Advanced Animal AI Discussion

[agamingcouple 28]

The sun starts to set and you hear a distance roar. It's too muffled and distance for you to make out what it is, so you think nothing of it. The night is approaching fast, and the cities are far too dangerous to enter at night. You are alone, and the small shelter you had constructed the night previous is miles away. You have to find shelter quick, the nights have been growing colder as of late. You could die of hypothermia in a matter of an hour if you are not careful. You spot a small shed silhouetted at the top of a nearby hill. Only barely visible at this point because of the setting sun. You rush up the hill in fear of losing track of it. You notice your breath start to grow shallow as smaller and smaller puffs of white smoke leave your mouth. There it is again, that distant sound you had neglected just a moment earlier is now a loud echoing howl that stops you dead in your tracks. The hair on the back of your neck rises as you hear small foliage snap directly behind you. Your feet remain planted in the ground, but you slowly turn your head to the side to glance over your shoulder. And there it is, with eyes as piercing as it's howl. A large wolf meets your gaze and starts to bare it's teeth and snarl as you remain frozen in place. 

 

Hello! My name is Dave and no there is no ending to that story, it's up to you to make up your own! In this thread I would like for us to be able to discuss everything involving the future of animals in DayZ. I will be creating a video to direct other folks who are also interested in joining in on the conversation. (because some people would rather watch a video) Ultimately, I would like to be able to take the best (most agreed upon) ideas and edit them into this post. I'll then contact the developers and hopefully we will see our ideas come to fruition! Please, try to be open to everyone's opinion, and don't be too critical if it conflicts with yours.

 

    Let's begin with what we already know about advanced animal AI. Brian Hicks has stated (http://www.reddit.co..._twitch_stream/), we're still awhile away from anything substantial. This gives us time time to discuss what we want, in terms of specific animals and the role they could play in survival. It is my theory that giving players any outlet to release their aggression as a  good thing. It's been said time and time again that players are driven to banditry or murder because there is no end game at this point in the development of DayZ Standalone. So why not implement a wide variety of animals? Give us more options in terms of hunting, trapping and fishing. I'm not trying to turn DayZ into Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2014. I personally just love hunting, and the role that I like to play in DayZ is that of a "woodsman". Foraging, scavenging, hunting and making a fire in the wilderness is when this game seems to be the most authentic. After so long it does grow monotonous. I can play for over 5 hours and not come across so much as an infected, let alone another person. (even on a fully populated server) Granted, I bring that upon myself by sticking to the most desolate areas of Chernarus, but that's how I enjoy playing. (weird I know, but stick with me here) Imagine If there were bears, wolves even mountain lions roaming throughout the countryside. Let's just say I wouldn't be able to run around freely with my guard down. It would add excitement, and interest in areas outside of major cities and towns. 

 

The developers show obvious interest in sending players west as it is. Adding classic spawns toward Elecktro and Cherno, even creating a new military base on the far western edge of the map. I love these tweaks and additions. It adds diversity, but most of the western half of the map is open fields and forest. Without animals, it seems to be an abundance of wasted space. You could argue that animals do not bring anything to the table. There's already a lot of options in terms of food, and it's much easier to find a can of beans, then find a deer. (and at least the can of beans doesn't try to run away from you..not yet anyway) Though, i'm sure if you watch survival shows, or are a hunter IRL (in real life) you know the functions a dead animal such as a bear can provide. A bear hide is  large enough to provide you with an entire outfit of clothing. If the bear hide were to be tanned, It could be used to help create a makeshift shelter such as a tepee. Animal tendons in general can be used to create rope, and a bear can provide you with enough tendons to make a lot of rope. Finally, who wouldn't want a bear skin rug? You can see where I'm going with this and i'm sure you can add to the list. The idea is that animals would have more value and it would add a bit more realism.

 

There are plenty of things i'm sure you would like to see the development team work on before advanced animals. I know..I know, vehicles, base building gotcha. More then likely, that will draw players into cities. I just don't want to see animals (the only reason to venture into the wild besides the occasional crashed helicopter) being put on the back burner. So, I thought I would post this thread and start up a discussion. Thank you for taking interest in this topic, and I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say!     TL;DR Discuss below what advanced animal AI you would like to see, and what features could they provide?

[d.walker43 196]

Hi there! My name is Drew. I am a hunter in real life, so I think I have some good ideas to add to some realism to hunting/wildlife.

 

1: animal trails. Lets say your walking in the woods, and you come upon what looks like the plants have been padded down, and obviously something or multiple somethings have walked through here. animals in real life make trails through the woods like this, and following the trail likely will lead you to a burrow, or where a deer or something is laying down.

 

2: sounds. pretty simple, if an animal is walking near you, you hear its footsteps. if you shoot it, it runs, and when it falls you could hear the thump. Pretty self explanatory.

 

3: damage/blood loss.  Ill use a deer as an example. In real life, the area you want to hit is right behind the front leg/shoulder, as this where the heart and lungs are. I think if you shoot an animal in the correct spot, the blood loss, time it takes for it to die, and distance it runs before it dies should be effected.  Would make it very realistic. This leads to my next point.

 

4: tracking. When an animal (or people or zombies) is wounded, it bleeds and leaves a blood trail, just like in real life. If you get a good shot on it, it will probably drop pretty quickly. if it isn't a very good shot, it will bleed and you will have to find the blood and follow the trail. The worse the shot, the fainter/less blood there will be. also could leave tracks (footprints), to help assist in tracking as well.

 

5: animals effected by weather, time, etc. By this, I mean animals behave as they would in real life. If it is raining/storming, the animals would be more bedded down in forests, laying low and not moving around much. If its cold, they would probably be doing the same thing. Certain animals such as raccoons, wolves, etc. would be a bit more active at night, while others, such as squirrels, would be more active during the daytime. Also fits in with animals being more common by food sources and water sources, such as creeks, ponds, fields, etc. This would mean you could set up a pile of corn or something by your camp, to attempt to bait in some deer. This is illegal to do in real life, but obviously in an apocalyptic situation anything goes.

 

These are my ideas for now, if I think of any more ill be sure to add them. Hope you like them. Also, I really like some of the ideas you have as well. Id totally go around trading furs for ammunition and food and such. And probably wear nothing but a wolf hide on my back/head.

 

Thanks,

Drew

[doctorbadsign 645]

Beyond the scope of the engine probably but the ability to track animals and players would be awesome

[pillock 850]

 

The sun starts to set and you hear a distance roar. It's too muffled and distance for you to make out what it is, so you think nothing of it. The night is approaching fast, and the cities are far too dangerous to enter at night. You are alone, and the small shelter you had constructed the night previous is miles away. You have to find shelter quick, the nights have been growing colder as of late. You could die of hypothermia in a matter of an hour if you are not careful. You spot a small shed silhouetted at the top of a nearby hill. Only barely visible at this point because of the setting sun. You rush up the hill in fear of losing track of it. You notice your breath start to grow shallow as smaller and smaller puffs of white smoke leave your mouth. There it is again, that distant sound you had neglected just a moment earlier is now a loud echoing howl that stops you dead in your tracks. The hair on the back of your neck rises as you hear small foliage snap directly behind you. Your feet remain planted in the ground, but you slowly turn your head to the side to glance over your shoulder. And there it is, with eyes as piercing as it's howl. A large wolf meets your gaze and starts to bare it's teeth and snarl as you remain frozen in place. 

 

Hello! My name is Dave 

 

I wasn't expecting the wolf to say that.

[icehex 25]

Hi there! My name is Drew. I am a hunter in real life, so I think I have some good ideas to add to some realism to hunting/wildlife.

 

1: animal trails. Lets say your walking in the woods, and you come upon what looks like the plants have been padded down, and obviously something or multiple somethings have walked through here. animals in real life make trails through the woods like this, and following the trail likely will lead you to a burrow, or where a deer or something is laying down.

 

2: sounds. pretty simple, if an animal is walking near you, you hear its footsteps. if you shoot it, it runs, and when it falls you could hear the thump. Pretty self explanatory.

 

4: tracking. When an animal (or people or zombies) is wounded, it bleeds and leaves a blood trail, just like in real life. If you get a good shot on it, it will probably drop pretty quickly. if it isn't a very good shot, it will bleed and you will have to find the blood and follow the trail. The worse the shot, the fainter/less blood there will be. also could leave tracks (footprints), to help assist in tracking as well.

 

Thanks,

Drew

 

 

Beyond the scope of the engine probably but the ability to track animals and players would be awesome

 

I don't think it is beyond the scope of the engine. Here is a suggestion I made about tracking, maybe you guys would be interested in that discussion.

 

As for advanced animal AI, I'm going to get dreamy:

- animals flee from gunshots, not just gunshot wounds (currently they do not run from loud shotguns that don't hit them)

- introduce animal AI movement functions that involve the distance to the closest body of water; one big fear is probably that any animal AI would run off the map eventually, if forced to travel longer distances. This can be prevented by bounding animal movement between a set path that is a function of an animal's spawn location and the nearest water

 

- add hostile animals w/ appropriate AI (bears); zombie AI can probably be used; also, add bear hide coats!

 

They can't give us everything at once, but at least there will be a record of ideas, right?

[d.walker43 196]

 

 

 

 

I don't think it is beyond the scope of the engine. Here is a suggestion I made about tracking, maybe you guys would be interested in that discussion.

 

As for advanced animal AI, I'm going to get dreamy:

- animals flee from gunshots, not just gunshot wounds (currently they do not run from loud shotguns that don't hit them)

- introduce animal AI movement functions that involve the distance to the closest body of water; one big fear is probably that any animal AI would run off the map eventually, if forced to travel longer distances. This can be prevented by bounding animal movement between a set path that is a function of an animal's spawn location and the nearest water

 

- add hostile animals w/ appropriate AI (bears); zombie AI can probably be used; also, add bear hide coats!

 

They can't give us everything at once, but at least there will be a record of ideas, right?

 

I like the ideas of fleeing from gunshots, forgot to add that in mine, I sort of figured that it was given that that would implemented eventually. The water idea sort of fits in with my idea about them moving according to weather, times, location, etc.  Also, I clicked on your link, and find it awesome that the post you linked in that post was my post :)

[agamingcouple 28]

I wasn't expecting the wolf to say that.

HAhahaha, next line "Don't shoot! I'm friendly!"

[OrLoK 16185]

Hello there

 

@agamingcouple

 

Please do not crosspost, i realise that the video was not included here but the rest of your OP is a complete cut and paste. We really are not fond of that.

 

Rgds

 

LoK

[agamingcouple 28]

Hello there

 

@agamingcouple

 

Please do not crosspost, i realise that the video was not included here but the rest of your OP is a complete cut and paste. We really are not fond of that.

 

Rgds

 

LoK

Gotcha, could the video be included here?

[OrLoK 16185]

Gotcha, could the video be included here?

Hello there

 

I was going to say okay, just this once, but it looks like you may have broken TOS by importing Cherno plus into A3 which is very much something we (and the Arma guys) really dont like.

 

We are investigating.

 

Rgds

 

LoK