Manage "your herds"? Really?

[Heinekn]

So...am wondering how many of you take the time to "manage your herds".

Or are you more likely to shoot first...and ask questions later...smiles.

[Razamanaz]

I try to manage them (sort of) by only shooting Mature low star animals or 5 stars. I try to never shoot young ones or Adults with 3 stars, etc.. After examining a herd I often let them go without shooting if there's no Matures worth taking.

[Heinekn]

Yea...I do that kind of "management as well...but after spending an hour or more stalking the herd for position...it sure is hard not to take the shot at a three-star...so he has a chance to grow into a five-star, eh?

[SpidersInABirthdayCake]

A 3 star adult can very well grow into a 5 star mature.

[DC2Dixon]

I like the concept, I know in game its to help with trophy animals and not population control like real life but it is a good gaming feature IMO.

For me it makes it so I need to take my time and decide what animal could potentially help the genetics and which ones I should take out. If I have 2 elk that are mature 2 stars, which is the bigger of the 2. It makes it so I need to look at any adults or young that have uneven antlers etc.

I don't focus on particular herds, to me that is just a chore but as I explore and find animals it means I'm not just shooting any animal for the sake of a kill. I think without this feature I would see a herd, shoot a animal and move on. For me the herd management makes it so I feel I have a part in what could potentially spawn in the future. I like seeing a herd and not being able to shoot anything on times. I think without that it isn't much different to COTW.

There are plenty of herds that normally have at least one animal that is low genetics (I'll use the caller to help with knowing) Sometimes a adult doesn't look bad genetics but using a low fitness caller can bring in some with 20% genetics etc.

[Armus]

Unless a mission or task demands otherwise, I simply shoot old and sick animals, or those I see with clearly deformed antlers.

[knocks]

I do my best though it's hit and miss playing on ranger difficulty.

[Florian Meyer]

Originally posted by knocks:

I do my best though it's hit and miss playing on ranger difficulty.

In ranger mode you can only do herd management with the animals, where you can roughly see how old and how good the trophies are. The callers don't always help you to spot the weak ones either.
All predatory animals birds and hares cannot really be judged. I play in the ranger from time to time and can also add the mountain goats, which can only be differentiated into male and female but not by their horns.
In the case of the mouflon and bighorn sheep, the 4 stars can hardly be distinguished from the 5 stars and since there is no caller for them, you cannot specifically remove weak animals.
A good 4-star mule deer, roe deer, white-tailed deer and even a moose are difficult to distinguish from a 5-star. I myself can only really say for the red deer and elks whether it's a 5 star.
The animals should be more clearly distinguishable, so that the age and fitness can be better recognized. As it is now, herd management in rager is largely a gamble.
And if you've been watching a big moose for many days and you kill it and it shows you a 4 star with 99.9% genetics, then the frustration is there. It would be better if the 5 star was also recognizable by special coat characteristics.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by DC2Dixon:

I like the concept, I know in game its to help with trophy animals and not population control like real life but it is a good gaming feature IMO.

For me it makes it so I need to take my time and decide what animal could potentially help the genetics and which ones I should take out. If I have 2 elk that are mature 2 stars, which is the bigger of the 2. It makes it so I need to look at any adults or young that have uneven antlers etc.

I don't focus on particular herds, to me that is just a chore but as I explore and find animals it means I'm not just shooting any animal for the sake of a kill. I think without this feature I would see a herd, shoot a animal and move on. For me the herd management makes it so I feel I have a part in what could potentially spawn in the future. I like seeing a herd and not being able to shoot anything on times. I think without that it isn't much different to COTW.

There are plenty of herds that normally have at least one animal that is low genetics (I'll use the caller to help with knowing) Sometimes a adult doesn't look bad genetics but using a low fitness caller can bring in some with 20% genetics etc.

Don't forget Dix, it's not just about trophies. Remember that trophy potential animals are the result of a healthy herd and good breeding genetics. Herd management is as much promoting healthy animals, which in return provides trophy opportunities.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Florian Meyer:

Originally posted by knocks:

I do my best though it's hit and miss playing on ranger difficulty.

In ranger mode you can only do herd management with the animals, where you can roughly see how old and how good the trophies are. The callers don't always help you to spot the weak ones either.
All predatory animals birds and hares cannot really be judged. I play in the ranger from time to time and can also add the mountain goats, which can only be differentiated into male and female but not by their horns.
In the case of the mouflon and bighorn sheep, the 4 stars can hardly be distinguished from the 5 stars and since there is no caller for them, you cannot specifically remove weak animals.
A good 4-star mule deer, roe deer, white-tailed deer and even a moose are difficult to distinguish from a 5-star. I myself can only really say for the red deer and elks whether it's a 5 star.
The animals should be more clearly distinguishable, so that the age and fitness can be better recognized. As it is now, herd management in rager is largely a gamble.
And if you've been watching a big moose for many days and you kill it and it shows you a 4 star with 99.9% genetics, then the frustration is there. It would be better if the 5 star was also recognizable by special coat characteristics.

It becomes a matter of whether or not it's worth all the effort given the gamble involved. I think using Ranger mode is really for the simulated realism and just hunting for trophy animals. In Ranger mode it's probably not compatible with herd management.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Heinekn:

So...am wondering how many of you take the time to "manage your herds".

Or are you more likely to shoot first...and ask questions later...smiles.

IMO the herd management dynamics are somewhat broken by a number of uncertainties. It seems like a player has to choose which he wants to do when he begins playing, because you can't have high level animals breeding if you kill them, and you can't take trophies if you leave them alive to breed, lol.

What a dilemma!!!

And to confound that dilemma further, some of the missions require you to harvest those high level animals which will really set you back in your management process once you begin to understand the necessities involved.

I also find that if you do try to manage the health of a herd, the aging process is not really observable in a way that you can appreciate it. It's a slow process spread out over a large area that is constantly being affected by hunting pressure. And in some cases your herd can actually be temporarily removed from the map to simulate it's disappearance from a heavily hunted environment. Which means a prolonging of the inability to observe the already monotonous results of your efforts.

I do take out the low potentials when I get the chance, but it's always while trying to balance the potential pressure created, and whether or not I should or shouldn't harvest a trophy instead.

It just seems that the game promotes some dislike of hunting for trophies by having players choose to manage instead.

[Florian Meyer]

With each new map, the time required for herdmanagement increases and you lose more and more of the overview. Therefore, one will concentrate on one map and hunt it preferentially. So it will come down to it, at least that's how it is for me, that once the lodge is full, then the interest in this map dwindles and the next map has to provide new motivation again.
The new map is only half the size of the others, so the effort is less, but the lodge should also be filled relatively quickly.
Either they bring extra lodges or they have to bring in very special animals to keep the motivation up.
If it's all about herd management and just filling the lodges, it's going to be difficult to keep up with the constant need for new maps. The game is 6 months old and many are already calling for the next map, even though they haven't even remotely mastered the first two maps.
The herdmanagement, which tends to scare away players, should be made more attractive by all sorts of things. I would encourage player engagement with the game by customizing the character with tons of gear, clothing, etc. The forced role-playing does not contribute to the identification with the game. Maybe the crossbow or bowhunt will bring some extra motivation at some point, but that can also prove to be more difficult than some think.

[Gawfast]

Originally posted by Geronimo:

I also find that if you do try to manage the health of a herd, the aging process is not really observable in a way that you can appreciate it. It's a slow process spread out over a large area that is constantly being affected by hunting pressure. And in some cases your herd can actually be temporarily removed from the map to simulate it's disappearance from a heavily hunted environment. Which means a prolonging of the inability to observe the already monotonous results of your efforts.

Playing on Adventurer. It seems bows are not affects to the hunting pressure much. Once i cleared the population from 4 low health animals at one session without spooking herd. The herd is observable from the hill. Move forward to 220 meters (240 yards). Call weak animals - 4 comes. Move backward to 260-300 meters (284-328 yards) - call them on movement and watch. Allow get them close for 30-50 meters (32-54 yards). You should not making any movement and see if the wind is backward or sideway, in this cases animal will go so close to you by itself. Shoot the first one - the rest are run away. Wait until they come back to their herd. Move forward to 220 meters (240 yards). Call... :)

At 250+ meters (273+ yards) herd is not hear enough the bow shot. Maximum was a bit of spooking them. Herd remained in the same place and i just gone away.

Screenshot

[ravensview]

I'm just starting out, learning weapons and animals and exploring the maps. No time for herd management yet, unless it's a Mission requirement. .

[CristoSaurio]

i use the multiplayer mode for killing rampages to earn fast money because is random everytime and didn't save the progress so you dont have to worry
and in the story mode i try to kill only the matures and bad genetic animals
with the hope to get a nice genetic map someday

[ZZredragon]

i'm trying to get a golden jackal 5 stars since almost 2 weeks now. something must be broken cause i work on 14 groups of jackals in the right habitat.

i never got bigger than 4 stars. and i just discovered a 93% DNA wich was Adult 1 star !!

these 5 stars quest ( in transylvanie or africa for example ) are a pain in the a** even if you cull low stars matures.

what you need to know to grow up a herd :

for big animals you can use callers to attract under 50% DNA animals ( if you have unlocked the callers ofc )
for small animals callers will target female AND Male under 50% ( of males above 50% if you use the second call )
Or use your googles if you play with hunter's sense

Then you need to age them.... Since the devs changed day 1 mechanics ( wich was : you sleep all night you want to age them ), you now have to wait a full hour in game before sleeping. and you need 3 nights for 1 year.

i just let you make the math to grow an animal until his last day of life to maximise chance of 5 stars... it's not fun

I've done all the quests on all maps ( roughly 300 hours of game ) but i still miss 5 stars quests to have "finished" the game.

I challenge the devs ( michal, miriam ? ) to hunt a 5 stars in a decent amount of time !!

In my opinion 5 stars shouldnt be quested. it should be in the game for trophies, not to complete a task. Other quests and game is fun and enjoyable :)