make hunting for food a challange

[LumberBack 43]

as the topic says, its kind of dumb for the animals just to stand still and wait to get killed, is there not a pattern for animals to flee when they see a hunter, the complete opposite to the zombies...? food in general should be minimized by atleast 50%

[Womb Raider 92]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but aren't animals new to Arma's engine, so there is going to be issues with their behavior, etc. Also is it possible to make them run away when startled or shot at as I'm not too sure it is. I agree about the food spawns though, did a run on Cherno supermarket one time and got so much food and soft drink it was ridiculous.

[LumberBack 43]

really one reply? i guess people arent looking for a survival game...

[Charles Darwin (DayZ) 11]

Animals are not new and you can make animals do w/e you like its simply a matter of scripting them to do so, the more scripts to slower things will be so i imagine animals will be more rare if this is done.

[wolfstriked 143]

What about making rabbits the main food source while out in the woods and make it so they constantly move.They are a little harder to shoot since they run around and being smaller make for a bit more difficulty.Boars can also be deep in the woods but spawn way less than now.

[scoffield77@gmail.com 192]

I'd like to see it harder to hunt animals, but there needs to be more too.

[Carlc4 0]

I don't see a problem with animals being frequent, though, they don't seem to spawn in the right places. Rabbits should be everywhere, cows, sheep, and goats should be in fields, and boars in the forests. And maybe some can wonder out of their area. I think this would make it more realistic.

[Turnipski 3]

I can't believe more people haven't replied to this thread. Probably because they like the easy mode food.

Hunting should definitely be a challenge. Getting all the equipment necessary to hunt means you can be totally self-sustainable at the moment. You don't even need ammo as you can use the hatchet to kill. Hunting animals should be even harder than sneaking past zombies in my opinion as there is very little risk to it. If you are running around like crazy in the forest then you should never even see an animal.

Could the zombie code for visibility/hearing be refactored into a more generic animal class that just triggers different actions for different animals when they see/hear humans? Animals would run away when hearing/seeing a human, but zombies would run towards the human.

Rabbits are great at the moment even though their movement seems random, a real challenge but you only get 1 raw meat! So what's the point? In real life a rabbit could feed more than just 1 person.

I can understand why cows just stand there as they do in real life. They totally aren't scared of humans unless you make a loud noise. Cows should be incredibly rare but give more meat than you know what to do with. Would be cool coming across a stinky old cow that loads of people had already scavenged from.

Sheep and goats I imagine would run away from humans. These should be more common than cows but not by much. Should also give a very big amount of meat, but less than cow.

Perhaps boars could run away if they hear a human, but if they see them then they will attack in self defence. Boars should have roughly the same meat as sheep and goats. They should be fairly common in the forests.

Adding a deer would be awesome. Deer would rarely spawn in the forests / fields and would be able to hear and see very well, as well as being very fast. They would give a bit more meat than sheep, goats and boars. Maybe you can also take the antlers as a trophy :D

[coolboynaked 0]

In order to hunt you mostly need to go into open fields (except for boars) and discharge your weapon. That alone is risky enough imo.

[teih 36]

Should also make matches run out after about 15 - 20 uses to spice it up even more.

[Cedrik (DayZ) 0]

Cattle don't run a lot.

Boars might actually attack you.

Rabbits already run a good ways before stopping, i don't both with these unless I really am desperate.

Chickens... depending on the breed actually act realistic. Meandering doing their own thing. Some run, some are docile.

Hunting is ALREADY a challenge. Why?

1. Shooting animals for food... makes noise. Players come looking for you... I know I do!

2. Often, cattle and others are often near town! Players and zombies can come for you when you are already low on health/food!

3. Gutting and looting take time. Even if its not *much* time, its more than time enough to get wasted by someone. Those precious few seconds standing still... make you an easy target.

4. Cooking is enough too. Again takes time, but also makes light and smoke. If you are not careful you are again an easy target. Ever play at nite, get hurt and have to cook something? THATS creepy... because you KNOW people can see that light for a long way off...

Realism is one thing, but don't forget this is a game. The point is to survive, not die. Its bad enough you have to eat so often and so much, and there is enough risk as is. IMO I think there needs to be more rewards to playing to keep me interested, not less.

And make foods stackable!

[scoffield77@gmail.com 192]

it doesn't need to be harder, forsay.

It does need more dept to it.

Characteristics for all the animals would be nice.

adding deer, and having them run after getting shot, have the same alert mechanics as the infected, but run in stead of attack you.

you should also be able to bait animals, drop meat and wait, maybe one shows up to eat.

this could help trapping, where you can place a bear trap, bait it with meat. then wait for it to hunt for you.

[enforcer1975 1111]

There are times where i find up to five animals a day, or none when i really need the food so i use up a can. I think it's balanced enough. Weird animal behaviour should be addressed to BIS, they made the AI.