How exactly does this scent system work?

[Big McLargeHuge]

Been a hot minute since i last played and i'd like to know

[Scanova the Carnotaurus]

Hold the sniff key for a few seconds (only while standing still with herbs but you can also walk/trot with it as carnivores), and you will see a few things. A compass will be displayed at the top of the screen, and you'll see various things highlighted. Water in general will glow if its within sight of you, and big sources of it will appear as disks through the environment if they're nearby. You can see these from quite a distance away.

Herbivores and carnivores can also smell the trails of other animals through footprints they leave on the ground, which highlight yellow. Food for each the respective diets is also highlighted, with herbivores being able to see highlighted green bushes from a vast distance like water, while carnivores will be able to see gore piles and blood trails in a similar manner to footprints.