Nearby wolves should respond to howls

[Rexdawn]

As of right now, only wolves nearby or wolves in the distance will start howls that are only responded to by distant wolves.

What I would like is for NEARBY wolves to respond to DISTANT calls so I know they're there and I don't just end up turning a corner and dying.

[Mroz4k]

Hi. Sorry to say, but I could not disagree with you more. It's bad enough that the wolves now howl every 3 seconds, constantly letting you know where they are... if even the wolves in your proximity howled, it would be almost impossible for the wolves to surprise the player. I think that I speak for most of the more seasoned players, the way that wolves howl right now makes avoiding them very easy, and you would like to make it even easier.

I understand that perhaps not all the players are experienced enough in avoiding wolves, but that is just a matter of practice. Eventually, you will get better at it, especially if you use different tools to avoid them (like throwing rocks away to make the wolves go investigate and go away from you... or, on another hand, to lure the wolves into a specific location, to ambush them with a weapon... 

The redux has made many things in TLD much easier, and while newer players might appreciate that, us who have been playing the game for a long time and always appreciated how brutal & challenging this game was, are now sad that the difficulty is going down.

If anything, wolves should howl 3 times less then they do now. And maybe then it could be done so that even the wolves, closer to the player (but not if they are very close) could howl, too. But right now, if you are paying attention, as soon as you reach a region and listen in the directions from where the howls are coming from, and remember that, you can explore the region with in mind where all the wolves in the region currently are.

[Rexdawn]

If wolves howl too much, that's one thing, but it makes no sense that wolves only respond to howls when they're far away while nearby wolves don't respond to distant howls.

[Mroz4k]

Well, first of all, this game is not meant to be a representation of reality, it is still a game. Kinda how you can only get around 9 kg of meat from a deer...

Besides, it makes perfect sense. Assuming the wolves were aware that there is an intruder nearby (perhaps the birds would go quiet, or they caught on to an uncertain smell of your that got randomly carried in the wind to them, not enough for them to track you, but enough to inform them of your presence) they would not reveal their location by howling. 

What you suggest is how wolf howling used to work before Redux. They would howl rarely, but even the close wolves would howl and alert you of their presence. Made it easy to avoid them, though if you are observant, you would know about their presence anyways... wolves make noise when they walk around, they can be spotted from afar, or you can throw a stone in specific place if you suspected that wolves were close by, to lure them into this spot and make them reveal their location.

Now they dont howl if you are closeby, but instead they howl all the time... so you can easily learn where the wolves currently are as you are exploring the region.

Luckily, at least one change with wolves made the game a bit better - the fact that now, the wolves spawn in specific places, but in a couple of days, these spots change, so you can no longer learn the permanent spots of where wolves spawn every particular game, and avoid these places.

I get it, you probably dont like wolves right now, dont you? Till you get used to them, they can be quite a nuisenance... but once you get a bit into the game, you will learn how to deal with them in a way that you will only get into about 3-6 wolf struggles per 100 days survived. 

Maybe I can suggest some tips on how to avoid them.

[Rexdawn]

If you use the logic that wolves don't howl if they sense your presence, then nearby wolves wouldn't howl at all, which they currently do to call out to other wolves.  It just doesn't happen in reverse.

[Mroz4k]

2 minutes ago, Rexdawn said:

If you use the logic that wolves don't howl if they sense your presence, then nearby wolves wouldn't howl at all, which they currently do to call out to other wolves.  It just doesn't happen in reverse.

Wolf howling is a means of distant communication. You are right that they use it to recall the pack together (in realistic situation, doesnt work like that in TLD) - but that is what it is, distant communication tool. If there is a situation growing up close by, they would not howl, for the reasons I´ve already describe. The only time they would do that is if the pack was actively hunting, trying to surround their prey from afar... othervise, they use barks and growls, much like they do in the game, when the spot you and go into a stalking mode, following you, getting ready to attack. I believe this also alerts other wolves in the immediate area. Not that I would know, I avoid the high risk areas as a rule, and if I have to venture inside, I take precautions. I didnt have to deal with more than two wolves at once in the past 3 years of playing. Then again I play modes similar to Interloper weather-wise and Voyager animal wise so I rarely see packs of three wolves or more.