Appalachia Autumn Reserve + Whitetail Revamp + Raccoons & More

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TheSheWolf
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Appalachia Autumn Reserve + Whitetail Revamp + Raccoons & More

Post by TheSheWolf »

Autumn Forest Reserve - Inspired by the Appalachian Mountains and New England Forests

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(photo credit: https://sites.isucomm.iastate.edu/)

This suggestion is for an Autumn Forest reserve, mountainous, with a focus on eastern North American wildlife. Most of our current maps are western, with lots of big game; eastern American hunting focuses mostly on White-tailed Deer, along with smaller game and some black bear. With our hunting season starting in autumn and running into winter, I think a lot of people would love to see a map true to our hunting. I'd like to focus on White-tailed Deer, and possibly add in some improvements to them, particularly in terms of behaviors that a lot of people would like to see. I'm also going to add in a suggestion regarding raccoons and coon-hunting. Buckle up!

Reserve Description:

This would be a map, medium to small, based on the Appalachian Mountains and New England in the eastern US. Try and picture Settler's Creek, but in autumn. That means, lots of forest, a long road running through the hills, a flatter area with a "U-Pick" stand and pumpkin fields to hunt, and at a lower elevation, lots of creeks, thick underbrush, many downed logs, and steep ridges and hills. A special feature of this map, linking in to the Raccoon Hunting I'll go into later, would be a different day/night cycle. Seeing as it's autumn, and we want some raccoon hunting here, daylight could begin at 7:30 or even 8 am, and run until only 6:00-6:30 pm. Before and after this point, rather than the pink/purple dusk other maps have, it would be truly darker blue/gray/black.

Species:

- White-tailed Deer
- Turkey
- Cottontail Rabbit
- Black Bear (uncommon)
- Red Fox
- Raccoon (new species!)

I would suggest a LOWER population density for the animals than on some reserves, so that finding the rabbits and foxes is less common, and bears even more unusual. Whitetail should be difficult to spot. Raccoon should only be active near water and in darker hours (more on that later).

Reserve Atmosphere:

Sounds are a huge part of the atmosphere. I'd suggest forest noises including scolding squirrels, pecking woodpeckers, and the following birds:
Mourning Doves - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Km-jtXueTw
Crows - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDrwR_6-IBU
Blue Jays - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cyzlxqtSMg
Chickadees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buOzYlVxIPg
Tree/Regular Frogs, particularly when near water (okay, not birds, but still!) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z6AcWNrzro

Aesthetics are also important. Timbergold is a beautiful autumn reserve, but it's very bright, with lots of bright yellows and oranges. I'm imagining more of a brown: with thick, dark brush, lots of orange/brown autumn colors, thick brush, and a forest floor fully coated in fallen leaves. The sky should be dark in mornings and evenings, with a high, bright blue during the day. It should look like the Eastern American forest many of us know and love, where the deer blend right in:

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Source - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/or ... 2fddd4.jpg


Color Examples + Camouflage:

I've doctored a couple of pictures of Whitehart Island to try and give an example of the colors/atmosphere I mean, and help with visualizing it. This isn't GREAT, but it's an example of what it might look like in TheHunter.

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For camo, the Fall Ghillie suit as well as Fall Field/Fall Forest would work:

ImageImage
(images courtesy of http://thehunter.wikia.com, of course, but reuploaded to spare the bandwidth!)

Likewise, perhaps the Blazing Orange camo could finally get some love and actually provide camouflage in this and in Timbergold Trails reserves.

Revamps:

This reserve would open with two big features/main focuses: revamps of deer behavior (and possibly models/Albino colors, which I'll get into), and Raccoon Hunting.

Deer Behavior/Models: I'd suggest three very simple behaviors to make the hunting experience a ton more realistic and immersive.

- Antler Rubs: Bucks, when travelling, sometimes do a simple antler-rub animation on certain tagged/interactable tree models. This could be programmed to trigger if a buck passes within X yards of one of these trigger-trees, and passes the "has not rubbed tree in X past seconds" check. A decal texture, unique to these trees and resembling a rubbed tree mark, would then appear along with a tracking dome with the new tracking type, Antler Rub. This could, for those without the tracking skill to determine male from female, indicate that the trail belongs to a buck, and simply add realism to the game.

- Bucks Fighting: As with Ibexes and Bighorn Sheep, two bucks in close proximity could turn, face one another, and do a simple back-and-forth, lowered-head "fighting" animation. It does not have to be perfect, but it should include antler-rattling sounds. This could be rare, and could also result in the lower-weight or lower-score buck fleeing for a short distance afterward. (As a side-note, this could be a cool time to introduce a buck-only deer call: Antler rattling!)

- Bucks Following Does: Bucks passing within X yards of a doe would turn and follow that doe, changing its AI to essentially act as a herd-mate to the doe, with her as leader.

These behaviors, when taken together, could wind up with seemingly real-life situations, such as two bucks following one doe and then fighting.

Tweaked Deer Models: The deer models in-game are not terrible by any means, but they suffer from a few things that could use fixing. For one, the neck tends to tilt back at an odd angle, resulting in an almost S-shape. For another, the hind legs' knee and forelegs' elbow joints start far too low: they should begin at the deer's lower bodyline (chest/belly) but instead, begin lower, making them look round and awkwardly-bent. The deer should also probably be more streamlined, longer/more slender, with more slender skulls as well. A release of a White-tailed Deer themed map could feature a simple tweak of these models. This tweak could also carry over into Blacktail and even Mule Deer.

New Albino Skins: The albinos for a number of species are simply grayed-out default skins. The markings are still visible, and the "pink" on the noses and hooves sits on top of darker pigment. It's way past time for new albino skins, proper white with pale hooves and pale pink eyes/ears/nose. What better time to release new albino skins than a Whitetail-themed map?

Current Albino:
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Real Albino:
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photo credit - https://photos.smugmug.com/Nature/Albin ... Here-L.jpg

___________

Raccoon Hunting!

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This would actually be a fairly simple thing. First, raccoons, like foxes, would on this map only be active in the morning and evening hours. In daylight hours, they would sleep. Raccoons would sleep in logs or overhangs, special locations with tracking domes, or up in trees. Second, the special interactible trees I mentioned before would have branches in which raccoons can hide. Raccoons will spend most of their waking hours wandering near the many creeks of this reserve, as well as seeming to fish within using their front paws with a special animation.

Next, the Scenthounds would have one ability removed: Lay Down. The Stay command already puts the dog into this position; it's redundant. In its place would be Tree Game. When given this command, the dog will run around (as it does when the player is running) as the player moves, regardless of player stance, for a few moments. If it doesn't find anything, it'll give a ? and return to the player. If it does find a raccoon, a raccoon sleeping place, a treed raccoon, or a raccoon scent trail, the dog will attempt to follow the scent trail and then give chase to the raccoon (which will spook), barking. The raccoon will flee and head to a climbable tree, doing a brief animation where it runs up it, then sits motionless on the special "treed game" branch. When the dog has a raccoon treed, it will do a new animation that consists of the dog circling and leaping against the tree, barking all the while. The hunter can then shoot the raccoon, which will, when dead, fall from the tree.

Additional "breeds" of Coonhound can be added: Black And Tan, and Redbone. These could share all abilities and model with the Bluetick, simply being reskins. (I know I'd buy a Redbone in a heartbeat!)


The Hunting Experience:

A player could enter this fall reserve and wander the hills, through thick brush, down by the creeks, or in the pumpkin fields, listening to the eastern US birds so familiar to so many of us. If they are out for coonhunting, they will come in early morning or evening, or simply have the dog search during the day.

Whitetail hunters will find the thick autumn brush to be a realistic, extreme challenge. Spotting the deer will be hard enough, but arranging a shot will be very challenging and very rewarding. Turkey hunters likewise will be faced with the very real challenge of spotting these animals through similarly-colored, thick brush.

Calls and stands will be more important than ever, with stalker-hunters rewarded for their effort, skill and patience with very satisfying kills.


Possible Concerns:

- Hunting Hours: Most areas only allow hunting legally during daylight hours, or at night only of certain species. For gameplay purposes, on this map they would need to overlap a bit. Hunting raccoons at night but also being able to shoot deer sounds iffy. However, I can't see the devs wanting to create an entirely new cycle, nor the players wishing to have to leave a trophy animal behind just because it's 5 minutes too late to legally shoot it.

- Work Involved: I'm aware this plethora of linked suggestions is a HUGE deal. It would be a big project, requiring a new map, new assets (plant/ground textures and models), new programming (AI), new animal skins and models, tweaked animal models, new soundscapes and so on. However, I think if it were done carefully and with high quality, and released as a big patch, it could generate a lot of renewed interest and revenue in the game. It would breathe new life into the scenthounds, introducing an entirely new method of hunting that could be later expanded to for example squirrel and black bear; it would provide an area familiar to many of the players and beloved by us; and it would add new market for tree stands, towers, and fall camouflage items, along with any callers that might be released.

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!
~TheSheWolf
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kevin2106
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Re: Appalachia Autumn Reserve + Whitetail Revamp + Raccoons & More

Post by kevin2106 »

I think this could be a very nice map to have in the game, fell in love with the WHI autumn version :) the deer animation suggestions would be very welcomed by everyone, doesn't have to be perfect as long as it's at least there. New models would be good too... I'm not really a fan of the Settler Creeks but this would definately be something i would love :D


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Re: Appalachia Autumn Reserve + Whitetail Revamp + Raccoons & More

Post by xOEDragonx »

TheSheWolf wrote:[I think if it were done carefully and with high quality, and released as a big patch, it could generate a lot of renewed interest and revenue in the game. It would breathe new life into the scenthounds, introducing an entirely new method of hunting that could be later expanded to for example squirrel and black bear; it would provide an area familiar to many of the players and beloved by us; and it would add new market for tree stands, towers, and fall camouflage items, along with any callers that might be released.
Being born and raised on the east coast of the US and now having been a citizen of the Appalachian Mountains for several years now, I could be a little biased in saying this... but this hypothetical reserve sounds just perfect.

The only things I would suggest otherwise to what you stated are truly just petty preference things.

- I'd love to see corn fields over pumpkin fields. Some areas the corn could still be standing, other areas it could already be completely harvested or simply knocked down. It allows for a little variation in what we would call fields and there is nothing quite like waiting on the perimeter of a standing corn field and wondering just what secrets might be hiding inside.

- Another possibility would be, instead of red fox, perhaps introduce a true grey fox to the game. Red fox can already be found across so many maps which is a tip of the hat to the fact that they've pretty well spread across the world. Grey fox on the other hand are found in the Americas only, and I can't speak for the rest of the Appalachian Mountain dwellers, but I sure see a lot more greys than reds out here (Whereas, when I lived in central Maryland and hunted the eastern shore of Maryland, I had never even seen a grey fox before, only red).

- Squirrels. I'm all for the raccoon idea, it is a fascinating method of hunting and one of the very few that EW hasn't touched upon at all because of the difficulties with programming animals that can interact with trees. I agree that if they could conquer this feat, they would attract more players who prefer that active style of chasing their game and they would open up the door to other species being able to interact with trees. It would also bring much more attention to the dogs. So my thought is that if they're going to go through all the trouble to design coons with the ability to climb trees for this map, then they mine as well include squirrels as well. The squirrels wouldn't need to be as complicated as the raccoons, as I don't think it's standard practice to use dogs to tree squirrels. I figure the dogs would just ignore the squirrels and other species when given the "tree animal" command. Instead the squirrels would just free range the map and climb trees at will, or remain on the ground and just flee to trees for safety. I'd even go as far as to replace the cottontails you suggested with squirrels if they wanted to limit the number of species on the map.

So to summarize my own thoughts, from most common to least common:
Whitetail deer
Turkeys/Coons/Squirrels
Grey Foxes
Black Bears

I'm not sure if such a map could be a realistic idea just because of everything that would need to go into it to make it truly unique among the other maps. Just a fall Appalachian map alone would be pretty, but it wouldn't bring anything new to the table if you just tossed in whitetails, black bears, foxes and turkeys. As a brushy map with nothing special, it would likely be tossed to the side and ignored by most players just like we see with Settler's Creek now. But coon hunting mechanics, tree climbing animals, a day/night cycle, and a couple new critters would make it worth the while. The biggest factor of all IMO would be the day/night cycle. It opens up a can of worms for ethics, but it would be pretty critical to the map's success. Without a night cycle, there wouldn't really be "true" coon hunting. Without a unique hunting experience like coons would offer, I doubt they'd bother putting in the time to design animals that can interact with trees. Without putting in that time, there could be no squirrels either. So then we'd be back to square one, a smaller sized brushy map with nothing unique to offer, i.e. SC 2.0. So this idea is a stretch, but I do see it having a lot of potential if done correctly.
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Re: Appalachia Autumn Reserve + Whitetail Revamp + Raccoons & More

Post by MooseHunter330 »

I would like this very much. I am also a great fan of signs of human population. E.g. old huts, grain mills, etc.
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Re: Appalachia Autumn Reserve + Whitetail Revamp + Raccoons & More

Post by baloo.the.dog »

how about a map that is half this, half fields, almost an exact habitat recreation from hirschfelden but with American animals
Give us ptarmigans on Whiterime Ridge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roll Tide!!
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