The goal for Anchor's ocean is ambitious - we want it to feel alive. Not a theme park. Not a shooting gallery.
A real ocean, as much as we can make one.
Animals are a big part of that. Fish, mammals, predators, prey, movement, death, reactions, ragdolls, all of it is being worked on.
Here is a very WIP video of hunting and harvesting resources:
We have had some great questions about this on X and elsewhere, so let's talk about how we approach it.
A Living Ocean
We're gearing up for a big development push on animal behavior in the upcoming weeks and months, and it's something we'll keep building on long after. Our plans include predators and prey, animal families, curious creatures, dangerous hunters, animals that flee from you, and animals that hunt you down.
The ocean in Anchor is meant to be lived in. You can observe, interact, admire. You can spend a ton of time just watching dolphins or following a whale through a trench.
But it is still a survival game. You wake up in a place humans were never meant to live, and you survive the same way our ancestors did. By building tools, by building shelter, and yes, sometimes by hunting.
You Hunt. You Are Also Hunted.
Anchor is a sandbox open-world game. We let players choose how to play. Some will live off scavenged resources and try to stay out of the food chain. Others will hunt. Both are valid.
Why hunt?
Food and resources. Big fish and mammals provide a lot of both. Resources are valuable.
Big predators could eat players and maybe their items. This is an idea we are floating. If a big shark kills you, it could swallow some of your gear. Kill that shark later, and you could loot it back. We think that could be interesting. Not confirmed yet. We still need to test it properly in alpha and see how it feels.
Why wouldn't you?
Blood attracts more predators. Start killing things in the ocean, and the ocean will notice.
Predators are dangerous. Sharks in Anchor are opportunistic hunters, inspired by how they behave in nature. They stalk, they wait, they strike. If one locks onto you, it usually doesn't end well.
Some animals retaliate. Attack something and fail to kill it, and there's a real chance it comes after you.
Large animals are not casual targets. A whale is a monumental presence of nature, the way it is in real life. If one goes down, it should not be because a player swam up with a gun and treated it like target practice. Whales and other large creatures will require a squad, the right tools, and real risk. Their size, mass, and intelligence make them hard to take down, and they will try to escape, fight back, or outsmart you.
(Planned) Some animals are not alone. Some travel in groups, and attacking one may draw the others. More on this later.
Big animals are truly one of the more complex elements to develop and set up for this world. They have a lot of numbers that dictate how they move, animate, interact, and how their skeletons behave. AI is a whole other story.
We are constantly tweaking them and improving our systems to make this easier. Getting them to act "right" is an ongoing effort.
There is plenty of work left, but we are confident we will end up with some of the most interesting animals in the genre.
If this sounds like your kind of game:
Wishlist Anchor so you don't miss the Early Access launch
Apply for alpha access on our website
Join our Discord for regular dev updates
More about animals in Anchor soon. Stick around.
– Fearem Team