https://youtu.be/spG2xAEVyj0
WolfQuest bills itself as a wildlife simulation, but of course it's first and foremost a game, and as with any game, we design the simulation to support the gameplay, rather than building a complete simulation for its own sake. When it comes to NPC (Non-Player Character) animals, we've always done the minimal level of simulation necessary – partly because of time, budget, and technology constraints, but also to streamline the gameplay and keep it simple enough to be fun for a wide variety of players. With WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition, we're raising the bar on that simulation, so our NPC animals will have more fully-fledged behaviors as they go about their days. This week’s video shows the 24-hour cycle of behaviors that we’ve set up for elk, coyotes and cougars, with typical crepuscular habits (active at dawn and dusk, resting during the day and night). Stranger wolf packs are next!
We really like the idea of having a full range of wildlife, just out there living their lives in the WolfQuest world, but as we think about how the level of detail and fidelity of each species’ behaviors, we ask ourselves:
• Would real wolves see a particular behavior often enough — and how interested would they be in it?
• How would that NPC fit into the gameplay? How would it enrich the WQ wolves’ lives?
• Which animals and behaviors would provide the most bang for the buck?
Making a game is always about priorities. We don't want to put time and resources into things that don't significantly affect the player's experience, nor anything that misrepresents the behaviors of those animals, so we have to choose the most common animals and behaviors that a wolf would witness. For example, we've decided not to show calves and fawns nursing because we decided that if wolves are the area, all elk would be on alert. Tree-dwelling animals would provide some great ambience, but they’re mostly out of sight and out of reach of the wolves. Cougar babies are rarely seen in real life, so even though they would be adorable, they’re far down our wish list.
Yellowstone is full of wildlife, but most of those animals live hidden lives most of the time -- especially smaller animals that fear being preyed upon by the larger carnivores. In our hikes around the park in September, we saw evidence of ground squirrels, badgers, and beavers, but we never spotted any of those animals themselves. Wolves of course have lighter footsteps, but they're also more direct threats to these animals, so it would behoove them to remain undetected. We do want to add more of these smaller animals to the game, but they'll remain somewhat rare to spot.
We’ve got a few animals in mind to add to WQ 3, but we’re always curious what players would like to see. Post your ideas below — and be sure to explain what that animal would add to the game experience! (We know that bison is much-desired, and we agree, so no need to mention that.)
