Stop the wolf abuse!

[sarudak]

So first off I want to say that I really really love this game. You guys have created an amazing survival experience and I generally find the design decisions of the team to be really good. I also exclusively play on stalker and I find even that too easy now (I just finished got the pacifist achievement starting on timberwolf mountain not sure what else to do) so keep that in mind in regards to my feedback.

I want to talk about wolves. Wolves are both too aggressive and way too easy to deal with, after the early game they end up just being an easy source of food. Wolf behavior is basically as soon as they spot you they run up and growl at you at close range (this actually goes on for some time and often you can back away to a shelter) if however you are too close they simply rush and attack (I think they always do this if you approach while they're eating also). There are too may ways to easily nullify wolves.

1. Run for any shelter (not much wrong with this one)

2. Build (!!!) a fire. Often you have time to build a fire while the wolf watches and the wolf will stare at it and growl.

3. Drop a torch on the ground same as above.

4. Throw a flare at it (nothing wrong with this one flares are relatively uncommon and one use)

5. Drop some food (often I esc out of eating the last 50 calories giving me almost free decoys, maybe exploit?)

6. Do any of the above that stop a wolf and it will happily sit and wait for you to headshot it with the bow or rifle

One of the other biggest problems with wolves is that if you distract them after a kill they will simply leave the kill on the ground and never return to it which with the torch trick can mean practically free food, guts and skins even if you don't have a weapon to handle the wolf. If you do it's a twofer. I feel like the ease of dealing with wolves needs to be addressed and then their raw aggressiveness can be toned down. Although I also feel like maybe the total amount of wildlife and respawn rate is a bit much. It would be great if wildlife depleted over time that you had to move areas or range farther and father hunting and trapping to sustain yourself.

What would I like from wolves? I want to feel like I'm being stalked and I want to feel like my adversaries are dangerous (even if I do get attacked once I've got a knife the most I usually lose is 20% condition and some torn clothes). I think a solitary wolf should only attack you if you look weak or injured. It could stalk you and signal for help. If you don't find shelter eventually all the wolves will rush you at once and that's almost certain game over. When a wolf gets a kill (at least if it's a deer maybe not a rabbit), the pack should join it so that stealing the prey is no trivial task (a flare would still work here). When attacking wolves should dodge and weave more so that head shots are less likely and wound more likely. Furthermore not all wounds should result in death, maybe break it up into minor and major wounds. With minor the wolf can retreat and 'lick it's wounds' and usually survive unless you chase it down where the wolf will usually die with a major wound even if it get's a chance to lick it's wounds. Getting into a scuffle with a wolf and coming away with something that will heal in a few hours sleep while the wolf is going to certain death just feels so wrong, I should feel like a desperate survivor not superman.

Anyway if you like any of my ideas or had them already cool. If not and you think they're crap for some reason and too hard to implement I hope I made the basic point.

1. Wolves are too plentiful and too aggressive, feels like a zerg rush

2. Conversely they present too little danger to a prepared player

which results in

3. They are an easy source of resources because they will do hunting work for you and then walk right up to you to deliver their meat and furs

Fixing this wolf problem would also help with other balance issues such as strong player made clothing being too easy and fast to obtain and meat being so plentiful and easy to obtain that it makes things like fishing feel really underpowered.

[jmraynor]

Hello There!

Just wanted to respond saying I agree with your general idea here.

The wolves are just too predictable to feel real. They simply chase down the deer, stand there, then run right up and attack you if your too close....

I agree that a SINGLE WOLF should not attack a person who is not significantly weakened. I would like to feel like wolves are patrolling different areas in some type of pack not just single spawns where the looting is.

Best Regards,

Jeremy

[Hotzn]

+1

[akodo1]

I agree, wolves don't feel right.

I sometimes instigate a wolf fight if I have a hatchet as a way of 'hunting wolves' because deer and rabbits I can't catch. That's wrong. Not as bad but also not good is using wolf to hunt for you.

Suggestions:

#1 wolf understands guns/bow. When you pull it out, wolf at close range in front of you instantly runs. (Does this make rifle mostly useful as anti-wolf totem? Maybe, more on this later)

#2 Wolves eat more of the carcass fast (literally where the term wolfing it down comes from, wolves built to take a lot of meat into their belly fast). So less remains for you to harvest. Wolf returns to carcass soon after being scared off..and eats. Carcass attracts more wolves. Now you face a bigger threat.

#3 lone wolves who sense you will only attack if you are weakened, injured, etc. Otherwise they continue to stalk and CALL IN MORE WOLVES. (Will also call in when driven off of game animals) until there are 3 or 4, so they can surround and attack.

#4 bonus for wolf when it attacks from the rear. Groups of wolves try and space themselves out to surround the target.

The above is how I'd deal with a gun toting survivor. He pulls the gun and the lone wolf runs off. Does he risk a shot at a running (hopefully bounding back and forth a bit not just running in a straight line) wolf? If not, that wolf and 2 buddies will be back. He better find a spot to put his back against the wall, or when he pulls his gun and one wolf runs, the other wolves go for his back.

[PPartisan]

The wolf (and in general animal) behaviour is a bit of an immersion breaker for me. Looking out over a frozen lake and seeing two wolves, a deer and a bear patrolling their respective quadrant of ice for no particular reason every morning is pretty weak. Their relentless, predictable aggression is also a little tiring. I'd be so much happier if wolf encounters were that much rarer. I'd also love it if wolves travelled in packs and if their behaviour was more intelligent (stalking, surrounding etc.) than the run-snarl-bark-charge routine.

A wolf encounter should be a big deal, and I'd expect it only to occur if the wolves were desperate (i.e. hungry), or if the player is weak/injured, which would also mean there'd be a good chance the wolves would come out of the encounter on top.