My Dog-Related Thoughts

[ElusiveShadow]

4. Some people seem worried that dogs will be gamebreaking but I cant say I agree. I would like the dogs to help me track animals but it really would be a great feature. Is it really that different from the huntermate? We already have a device that shows us where an animal called from, what direction it ran in, what gender it was etc. Also, for experienced players, it is largely impossible to lose the tracks of anything in game. Once you figure out the behaviour of the animals and quirks of the engine you can, 95% of the time, always find the next track. I do not really see dogs giving any kind of hugely unfair advantage.

Imagine a dog start barking and scarrying all the animals. Imagine now a dog running AND barking in the same time scarrying everything in front of you...Would you like that ? A dog which stays mute and doesn't move on its own is not a dog IMO, not a real one. This is the real challenge for the developers and we will see if they will screw up the game or not with this "inovation", which by the way it was brought up long time ago and they didn't take it into account until now. The same was with the dinosaurs, they said they will never do it, but they did it after years.

If either of my dogs barked when I was out hunting with them they'd be in severe trouble. Not that I would ever expect them to. Additionally, I train mine to respond to hand signals to ensure silence.

If someones dog starts barking while hunting they haven't trained it well. For example, when beating, anyone's dog breaking line and flushing birds too soon would have been chastised vehemently.

Both things should not happen.

[Hutty]

I just want some either some beagles, black and tan or walkers to chase big game around the map.I think you should be able to put ur dogs in the bush and once they jump an animal they run it all across the map so me or someone hunting with me can shoot. In real life it is one of the most thrilling things in all of hunting.

[Tod1d]

The same was with the dinosaurs, they said they will never do it, but they did it after years.

Could you post a link to where they said that? I can't remember them ever saying that. (could be my memory failing....???)

[Ragtatter]

The way I see it, a dogs skills should be kind of like the setup they have for "permitted shots" with firearms. Most guns are good at several things, but no gun is good for everything.

So one breed of dog might be good for bears and feral hogs, but not suitable for small game. While one breed might be good at foxes and rabbits, but not able to handle anything bigger than a coyote. There's a lot of middle ground between "One dog for everything" and "A dog can only do one thing".

As for tracking, an interesting limitation might be that a dog can only gain "X" amount of tracking levels. Hypothetically, say it can gain 20 levels through training and experience. So you can either train it to track one species near-perfectly (and have it ignore all other tracks), or you can have a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none that does a lousy job of tracking, but will follow any track.

[ChrisMK72]

As for tracking, an interesting limitation might be that a dog can only gain "X" amount of tracking levels. Hypothetically, say it can gain 20 levels through training and experience. So you can either train it to track one species near-perfectly (and have it ignore all other tracks), or you can have a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none that does a lousy job of tracking, but will follow any track.

I don't know if this is really a good idea. I thought when a dog is good at tracking, it's good at tracking ? Not only good at tracking whitetail, for example. Good at blacktail, mule, and whatever too.

But, to bring some kind of limitation(if wanted) maybe, that you have a reason to buy more than one dog, the limitation could be, that you have one specialized dog for retrieving(swimming too), and one very good for tracking, what is not so good for retrieving.
Maybe another special one to follow( bring quarry to bay ? english ) dangerous animals. This must be a very fast agile dog, which can evade the attacks of a bear, for example, but a really tough, brave one.

This way you would have 3 different kind of specialized dogs, and a reason to buy more than one dog.

I don't know. I can't imagine a retriever for bear hunting for example.
Don't know what could be good for bear hunting.


What about the tracking ? I'm no real hunter and have no dog in real life.
I've just seen this list in the wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenthound

Maybe one of those for specialized tracking ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Mountain_Hound sounds good.
Just some pictures i found of it:





( edit about the picture above: The dog only found the track for this deer. Not killed it. )

Out of the wiki above:
"The Germans were really meticulous in order not to lose any prey and developed a technique for which they bred resistant dogs with a great sense of smell, a strong bone structure, dropping ears and a steady temperament. These dogs were medium-sized and reliable. The Bavarian Mountain Dog was developed in the 19th century by crossbreeding specimens of the Hannoversche Schweißhund breed and hunting dogs from the Montes Alpes. The result was a hunting dog ideal for the work in the mountains. In 1912, the "Klub für Bayrische Gebirgsschweißhunde", (Club for Bavarian Mountain hound), was founded in Munich. Afterwards, this breed started gaining popularity in Austria and Hungary."

But like i said. I'm no hunter in real life and have no dog. So maybe some of the real owners can better tell from their experience.
I better stay calm in the background with ideas , and watch what the real hunters/dog owners have to say.

Hope to see some more ideas, and suggestions of dogs/breeds.


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Edit:

@ ES:

When they launch dogs, then later add new features and capabilities of the dogs, I should not need to buy specific breeds for specific things. This is just realistic. I dont want a lab for retrieving pheasant, a spaniel for duck etc.

I wasn't talking about buying things for dogs or getting a hundred free breeds. I was referring to limiting breeds to specific things they can do. For example, a Lab should be able to retrieve feather and [for example] rabbit. I should be able to track things with a lab BUT I do not mind if, say, a Beagle has a 'tracking' perk.

Do you talk about different "skills", like in role playing games ?

For example you would have 3 different skills for dogs, with level from 1 to 20, similar to our tracking and shooting skills, and a lab for example would have 20 in "retrieve", but only a 8(just examples) in "tracking", where a "Bavarian Mountain Hound" would have a 20 in tracking, but a 2 in retrieve ?
And maybe another dog, and another skill, like a strong, tough, and brave dog, which is very agile for "bring quarry to bay" (is this the right description for hunting down a bear for example, and stop it with barking until the hunter comes to shoot it ?), which has a 20 for bear/wild boar hunting, don't know the right english word for it -> "dangerous prey hunting", but only a 3 at retrieve, and a 14 at tracking ?

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Edit:

I found already good other suggestions from Mooseandelk1, and Mills, spread over the forum, which i want to post here again. Maybe we can collect our ideas and find good new things.

I will definitely also be looking forward to adding additional species of dogs, preferably:

Irish Wolfhound:


English Foxhound:


Norwegian Elkhound:

it seems that people only think of dogs for birds.

In my Country Norway, dogs for big game animals are as popular as for small game. here are some pics of dogs used for moose, red deer and bears. one picture of the animals in action in real life.



This is "Norsk Elghund" or in english "Norwegian Elkhound" grey editon. Used for moose and red deer.


This is the black one. used for moose and red deer too.



This is the swedish "Jämthund", in english swedish elkhound/moosedog. Used for the same animals and bears it think.



This is the "karjalankarhukoira" as said in Finnish where it has it's origin. in english they're called "Karelian Beardog". These dogs are used for bears and moose in Scandinavia, and are known for being a much rougher dog than the typical ones. obviously since it's main purpose it's to hunt bears.


this is "svensk Älghund" and in english "Swedish Elkhound" a very young rase of the hunting dogs and not so popular as the other, but used by some.

and the you got other types like the Laika family which are seperated into too thre different rases. they come in different shapes and colors but they got the same looks as the Karelian Beardog in shape, but different colors.

You can hunt in many different strategies with these dogs, like use them for tracking, scaring or use them as a distraction for the animals. im gonna put some links here where you can see how they are used. i would love to have a dog as a replacement for the HunterMate. And one thing, in Scandinavia going to hunt moose or other deers without a dog, would be like go hunting without a rifle. In Norway you're not allowed to hunt if you don't have a dog less then 2 hours away if you happend to wound an animal. so yeah, i would LOVE to have them in TheHunter!

btw: great picture with the bear ! wow !

And when i see the Elkhound i must think of Spitz. So i searched in the wiki about Spitz and found these interesting information about it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitz

Edit:
Another one to ES:
I read again the whole thread, and i found the answer to my first question to you, on page 3 i think:

My concern was far more general that many of the traditional gun dogs should be able to do a variety of things. I'm not asking to be able to hunt bear with a cocker. More, that I want a springer/lab/cocker to retrieve small game back to me reagardless of water or foliage. I would love to see some breeds with unique features, ability to hunt bear/pig etc. I just dont want each dog to be incredibly limited in what it can do.

So this was already answered, and i agree with what you say.


Edit: And sorry for another long posting. Just concentrated information. I try to make it shorter next time.

A last edit: These thoughts let me think about a poll i started: http://forum.thehunter.com/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=65643

[officialwafflez]

I'm not here to debate. But with so much negativity here I just can't help it. It's like we (the forum members) are like hungry crowd... They are trying to "feed us". As it will benefit them and maybe make our experience better. But When some aren't fed what they want, they will go on and on about how unethical or how bad something else is. Just play the game how YOU want to PLAY it, weather that involves a dog or not. I personally think people should just be happy something new is coming.


With my little rant aside now, I really hope they add bloodhounds, they are a very popular hunting/tracking dog here in the U.S. and especially where I live in Alabama. In fact I have one right now (this opinion is very bias if you can't already tell) But He's only around four or five months old and he has found numerous rabbits, and squirrels. So yea it could be OP but in reality it isn't that hard to track animals as it is. it would just make life easier. this is my bloodhound btw

[DHRifleman]

From the Status Update "Apart from the new bird retrieval gameplay, your dog will also have its own name will feature his own XP and stamina systems, skills, interaction with the hunter, etc."
The stamina makes me think you will need to feed, and provide water for the dog to keep it viable, and I would imagine they will be buyable with GM$ since it will be a consumable. I wonder if the additional needs of it will play into the pricing of the dog?

I wonder how they will make the dog interact with the other animals as far as spooking since in the past the avoidance hasn't worked out to well. A dog running out to retrieve birds should surely spook others and prevent ducks and geese from breaking or coming in, just as the player would. If not, then the game will cross over to the pay to win, which is something EW has stated the game isn't designed to be.

[ChrisMK72]

"stamina system" ? What should this be for ?
We as the hunter can run/sprint endlessly over the whole map, with all our equipment and need no stamina.

I hope you're not right Rifleman, that we have to buy endlessly stuff for the dogs, that it "works", like the bait for the barrels.
I would like to pay much more for one dog, if it's a one time buy and no other costs add to it.
Then i would buy 4 dogs, if i want, maybe each for 2000em$. But not one dog for 700 em$, where we have to buy endlessly food, or something. But let'S just wait and see.
They are not stupid. I don't think they want to destroy their own big deal. So i think in the end, we will see a good solution/price for both sides.

And @ officialwafflez:

This is a really cute and nice dog you have there !
I think Bloodhounds would be an absolutely perfect tracking/scent dog, and surely more known than "Bavarian Mountain Hounds".
So really a good suggestion, for tracking/scent dogs. Maybe devs think about it. I would buy one inGame, without a doubt.

[DHRifleman]

The dog is the barrel, and the bait is the food and water for it. No bait in the barrel it doesn't work, no food for the dog and it doesn't either.
My guess is the dog will run around 2500 em$, but we shall see.

[ChrisMK72]

but we shall see.

Maybe the stamina is thought for different things. Maybe a good feature/addition. We don't know. And yes, we will see.