Something else that we’re aware should be factored in is human smell and wind direction potentially spooking animals, as it would in real life, but we plan to add that layer in a bit further down the line. We’re also working out on ways for a Tracking skill to be integrated into this, though seeing as the design is still under discussion we’ll probably talk about that at a later date.

The way in which we represent these visibly in-game is currently being worked out, but for now (and perhaps later on too) we will be providing for it in a dual use for eris’ super foraging mode that was introduced in B41.Ī goal for the player, then, might be to follow tracks and work out the deer’s possible sleep or eating spot, mark them on their map, and then wait near those spots at the correct hours and hope that animals will stop by. So there’ll be footprints (with a direction suggested), poop, and broken twigs and undergrowth – while flattened plants will indicate a sleeping spot, and grazed areas an eating spot. To aid players who want to be hunters, deer will leave evidence and tracks of where they’ve been and what they’re doing. (Clearly, all this is easily changed at the dev-end – and can also be adjusted for whatever different animals we choose to add in future) They are timetabled to have several ‘sleeping’ and ‘eating’ periods – currently sleeping for a period of half an hour at some point between 12pm and 4pm, eating at some point between 5am and 7am, and eating again for an hour at some point before 4pm and 6pm. In their virtual form the animals will move over the map, doing potential set activities at set different places.

If the group has become separated meanwhile, they’ll team back up again when their paths next cross. Once players get close to this coded ‘virtual animal’ these deer will then spawn into the world as real animals – and once you retreat away they’ll revert to their virtual status so the game can take over their movement and activities once more.

Though clearly once they are fully implemented the variation will be greater, and also dependent on stuff like the time of year. Our current group, for example, consists of one buck, several doe and some fawns. Right now, one virtual animal is a group of animals that’s been defined in a lua file. Well basically throughout the day our deer will follow paths that our designers (and modders) can map out in our WorldEd tool – and in the vid you can see a virtual animal following a path.

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