Emote Yourself

[DispersedHowl100]

THIS IS SOOOOO COOL! I freaked out when i saw this I'm so exited for WQ3!

[DawnWings]

I forgot to say in my earlier post that the snarl is also my favorite.
The new fur also looks awesome!

[Windstrider]

The play bow is adorable! And the bark sound/emote is a nice addition.

[The Chemist]

Oooh, all this looks very nice!

Looking forward to WQ 3! :D

[ramii]

For the past few video updates, I've been trying my best to shield my eyes from them as to add more for me to try and figure out or find on my own when the new game comes out xD Though, I'm sure the game is looking great and the small details are wrapping it all up nicely.

[Arcturus221B]

I'm a little confused. What was the reason to describe the snarl animation as 'aggressive'? From what I have learned/been taught it looks more defensive/fearful to me, because the face is tense, the eyes are big and the lips are pulled way back to show all teeth. Like the wolf is saying "this makes me very uncomfortable. Stop or I'll be forced to bite." But with the description aggressive I think most people will take it as if the wolf is looking for a fight, instead of trying to avoid it.

Of course I could be wrong here, but it just got me wondering :'D

[Koa]

I'm a little confused. What was the reason to describe the snarl animation as 'aggressive'? From what I have learned/been taught it looks more defensive/fearful to me, because the face is tense, the eyes are big and the lips are pulled way back to show all teeth. Like the wolf is saying "this makes me very uncomfortable. Stop or I'll be forced to bite." But with the description aggressive I think most people will take it as if the wolf is looking for a fight, instead of trying to avoid it.

Of course I could be wrong here, but it just got me wondering :'D

The growl emote is listed as the warning emote because its ears are up and forward, so that would be your, "Stop or I'll be forced to bite," or something similar.

The snarl emote, like growl, seems to fit within the "defensive" (a mix of "flight" and "fight") action patterns category David Mech lists below in Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation.
http://i63.tinypic.com/10mtoy1.png

[loboLoco]

What was the reason to describe the snarl animation as 'aggressive'? From what I have learned/been taught it looks more defensive/fearful to me

That's a good point. My understanding is that snarling can be either aggressive or fearful/defensive, depending on the situation. We rely on the Int'l Wolf Center's ethogram -- its description of "snarl" is purely, well, descriptive, not attributing any motivations, but it elsewhere says: "The dominant wolf initiates the submissive behavior in the subdominant, often growling or snarling to make the sub- dominant lie down, roll over on its back, [etc.]."

So I think it's very context-dependent....which makes it hard to pin a single adjective to the emote, but maybe we should change it to "Aggressive or defensive" and let the players decide what it means that moment. (In an hostile encounter, I think it is both aggressive and defensive -- the wolf is frightened but also trying to intimidate the other wolf to back down. It's definitely not a submissive action!)

[SolitaryHowl]

What was the reason to describe the snarl animation as 'aggressive'? From what I have learned/been taught it looks more defensive/fearful to me

That's a good point. My understanding is that snarling can be either aggressive or fearful/defensive, depending on the situation. We rely on the Int'l Wolf Center's ethogram -- its description of "snarl" is purely, well, descriptive, not attributing any motivations, but it elsewhere says: "The dominant wolf initiates the submissive behavior in the subdominant, often growling or snarling to make the sub- dominant lie down, roll over on its back, [etc.]."

So I think it's very context-dependent....which makes it hard to pin a single adjective to the emote, but maybe we should change it to "Aggressive or defensive" and let the players decide what it means that moment. (In an hostile encounter, I think it is both aggressive and defensive -- the wolf is frightened but also trying to intimidate the other wolf to back down. It's definitely not a submissive action!)

It is certainly tricky. I believe an 'aggressive' snarl usually has the ears puppy forward with body upright, while a 'defensive' one is hunched low to the ground with ears pinned back....much like the animation you have right now.

I assume making a new animation to better depict 'snarl-aggressive' or modifying the current one to be more 'neutral' are not in the cards?

[ClownfishtheDJ]

Yeeess!! Ever since y'all started working on WQ 3, more emotes and pack interactions were definitely one of the things I was most excited for. This will definitely help out a lot with pup raising, since you'll be able to communicate with your mate and pups more easily!
Will you be able to scare off coyotes and other predators with a snarl and a warning? It kind of bugged me that I couldn't just warn them to back off in 2.7, and I think it would be a cool feature!
Doing amazing with the development, keep it up!

[x1103]

these animations are great! emotes will be really helpful in the game. in singleplayer, will the mate/pup AI be programmed to respond to these as well?

I have been wondering about this too for a while now. Will other wolves and animals respond to the emotes? It would be interesting to try to intimidate other animals as well, say to make the elk run (testing their nerve is what real wolves do right?) or a predator to give up a carcass / leave the area... and ofc give and get affection back from your pack.

Edit: Oh right the stranger wolf's flight meter I forgot about it sorry. But yeah what about the other animals?