Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I saw "feral animals" as one of the things listed in the yes category of the planned/considered additions section, and here's my take on the various feral animals I could see in PZ:

 

Feral Dogs - The most dangerous of the feral domesticated animals. Man's best friend is almost man's worst enemy during the apocalypse, ironically. If anyone has ever seen the old 80s horror movie The Pack, then they'd know exactly what a group of pet dogs left to run wild is capable of. In short, dogs revert to a wolflike nature in the absence of man (and likely in the pervasive presence of zombies would contribute as well). This would make a pack of feral dogs almost more dangerous for a character to run into than zombies, as feral dogs are faster and more intelligent (though smaller and more easily dispatched, for balancing). Like zombies, a pack of feral dogs will take after you as a group and try to overwhelm you. Fighting them hand to hand risks injury or death. Shooting one or more of them may scare the others off, but also draw the zeds. I also think it'd be cool if we had the opportunity to re-tame a dog that has gone wild, if it is caught off on its own without a pack.

 

Feral Pigs - Like feral dogs, can be dangerous. However, they can also be hunted for food.

 

Cats - Cats would be able to take care of themselves pretty well without people. But having stray cats wandering around would increase tension when looting houses and neighborhoods. What was that you saw out of the corner of your eye?! Zed?! Nope, just an abandoned housecat in the house you're looting.

 

Feral Goats/Cattle/Horses - Could be caught on farms and either re-tamed for personal use (farming/riding), hunted for food/materials, or simply left to wander in rural areas.

 

Pigeons/Bees - Could be kept in an aviary for food or cultivated in an apiary for honey. Would probably require an advanced level of farming expertise to accomplish, however, and finding these animals would be rare.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only if you damage the hive or kill the drones near the hive where they can smell it. And then you can just run away because the bees around here are rather mild I think.

Beekeeping is one of those things I'd like to see in the game in some capacity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only if you damage the hive or kill the drones near the hive where they can smell it. And then you can just run away because the bees around here are rather mild I think.

Beekeeping is one of those things I'd like to see in the game in some capacity.

 

From what I've read, honey bees are easy to "capture" to start your own hive.  When they swarm, they are actually quite docile.  The swarm is really just a big ball of bees around a queen.  You can knock off that ball of bees with a queen into a box with a hole and you have an apiary.

I just googled "new hive from swarm" and found this:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-introduce-your-bee-swarm-to-a-new-hive.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the whole cat thing is a bit silly, it'd be SUCH a pain in the ass for the dev's if they were to try make cats properly. Although generic 'monster' class animals are fine. Ones that just attack you when they see you or only attack you if you are X amount of space away from them. Instead of talking about behavior though, think about this.

 

What are the effects to fighting, let's say a dog? Is it hard to kill them? What would the combat orientate? What kind of wounds do you get?

 

I mean to answer this you could say;

 

Dogs are fairly hard to kill compared to your fast shambling zombies and pose more of a threat because of their lethal speed.

 

They will be less endurable then a zombie though, allowing for fast precise kills if planned properly.

 

If you are bitten, you have a damn good chance of getting an infection in the wound.

 

Dogs attack you by launching themselves at you in a lunge and  grappling, you simply have to push them X amount of times to get them off which will make them back away, stunning them for a second. If you have a baseball bat and hit them just before they lunge at you, it kills them. This makes it fair as because they can grapple you so easily, landing one shot on a dog with a weapon such as an axe or baseball bat means an instant kill.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the Devs do add alot  of ferals maybe they can put a sandbox option to choose how dangerous they are. Also i think you should get meat from dogs and cats. As sick as it sounds many people do it in different parts of the world.I think if you were desperate for food you could easily go after a cat. Downside to this though this game would get hit hard by PETA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PETA hits about as hard as a wool blanket. It might get a bit itchy after a bit but they hurt themselves more than they hurt others with their protests.

Pretty much they are like a fly they are annoying instead of focusing on real animals being hurt they go after virtual ones. This game is about survival and in survival you need to kill to survive 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the case of a zombie apocalypse, I would most certainly eat a dog or cat in order to survive (not to mention abandoned goats, cattle, and horses). Though I'd imagine in the case of zombies, domesticated animals would get very leery of contact with anything human real quick and they might be difficult to catch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depending on the circumstances, I'd probably keep the dog instead of eat it. The dog can help me hunt and I can feed it the leftover scraps from my meal when I'm done eating. The biggest problem is barking, but that's easy enough to fix. Just gotta teach the dog to be quiet unless it's alerting me to possible danger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my opinion, dogs should only be tamable for the first week or so, after which they go fully feral. And even then, some of them wouldn't be tamable anyway (think mistreatment by owners, and just the nature of dome breeds)

Just have it determined at spawn. 1/4 chance they are tamable, 1/4 chance they are feral(Attack you on sight) and 2/4 chance they are neutral(Attack you if you go too close to them.). If you add time to it, then it's just a pain for the devs lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my opinion, dogs should only be tamable for the first week or so, after which they go fully feral. And even then, some of them wouldn't be tamable anyway (think mistreatment by owners, and just the nature of dome breeds)

Just have it determined at spawn. 1/4 chance they are tamable, 1/4 chance they are feral(Attack you on sight) and 2/4 chance they are neutral(Attack you if you go too close to them.). If you add time to it, then it's just a pain for the devs lol.
But as time goes on, a dog will become more wary and behavior would change depending upon experiences. For example, the dog in TED by Telltale games season 2 premier. It acted nice, if a bit wild, but when Clem didn't feed it she was attacked.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think that's good... Most dogs would be tamable, it's just a matter of how you deal with them. Only ones that have gone rabid or are extremely aggressive (extremely extremely. Talking the kind of dogs you'd use in dog fights aggressive) would be completely incapable of being tamed. And on the other hand, only an extremely small number of dogs would just walk up to you and think "this is my master! I love my master!"

 

Most dogs would be some combination of neutral and could be tamed if captured. Like with one of those poles that have the ropes on the end that you tie around the dog's neck. These dogs would be aggressive if provoked, but otherwise shy away from human contact. If you could manage to catch one and chain it to the wall or lock it in a kennel, you could gain its trust by keeping it fed and being friendly with it Eventually it'll accept itself as a part of your group and it'll become a worthy companion that can be trained to do various things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my god, if we could get dog companions...

 

It would be like I Am Legend the game.

 

If an encountered dog abandoned in the crisis could be tamed afterwards, I would definitely try, just to have some kind of companionship. Post zombie apocalypse feels so isolated and scary, it would be really nice to have a dog Mad Max style.

 

iamlegendphoto21.jpg

 

Would be pretty fun to have a dog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Oh my god, if we could get dog companions...

 

It would be like I Am Legend the game.

 

If an encountered dog abandoned in the crisis could be tamed afterwards, I would definitely try, just to have some kind of companionship. Post zombie apocalypse feels so isolated and scary, it would be really nice to have a dog Mad Max style.

 

iamlegendphoto21.jpg

 

Would be pretty fun to have a dog.

 

Just saw this for the second time today XD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about finding doggies? You know, very young dogs that got lost? They shouldn't recognize the danger in you, and they should be rare (being a small defensless furry ball could be hard after the apocalypse), but they could be taught more and trained better than already adult dogs. Oh, and they could be more loyal if treated properly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's funny how, when everyone thinks that when/if dogs will be added, they're thinking huskys, shepherd dogs etc. large dogs. I'd just love to see a small dachshund or similar, skipping about with it's small legs. :D They're actually good hunting dogs, despite the small legs.

 

Also I don't care what you say about them being "useful", but cats ftw!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Small dogs are good for tracking small animals like rabbits and such. Track them straight back to their burrow.

 

And cats are good to have regardless. Keep the rats and mice out of the larder and the rabbits from eating the crops.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't forget smell... animals can pick us from the dead without ever seeing us. Some might actually pursue us, seeking shelter, safety and food.

Survival Journal: Day 18

 I've been holed up in the hardware store for 3 days now. Some poor bastard fired off a single shot three buildings down- probably finishing himself off before the gooks do. His way out may be the same for me, the horde has started to shuffle that way and I might finally be in the clear.

There's only one scratching at the door. I'll just open it up and *BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK(god damnit!)BARK BARK BARK*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...