Single Player Pack Mode

[spruce56]

I'm curious what people would think about this: in single player in AE, the game can obviously support multiple wolf AIs - the mate, and multiple pack wolves at a time. In theory, you could have more wolves in your pack.

What if there was a new game type, Single Player Pack, where you pick a player wolf, and up to 2 other wolves from your "My Wolves" list, who enter the game with you as supporting pack members, controlled by an AI just like the mate. They would have health icons, but perhaps just a circle/hexagon, rather than the heart shape representing the mate. You could still find and court a mate as usual.

I've played a lot of Amethyst Mountain, and it's nice when you meet multiple dispersals to just hang out with for a while. Several of my wolves are intended to be from the same litter, so I'd love to play them running together. This might be redundant by the time Tower Falls comes out, but I'm all for having the option for more of a pack experience. And there's multiplayer, but that requires more organizing.

Mechanically, I don't think it would take a lot to set up, besides making space for the health bars. Wolf fights could get a little chaotic, so perhaps there could be a rule that only 1 supporting wolf (mate or packmates) bites at a time. And if you wanted to make it fancy, perhaps you could have little pack hierarchy so that the player wolf eats first, then the next in line, then the lowest of the pack, who might get growled at if they try to push in line. Small behaviours between the AI. I know real wolves have sophisticated social structures, so it would be really cool to see some behaviours using the emote system to convey this - and some of it is already in the game with the cautious/bold and loner/social personality types!

As for Slough Creek, the health display might get a little cluttered with pups, so perhaps the 1-2 Pack wolves would mean there would be 1-2 fewer pups to raise if you choose to bring pack wolves.

[xc92u3]

I think playing with my own wolves sounds really fun! It seems like something Dave would do if he wasn't making Slough Creek and multiplayer, though.
Or, instead of the player automatically being the top of the hierarchy, what if you all had to do something that decides whether the player is the top, or one of the NPC wolves is? Maybe it'd come out random, or you'd decide when you first start the game, or maybe you all have to fight each other and the first one to reach 50% health is bottom of the line, second to reach 50% health is second-top, and last to reach 50% health is top of the line? I don't know XD But it is a neat concept!

[DinoDogDude209]

While I do like this idea, I do think that it is something that would have to wait to be added until after the current main singleplayer story mode is finished (so after Slough Creek, Tower Fall, and whatever other episodes come after are all released). It could be a nice secondary mode to play at some point though! I think it would be fun to roam around the game world with a few other dispersals from the same birth pack, and maybe if you find a mate in the process, you could choose to create a larger pack with you and your mate as the breeding pair and allow your wolf's siblings to act as subordinates, and then you could play through the Slough Creek story arc with a larger pack. I think that actually is something that occasionally happens with real world wolf packs, so it could make for a fun side mode someday. Again, it would probably have to wait until after Slough Creek, the mobile version, and Tower Fall are released, but I think it would be fun to play if it is ever added someday.