Bear on Mystery Lake too easy to hunt

[Hotzn]

Starting a new run on the Mystery Lake map, I hunted the bear on the lake. Due to the proximity of buildings, I find this too easy (at least for Stalker), since the hunting strategy of choice is to shoot the bear once and seek shelter to wait for it to bleed out. One rifle round equals one bear. The exciting thing about bears in Pleasant Valley - at least to me - was the fact that they were located a fair bit away from buildings and required some kind of planned hunting trip. In Mystery Lake, this is different.

[Greavette]

Where is the bear in mystery lake?!?

[Scyzara]

Starting a new run on the Mystery Lake map, I hunted the bear on the lake. Due to the proximity of buildings, I find this too easy (at least for Stalker), since the hunting strategy of choice is to shoot the bear once and seek shelter to wait for it to bleed out. One rifle round equals one bear. The exciting thing about bears in Pleasant Valley - at least to me - was the fact that they were located a fair bit away from buildings and required some kind of planned hunting trip. In Mystery Lake, this is different.

The same is true for the bears in Coastal Highway. Two (if not even all three, I haven't hunted the third one yet) of them can be shot from the doorsteps of buildings. While this is of course very convenient for the player, I don't think that it really benefits the game's balance.

I guess I particularly dislike the combination of 5 day bear respawns AND doorstep-shots.

If the bears had MUCH longer respawn times (150days+), the "no risk"-kills wouldn't bother me very much. People would still have to leave their bases to acquire other kinds of food before the bear respawns and might be shot again.

But as the bears currently respawn so incredibly fast (WAY before you've eaten up the meat of the previous bear), I believe they should at least be risky to hunt. As it is right now, you can live on nothing but bears for all eternity and won't ever have to think about your food supplies prior to day 1500 or something (=whenever you run out of bullets).

Plus, I find it a bit counterintuitive that most wolves (those who don't patrol next to buildings) are harder to hunt than bears.

[Hotzn]

Where is the bear in mystery lake?!?

On the lake, near Lone Cabin.

[Hotzn]

I guess I particularly dislike the combination of 5 day bear respawns AND doorstep-shots.

I just confirmed in my game that bears now respawn quite quickly. You are right, the combination makes things far too easy now.

[DenverDad]

I guess I particularly dislike the combination of 5 day bear respawns AND doorstep-shots.

I just confirmed in my game that bears now respawn quite quickly. You are right, the combination makes things far too easy now.

Agreed. We need to make the respawn time longer and possibly address the ability to lure bears to fishing huts or cabins. I wouldn't mind if this was a once in a while rare occurrence but on the Coastal Highway map I've had two bears wander right up to the first fishing hut from the little fishing village. I literally peaked out, shot the bear and just waited in the hut (with a giant doorway) for the bear to bleed out.

I think a few things with this situation need to change:

1. Bear AI is pretty silly right now. They are perfectly content to casually follow you all the way across the map if you want them to for easy kills. Either their charge radius needs to be greatly increased or the chance that they may randomly charge you even at a distance needs to be added. When I encountered my very first bear in v228 I shot it at a distance and was surprised when it casually started walking toward me.

2. Exploiting fishing huts is a related issue. It is too easy to hole up in a fishing hut with no door for weeks at a time. We either need to add a door so you have to open it and manually step outside to gather firewood or make it so animals can come inside the huts. (I'm going to see if we have an issue for this open already) That bear I shot should have been able to tear me a new one.

[DenverDad]

Where is the bear in mystery lake?!?

There are two spawning locations for bears in Mystery Lake. One is by the lone cabin on the lake as others suggested. The other is by the hunting blind at the unnamed pond.

[traceyle]

The Balcony work the same, bear cant attack me when i stay in there, the way in is big enough for them.

But if they change this, then how do we hunting bear again? when we cant stand in high rock, or stay in fishing hut and balcony. Do we have to get in house everytime? Hmm, yeah, need to change this, to be fair. And absolutely need to respawn after 150 days, too.

[DenverDad]

Here is a short clip of me exploiting fishing huts to hunt bears as a reference:

http://www.twitch.tv/denverdad/c/6656775

[traceyle]

Can anyone confirm those 2 locations for bear in ML again? I still in my old save, playing in v228 but i went to there locations twice but dont see any bear at all. Still have bears in CH through.

[Scyzara]

Can anyone confirm those 2 locations for bear in ML again? I still in my old save, playing in v228 but i went to there locations twice but dont see any bear at all. Still have bears in CH through.

I had the very same problem in my old savegame as well. Made all the journey to Mystery lake just to find out that there were no bears for me.

If I remember correctly, Denyo told me about those two locations some days ago. I assume the bears can only be found in all savegames started post-V.227 or something. Much like it was with the bears in Coastal highway during early V.226, at the beginning they weren't there in old savegames either.

[AmericanSteel]

The bears in PV are WAY to close to homes too. One roams near the farmstead and another near the barn. Might be the same bear...

That said, the bear mechanics needs to be improved. I think if you shoot a bear and run into a fishing hut, it should come through the door and eat you. Same thing for a wolf. If you shoot a bear in the farmstead, the bear should knock down the screen door or come through the screened in porch and eat you. I am not sure if the door's here are "bear proof" (where they open outward instead of pushing inward) but a ticked off bear should be able to put the hurt on a door. I think it would be cool to shoot a bear, run inside a home and then have the bear spawn inside the home too. Have it run around trying to catch you while you run through the house, in and out off doors like a cartoon chase lead astray.

[bethany]

The bears in PV are WAY to close to homes too. One roams near the farmstead and another near the barn. Might be the same bear...

That said, the bear mechanics needs to be improved. I think if you shoot a bear and run into a fishing hut, it should come through the door and eat you. Same thing for a wolf. If you shoot a bear in the farmstead, the bear should knock down the screen door or come through the screened in porch and eat you. I am not sure if the door's here are "bear proof" (where they open outward instead of pushing inward) but a ticked off bear should be able to put the hurt on a door. I think it would be cool to shoot a bear, run inside a home and then have the bear spawn inside the home too. Have it run around trying to catch you while you run through the house, in and out off doors like a cartoon chase lead astray.

These all sound like fantastic ways to give me a real-life heart attack. Thanks.

[AmericanSteel]

The bears in PV are WAY to close to homes too. One roams near the farmstead and another near the barn. Might be the same bear...

That said, the bear mechanics needs to be improved. I think if you shoot a bear and run into a fishing hut, it should come through the door and eat you. Same thing for a wolf. If you shoot a bear in the farmstead, the bear should knock down the screen door or come through the screened in porch and eat you. I am not sure if the door's here are "bear proof" (where they open outward instead of pushing inward) but a ticked off bear should be able to put the hurt on a door. I think it would be cool to shoot a bear, run inside a home and then have the bear spawn inside the home too. Have it run around trying to catch you while you run through the house, in and out off doors like a cartoon chase lead astray.

These all sound like fantastic ways to give me a real-life heart attack. Thanks.

Putting homes "on the map" would make this sort of thing more interesting. Imagine running into a house and opening the door, but not having time to close it. Wolf comes scrambling in behind you. You then run out the back door and close it, running toward the next house or buying you enough time to get your rifle ready. Having it so doors "mattered" and animals could cross thresh holds would dramatically change the game. Let wolves come up the stair onto the lookouts. Imagine hearing them scratch at the door and barking, trying to get in at the warm meat trying to stay alive just a bit longer.

Here is a good way to test it. Take one of the "lookouts" and put the house on ground level. Put a wolf/bear spawn points nearby and tinker.

[joki]

Have not seen the mystery lake bears, but have not played too much ML recently. As for coastal highway, beside the obvious ones, the one near the crossing below the abandoned look-out almost got me last time, since I was coming from behind the hill and he was dangerously close to me. :?