Unexpected wolf behaviour

[Pillock]

Since when have wolves been allowed to enter fishing huts? I just died because one of the blighters ignored the age-old rule of no dogs allowed. I was right at the back by the stove and he ran straight in the door and jumped on me.

And while I'm on the subject of wolves, earlier in the same run I was having them home in on me and follow me around whenever I carried meat, even if it wasn't enough to activate the scent reading in the UI. On one occasion I walked from Camp Office up to the Overlook cave to check my snares and gather firewood. I had one small piece (about 0.3kg) of mouldy meat on my person, but no scent bars. As I was chopping a fir limb, I saw a dark shape zoom across my vision and when I'd finished I immediately got attacked by a wolf. I've never seen wolves up there before, but I guess he followed me because of the meat scent?
I'm playing custom settings with all animal detection variables on maximum, so that was probably affecting it - but I still had assumed that no scent reading meant that predators couldn't smell me - obviously this isn't correct. Does the state of the meat increase the scent as well?

[s7mar7in]

21 hours ago, Pillock said:

I'm playing custom settings with all animal detection variables on maximum, so that was probably affecting it - but I still had assumed that no scent reading meant that predators couldn't smell me - obviously this isn't correct. Does the state of the meat increase the scent as well?

The past months of updates have brought some small game-changes that seem to have a big effect on wolf behavior, (wolves more like a K9). 
The wolves seem to walk "better" and a little less like a "mad-dog", (less leaping and dodging). They seem much better able to track and in my experience on all experience-levels, they tend to "investigate from a distance" and then "lock-on" and walk in for the "attack".

In my experience on the lake at ML on Stalker settings, (V137), a wolf actually chased me into a fishing hut/then walked away...a few seconds later; same wolf sniffed near the hut and then ran a short distance away, (I was working with the fire in the stove). As I backed into the back of the hut and looked out the door, I could see the wolf was walking slowly but directly into the open door of the hut and I was ready for the struggle.

To my mind, this is a great improvement and I was not too surprised by the attack because the update notes had mentioned "...fixed porches...", (meaning they were no longer a "safe-zone"). There had also been some discussion by many in the forum who believe the "scent bar" may not be active with a small fraction of meat carried as a decoy. The thinking seems to be that you can carry small amounts of meat without it being enough to activate the first scent-bar icon, but the "fraction of a scent-bar" is enough to attract wildlife, (so not totally safe from detection). Good luck, and thanks for sharing the story of wolves above the tree-line near ML Overlook, (I have not seen this before).

[Pillock]

2 hours ago, s7mar7in said:

Thanks. That would explain why I also got attacked by a bear while inside the porch at PV Farm, then!

At an earlier point in that game, I was making my way from the Unnamed Pond hut towards the Logging Camp when I got spotted by a pair of wolves. I ran up on to a small rock where they couldn't get me, jutting out of the snow just near the bottom of the path up to the Destroyed Lookout. I was expecting them to come close up, then realise I was out of their reach and run off yelping, like they normally do (used to do). But they didn't. They just went back to 'stock' behaviour, as if I wasn't there. But they didn't move away - they kept turning and coming back towards me. Then another one came. Then another. In the end I had 5 wolves just walking casually around my little rock. I felt like I was in one of those cartoons with the marooned sailor on a tiny desert island surrounded by sharks. Had a bit of fun for a bit, bouncing stones off their backs from short range, without them seeming to give much of a toss, then I got bored and blasted one of them with my rifle. The others ran off and I was able to move on.

I was carrying 2 cooked venison steaks, but had no scent bars.
I am ignoring the scent readings from now on. And it forces a change in habits - no more carrying meat around as food for the day when out exploring.

[MarrowStone]

On 9/12/2018 at 12:21 AM, Pillock said:

Since when have wolves been allowed to enter fishing huts?

I mean, they kind of look like doghouses... are you sure they're not actually wolf dens? You never see many natural dens in-game. 

[JAFO]

On 9/12/2018 at 3:21 PM, Pillock said:

Since when have wolves been allowed to enter fishing huts?

Raphael has stated in the past that attacks in fishing huts was a bug.. (bears have been known to do it too)

A bug which I was under the impression had been fixed.. maybe I was wrong? Or maybe Hinterland have changed their mind and decided it's behaviour they want?

[JAFO]

On 9/12/2018 at 3:21 PM, Pillock said:

And while I'm on the subject of wolves, earlier in the same run I was having them home in on me and follow me around whenever I carried meat, even if it wasn't enough to activate the scent reading in the UI.

This has always been the case.. just because your stink bar isn't lighting up, doesn't mean you're not giving off a scent. Even one piece of meat or fresh guts will slightly increase the range at which you'll be detected. (it's the quantity that's important, btw, not the weight) If they're in range, carrying anything smelly is enough to get their attention, whereas otherwise they might not notice you.

It used to be that it took 6 pieces of cooked meat to light up a stink bar.. The recent updates changed that to where it now only takes 3 pieces. So effectively, everything now smells twice as strongly as it did before. Be careful out there.

[Pillock]

25 minutes ago, MarrowStone said:

I mean, they kind of look like doghouses... are you sure they're not actually wolf dens?

I did think that, actually.

Maybe the wolf was thinking, "Since when have humans been allowed in our lake houses? And look, there's blood all over my cabinets now.... tsk."

[MarrowStone]

@Pillock, 

Lupine Lake Houses. Maybe Will should look into becoming a realtor.

[s7mar7in]

9 hours ago, JAFO said:

A bug which I was under the impression had been fixed.. maybe I was wrong? Or maybe Hinterland have changed their mind and decided it's behaviour they want?

What you say is correct @JAFO; my understanding was that the fix was preventing the wildlife from sometimes "breaching" the solid walls of the fishing hut.

Good luck my friends!

[Pillock]

9 hours ago, JAFO said:

just because your stink bar isn't lighting up, doesn't mean you're not giving off a scent. Even one piece of meat or fresh guts will slightly increase the range at which you'll be detected.

I had knew this to be the case with raw meat, but had thought cooked meat was 'safe' in low quantities.
My purpose in this thread was't to complain about that but just really to understand the mechanic better - however, I do think it's a bit misleading for the UI to have a scent meter and still have (quite powerful) effects when the reading is on 'zero'.

What I've found is that you're fairly safe carrying meat and/or guts (raw, fresh or cooked, and right up to 3 bars of skink-o-meter), as long as you keep moving. But if you stop to perform any activity in the same general area outdoors, you need to drop all the smelly stuff you have before you start, otherwise you'll end up surrounded by half the wolves on the map within a short time. Like I said, the UI scent reading is fairly meaningless if a zero reading can have such similar affects to a maximum reading.

[JAFO]

27 minutes ago, Pillock said:

I do think it's a bit misleading for the UI to have a scent meter and still have (quite powerful) effects when the reading is on 'zero'.

Agreed.

 

27 minutes ago, Pillock said:

Like I said, the UI scent reading is fairly meaningless if a zero reading can have such similar affects to a maximum reading.

The main difference, from what I can tell, is that the more bars light up, the further the distance the wolves can detect you from. Experimenting with wolves in a large open area (on the ice at CH is ideal) in close to windless conditions, can give you a feel for the distances involved.

[Pillock]

4 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Experimenting with wolves in a large open area (on the ice at CH is ideal) in close to windless conditions, can give you a feel for the distances involved.

I've done this in some of the more open areas at ML. I've seen whole groups of them (3, 4 wolves) turn in unison and start heading very obviously towards me from really long distances away. The wind factor is also interesting, as you can actually get pretty close to them without sparking their attention if you're down-wind (or is it up-wind? The one where they can't smell you, anyway). Also, being on higher ground than them seems to reduce (a bit) their chances of detecting you.

[JAFO]

1 minute ago, Pillock said:

The wind factor is also interesting, as you can actually get pretty close to them without sparking their attention if you're down-wind (or is it up-wind? The one where they can't smell you, anyway). 

That's called being down-wind of them.. being up-wind of them (aka them being downwind of you) is the one that gets you dead. Clear as mud?

[Pillock]

It's the same principle as "up-stream" and "down-stream" for watercourses, which is maybe easier to visualize.

[JAFO]

1 minute ago, Pillock said:

It's the same principle as "up-stream" and "down-stream" for watercourses, which is maybe easier to visualize.

Bingo!