Wolf/dog pups?

[Danielle<3]

After watching the movie Riddick , i couldn't stop thinking of how he saved a wolf/jackal pup and raised it to fight , hunt and protect him and wondering if that is something that could be added in a world like the long dark where it is cold and animals die a lot due to the conditions. I know the long dark is about survival but i couldn't help wishing that it was in the game. sure it would make it harder to survive when the wolf is a puppy as you would have to feed it, carry it and make sure it doesn't get sick but when its big it could protect you and maybe even hunt a rabbet every now and then for you.It would also make it so that your not as lonely living out in the wild. tho id probably get too attached to it and cry if it died.

[Avril]

I don't think it is very realistic to be able to raise a wolf. Dog pups would surely die pretty fast in a scenario like TLD. A grown ass dog on the other hand.... Now we're talking. 

[glowing ice]

it can 100% work and fit into TLD. following TLD tradition it will be very hard!
new map added by timberwolf mountain, you find a timberwolf cave that looks like the mother of all bears ripped it asunder. inside you find a timberwolf cub, at this point it needs nourished and kept warm like you. everyday it will grow. it should take at least 50 days min to become an adult.  and every day you can play with it and train it.  if you don't  it will become feral and might even attack you. playing with him stops this. training with him you teach him whistle commands. stay, go here, fallow, track (using an item for scent). attack.   before the 50 days he will loosely follow commands, or outright ignore you.  after adulthood he will kill rabbits and deer himself while roaming, feeding him will no longer be a factor.  telling him to attack a bear/moose, if you let him do it by himself he will die, you will have to still shoot the bear/moose to kill it. and you'll have to make sure your aim is true or else you'll kill your friend. telling him to attack just prevents them from charging you. 

[Schrodingers Box]

this a a survival game. You don’t raise pets in survival. You eat them. while I would like there to possibly some purpose-driven mechanics to keep late play interesting, this idea does not fit the dynamic of this game .

[Derek0311]

I can see it both ways.  The last thing on my mind if dropped into a survival situation would be training animals.  On the other hand, if you’ve lived for 90 days and have a roof, a stove, and a trap line set up...am I in a survival situation anymore?  Trappers in the northern latitudes routinely do that for months.  Also, before snow machines, it was done with sled dogs.  It’s not too far fetched (pun intended).

[ManicManiac]

This gets discussed quite a bit, and I recommend to other folks reading this to also use the search function in addition to reading this thread.  I say that only because there has been a large amount of good discussion about this very topic.  Including many more ideas on how other folks would implement such a thing.

As for me, I really don't want NPCs or animal companions (wolf, dog, or otherwise) in the survival sandbox.

I think this could work fine in the Story Mode or as a dedicated Challenge... but I would not like it if this were incorporated into Survival Mode.  I think it would undermine the lonely isolation and personal struggle that I enjoy so much in survival mode.

Another reason, is that I think that if we had an animal companion... then we might have a hunting partner, or even to a limited extent a protector.
I don't like that idea because it makes life easier for the player... and I'm rarely in favor of things that would make life easier for the player.

Let me clarify that I'm not against the idea  of an animal companion... I just really don't want it in my Survival Sandbox. 

Personally, I don't think an animal companion really works from a lore perspective anyway.  I think even if we did find a wolf or dog... it would probably immediately try to eat our faces off due to the effects the aurora (in that carnivorous animals are preternaturally aggressive and blood thirsty).  Considering they would most likely just turn hyper-aggressive, I think it puts this particular type of animal companion somewhere in between "extremely dangerous" and "just not really possible under the circumstances."

Edited December 27, 2020 by ManicManiac

[Derek0311]

I’m with ManicManiac on this one.  Sandbox could be tough to implement.  I personally wouldn’t want the burden but others wouldn’t mind it so, hey, to each their own.  Would you also want to implement a realistic life cycle for the pooch?  So, as a puppy it needs constant care.  A young dog, it’s a benefit.  An older dog slows down and at a certain point you have to take it behind a shed?  Some of you guys are legends with long runs in the game.  It’s long enough to be a dogs lifespan.  Sorry to ruin the mood but if we are trying for realism...

Edited December 27, 2020 by Derek0311
Edit

[AnotherColdDay]

On 12/27/2020 at 5:55 PM, ManicManiac said:

...
As for me, I really don't want NPCs or animal companions (wolf, dog, or otherwise) in the survival sandbox.

Another reason, is that I think that if we had an animal companion... then we might have a hunting partner, or even to a limited extent a protector.
I don't like that idea because it makes life easier for the player... and I'm rarely in favor of things that would make life easier for the player.

Let me clarify that I'm not against the idea  of an animal companion... I just really don't want it in my Survival Sandbox. 

...

Hey Manic,

1. You named it, it is a Sandbox. In a Sandbox you are free to do, what you want. No one forces you to take use of the mechanic, if you don't like it.

2. This Game tells a lot of loneliness and silence. We are humans, even our characters are humans. We humans felling not comfortable to be alone. This is a evolutionary thing in us, that wants to connect with others. This is why mankind start raising Wolfpups back in the feudal age. Some of us get so much mental pain and suffer from other human beings, that despite our need to be social, we appreciate the isolation. But animals don't hurt mental, they heal what humans have broken.