Fighting bandits with... dogs!

[ale.chr@gmx.net 11]

In the machinima interview, rocket talked briefly about introducing dogs as companions, and how they could be trained to hunt animals and such. One of the guys then suggested something like this:

You find a body, your dog smells it and pick up the scent of the murderer, and tracks him down.

Realistically, the murderer would only leave his scent on the body if he looted it, but anyway, this would be an amazing way to hunt down bandits, and it could possibly decrease banditry a bit. I mean, I would think twice before killing someone if I knew I could be tracked after that.

I believe that coupling this with an efficient way to prevent disconnecting/server hoping would make things a lot harder for bandits...

[General Dickbutt 41]

I dont want my dog to be killed :(

[Nickovitschj 3]

interesting

[wolfstriked 143]

Your dog will be killed so fast in Dayz no matter what.Since dogs will attack everything they see,witnessed by people having to put them on leashes to control this,I can't see how they will be implemented properly.Maybe they could be for when the underground stuff comes out and they will start barking when they sense something at the entrance.Now if Rocket adds in wild dog packs then I can see a use for them.Hungry,fast and smart enough to hunt in packs is a formidable forest enemy.

[drseptapus 49]

Beans for more wildlife

[ale.chr@gmx.net 11]

Your dog will be killed so fast in Dayz no matter what.Since dogs will attack everything they see,witnessed by people having to put them on leashes to control this,I can't see how they will be implemented properly.

I reckon dogs will be controlled the same way you control other units in standard Arma2, through the squad commands menu. I'm presuming these dogs will be already trained or trainable at least, not wild rabid dogs you find in the woods :P

If you issue a "stay in formation" command, they will follow you around, if you select "stop" they will stay put. You can select a "weapons free" command to allow them to attack everything they see, or you can tell them to "hold fire" :)

In the end it'll come up to how you look after your dog. If you use it to attack other players, then I agree, they won't last too long. Ideally, you'd use them to track someone, then order them to stay behind at a safe position while you move in for the kill, or maybe to guard/patrol an area. There's no point in ordering a dog to attack someone armed with automatic weapons anyway...

[XentriX 15]

I think if bandits did loot a body, they'd just be much more inclined to hide it.

[ale.chr@gmx.net 11]

Good point, but a dog should be able to smell a hidden body, and whoever walked around that spot (I'm talking IRL here, not game mechanics).

Not sure how the hiding body mechanics work in game, if it just buries the body, them it could work, the dog could bark to let you know there's a hidden body nearby. But if the game despawns the body after you hide it, then it may be hard to implement.

[wolfstriked 143]

I reckon dogs will be controlled the same way you control other units in standard Arma2, through the squad commands menu. I'm presuming these dogs will be already trained or trainable at least, not wild rabid dogs you find in the woods :P

If you issue a "stay in formation" command, they will follow you around, if you select "stop" they will stay put. You can select a "weapons free" command to allow them to attack everything they see, or you can tell them to "hold fire" :)

In the end it'll come up to how you look after your dog. If you use it to attack other players, then I agree, they won't last too long. Ideally, you'd use them to track someone, then order them to stay behind at a safe position while you move in for the kill, or maybe to guard/patrol an area. There's no point in ordering a dog to attack someone armed with automatic weapons anyway...

Yep,against unarmed men they are an asset,sadly though I still do not see how they will be used in Dayz where enemies are geared with weapons.

[SHOWTIME! 21]

The way AI works in this game, I don't think your dog will last two seconds honestly.

[GexAlmighty 54]

Nope, punishing banditry is already a solid no from rocket. It was said, and it was done.

[Robert Shannon 27]

I would use a dog to distract a person I am trying to eliminate.

[ghostlycoyote@gmail.com 2]

My favorite use for dogs which I hope Rocket will consider implementing, is how dog companions work in Fallout 3/NV; they growl when they sense someone else in the area. Since Rocket doesn't want to implement any specifically anti-Pvp stuff, just having the dog growl when any person or animal is in the area would be great!

[paradox666 1]

How about fix or better the current issues in the game before we go and add a huge feature that will be undeniably buggy as fuck?

[captainwaffles 41]

Thats a cool suggestion I guess but ill kill your dog pretty easily if it comes for me

[DemonGroover 8836]

A dog isnt going to last 5 minutes in this game. It will breed a new type of sniper.

[Forgewolf 70]

Dogs would be awesome to have around say something like, Player Bases? Hmm ; )

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

Nope, punishing banditry is already a solid no from rocket. It was said, and it was done.

I think you misunderstood what he meant by not punishing banditry.

If it's an ability for anybody with a trained dog to track anybody who looted a corpse then it would not be considered an anti bandit measure.

If every dog hunted you down and chewed your face off because you're wearing a shemagh... that's a different story.

[Kajin 25]

I like the idea of roving gangs of rabid dogs, running through the woods and hunting wild game. A savaged animal corpse might be a decent source of emergency food, and also an indicator that dogs are in the area and might decide to hunt YOU. It'd also make forest survival much more interesting. Fend off a dog attack but in desperate need of medical supplies as a result? Time for a quick trip into town to raid a hospital! Try not to get shot.

[DemonGroover 8836]

Dogs...meh!

I'd rather set my WW2 sniping, army veteran, Sergei Fuckemov onto them rather than sending a dog.

Tell Sergei there is a Nazi Pig in the treeline and nothing will stop him from providing death to the Invaders of the Motherland.

[DeathJester76 29]

Dogs are going to be able to attack the infected I'm pretty sure...not sure about other players tho...won't last very long in that case anyways.

[Sutinen 635]

It would be hilarious if some sniper would get jumped on by a dog xD Would scare the shit out of them at least.

[Quaby 93]

i dont want to have to command Fido using the Arma 2 system since it would make my puppy act more down syndrome than it already will. Otherwise, snazzy idea