Friendly wildlife (Pet dog anyone?)

[starfighter441]

As far as taming goes, you only need about a minute and a scrap of food to have a Whiskey Jack eating out of your hand.

[treesaver4future]

It would be interesting if there was a game mode where wolves have a 50/50 chance of either running from you or attacking you. I think it would give a bit of suspenseful anticipation for the player.

I don't think it would be too far from realism to try to create some kind of strategic alliance with at least some of the living creatures in the environment if one was stuck alone to survive. I don't think it should be an easy task, however.

[Dirmagnos]

Depends on what do you mean by "strategic alliance".

[illanthropist]

I like the companion in the Flame and the Flood, not sure how well it would work in this game first person though, instead I'll just keep looking for Mr Wilson.

[bethany]

Certainly a popular request and one that's been discussed quite a few times, as Bill was kind enough to point out. Personally, I find myself shying away from this idea. I can't imagine how guilty I'd feel or how upset I'd be if a bear or wolf got the best of my furry companion =( 

[Dirmagnos]

To be completely honest id like to kill that dog myself half the time in FitF. He constantly barks on everything, even if theres nothing there and, im not sure, but i think he alerts wolves with that barking as well. If not for the fact that hes a walking pouch, id probably would try to kill him myself every time i get a chance.

Aside from horrible controls and camera angles(when you carefully navigate your raft just right between two rock on the river, then *cencored* camera angle shifts and you ride right into one as result), dog is second most irritating thing in that game.

Id love to have a dog companion in the game, but most definitely nothing like one in FitF.

[illanthropist]

3 minutes ago, Dirmagnos said:

To be completely honest id like to kill that dog myself half the time in FitF

Lol, still not purchased it yet, must have half a dozen steam games with less than 2hrs playtime but that would be my feeling too.  Half of my enjoyment is patrolling listening out for danger I imagine a dog would ruin that to some degree.

 

2 hours ago, Bethany Williams said:

Personally, I find myself shying away from this idea. I can't imagine how guilty I'd feel or how upset I'd be if a bear or wolf got the best of my furry companion =( 

Me too, especially if forced to chow down on foo foo, by all accounts they do taste better than wolf though 

[hauteecolerider]

After playing this game in sandbox mode (have I yet mentioned that this is the most fun I've had playing any game in sandbox mode?? Almost not looking forward to the Story mode . . . ) and spending several days in the PV farmhouse, I almost feel friendly towards that bear. Felt bad killing him for his pelt, but hey, I need it for that bedroll! After spending seven or ten days in Mystery Lake, I was happy to see another bear patrolling near the farmhouse.

I think it would be immersive, instead of a pet that is dependent on you for food, water, shelter, etc, to have a "partnership" with a wild predator like a bear who has accepted your presence. As long as both of you keep a respectful distance from each other, you could drop raw venison some distance away from the safe house for him, and he would keep those wolves away just by hanging around the apple orchard (at least, that's what I think the farm is). 

Not being Timothy Treadwell here -- just think that it's possible to form a coexistence with other creatures as long as there is respect on both sides. I wouldn't get too close to the bear, especially carrying food! But if I'm on the porch and he strolls by, I'd like to just stay put and feel that he'd just walk on past without feeling threatened by me.

[Dirmagnos]

Dog could be... a dog. Not a tank. It could die, but it could be rather useful companion as well, with list of basic commands, like "fetch"(so that he would search immediate area and bring back some item of random value that he can find, be it a stick or a rogue can of peaches) or "stay"(if player wannts to keep dog safe when going on a dangerous hunt). Could chase rabbits, used to lure deer in, stay away from wolves/bears, unless that wolf is at players throat, then it would try to intervene and fight it off.

Would have general scout attitude, circling around player, with selection of growls/barks that would indicate its condition, like "wolf that way" or "look, theres some stuff here". His attitude would vary depending on various values, like staying real close in storm or when storm is approaching or when there are wolves nearby or how well hes been fed.

@hauteecolerider What you are referring 2 is called habituation and it wont animal friendly(animal just tolerate human a bit better). It merely makes it to view you as source of food and decrease threat distance. On the down side, its still a wild animal and it can easily attack player as any wild animal would. Player would just have less time to react in this case.