Animal corpses lying out in the open

[Renegade30]

Now I know that if a corpse is left for several days the meat will eventually disappear. But in such wolf infested areas is this really realistic?

Like I am not sure if this is working as intended, I always thought this was going to change but with release just around the corner I am no longer sure.

With so many wolves around, a dead corpse should be like a brightly flashing neon sign high up in the sky saying 'All wolves come here for a free meal!!'. With a successful kill, depending on the area (more wolves = more danger), I should feel an urgent need to harvest the animal as fast as humanly possible before the wolf pack comes in numbers.

Maybe this would even balance the apparent abundance of animals, because gathering meat is no longer such an easy process of waiting to be attacked by a wolf, shooting it in the head and then if it takes my fancy over the next 24 hours or so, taking the meat. Instead it will feel almost the same way it does to set off a car alarm on left for dead, where the horde of zombies (or wolves in this case) is going to swamp over you within the next few moments.

It will also have the interesting mechanic of wanting to make the kill away from your base to avoid unwanted attention the next time you leave.

At the moment the wolves really seem like they are 'stuck on rails' too much to the point where they just mosey on right past a very plump and very dead dear

[Larkid]

I think that making a comparison to a zombie horde coming running at the sound of a car alarm is pretty extreme. If the whole intent of wolves in The Long Dark is to get away from the 'cannibal zombie monster' threat from other sandbox survival games, giving them zombie horde behavior is counterproductive.

In reality, you're not spontaneously swarmed with predators the second you take down a deer. It takes hours, even days, for your kill site to be discovered and it doesn't happen while you're standing there. Generally you can make a kill, clean it and leave the guts and you might find they're missing the following day - but you'll never see what came and took them.

[Renegade30]

Sure I was exaggerating a bit with the zombie horde, all I meant was you should feel the same dread you get if you are hanging out next to a corpse in wolf infested areas.

What you say is true to an extent, but often a kill in the long dark is less than 100m from a wolf patrol area and you get no reaction even a day later. Wolves will even walk merrily right past a corpse without looking at it twice. Sure if you are in an area relatively far from any wolves it should take a while for them to discover the corpse, but not if they are within spitting distance. It's like this wolf behaviour just isn't modelled at all by the game, which is disappointing

[toebar]

I do like the idea of wolves (and others-- crows & bears) taking care of unattended meat in a timely manner. This would add additional urgency to harvesting that meat, and would help to limit a resource that is fairly abundant.

Other animals could be added that would also be interested in such scavenging-- wolverines, eagles, gray jays...

Here's a question-- do you think wolves should eat other wolves that they find dead? I suppose it wouldn't be out of character for the ravenous beasts depicted in TLD...

[exeexe]

Here's a question-- do you think wolves should eat other wolves that they find dead? I suppose it wouldn't be out of character for the ravenous beasts depicted in TLD...

Not if the wolf is from the same wolfpack

[starfighter441]

Here's a question-- do you think wolves should eat other wolves that they find dead? I suppose it wouldn't be out of character for the ravenous beasts depicted in TLD...

Not if the wolf is from the same wolfpack

The wolves aren't running in packs in TLD though, which is a good thing...

[Spottdrossel]

In reality, you're not spontaneously swarmed with predators the second you take down a deer. It takes hours, even days, for your kill site to be discovered and it doesn't happen while you're standing there. Generally you can make a kill, clean it and leave the guts and you might find they're missing the following day - but you'll never see what came and took them.

It's a bit ironic to argue with realism as the wolves are one of the most unrealistic things in TLD.

It does take hours or even days for a real wolf to spot a kill because that's how long it takes for one to come anywhere near.

In TLD there's always a wolf within a few 100m, so it should pick up on that kill almost immediately.

It's like this wolf behaviour just isn't modelled at all by the game, which is disappointing

That is exactly the case.

I dropped a piece of venison right in front of the Quonset Gas Station and hid inside the car, watching the scene for almost 16 in-game hours: 2 wolves and 1 bear walked right over that meat and didn't even stop to check it.