Eat as a herd,sleep as a heard,and move as a herd.


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Beefalos seem to slowly disperse after you've found them and i think this makes it too easy to kill them.Maybe we can have a kind of proximity thing where a beefalo will always be in some proximate distance from another but then how does the herd move? Maybe we should have a Alpha beefalo that moves the herd so the herd is never in the same place all the time and it would be harder to kill them.I think this can be very realistic as IRL grazing animals also move in a herd and follow an alpha.

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Agreed. I think beefalo should stay together within a certain proximity of their "alpha" leader. Of course if you kill, or the alpha leader otherwise dies, then the herd should scatter until maybe another alpha appears from the existing beefalo (after several days). It could then "gather up" the stray beefalo back into a new herd.

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Yes,as it just hit me, this will also encourage the use of sleep darts because as the herd moves the player puts one of the beefalos at the end of the group to sleep and wait till the herd moves away to kill it.Of course a lot of players are discouraged to kill them since they are limited and so i also want them to have offspring.Maybe a limit of some sort so no over population.

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Yes,as it just hit me, this will also encourage the use of sleep darts because as the herd moves the player puts one of the beefalos at the end of the group to sleep and wait till the herd moves away to kill it.

Now if there is an alpha male, then that would be like a bull... or at the very least an agressive beefalo who wouldn't want you geeting too close. Maybe this is where the beefalo hat could come in... when baby beefalo are added you could pretend to be one and thus avoid the rage of the alpha male. ;)

Of course a lot of players are discouraged to kill them since they are limited and so i also want them to have offspring.Maybe a limit of some sort so no over population.

Yup. As I've suggested before, if Klei ever introduces baby beefalo which eventually become adult beefalo, then they will need to introduce population control. My suggested method for this issue was to have beefalo eat grass. This would vex the player, especially if they hoarded a lot of grass in one area and didn't put up walls to keep beefalo out (and away from it), but also it could be connected to a need for each beefalo to eat 2-3 grass per day. If a beefalo doesn't eat because there are more beefalo than there is available grass, then it should starve and die... leaving a dessicated carcus behind (no meat, just fur if attacked/destroyed by the player).

Later, if/when Klei introduces beefalo farming it would be up to the player to feed their beefalo grass.

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I would like to have larger birdges beetween maps and go even further and have the herds move from map to map. Combined with the initial suggestion, would be a nice addition. (but this means having a a-life system or similar for the mobs)

That's interesting because I would like to see the bridges eventually eliminated. So beefalo herds on one island won't be able to travel to another. Rather only the player would have the means to travel between islands (i.e. via boat/raft) at some point in the future.

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That's interesting because I would like to see the bridges eventually eliminated. So beefalo herds on one island won't be able to travel to another. Rather only the player would have the means to travel between islands (i.e. via boat/raft) at some point in the future.

That's an other alternative, yes. But in the actual map size, herds wouldn't have very far to travel.

But I still agree with you, if the bridges where to disappear altogether.

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While I'd like to see boats I also like the bridges, they provide a good defensible place for me to place a camp and they also allow for travel between different islands prior to having a boat, or for herds to travel between different islands, or dogs/tallbirds to chase you between them. It would be slightly exploitative if I could run into my boat and get away with the tallbird egg to a different island, or leave the pack of dogs stranded on island X while I go camp out on island Y until I'm ready to harvest some teeth.

Of course with a new map development technique perhaps both could be seen on bigger, more realistic maps in the future. Larger islands, some connected by bridges, others requiring boats to travel between. :)

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While I'd like to see boats I also like the bridges, they provide a good defensible place for me to place a camp

Which is why Klei will be adding craftable walls Soon, because they want to eventually eliminate "unintended defenses" (i.e. tree walls, chest walls, ect). I believe the advantage from stone bridges in an unintended defense and in the long run they may remove them to eliminate it. That would re-balance defenses to using their craftables to defend yourself (i.e. log suit, football cap, spear, walls, ect). That and the edge of the island... until they introduce sea monsters and beaches (I hope). ;)

...and they also allow for travel between different islands prior to having a boat, or for herds to travel between different islands, or dogs/tallbirds to chase you between them.

Well boats/rafts could be fairly simple to construct, only taking time as you gather the necessary logs, rope (grass), and canvas (hides?). How quickly Klei wants us to have boats/rafts is entirely up to them and how difficult they make the task. As for herding and tallbird chases, well, I think those should be limited to specific islands. So if you land on tallbird island you need to be prepared to deal with tallsbirds or run back to your boat/raft and launch before it pecks you to death. Also, if beefalo are unique to only certain islands then you couldn't take advantage of them. Either you built a farm on one island or you abandoned them in search of adventure elsewhere, it should come down to your choice. I don't believe we should have every option available or we'll all have the same base camps (i.e. pretty much like today).

It would be slightly exploitative if I could run into my boat and get away with the tallbird egg to a different island, or leave the pack of dogs stranded on island X while I go camp out on island Y until I'm ready to harvest some teeth.

In reference to the tallbirds, do you find that having them chase you endlessly is a perk? I find their AI behavior odd, unless it later allows you to drop the egg to get them to stop chasing you, which right now it doesn't because they attack/chase you on sight, not because of anything you've done. That seems a bit broken to me. Doesn't it seem like a legitimate tactic to run to your boat to flee the island? I don't think escaping on a boat is broken, rather the tactics/behavior of the tallbird. Also, launching the boat could take a few seconds allowing for the tallbird(s) to peck you a bit before you can escape.

As for the hounds... I assume they could despawn after a day if you're not on the same island as them. The hounds were more of a surprise attack, and if islands were no longer connected by bridges I think they should revamp their attack pattern. For example, if should be howling for, say, 10 seconds, and then they attack. That should be more than enough time to switch your backpack for your log suit and equip a weapon. And get out of your flammable base camp...

Of course with a new map development technique perhaps both could be seen on bigger, more realistic maps in the future. Larger islands, some connected by bridges, others requiring boats to travel between. :)

Except for the land bridges, I agree. I would like larger maps (who wouldn't, and in time we'll have those) with open sea between the islands requiring the distance of a long bridge to travel/search from one island to another. I like the idea of searching the open seas for new islands, not knowing what to expect. The placement of the islands and their size would be two key factors. Not too far apart that travelling across the sea becomes boring and not too small that we could miss an island altogether. Of course events and encounters at sea would help spice things up... sea monsters, ghost ships, jagged rocks, storms, and floating flotsum (i.e. barrels with everything from nothing to random resources inside them).

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