How to Add Arboreal hunting

[shell rover]

I've read several of the posts that talk about the mechanics of how an animal could climb trees in COTW … But the problem is how do we make shooting an animal in a tree more of a challenge as well as more exciting ?

IRL shooting a treed animal is a challenge because they can travel higher in the tree, they can move around quiet a bit jumping from tree to tree and there are branches and other obstructions that can make it a challenge. But IMO this makes it difficult to simulating that challenge in a a game like COTW

In COTW the number and concentration of animals is much greater and every tree cant be a claimable tree.... That would put too much strain on the game engine ... So if every arboreal animal was able to climb it would be like shooting fish in a barrel … ie no challenge at all.

So I suggest with arboreal animals that live in trees we only allow those animals to be higher level animals meaning Gold or better as well as rare fur types …. So if you ever find one of these animals in a tree you will know its a higher level animal .

The purpose of this is to keep down the number of lower level arboreal animals in the trees because honestly once they are treed they will be relatively static and fairly easy to take them out.

So arboreal animals like raccoons, squirrels, monkeys, cats, possums etc …. will always be the higher level animals and naturally kept rare due to existing in game mechanics… And this will naturally increase the excitement level when you do find one.

Now this doesn't mean you wont be able to find a higher level animal on the ground but it would also be possible to find those in trees as well.

SO the objective of the Arboreal hunter in COTW will be to shoot med level animals on the ground to increase the chance of spawning the higher level animal/rare fur types that can have a 50% chance of climbing a tree...

This brings us to the topic of Dogs and how they can be used to find and tree and animal …. I'll cover this topic in a future post .....

Hunting Arboreal's a post to the Dev Team

I would also suggest possibly decreasing the Hit Box of animals in a tree to increase the challenge... This would of course have to be thoroughly tested so that it doesn't become overly frustrating ....

[humble saffron]

@spice radish

[spice radish]

Thats cool

[leaden vale]

Idk if the engine could handle it but it would be nice to see critters on fences & tree trunks before vanishing in the canopy. I mean raccoons climb the trash cans in Mississippi so I dont see this not being possible.

[shell rover]

Its not necessarily the Mechanics of whether they can place an animal in a tree .... It's really what the game looks like after they do that ... Obviously if every arboreal could climb, the population density would fill the few trees that are even coded as claimable.

So where's the fun in that shooting relatively static animals out of a tree ... So the chance of seeing an animal in a tree needs to be kept rare and yet remain exciting enough for us to want to hunt the arboreal's ....

If they ever get around to adding squirrels, I don't want them to just become like rabbits that no one cares to hunt ....

[leaden vale]

I hunt alot of rabbits/hares in-game & its nostalgic from my 1st irl hunts esp. when burrows were added. But I cant speak for the community whether they do or dont. As for the populations due to the ability to be in trees imo would very on the species, region, & zones let alone ai pathing. I dont believe they should be everywhere or static as you explained it as they should be rather spread out with either moderate or here & their population overall since most are elusive & solitary mostly. Coons dont have to be pathed in trees necessarily but atleast able to be on fences and similar terrain like fallen lumber. Opossums could be hanging from branches as well as running around as they do. Now squirrels imo should really be the only ones that should be able to skerry in and out of trees with low populations given there ai behavior & activity. Rarity to me doesn't mean anything medal wise as it should remain RNG over forced just like all the solitary species. However fur types should be the rarity factor & of course size. The way I see it in-game visually is I'm walking as I usually do & I'll either hear them roaming around or tree scratches as their moving around. Or I'll see them on tree trunks, walking on fences while glassing. Squirrels are pretty fast moving from place to place and can easily be lost in tall grass unless they appear climbing up a tree. So realistically it can be executed so long as population counts are low &/or have designated areas for where they reside & lower spawns. If ppl really care to hunt them for rarity then I'll leave it to RNG. Bc if ppl dont care for rabbits they will most likely not care for squirrels by that logic. But again I dont think thats true and folks will pursue them and hunt them as they appear over specifically seeking them out more or less as a passive opportunity. From what I've seen this is also what ppl do with rabbits fairly often as passive opportunities as they appear while looking for bigger game.

[leaden vale]

But that's my thoughts on it, & to be honest I'm probably 1 of the few that has dedicated rabbit hunts 🤣 let alone small game/furbearer & predator only hunts as well. But I do see your point it would be horribly boring to shoot game in trees often. Esp. if dogs chase game up trees, it'll really be boring & too easy. •Edit squirrels wouldnt be the only species since leopards are wanted in Africa 2.0 but you get my general meaning.

[shell rover]

@leaden vale **you made this very true statement ... " if ppl dont care for rabbits they will most likely not care for squirrels by that logic. " **

And see this is the state of the game currently which shouldn't be replicated if they add Arboreals .... It's not about just adding them as a filler animal ... that's what they did with rabbits ... the key is to make them fun to hunt ....

This is what I was hoping to achieve with the post I made concerning rabbits https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1070641304255598602

So my deal is don't just add them as another feature in the environment but make it as realistic as possible and fun as possible.... So you keep the numbers relatively rare and use something like a dog to assist the hunter in finding a treed animal which most certainly will be a higher level animal or a rare fur type ..... and I admit Its a tall order for the devs to accomplish this.

I think it would be pretty straight forward for them to add an animal sitting in a tree to the game ... but its a whole other thing to do it by creating a convincing and fun hunting experience .....

[leaden vale]

@shell rover :"If they ever get around to adding squirrels, I don't want them to just become like rabbits that no one cares to hunt ...." was your statement. *** @leaden vale :"Bc if ppl dont care for rabbits they will most likely not care for squirrels by that logic. But again I dont think thats true and folks will pursue them and hunt them as they appear over specifically seeking them out more or less as a passive opportunity. From what I've seen this is also what ppl do with rabbits fairly often as passive opportunities as they appear while looking for bigger game."*** If you're going to quote me, quote my full statement 😂 & I said this isn't true bc ppl do hunt them as passive opportunities as they appear which means if they are hunting different game & happen to see them, they will most likely shoot them.

Dont get the wrong idea I know what you're trying to do to make them more appealing & fun to hunt. But dont assume ppl dont care, let alone dont hunt them bc they do just not specifically. It is true most players dont go out of their way to hunt only rabbits or raccoons or any small game except birds & would rather hunt bigger game. With the exception of red fox given the G1 & the payout. If you want ppl to hunt arboreal's more than increase the reward value, & fur types. Hell add a G1 & ppl will flock to try to get them. And if populations are low (not as low as tigers & snows 😅 ) they will be a bit more challenging & it would justify their worth. However I will back you 200% on authentic behavioral ai no questions asked, bc this is also an issue with predators as well as a good number of prey.

But I feel that if dogs are introduced to find them in trees it would defeat the challenge & worth making it too easy to hunt them. Which is 1 reason why I believe rabbits arent worth as much aside from the higher population count. Which doesn't add up bc they have a high detection range and practically disappear in tall foilage in 75% of the reserves.

[shell rover]

I think Dog hunting AI/logic can be designed in such a way that it would increase the fun but also keep it challenging ... I'm working on fleshing out how that might look ....

[leaden vale]

I'll gladly hear you out when you do but given how they are now and their uses I see it as an in-game exploit. Esp. with the pointer being set to search for small game it would be too convenient for the dog to find game and point them out in trees. Though if the population & # of treed species is rather low it'll be more of a rare find than how rabbits are given the population numbers and spawn rates. Not trying to shoot you down I'm merely explaining a possible issue with it so when you're thinking it over you have it in mind.

[shell rover]

Do you use the pointer to hunt for small game other than birds? ... For example rabbits? Also are you saying that you consider the pointer's current abilities to be an end game exploit ?

So I would like to see the pointers hunt command become more specific so instead of being able to hunt small medium or Large we see only one or two specific species the Dog is able to hunt ....

And it's in the training tree that you get to specify which species they are able to hunt ....

[leaden vale]

To answer your question yes & no bc the pointers search will track any game from C:1-9 except C:6+ predators. & yes, it's a designed mechanic shortcut to hunt fox as well for those who may struggle to find them w/o spooking them bc of their awareness range. But the exploit I was referring to was specific dogs ppl have requested to specifically tree up game. This I dont agree with. And I dont have a choice whether the pointer finds birds or rabbits if I tell it to search small game unless I tell it to track my spotted game.

[shell rover]

How to Add Arboreal's hunting a post to the Dev Team

How to Add Arboreal hunting a post to the Dev Team

How to Add Arboreal hunting