esfuerzo aquí al mismo tiempo que hacen que este acecho sea más tenso al no generar al puma durante la fase de acecho. Si el jugador es prudente y nunca le da al puma la oportunidad de atacar, podría dejar de acosar al jugador y dejarlo en paz. El exceso de confianza en los jugadores desesperados eventualmente será emboscado. Durante la emboscada, el puma aparecerá (ya sea detrás del jugador, en una esquina o en la entrada de una cueva en la que el jugador duerme) y saltará. Un ataque de puma conduce a la lucha más peligrosa del juego, ya que, si bien el jugador puede defender, perderlo siempre resultará en la muerte (después de todo, eres su comida próxima). La piel de puma sabia en el botín podría usarse para crear una túnica sigilosa que hace que el jugador sea más difícil de detectar. La carne es bastante mala

 

 

 

Y, por último, hay un par de animales que creo que incluye una adición divertida, aunque probablemente no haya terminado tan impactantes.

 

Me gustaría ver algún tipo de pájaro que pase mucho tiempo en el suelo como un pavo o un faisán. En realidad, no soy canadiense, así que no sé qué pájaro sería o si siquiera existen. Sería similar a un conejo pero más raro y más difícil de cazar. No podrías apedrearlo como un conejo. El pájaro necesitaría carne de alta calidad, pero lo más importante es que podrías recolectar una gran cantidad de plumas que podrías usar para crear flechas de mayor calidad que viajen más lejos.

 

Me gustaría ver una especie de hurón de comadreja. Sería increíblemente raro y cazaría conejos. También robaría conejos muertos de tus trampas. Podrías apedrearlo como un conejo, pero si lo atrapas tendrías que iniciar una mini lucha en la que te arañará y morderá antes de que puedas rematarlo, lo que podría darte una desagradable mordedura infectada y sangrar. Tendría poca carne y tripas pero con su piel podrías hacer un sombrero y guantes de muy alta calidad.

And to defend ourselves? Because since they removed the decoys I am not able to hit a wolf first without ending up in a fight