Animal Behavior and AI

[WildBerryPopTart]

So this may sound weird, but what fascinated me about this game was what appeared to be the complicated AI structure that was used in animal behaviors. I want to know more about how the AI works and what the animals do in-game when moving around the map, does anyone have any video/article recommendations to look into? It

[Geronimo]

there is a lady that worked with that in Avalance studios named Karin Cederskoog, she posted a blog about the things she did to make the AI as realistic as possible, if you can find her via google it is an extremely informative article.

[Atlar]

Better not dive too deep into that topic... after 200 hundred hours, the AI seems less and less impressive. Enjoy the magic while it lasts.

[lolikill™]

Originally posted by Atlar:

Better not dive too deep into that topic... after 200 hundred hours, the AI seems less and less impressive. Enjoy the magic while it lasts.

it's like with a battery - it's more interesting to suggest how is it working, not to know.

[WildBerryPopTart]

Does the game become less enjoyable after playing it for that long?

[Alter_Schwede_62]

Originally posted by Geronimo:

there is a lady that worked with that in Avalance studios named Karin Cederskoog, she posted a blog about the things she did to make the AI as realistic as possible, if you can find her via google it is an extremely informative article.

Yes, I read it and I think it is very fascinating, what really happens "behind the curtain".

[Hidden Gunman]

Originally posted by DeFrance9671:

Does the game become less enjoyable after playing it for that long?

There are players who post here with thousands of hours. Two hundred hours is not long overall.

[Funky Stunt]

Originally posted by DeFrance9671:

Does the game become less enjoyable after playing it for that long?

I don't know about "less enjoyable" but it's safe to say the AI becomes less "magical" as you start to notice patterns and some really dumb things.

The animation states of alertness are very impressive but it's often offset when they do something dumb like getting frozen in herds or by themselves, running on the spot, floating, flying and so on.

To lose the illusion magic really fast try hunting the Africa map and watch herds teleport in at render range, walk out and teleport back in. (Sure, there's technical reason for that but it looks horrible and reminds you what you're actually dealing with very quickly.)

The one that bugs me the most is how they repeatedly walk back into a zone to be shot at with their dead mates lying on the ground all around them. (Even dumb sheep balk at that.)

[WildBerryPopTart]

Thanks everyone! it seems like this community is very involved!

[Mickey_Man]

I’m a real life hunter and avid gamer, so I enjoy both sides of a simulator like CoTW - making it fun and enjoyable but also a real challenge and as realistic to real life as we can get.

In short, you hit on some of the biggest problems about the current state of the AI.

I play 20min of the game and I’m immediately taken out of it when, after i down an animal, all of its friends comes waltzing back to the exact place the danger was at...and worse, again, and again and again.

On top of that. Just like you said, the hit animations are cartoony, and the eating and random grazing and wandering mechanics are too predictable.

My one recommendation to the developers when it comes to animations and animal behavior, would be to invest in VARIETY and UNPREDICTABILITY.

Just like they did with TruRacs

Originally posted by Funky Stunt:

Originally posted by DeFrance9671:

Does the game become less enjoyable after playing it for that long?

I don't know about "less enjoyable" but it's safe to say the AI becomes less "magical" as you start to notice patterns and some really dumb things.

The animation states of alertness are very impressive but it's often offset when they do something dumb like getting frozen in herds or by themselves, running on the spot, floating, flying and so on.

To lose the illusion magic really fast try hunting the Africa map and watch herds teleport in at render range, walk out and teleport back in. (Sure, there's technical reason for that but it looks horrible and reminds you what you're actually dealing with very quickly.)

The one that bugs me the most is how they repeatedly walk back into a zone to be shot at with their dead mates lying on the ground all around them. (Even dumb sheep balk at that.)

[Mickey_Man]

They said in their last Q/A that they want to be the best hunting game on the market - animal behavioral variety and unpredictability are the two things that almost no other hunting game has whole heartedly invested in - besides Deer Hunter 2005, funny enough. haha

Unfortunately, they have a long way to go. And I understand that these people still have families to feed at the end of the day, and I fear that not enough people ask for these changes in the animals to warrant the developers to put the actual time into it that’s needed, and then turn around and make a profit off their time spent in some form of DLC...

Which is why new maps and gear are always their main priority...which, is what every other hunting game out there has ever really focused on.

But, I’ll keep my hopes up that over time, they’ll be able to improve the animals.

[WildBerryPopTart]

While I do understand that there are many possible limitations in the whole investment of time and resources it may require for the game developers to actually make these changes, I do wonder what could be done as far as in the short term to make these animals less predictable as some of you say.

[CaptainNebulous]

Originally posted by DeFrance9671:

While I do understand that there are many possible limitations in the whole investment of time and resources it may require for the game developers to actually make these changes, I do wonder what could be done as far as in the short term to make these animals less predictable as some of you say.

Problem is the devs don't WANT to make the AI harder, at least not at this time. They have recently answered questions pertaining to this and they explained that while they are looking at some AI improvements, they also want the AI to be somewhat forgiving so that they can appeal to the casual player base. While personally I prefer it to be more realistic than it is, one look at recent reviews shows you that a lot of people mysteriously find the AI to be too hard and still give the game a thumbs down based on this. Most likely CSGo and COD players who are used to everything being thrown into your face for no-skill combat lmao.

[Funky Stunt]

Originally posted by DeFrance9671:

I do wonder what could be done as far as in the short term to make these animals less predictable as some of you say.

It's not necessarily a bad thing and they can't do much anyway, not without shifting the game away from being the more casual form - this versus the flagship THC.

It's also a different issue to the ongoing behaviour failures though... They've had troubles with herd behaviour for years, perhaps understandably so.

[JS]

I've only 10 or so hours in the game but I've come across lots of whitetail deer that seem to love running on the spot up against trees. Easy head shots

[Alter_Schwede_62]

Originally posted by Funky Stunt:

The one that bugs me the most is how they repeatedly walk back into a zone to be shot at with their dead mates lying on the ground all around them. (Even dumb sheep balk at that.)

Oha, so (dump) sheep, deer, or what ever animals have been at school, and learned, what a hunter is, what a weapon is, and what ammo is, and how all these things beeing coordinated result in a shot, that causes the death of an animal?
Do you see, what you expect from animals?

Animals only run away after a shot because they are spooked mainly by a shot/bang and because a mate beside fell, not because they know that there is a hunter, that shot one of their mates. And of course they do not know, that the hunter perhaps wants to shoot the next resp. another animal too.
Please do not push the intellicence of animals.
Animals are only driven by instinct (cause effected), not by intelligence.
So don't be sad, that they return after one or more shots, because they are hungry or thirsty, not knowing what happened.

The AI is in my oppinion very good as it is. Thats the way how animals are working.

There is only one "intelligence" in the animal kingdom:
The most dominant animals are the most careful animals, and normally appear as the last at a need zone.