Wolf stalking from 100-150 yards away .. new scent mechanic?

[BIGwooly]

My understanding was that only the scent icon was new and that the scent mechanic itself was the same as before the update.  However, last night I spotted a wolf about 100-150 yards away (near farmhouse) moving briskly ... clearly in stalking mode.  I had one bar filled on the scent icon (carrying 2 partially cured gut, and 2 400 calorie cooked deer steaks).  In all my hours of play up to this point I've NEVER seen a wolf tracking me from such a great distance.  It was truly awesome and somewhat terrifying, lol.

So my question is, has the scent mechanic also been modified?  It would sure seem that it's more sensitive now.  I was on Interloper difficulty.

[selfless]

Yes, scent has been enhanced.  But a more obvious change is that creating "smelly" areas will attract predators from far away to that spot.  Some smell inducing things are butchering and dropping decoys.  I have already seen wolves walk nearly a kilometer to get to a butchering site.

[BIGwooly]

I'm pretty sure because of draw distance you couldn't see a wolf from a kilometer away, but even so, the new scent mechanic is crazy scary good, haha.  What's crazy too is I only had one of the three scent 'meters' filled up ... I can't imagine having all three full and trying to walk around. #wolfmagnet

[ChillPlayer]

Yes I noticed the same and it is quite useful. If there's a wolf blocking your path you can lure him away with a decoy or something and then get a free passage Used this technique on a wolf blocking my way to Camp Office on the lake.

[Wasteland Watcher]

 Question to all regarding this: 

 Is a wolve's/bear's sense of smell the same regardless of difficulty level? I hope it is ( I am a Voyageur player). 

 Meaning, I hope it's not "less distance for easier skills and greater distance for the harder skills."

[Samsonguy920]

3 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

 Question to all regarding this: 

 Is a wolve's/bear's sense of smell the same regardless of difficulty level? I hope it is ( I am a Voyageur player). 

 Meaning, I hope it's not "less distance for easier skills and greater distance for the harder skills."

Playing Voyageur since the update, and I am pretty sure the sense of smell is crazy distant.  In my last playthrough I endured two wolf attacks in places I never encountered a wolf before. I am pretty sure they were stalking me.

I can affirm that wolves are on the top of my most hated list in Long Dark.  On the plus side, I also saw a wolf stalk and kill a rabbit, something I never saw in a let's play video or a playthrough of mine before.  I then shot the wolf, collected the rabbit, and harvested the wolf. I am sure that helped the two wolves catch my scent.  That and the karma.  It is a lesson that when you go hunting, make sure you have more ammunition, flares, and a knife and/or hatchet on you.

[Wasteland Watcher]

2 hours ago, Samsonguy920 said:

Playing Voyageur since the update, and I am pretty sure the sense of smell is crazy distant.  In my last playthrough I endured two wolf attacks in places I never encountered a wolf before. I am pretty sure they were stalking me.

I can affirm that wolves are on the top of my most hated list in Long Dark.  On the plus side, I also saw a wolf stalk and kill a rabbit, something I never saw in a let's play video or a playthrough of mine before.  I then shot the wolf, collected the rabbit, and harvested the wolf. I am sure that helped the two wolves catch my scent.  That and the karma.  It is a lesson that when you go hunting, make sure you have more ammunition, flares, and a knife and/or hatchet on you.

Prior June 2016 I was encountering wolves even right outside Camp Office, the woods straight out the back door of the Camp Office, and sometimes on the train tracks blocking the way to the rabbit grove but when I started playing again last month I noticed they never seemed to be there anymore.

Since Faithful Cartographer released I'm encountering them in some of those places again.

 Regarding wolve's sense of smell, as I only play Voyageur difficulty I have no way to assess whether the sensory range is different based on difficulty level.  Hoping someone who has tested it out on various difficulties can  tell us or whether Hinterland Staff can chime in to verify things. 

[Dirmagnos]

13 hours ago, Samsonguy920 said:

I also saw a wolf stalk and kill a rabbit, something I never saw in a let's play video or a playthrough of mine before

Wolves attacked and killed rabbits even before this update. But their detection range on that part was like 3-4 meters. So, for wolf to engage rabbit it had to be really close to it to begin with.

[Samsonguy920]

1 hour ago, Dirmagnos said:

Wolves attacked and killed rabbits even before this update. But their detection range on that part was like 3-4 meters. So, for wolf to engage rabbit it had to be really close to it to begin with.

It was rather close. I was just taking the moment to point out a first experience of mine.

[Samsonguy920]

Just finished a session and I am starting to think it is more the wolf population got jacked up.  More areas that might have wolves more likely have wolves appear.  I honestly couldn't go past one ridge without seeing 1-3 wolves.  This is on Voyageur difficulty.

This honestly feels out of balance.

[BIGwooly]

I started another post regarding wolf spawns and I think that might be contributing to the issue as well.  I know wolves can be easy to miss at times, but I've had a few too many instances now where wolves seemed to spawn nearby the moment I wasn't looking in that direction.  I've also had at least two wolves seemingly vanish (despawn?).

I do love the way the scent mechanic works and how it creates additional decisions for you regarding harvesting.  But it definitely is feeling a bit like 'survive the wolf' more than 'survive the elements' in my most recent playthroughs.  I tend to think wolf/bear sightings should be a bit more rare.  I've spent a lot of time in the outdoors in the northwest and never seen a bear (had one cross a stream below me that others saw but I didn't).  Yet in this game I see a bear (or 2 or 3) daily.  And wolves are literally everywhere, lol, which is tricky with the way the scent mechanic works.

[Wasteland Watcher]

1 hour ago, Samsonguy920 said:

Just finished a session and I am starting to think it is more the wolf population got jacked up.  More areas that might have wolves more likely have wolves appear.  I honestly couldn't go past one ridge without seeing 1-3 wolves.  This is on Voyageur difficulty.

This honestly feels out of balance.

My experience was that sometime after June last year wolves were significantly depopulated from many areas (in Voyageur). I used to encounter them pretty much all over the place, in pairs or alone.
After Faithful Cartographer released they seem to have been restored to the previous June 2016 level of population -- but with the difference that they are more likely to appear three together or alone. It doesn't really bother me, I just give them a wide berth, or if the weather is good enough, light a fire and carry a brand...er...torch, at all times.

[Nervous Pete]

6 hours ago, Dirmagnos said:

Wolves attacked and killed rabbits even before this update. But their detection range on that part was like 3-4 meters. So, for wolf to engage rabbit it had to be really close to it to begin with.

True. I remember a few months ago I was checking the snares by Heartbreak Ridge by moonlight. I heard a loud squeak just out of sight over a hummock, between me and red mail box at the end of the lane. I thought it was curious, and went back to checking the snares. Then I heard a low growl, walked a little higher to see what was what and saw a wolf looking up at me, stood over a dead rabbit. I thought they never strayed beyond the large orchard on the other side of the driveway, but a rabbit must have wandered over into the other field and been pursued by the wolf!

I ran like crazy back to the farmhouse, heart pounding, I can tell you! Funny how things happen like this, now and again, when you become complacent and think that certain routes will always be safe.

[KD7BCH]

I'm beginning to think we can reliably bait wolves to kill rabbits, but leaving a dead one out there for them to come investigate, find other rabbits and eat the live ones, then when you got him focused on Roger Rabbit munchies, POW out of nowhere, you Robin Hood that punk from afar. 

[ChillPlayer]

48 minutes ago, KD7BCH said:

I'm beginning to think we can reliably bait wolves to kill rabbits,

tried something similar today, wanted to lure some wolfs from Max' Last Stand towards a herd of Deer around Trapper's. Packed enogh raw rabbits to have a scent meter of 3 and waited, sadly for the first time in a long while, there were no wolves near by as I discovered later. But I am sure this would work.

[Crimson Foxx]

I killed a deer just outside the Lookout tower way up on the hill at Coastal Highway. I dont think i have ever seen any wolves outside that lookout before. Further down there are some and even a bear but not right outside the lookout tower. However i quartered that deer and took 2 of 3 bags up to the building of the tower. i came back down literally moments later to collect the third meat bag. As i picked it up 2 wolves came running around a rock and attacked me! Trully awesome and confirms the danger level and care you need to take. I was and always play on Stalker mode as well.

So even in locations you dont think any wolves or bears are usually ever seen they WILL detect the scent from a long way off and track and investigate. 

[Dirmagnos]

I love new smell mechanics, even tho there is one part that i have a beef bear with. I just prefer to believe that current system is a placeholder for much larger application upon release. As otherwise it would be a tremendous oversight.

Problem is bear sense of smell. As wolves seem to have rather strong, then bears seem to have none or extremely little. A few ingame days back i was heading back to my intermediate base at Misanthrope island, that i use when scavenging coastline for stuff that washes ashore.

And as passing by i killed 4 or 5 rabbits, so my smell meter was full. Upon reaching top of the hill, looked around as usual and noticed couple of wolves all the way to the east, almost at the road, that seemed to have smelled me. They both turned and started to trot towards me, not particularly fast, but quite determined.

Ok, thats nice, id say thrilling even. A bit to south-east, considerably closer, quarter or even less distance compared to wolves, was a bear wandering around, apparently completely oblivious to my presence.

Problem is smell. Thing is that wolves have about 100 stronger sense of smell compared to humans. But bears are in a completely different league. Their sense of smell is approximately 2000 times better compared to humans. They are the best smellers in the world among land-based animals. But in game they all seem to have a runny nose and cant smell anything.

Im not saying that bears should track players across the map. Altho it could be an interesting mechanic, slow and inevitable pace of a bear towards player. So every time player picks up a piece of uncooked meat or another rabbit, it would mean that bear(or several) somewhere on the map raised his head and looked in your direction... But i do hope that eventually bears will have a proper sense of smell in game, at least on same level as wolves.

[KD7BCH]

Bears mope around too, and are too slow. When they get wind of something that smells like dinner they should at least fast walk towards it. Especially if they are hungry. A player should be forced to hide, find a difficult spot for the bear to reach, or mask his scent or something to avoid being trapped by a bear. Bears have adequate vision so they should wander off and lose interest after awhile if they can't locate the motion of prey. 

[Crimson Foxx]

I agree. I do wish bears where more of a threat. I love that i am so nervous of wolves and try my best to avoid them. But i do find myself really only worrying about wolves and dismissing the potential danger of a bear.

It feels that unless i deliberately provoke a bear or get reeeally close they tend to not bother me and they seem almost pleasant to watch. I want my experience to be like that in the movie 'The Edge' i want to be hunted by a bear maybe, tracked and chased. The bear to smell a kill and then seek that food out from a long way off. A bear can easily outrun a human in real life and i want that worry in this game. They are so strong and actually smart and can climb well too. I want there to be a possibility of more than one bear presence in a map area. I dont want to know that once i have located a bear i can go anywhere else on that map and not see another. I want the risk of more than one bear to randomly appear someplace on a map. 

I would love bears to even thump on a cabin/hut door. Not get in but even if the game had them chase a player to a safe indoor location and then for a while pound his paws on the door and growl or rock a car i jumped into to escape one Scare the life out of me and make my heart race and lift the hairs on the back of my neck. I want to never know if i peek out after its gone quiet that it might be right there waiting, with a intelligence that could outwit me.

I know most of this i wish for is impossible and a silly dream but i fear wolves right now in Stalker. I dont fear a bear.

[BIGwooly]

I would agree as well.  I was just playing on interloper in TWM and was evading a wolf that had spotted me ... came over a hill and pretty much ran right into a bear.  It was no more than 30-50 feet away and walking right towards me.  I turned and headed away from it and it turned and followed .. but at a snail's pace.  I was glad I survived but it also solidified this lack of fear I have for bears.  I should be terrified of them.

I have to disagree with only one bear per map, though.  I've definitely come across multiples on a map before.

In all my playthroughs I've only been attacked by a bear once, and it was a fluke encounter.  It would be awesome if they toned down the wolf spawns a bit more ... and increased the threat level of the bears .. give them scent tracking or better scent tracking .. and give them a higher chance to pursue you if spotted.  It would be pretty epic to have a bear tracking you for miles as you tried to maintain distance until you could reach a shelter.

[Crimson Foxx]

I probably have just been lucky with bear spawns then maybe. I havent seen more than one bear per zone. Or maybe i seem to think its the same bear when its not LOL.

Its a fine balance to think about as far as the aggression and ability of the bears. I do stand by my previous comment asking for smarter bears with a higher scent skill and faster chase speed, higher aggression and persistent intent to get to the cause of the scent. BUT thinking on it i would not want the bears to end up ruining the game by becoming too much of a risk and pest. it is hard enough with intelligent angry wolves who do scare me. I think more fear of bears needs to be generated somehow and they do need to be made more dangerous either through a faster attack speed or higher scent detectors. But not to break the balance of the game and it to become too much like the bear challenge where you spend all your time running from it.

[Wasteland Watcher]

Alternatively, instead of making the black bears that are currently around more hostile, adding the occasional grizzly that is very hostile into The Long Dark would really add something tense to our experience. 

[Ice Hole]

When first starting this game back 7 months ago I was like Jon Snow; I knew nothing.  One memorable event happened after harvesting a deer; I heard the howl of wolfs and thought the scent attracted the wolves.  Scent is a reality now in the 421 build and I am starting to notice others are experimenting with this new mechanic. 

A result from those experiments indicate wolves can be lured from a kilometre or more.  Just recently during an interloper run I made the bow and made a kill a the cabin in CH and near by there is a trailer near a bridge that has a wolf patrolling around.  The scent of the kill attracted crows but nothing else.  Even after harvesting some of it I went indoors to sleep.  Still did not notice any thing in the morning. 

Does this scent effect mechanic for attracting predators not function in certain areas?

Does the wind affect the scent mechanic? 

If in a windbreak does that block the scent from expanding? 

How about downwind versus upwind?

I have been experimenting with a couple other things.  These scent mechanic questions are pestering for answers and just might distract me.

 

[Samsonguy920]

9 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

Alternatively, instead of making the black bears that are currently around more hostile, adding the occasional grizzly that is very hostile into The Long Dark would really add something tense to our experience. 

Only if the Grizzly was very, very rare. Like only one per save, but able to spawn in any region, including Mystery Lake.  And on Interloper, maybe Stalker, too, once he gets your taste, he will always follow you like the bear in The Hunted challenge.  Maybe taking longer between regions, especially taking Carter Dam into account, but he will eventually catch up with you.

[Samsonguy920]

8 hours ago, Farrgin Ice Hole said:

When first starting this game back 7 months ago I was like Jon Snow; I knew nothing.  One memorable event happened after harvesting a deer; I heard the howl of wolfs and thought the scent attracted the wolves.  Scent is a reality now in the 421 build and I am starting to notice others are experimenting with this new mechanic. 

A result from those experiments indicate wolves can be lured from a kilometre or more.  Just recently during an interloper run I made the bow and made a kill a the cabin in CH and near by there is a trailer near a bridge that has a wolf patrolling around.  The scent of the kill attracted crows but nothing else.  Even after harvesting some of it I went indoors to sleep.  Still did not notice any thing in the morning. 

Does this scent effect mechanic for attracting predators not function in certain areas?

Does the wind affect the scent mechanic? 

If in a windbreak does that block the scent from expanding? 

How about downwind versus upwind?

I have been experimenting with a couple other things.  These scent mechanic questions are pestering for answers and just might distract me.

 

The scent mechanic only applies to when the meat and guts are on your person. Wolves and bears will still ignore meat and guts on the ground.  Maybe once we can employ hanging food off a tree then meat on the ground will draw predators, but for now with what we have, having meat on the ground attract predators would put difficulty over the top. You would lose the meat plus have a good chance of predators hanging right outside your shelter.

"Oh, what a beautiful day, Time to hike to OH MY GOD WARGARBLBLBLBLEH"