First of all, Doc gave us a call and asked us to promote the new hog caller he's stocking. He mumbled something about "need more bacon!"... Make him happy and buy it at Doc's Outfitters! Available now.
Old Farmlands
While working on the larger Canadian Woods environment with the moose and bear we're also making progress on the intermediate area called Old Farmlands scheduled for release in middle December (the 13th to be precise).
It is work in progress, so things will change, but we thought we should briefly give you an overview of what's coming.
History: Old Farmlands is an abandoned agricultural region located between Logger’s Point and the still populated Farmlands region. When you travel the Old Farmlands you will come across things like abandoned fields, farmhouses and rusty old equipment.
Terrain: The terrain is more hilly than any other region currently open for hunting with a large hill dominating the center and smaller hills along the border areas. There are multiple rivers crossing the landscape, some with water still flowing and others dried out for the season. The fields are smaller than at Logger’s Point and separated by dense forest areas.
Layout: Currently there is only one Lodge, the Border Lodge. From this lodge you have easy access to most parts of the region. There are also two campsites along the border to the Farmlands region (that may be converted into lodges, we’ll see). Many traditional towers can be found in the area and some "unorthodox shooting platforms". These include abandoned farm buildings and old/improvised towers.
Population: Humans: Doc (the dude is everywhere). Animals: Mule Deer, Elk, Pheasant, Turkey and Feral Hog.
Points of Interest (!): There are many, but you will have to find them on your own.
Spawnpoints and tents
Another thing we're working on is with spawn points (aka lodges) and I think we've come up with good and flexible design in addition to the current lodges.
The basic design is that you buy a tent. You put it in your backpack and go out and erect it (almost) wherever you want. The tent may now be selected as a starting point when launching the game, and you will have full access to your inventory from the tent. It will also be possible to move the tent to another location in the same way it was originally set up. It is possible to buy more than one tent.
Tents may be erected on a number of designated spots through out the world. Once a spot is discovered it will show up in the HunterMate map so you may conveniently know where it is for later.
We made the charts!
theHunter featured in latest PC Gamer magazine.
Q&A with Peter
Make sure to check out the Q&A with Peter, Lead Artist and Art Director, over at Lion's blog at IGN.
Callers and scents
I would also like to take the opportunity to explain how callers and scents work together in the game. An animal is attracted to one thing at a time, whichever is closest. Do also consider for how long an "attractant" is effective. As an example; you start using a scent which attracts animal. If you walk away (creating longer distance between you and the animal) and use a call the animal will still prefer the scent attractant since it is closer. On the other hand, if you moved closer to the animal and made a call, the animal would prefer to follow the call instead.
Considering that a scent is lasting longer than a call, it is possible to make a call, then move away some distance and use a scent. The call will work as an attractant until it is no longer effective, but then the scent will be the animal's interest since it is still effective. Using a scent and a call at the same time will not double the attracting power.
I hope this made it less confusing...
Up next week...
To accompany Doc's hog caller we'll release a set of 10 brand new hog missions next week.
Not the next week, but later this month we will also release a patch not only containing support for TrackIR and mouse free-look, but also changes affecting the coyotes, how callers work and the pheasant flight pattern among a couple of other things.
Regarding callers, we will remove the mysterious "optimal calling sequence". There is still a penalty associated with overusing a caller (i.e. sounding it constantly or way too frequently), but beside that it will just work (of course, there are still situations where it is not effective, for example on spooked animals).
Till next time, happy hunting!
