Wolves & the Stink-O-Meter - Idea from The Long Dark

[GamingRAM]

So I've been playing The Long Dark, great game with lots of survival mechanics. Such as hypothermia, frost bite, clothing having different benefits to resist the cold (some are more water proof than others, some protect you against the wind, while others will keep you nice and warm), weight so you can't carry a whole house with you, melting and boiling snow, etc.

But one mechanic I've found both interesting and infuriating is the Stink-O-Meter. Every time I have died, it has been to a wolf. Sometimes they will run away from a sight of fire or a stone lobbed at them, but usually they will go for my throat. If I survive the attack, I usually end up dead from a loss of blood.
So how does this relate to stinkiness? Turns out, wolves have a strong sense of smell, and if you carry around any type of raw meaty material (hides, guts, flesh, a wringed rabbit), suddenly wolves can detect you MUCH, MUCH easier.

So the suggestion is if you carry anything that's "fresh" or "raw" or in general "smelly" (Entrails, Intestines, Raw Meat, Rabbit/Squirrel corpses, raw hides), wolves' detection radius will be doubled for the player carrying the items.

[Granger]

In case this is expanded to other carnivores... could be fun.

[MagicManICT]

In case this is expanded to other carnivores... could be fun.

And abused...

[Field]

Interesting gimmick but I don't see much use.

[Granger]

In case this is expanded to other carnivores... could be fun.

And abused...

What do you have in mind?

[sMartins]

In case this is expanded to other carnivores... could be fun.

And abused...

What do you have in mind?

I guess he thinks having meat on you animals would come to you without even looking for them, but it's not the case ... just a bit of aggro % increased.
What I think we need to fix about hunting is the ability to do with them whatever we want with the "attack button" .... I mean, animals are the key of this game, their mechanic should be a bit more complex and unpredictable than just mobs roaming around and acting at our will. But I see also how this is very hard to accomplish.

[linkfanpc]

Yeah, Long Dark's smell mechanic is really fun and immersive, i feel like Haven could totally benefit from some more predator-related stuff.

[MagicManICT]

Been a while since I've played around with The Long Dark, but doesn't carrying active "scents" on you actually increase likelihood of wolves spawning? I was thinking that is a bit that was being referred to. And maybe I'm confusing it with a couple of other games I've played where carrying some things increases spawn rates to the point of actually being dangerous on weapon/ammo, fuel, sanity, health, etc.

Otherwise, without other mechanics in place, would this make a lot of difference in how the game is played?

[Granger]

Possibly the animal could be distracted from eating you by dropping some of the meat and taking a determined run. Likewise snakes could be distracted by rats, foxes by live rabbits, deer by carrots, elks... not so much.

[GamingRAM]

Been a while since I've played around with The Long Dark, but doesn't carrying active "scents" on you actually increase likelihood of wolves spawning?

I don't know about that, I was referring to them tracking you more, not them spawning more.