animals Trainable Animals

[b133d_4_u]

Now, I know animals are going to be implemented. I know dogs are going to be implemented. This is for when animals will be released. I was thinking, why not be able to train wild animals? Sure, it would be hard and time consuming to do, and it may not always work out, but if you were to succeed, then you'd have a companion to weather out the undead storm.

 

I'm a huge fan of Shepherd's Crossing, which is where I originally got this idea from. In Shepherd's Crossing, you could obtain animals like Boars, Roosters, Cats, and even Cows, and use them to hunt. Now, my idea isn't an exact replica of this, as that wouldn't fit into PZ(I mean, can you imagine finding a cow in the woods and training it to hunt rabbits? That's just preposterous!). I'm thinking each animal has it's own special skills, i.e. Dogs make great hunters, Boars make wonderful foragers, etc etc.

 

I've looked into the Kentucky wildlife and have come up with some ideas for the animals, and the service(s) they might be able to provide:
Wild Boar (Foraging/Defense)

Coyote (Hunting/Defense)

Kestrel (Hunting/Recon)

Black Bear (Hunting/Defense)

Bobcat (Hunting)

Weasel (Hunting/Foraging)

Raccoon (Fishing/Foraging/Scavenging)

Skunk (Defense/Foraging)

 

Now, I know most of you are saying, "Bears/Skunks/Raccoons/Etc?! Are you stupid?!" Actually, I'm not. If you think about it, every animal on this list has been kept as a pet at one point. While most of them may not be trainable once they mature, if you obtain one at a young enough age, they will follow you as if you were there mother. Here's where some of the balancing comes in. In order to obtain say, a bear cub, you'd have to either A. Kill the mother, B. Steal the cub, or C. Find an orphaned cub. You're chances of killing a black bear protecting it's young are slim at best, and stealing the cub would alert it's mother due to all the noise. Finding an orphaned cub is highly unlikely as well, though much more likely now that the dead have risen. This balances out the extreme strength of the bear. The chance of domesticating a wild animal would depend greatly on not only a skill introduced for this, such as Taming, but also on the age of the animal. Plus, anyone could do this, even an "Average Joe" which you are portrayed to be in PZ.

 

Also in an attempt of balancing, each animal could be more or less difficult to obtain(not accounting for baits and traps), and more or less difficult to train. Feel free to modify these difficulties. For example:

Black Bear: Young are very difficult to obtain, but somewhat easy to train. Adult are nearly impossible to obtain, and train.

Wild Boar: Young are somewhat difficult to obtain, and average difficulty to train. Adult are the same.

Coyote: Young are average difficulty to obtain, and easy to train. Adult are average difficulty to obtain, and somewhat easy to train.

Kestrel: Young are difficult to obtain, and average difficulty to train. Adult are nearly impossible to obtain, and very difficult to train.

Bobcat: Young are difficult to obtain, and average difficulty to train. Adult are very difficult to obtain, and difficult to train.

Weasel: Young are average difficulty to obtain, and easy to train. Adult are average difficulty to obtain, and somewhat easy to train.

Raccoon: Young are difficult to obtain, and somewhat easy to train. Adult are the same.

Skunk: Young are difficult to obtain, and train. Adult are very difficult to obtain, and difficult to train.

 

Here is a more in depth version of the animal's roles:

Wild Boar: Can forage for berries, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, insects, etc. Can protect you from NPC's/zombies.

Coyote: Can hunt for rabbits, mice, other small animals. Can protect you from NPC's/zombies.

Kestrel: Can hunt for rabbits, mice, other small animals. Can scout ahead in the air and be taught certain maneuvers signifying certain conditions.

Black Bear: Can hunt large animals such as deer and elk, as well as other animals such as coyotes and wild boar. Can protect you from NPC's/zombies.

Bobcat: Can hunt rabbits, mice, other small animals, as well as large animals like deer, and elk. They usually hide from danger, so they won't protect you.

Weasel: Can forage for berries, nuts, fruits, insects, etc. Can hunt for small animals like rabbits, mice, etc.

Raccoon: Can forage for berries, nuts, fruit, etc. Can fish for minnows, crustaceans, and frogs. Can sneak into houses and scavenge things from within.

Skunk: Can forage for berries, nuts, insects, etc. Can protect you from NPC's.

 

I hope you guys like my idea! I've got much more, but this was the most thought out that hasn't been suggested yet(that I can find).

[Suomiboi]

Taming doesn't happen in one generation so I don't think this is realistically plausible for PZ imo. Could be a fun mod though.

[b133d_4_u]

Taming doesn't happen in one generation so I don't think this is realistically plausible for PZ imo. Could be a fun mod though.

Domestication doesn't happen in one generation. Taming, however, is another matter.

[Suomiboi]

Aye, and taming isn't something that you can do to a bear that hasn't been domesticated. Sorry, I'm not quite fluent with the terms.

[b133d_4_u]

People have done it before, they just have to get the animal at a young enough age. That's why taming an adult bear is nearly impossible.

[Suomiboi]

But A: do you think is it something that's in the skillset of the elusive "average Joe". To me it seems like many people are having a hard time actually training domesticated pets. That surely isn't unplausible and I'm in all favor of but this just seems a little marginal. And B: is it plausible in a pz time scale?

 

I'll point out that I'm just narrowing down here. Not attacking.

[b133d_4_u]

I understand you concerns.

 

While the "Average Joe" may not know the specifics on animal training, they know at least the basics, i.e. scold for bad behavior, reward for good behavior. While that may not be effective every time, for every animal, that is why I proposed a skill for it. By using trial and error, you can figure out what works best and what doesn't work at all, thus raising your skill. Now I'm not saying as a level 5 Animal Tamer you can tame an adult bear with no difficulty, that would be extremely unrealistic. However, it would definitely be easier than if you were level 0.

 

As for the time scale, it could be achieved. The player might be required to gradually gain the animal's trust through various actions, for example. Or, if acquired young enough, the animal would imprint themselves onto the player, thus drastically reducing training times.

 

This would also provide the Park Ranger profession with some much needed relevancy, as they would know how to deal with wild animals.

[King jjwpenguin]

I am mixed on the topic. I like the idea of taming certain animals but i also have a dislike to the fact you would tame things such as bears and coyotes. although it is possible and done before but i feel most of these animals wouldn't be trainable to the normal Joe.  I could see things like a pigeon, a wild dog or cat, rats and mice, and even possibly a raccoon or something like that but to do so is very hard and then you also have to kill the original parents, take the baby, train it to the best of your ability, then hope it doesn't kill you/run away. I am all for trainable ducks because those things follow you for like hours as long as you have a piece of bread or something. Facing zombies with battle ducks. fabulous.

[b133d_4_u]

These exact animals don't have to be implemented, I was just listing relevant wildlife in Kentucky.

[OffitJim]

In my opinion, the amount of time, effort and resources required to tame an animal whilst in a zombie apocalypse would not be worth it. Time and effort would be better spent scavenging, keeping look out or maintaining safe houses. The reason why cats and dogs are such popular pets is because they've had a 12,000 to 14,000 year head start in being domesticated. Every other animal on your list, people have trained them but in isolated incidents, few and far between, requiring attention at all times.

Everyday would be a fight for survival so there's no way I'd be using precious food on an animal the size of a bear. Half a bowl of cat/dog food a day I could handle (Dogfood is already implemented after all) but keeping a bear fed enough to not want to eat me, preposterous. If you have that much food in single player, I'd think about increasing your difficulty settings.

If you're looting a house and come across a dog or a cat, I wouldn't have a problem with being able to take that home as your own. Whilst I think it would be cool including other wildlife to hunt, taming larger animals would just be unrealistic when society is crumbling all around you.

[b133d_4_u]

Again, these exact animals wouldn't have to be implemented. I understand the bear and coyote are a stretch, so they could be omitted. However, the others would be a bit more realistic.

[Gustav]

You should add that adult Raccoons are not recommended to be keep as pets due to them never being even partially domesticated.

I though Kestrels were native to Africa not Kentucky? Or are they an "introduced species"?

[NCrawler]

I'm all for having the ability to catch dogs or cats but only for the fact that they would make a great emergency food source during the winter months...

[b133d_4_u]

I though Kestrels were native to Africa not Kentucky? Or are they an "introduced species"?

There's an American Kestrel, also known as the Sparrow Hawk. It's the most commonly used bird for Falconry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_kestrel

I'm all for having the ability to catch dogs or cats but only for the fact that they would make a great emergency food source during the winter months...

You evil person! No, but seriously, that would make sense to do, for realism.

[Jack Bower]

Ever raise a litter of raccoons? They grow up and go vicious 100% of the time... Raising a bear out in the wild could very likely go the same way, and this game really doesn't last long enough for you to raise a bear to adulthood. Like, if you train any animal I could see like... Attack dog, and of course trusty goldfish.

[Gustav]

Why can a pig forage for insects?

Bears aren't actually hunters (for the most part) they mostly forage and eat berries and vegetables and the abandoned corpses of things wolves killed. But they could probably fight for you.

[b133d_4_u]

Why can a pig forage for insects?

Boars are omnivorous. They regularly forage for worms, roots, fallen fruits and nuts, mushrooms, and yes, insects.

 

Ever raise a litter of raccoons? They grow up and go vicious 100% of the time...

I highly doubt that's true. I would believe 50%, or to a lesser extent 70%, but 100%? That's pushing it.

[Houski]

Taming non-domesticated animals is almost always a losing proposition, take for instance the trained and tamed that frequently end up mauling their trainers. Like Bart the Bear. Or Sigfried and Roy's famous white tigers. Chimpanzees. Etc. They almost always, upon entering puberty/sexual maturity, become more aggressive and less predictable, even when raised from infancy. Domestication takes generations and is the selective breeding of animals that naturally show a fondness and predisposition towards people (see Russian Foxes).

I think a more plausible scenario would be animals that have already been domesticated - horses, dogs, cats would all be a better place to start. Each has their own abilities. Cats can catch mice and birds (leaving them on the porch so you can slaughter them). Dogs could be used for hunting or defense. Horses could provide a means by which to travel long distances without fatigue and/or as pack animals. Because these animals are already domesticated they don't require many additional skills to utilize (cats, almost none at all) and would probably confer an anti-depressive, anti-sadness effect. But they do require additional care - a lot of additional care.

[b133d_4_u]

Taming non-domesticated animals is almost always a losing proposition, take for instance the trained and tamed that frequently end up mauling their trainers. Like Bart the Bear. Or Sigfried and Roy's famous white tigers. Chimpanzees. Etc. They almost always, upon entering puberty/sexual maturity, become more aggressive and less predictable, even when raised from infancy. Domestication takes generations and is the selective breeding of animals that naturally show a fondness and predisposition towards people (see Russian Foxes).

I mostly listed non-dangerous animals. The only ones that could possibly kill you would be the boar and the bear, and I already stated that the bear could be omitted. The same could be done with the boar. And, once again, I'm not talking about domestication. I realize that would take several generations to accomplish.