Animal AI

[Hotzn]

If there is one single thing on the top of my wishlist currently, it is better animal AI. I realize this would be difficult to implement, since it would not only affect interactions between the player and animals, but also the interaction between animals. We would likely have to say goodbye to a number of well-known game mechanisms. So maybe this is something for the time after story mode has been released. I will elaborate anyway: After playing for some time, a player will know more or less how the animals behave in the game. That a deer will not be irritated if a player - well, a crouched player - sneaks close to it on the frozen sea, easily seen from miles afar. That a wolf does not seem to see an unconcealed player at a certain distance while the player sees the wolf very clearly. That a deer runs away from the player at 180° right into the fangs of the next wolf (in plain sight). Knowing all this takes away from the immersion and incites a "gamey" approach to tackling the problems of survival in the game.

How much better would it be if the animals visibly paid attention to their surroundings - if rabbits would scramble for cover on hearing an unfamiliar noise. If deer would pause in their endeavors when a human steps into sight and look over to see what he/she is up to. If the next step or movement (like lifting the gun) would make the deer immediately jump up and flee. If wolves would greet one another, play in the snow or fight for dominance or over a carcass. If deer would stay way clear of wolves. If wolves ganged up to hunt deer. If wolves would sneak after potential prey and watch it from afar, picking up the scent... weighing their chances. If any animal would see the player from far away if moving unconcealed and keep its eyes fixed on him/her. Just to give me that feeling that they are alive... feeling... thinking. Why don't they look at me more often?

[Raphael van Lierop]

100% agree. We are working on some things, but big AI changes may not be possible until Story Mode comes out. We're just not a big enough team to make huge strides forward on both Sandbox & Story simultaneously. But your thoughts are very much in line with our own and I'd also like to see a lot more wildlife behaviour serving as player feedback. This has always been a goal, and something we'll get to. You point out some of the challenges, and there are others as well.

[SteveP]

+1 animal behavior is a strong feature of the game requiring careful observation and patience.

[Dirmagnos]

Hunting by wolf should be addressed, its way 2 easy to get ton of meat with next to no effort. Irl wolves fail most of the times when hunting. Deer neither run into wolves and they can outrun wolves in most situations.