Ecosystem and monster interaction

Some suggestions for AI and interaction:

  • Spawning timber wolves slowly research their territory in packs
  • Timber wolves hunt nearby wildlife (literally chasing critters from time to time), also lowering hunter yield in a certain area around them.
  • When timber wolves detect domesticated animals during their charge on the settlement (sheep, poyos etc) they try to attack them first. If successful, they become neutral for some time (but still can be attacked manually). Goblin wolves still prioritise hearthlings (they are trained).
  • Small timber wolves and big foxes “raiding” pastures: try to kill your flock but get scared of the shepherds, hunters and guard patrols and try to run away. Fences are a guaranteed protection.
  • Spawning treants can sense trees being cut, so they make lumberjacks / carpenters their number one priority (would be cool if they sometimes spawned near hearthlings cutting trees - the more trees being cut at once, the bigger the chance)
  • Timber wolves and varanuses are hostile to each other. Wolves are weaker but can spawn additional packs with a small chance (howling). Treants and rock golems are neutral to both - that’s mutual.
  • Wildlife is scared of the undead, running away. That includes varanuses and wolves. Rock golems and treants are not scared and will fight back when close.
  • Treants panic when ignited by archer arrows regardless of remaining health.

Edit:

  • Fox hunter pet and poyos/rabbits “socialization” (fox chasing creatures around the pasture)
11 Likes

I like those ideas. Especially the ones about wildlife interaction and threats to domestic animals. But I would allow certain predators to damage fences or jump over them. A 100% safe way of protection would render this interesting feature meaningless quickly, IMHO. The larger your herds, the higher the risk? Shepherds and trapping regions could reduce this risk?

1 Like

I agree, although more details could require human resources that the devs may not be ready to spend.
I see another option: foxes and wolves “digging” under the fence. When no one is around they may try to pass through the fence, playing some animation, but it takes some time, and any hearthling passing nearby can interrupt the process scaring them away.

Some of my suggestions are less thought through than the others. I just throw them in and see how they look like :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Yeah! Digging under the fence sounds fitting for those animals.
Adding new layers to the game takes resources. True. But here it might be well spent. Currently, there are not many dangers or setbacks to a settlement, besides attacking enemies. IMO, there could be some more challenges to village management (and of course ways to counter them). Your ideas could just add this.

Very nice ideas

although I think there should be repercussions about players trying to slaughter every wolf that comes near to their herd though. It is what historically often happened, but I imagine that having consequences for the ecosystem. Consequences that the player should be confronted with, if only to give 'em a sense of guilt and the idea that the world is bigger than the village alone (incl. enviroment).
Maybe that will male players consider scaring them away over slaughtering them.

maybe ecosystems could be simulated by having the spawn rates of wild animals depend on the current population, and the despawn/death rate by predation, aging, habitat size and hunting. This way, the player can interfere with the ecosystem in all kinds of ways.

edit: would be cool to see a fox trying to dig under a fence to get at a rabbit.

1 Like

Interactions are nice, but I’m okay without a fully simulated ecosystem… Running out of enemies because you broke up the ecosystem is awfully disappointing. (Looking at you, dorf fort.)

There is another thing I’ve not talked about. In the future the hunter will be able to hunt bigger prey (this perk is currently not implemented). So while “killing all nearby wolves” may seem a good option at first, it can harm skilled hunter’s chances to catch them (and potentially tame). Killing many wolves > wolves are cautious > unable to catch wolves for a certain period.

PS. Idea about treants and lumberjacks is of course inspired by bears

2 Likes

These ideas sound very fitting for the way the game is shaping up – here’s hoping that team Stonehearth get a chance to implement them!