OrganGrinder

Numbers always spike with releases. I think the more relevant numbers are the ones just before a release - it shows how many dedicated players there are... which has dropped dramatically since 0.57. I'm glad to see people coming back though - its a good sign what with all the toxicity in the player-base lately. Hope they/we (myself included) stick around.

Agreed Jonathan - these environmental pressures -- IF they are put in -- are what will make this game legendary in the end.

Got it. I don't see much in the video that is wildly beyond the capacities of the game. Zeds hear noises and look in the direction of them before deciding what to do. Animal AI already has alert-levels built in (relaxed, cautious, alert, fleeing) and animals already are in herds and move as herds, so pack movements shoudln't be a stretch. Sure, it was a carefully composed set of interactions in the vid but it is a far cry from something that "will never play that way" IMO. It will prolly take a while to get there though, I'll give you that.

So you think this video is more like those production-quality, fan-driven Minecraft vids? Seems to me it would more of a PITA to make one of those than to just wait until you had enough in development to show a sandboxed WIP (as stated). All the other WIP vids (i.e. new guns, vehicles, buildings, zombie AI) proved to be almost exactly what was eventually released. These are not PR videos.

My wife is a vet and had to cut one open yesterday because it chewed up a tuna can and swallowed the jagged pieces. Enough said.

Oh please, I hope so!! Zeds too. me too. I'm at work and it could have been very embarrassing had anyone witnessed it. ;)

I remember a vehicle I was in being chased by a pack of about 10 feral dogs on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Chased us for more than half a mile. They had a sinister look in their eyes too. We had been walking around in the area for hours before too... one of those "I just escaped death" moments.

Whyherro -- all valid points regarding behavior. I'd be shocked if they fine tuned it enough for all the scenarios you mention as animal AI is not the focus of the game, but I bet they will make a yeoman's effort to put some of that in. The devs did state that they wanted to invest in animal AI... hopefully this was not them blowing the whole wad at once. I think wolves would be a prominent predator in this environment, and I think feral dogs would be present but in time would be taken out by wolves. Interbred possibly, but I don't know the rate of instance of this occurring. It does happen with Coyotes frequently (coy-dogs) but not sure Coyotes exist in this type of region (i.e. Ukraine). Look at Chernobyl as a case study - the wolves became the top predator there, and I'm sure there were all kinds of dogs left to fend for themselves during the evacuation. Can't recall if dogs are prominent a feature in current-day Chernobyl's biota... does anyone know the answer to that? And yes, DeathLove - I too suspect they will start out annoyingly simple-minded and too much in attack mode. Too bad we can't climb trees in game :P. Anyhow, looking forward to checking out the new release. I took a long, needed break from the game and wanted an excuse to get back.

(from Stable 0.58 thread: https://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/228363-stable-branch-058-discussion/page-59#entry2305718) BEHOLD! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to3x7B14D1U Damn they're fast!

You're right. I meant to say they can be found near water, not that they spawn there.

Awesome! thanks a bunch guys. Fully random was what I was hoping for. Just watched the latest WOBO video on tips for 0.58 and he felt that there may be a higher chance of spawn around natural water sources - sounds in keeping with the dev plan for animal AI. I seem to remember reading a dev post that animals will keep to the edges of clearings as well but I don't know if that pertains to this version.

I'm fairly new to the survivalist hunter thing... does anyone here know if animals are spawning everywhere in the map dynamically? If not then where are they (or not) in general terms. So, lets say I want to live in the north part of the map... would I be finding animals in clearings there or are they devoid of AI in those areas?

I can't think of an aspect of the game where we are nearing that line. What are you alluding to?

I get your point, but following that line of logic it seems unreasonable that in a city full of stuff and few other people there, one's first instinct would be to arm to the teeth and murder everyone else - that is your stated reason for wanting all that loot easily at hand. How is that "living like kings"? Sounds like you have two opposing perspectives. To your bigger point, there's plenty of room in this game for both styles of play and both will have to coexist. No doubt there will end up being pure PVP servers/hives and others just for survival. When modding is introduced (and it is coming) everyone will be able to find their perfect DayZ. But for now, first and foremost, this is a survival genre game despite how people end up playing it differently. That slurry of playing styles coupled with the time and resources required to gear up are its hallmarks. If you only take 5 minutes to fully gear up then you are not really invested in your character and the game loses its luster. While character investment is what makes this game different, the long periods of silence (gathering, traveling) interspersed with explosive moments of fear and exhilarating action is what makes the game great. If you care about the game don't try to change it away from that.

Sounds like an update to the classic is in order,,, "What's best in life? Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the puckering of their bungholes." :P Anyhow, back OT... No brainer! Having persistence/CLE back again. The rest is just icing. I do hope they fix some of the stupid bugs that piss us all off though. They've had plenty of time to address the high aggravation issues.