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Animal Fear Index and General Animal Ideas


Okamikurainya

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I know a fair amount of similar posts exist, but I hope I'm taking this in enough of a different direction to validate this post's existence.

 

When animals are added, that they have a global fear index that slowly lowers during playtime. Gunshots, injuring and killing animals will increase the fear for animals within the current 300x300 area tile by 0.1% for each action (4 gunshots, whether fired at an animal or not, will increase the fear index of the animals within the tile by 0.4%, etc). The global fear index lowers by 0.5% daily. In general, sprinting within a predator animal's perception will increase the likelihood of aggroing it.

 

Starting off, animals would be placed into 3 categories:

Wild:
Starting Fear Ratio = 75% to 100%
Quick to flee both players and zombies as soon as they enter into their radius of perception. If the animal is capable of offensive maneuvers, it will have an aggro index that will steadily rise so long as the player is within a certain radius and will be more likely to exit Flight mode and enter Fight mode. The lower the fear index, the faster the aggro index increases, though certain animals would be more aggressive than others.

Animals included in this group:

Badger (Can aggro)
Black Bear (Can aggro)

Blue Heron*
Bobcat (Can aggro)
Elk

Generic Snake (Some can aggro)*
Gray Fox (Can aggro)
Gray Squirrel (Wilderness spawned)

Grouse
Mountain Lion (Can aggro)*

Quail

Rabbit
Rattlesnake (Can aggro)
Red Fox (Can aggro)
Snapping Turtle (Can aggro)*

Turkey (Wilderness spawned, Can tame)

Water moccasin (Can aggro)
White Tail Deer (No aggro, but can trample/tackle if it runs "through" you)
Zoo Animals

Spoiler

Alligator (Can aggro)
Crocodile (Can aggro)
Generic Antelope (No aggro, but can trample/tackle if it runs "through" you)
Jaguar (Can aggro)
Lion, Female (Can aggro)
Lion, Male (Can aggro)
Polar Bear (Can aggro)
Tiger (Can aggro)
Wolf (Can aggro)
Zebra (Can aggro)

 

 

*
The "Generic Snake" could come in 8 variations, like the berries and mushrooms, with 4 randomly being capable of attacking the player and one of the four being venomous. A trait could allow for identification.

 

*
The Mountain Lion would be incredibly rare if it's even added. I've done a fair bit of research and there have been sightings and reports but very little hard evidence.

 

*
I imagine the Snapping Turtle (Common or Alligator) or the Blue Heron would best be suited only if the devs add in wading. They aren't something you'd just encounter on the banks of the river most of the time. An easy way to add this functionality would be to have it work based on distance to nearest land tile. One tile away from land would be ankle deep, two would be up to your knees and three would be up to your waist and so on... With further than chest height being blocked or with the addition of swimming.

 

Feral:
Starting Fear Ratio = 25% to 75%

Animals, wild or not, that are more used to humans. These can still be quick to flee, but far less likely to than wild category animals, and with lower fear means a higher chance to aggro for animals with offensive capabilities, though some of these can be tamed if the player has the right abilities or tools.

 

Animals included in this group:
Cat (Urban or Wilderness spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)

Coydog (Can aggro)
Coyote (Can aggro)
Dog (Urban spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)

Donkey (Wilderness spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)

Duck (Wilderness spawned, Can tame)
Generic Turtle

Goose (Wilderness spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)
Gray Squirrel (Urban spawned)
Mouse
Pig (Wilderness spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)

Possum
Raccoon (Can aggro)
Rat

 

Domesticated:

Starting Fear Ratio = 0% to 25%

These are domesticated animals and livestock. They can sometimes be spawned with a relatively high fear index, but tools and player skills can relax them. Feeding of livestock with their associated foodtype will lower their fear index substantially, though gun shots and slaughtering of livestock can still increase the local fear. Domesticated animals will still need to be tamed before a player can get any use out of them and to prevent them from becoming aggroed by the player's presence, though Domesticated group animals are unlikely to aggro in general, it is still possible.
Domesticated animals will spawn already dead or as part of the Feral group after the first ingame month.


Animals included in this group:
Bull (Can aggro, Can tame)
Cat (House spawned, Garden spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)
Chicken (Can tame)
Cow (Can tame)
Dog (House spawned, Garden spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)

Donkey (Farm Spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)
Duck (Farm spawned, Can tame)
Goat (Can aggro, Can tame)
Goose (Farm spawned, Can tame)
Horse (Can aggro, can tame)

Llama (Can aggro, Can tame)
Pig (Farm spawned, Can aggro, Can tame)
Red Panda (Louisville Spiffo's HQ spawned, Can tame)*
Sheep (Can tame)
Turkey (Farm spawned, Can tame)

Zoo Animals

Spoiler

Camel (Can aggro, Can tame)

 

*
It was mentioned in a News post that "Red Bears" would be one of the included animals in the game. Since Red Bears aren't a thing, I assumed they were talking about the animal which the game's mascot, Spiffo, was based. Now, Red Pandas aren't native to America, but perhaps a pet one was kept inside the Spiffo's HQ in Louisville? Who knows?

https://projectzomboid.com/blog/2014/02/apzdtisa-3-this-time-with-live-multiplayer/

 

Taming:
Taming would require that you get an animal's Fear Index below 25%, the exact methods required may vary depending on the animal.

 

Observing:
If you can see an animal, you can right click on it and select "Observe Animal" or "Animal Info". This would bring up a panel similar to that of the plant info panel and would give you a bunch of details on the animal you're looking at. Some more info could be available to characters with certain traits, like a certain trait would include info on whether the snake you're observing is venomous or not.

The player would also be able to see the current Fear Ratio of the animal, with the various ratios being given as:
0% to 25% = Calm

25% to 50% = Skittish

50% to 75% = On Edge

75% to 100% = High Alert

 

You'd also be able to observe their health and whether they look sick or not. Sickness would lower the "Nutrition" value of the animal's meat.

 

Animal Illnesses:
There are a number of animal diseases found in Kentucky, these would all affect the Nutrition value of the animal's meat, but some would have other effects as well.


Botulism:
Simply lowers the speed and nutrition of the animal. Contagious to nearby animals.

Influenza:
Simply lowers the speed and nutrition of the animal. Highly contagious to nearby animals and a low chance of the player contracting it as well.

 

Prion Disease:
The animal shows no fear and the meat is rendered inedible at low Trapping levels, though high levels will allow the player to get a very low nutritional value meat as they "know" which parts to cut.

 

Fleas:
Animal will become stressed and less likely to eat, even though it is hungry. Will also increase their Fear Index.

 

Tainted:
Animal bitten by zombie. The animal cannot be "Infected", but the causative agent of the zombie virus has coated the animal's flesh and could kill it. Butchering the animal has a chance of returning Rotten Meat rather than Fresh Meat. If this occurs to your tamed livestock, know that treatment of the wound and patience will remove the taint and that it isn't contagious.

 

Worms:
Animal will become hungry faster.

 

Brain Worm:
Animal will remain stationary or move slowly until it dies, is killed by the player or killed by a zombie.

 

Rabies:
Animal constantly aggroed. A bite from the animal will result in a 100% chance of infection with rabies.

Animal Events and Interactions:
Certain animals could cause certain events based on a particular set of parameters.

 

Rabbits:

In general, Rabbits will raid your crops if they can get to them, but there should be a chance that one will spawn within a certain radius of your crops after your having slept or having reentered the region after a relatively long time.

 

Coyotes:
Coyotes are curious animals and at lower fear levels would be likely to follow a player. In such an event, sprinting could very well aggro the coyote, but the real threat would be the Coyote being led back to your base and maybe harming your tamed animals or howling and attracting zombies. This could also occur with Feral Dogs.

 

Tame Cats:
Tame cats will sometimes bring Dead Rats, Dead Mice, Dead Squirrels and Dead Small Birds for the player.

 

Raccoons:
Raccoons can sometimes break windows, maybe attracting nearby zombies.

 

Horses:
You can ride em. A rare chance of finding a horse in a town already saddled up, but most likely about to get eaten by zombies. Could you save it?

 

Rats and Mice:
Rats and Mice within the building will slowly lower "Nutrition" of stored food.

Rats may also spawn in a similar manner to rabbits, though with corpses replacing crops.

 

Animals in general are noisy and will likely attract zombies. You'll have to weigh up the pros and cons of being a post-apocalypse rancher.

Edited by Okamikurainya
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I like it.

36 minutes ago, Okamikurainya said:

Animal Illnesses

Would be cool to have rabies too. It'd randomly appear in dogs/wolves/maybe a few other animals idk and make them aggressive towards absolutely any living creature, though the carrier will die pretty soon. Could easily infect player and unless the vaccine was used, you're pretty much dead in a few months. You could find vaccines in medical clinics, and maybe even produce em yourself by murdering shittons of rabbits.

 

About exotic animals.

I think they could spawn once in one specific area like zoo. They'd be kinda harmless as long as they are in cage, though if they get out... You don't want to appear anywhere near zoo.

 

And one about animal fear. 

Instead of having an info box that would show all the info about animal, it may be shown as animation. E.g animal would back off upon seeing player, constantly look around and get scared of any noise. However, high leveled players could Still get basic info about animal's condition (type, approximate level of fear etc.) if they'd hover their cursor over one.

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26 minutes ago, Burger_Time said:

Would be cool to have rabies too. It'd randomly appear in dogs/wolves/maybe a few other animals idk and make them aggressive towards absolutely any living creature, though the carrier will die pretty soon. Could easily infect player and unless the vaccine was used, you're pretty much dead in a few months. You could find vaccines in medical clinics, and maybe even produce em yourself by murdering shittons of rabbits.

Added rabies to the OP.
I'm not sure about the vaccine though... As it doesn't fit with the current direction the devs seems to be going with... I think it may just end up being another inevitable death for the player.
That said, research seems to show that rabies isn't always 100% fatal without vaccine... 14% of dogs that get it survive. I think that, should you survive it, you should get a negative trait that leaves you nervous, slow learning and quick to anger.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/viruses101/is_rabies_really_100_fatal

 

26 minutes ago, Burger_Time said:

About exotic animals.

I think they could spawn once in one specific area like zoo. They'd be kinda harmless as long as they are in cage, though if they get out... You don't want to appear anywhere near zoo.

There is a zoo in Louisville and I would love for them to add some exotic animals, if only for the modding potential... But I fear they're going to leave the zoo out entirely as it's a lot of work for animals that will most likely be dead by the time you reach the zoo. Still, I'd love it
A list of all animals at Louisville zoo can be found here:
https://louisvillezoo.org/animalsandplants

 

26 minutes ago, Burger_Time said:

And one about animal fear. 

Instead of having an info box that would show all the info about animal, it may be shown as animation. E.g animal would back off upon seeing player, constantly look around and get scared of any noise. However, high leveled players could Still get basic info about animal's condition (type, approximate level of fear etc.) if they'd hover their cursor over one.

Of course, animated tells should certainly be a thing, though the reason I suggested the info box was conformity with what is currently represented within the game. I do like the idea of higher level players being able to gain info by hovering the mouse cursor over though, that also happens with crops.

Edited by Okamikurainya
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54 minutes ago, Okamikurainya said:

 I'm not sure about the vaccine though... As it doesn't fit with the current direction the devs seems to be going with... I think it may just end up being another inevitable death for the player.

No vaccines thing only spreads to ability to cure zombie virus, so i don't think Anti-rabid vaccines would be a problem here.

55 minutes ago, Okamikurainya said:

That said, research seems to show that rabies isn't always 100% fatal without vaccine... 14% of dogs that get it survive. I think that, should you survive it, you should get a negative trait that leaves you nervous, slow learning and quick to anger.

According to Wiki, the only strain that could be survivable is the one that's being carried by bats in Amazonia, which is like pretty far away from Kentucky, so i don't think you should survive it unless the vaccine was used before you got the symptoms. (Or you were put in coma and got shittons of meds being injected in you... I know, this is pretty hard to implement, but WHY THE HELL NOT? That would just add more depth to the game)

1 hour ago, Okamikurainya said:

There is a zoo in Louisville and I would love for them to add some exotic animals, if only for the modding potential... But I fear they're going to leave the zoo out entirely as it's a lot of work for animals that will most likely be dead by the time you reach the zoo. Still, I'd love it

I don't think it's that hard of a job. The hardest thing to do will be models and behaviors, however they could just modify wolf's AI a bit and get, let's say, a lion's AI.

And again, why not? I don't think these things will harm the game in any way.

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6 minutes ago, Burger_Time said:

No vaccines thing only spreads to ability to cure zombie virus, so i don't think Anti-rabid vaccines would be a problem here.

I meant in the way that things are highly generalized so that they can be found in a multitude of settings, there aren't really any non-generalized medications at the moment, this could change though. I imagine that a plethora of new items will be added with build 42 and up that relate to animals, so a rabies vaccine could be one of them.

 

9 minutes ago, Burger_Time said:

According to Wiki, the only strain that could be survivable is the one that's being carried by bats in Amazonia, which is like pretty far away from Kentucky, so i don't think you should survive it unless the vaccine was used before you got the symptoms. (Or you were put in coma and got shittons of meds being injected in you... I know, this is pretty hard to implement, but WHY THE HELL NOT? That would just add more depth to the game)

The article I linked had the survivor be bitten in Wisconsin, so it's possible.
What could be nice is if a generalized "Vaccine" item was added, not specifically for rabies, and certain professions would be able to see what the vaccine was for. I'd personally adore a whole disease update to the game. The vaccine item could have the chance to work against flu, rabies, measles or whatever, but only a doctor or nurse would know which was which. So you could have rabies, break into the hospital, find a vaccine and just inject it and pray it was what you needed if you didn't have the profession.

 

32 minutes ago, Burger_Time said:

I don't think it's that hard of a job. The hardest thing to do will be models and behaviors, however they could just modify wolf's AI a bit and get, let's say, a lion's AI.

And again, why not? I don't think these things will harm the game in any way.

Just a note, you don't get wolves in Kentucky, but yeah, I agree. In the overall scheme of things it isn't all that difficult, but I swear I read one of the devs replying hesitantly about escaped zoo animals and the like, though the search engine here says no topics with "zoo" in them can be found, despite this very topic mentioning zoo multiple times now.

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3 hours ago, ZonaryQuasar said:

I think your idea is great.

But maybe just a little too complex to implement? ^_^

 

Nothing complex about it. :lol:
It's literally just actions determined by a single variable that is modified by timed and ambient actions.
No different from the player getting panicked by zombies or getting thirstier and hungrier through the day.
But thanks. :P

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Added Coydog to the Feral group.

The Coydog would be similar to the Coyote, though the model may have floppy ears rather than pointed ones. It is more likely to aggro than a normal Coyote, being far less afraid of humans, and can't be tamed like a Dog.

With all the Dogs that escaped into the wilds and new generations sprouting up free from the confines of human ownership, it would be inevitable that Coyotes and Dogs would start to interbreed more commonly. Eventually this may give rise to a whole new species, taking the best traits of both their ancestors and dominating the lands that the Coyote once ruled, but for now they'd be a curious and dangerous oddity.

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Added Donkey and Llamas, since there are dedicated donkey and llama farms in and around Louisville.

 

Added a section for Zoo Animals, the ones I think would be added if the devs chose to do so, since none of these are that different from some of the others I have listed, they could simply share animations and everything.

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