Battling Bulls

[loboLoco]

[youtube]jS2Jr0Br58o[/youtube]
Video: https://youtu.be/jS2Jr0Br58o

We are all cranking away on the many, many little things that need to be in good shape for Early Access release (PC/Mac) — refining interface elements, optimizing the game for lower-end hardware, polishing many aspects of gameplay, and, of course, a great deal of bugtesting and fixing — but we’ve also got a few new features. Mostly we are waiting until we’ve got the game out before we tackle these, but recently our lead Unity developer Tommi spent some time setting up bull elk fights. Here’s how the National Park Service describes these battles:

“The mating season (rut) generally occurs from early September to mid-October. Elk gather in mixed herds—many females and calves, with a few bulls nearby. Bulls bugle to announce their availability and fitness to females and to warn and challenge other bulls. When answered, bulls move toward one another and sometimes engage in battle for access to the cows. They crash their antlers together, push each other intensely, and wrestle for dominance. While loud and extremely strenuous, fights rarely cause serious injury. The weaker bull ultimately gives up and wanders off.”  (National Park Service - Yellowstone)

As always, it’s one thing to get the basic functionality working, and another thing to refine and polish it — so you can see some visual glitches in today’s video. We’ll try to get those fixed up soon but we won’t delay the initial Early Access release for PC/Mac.  We will keep adding features like bighorn sheep and multiplayer in the months after release!

[LamarWolf]

The fighting looks great and the sound effects are cool too. I'm really looking forward to watching these fights and maybe attacking the weakened animals after they fight in wolfquest3. Keep up the good work.

[elkhunter123456]

I love how the bachelor bull goes up to the herd bull and challenges it. If the bachelor bull wins will the 2 bulls swap places?

[DinoDogDude209]

This is great! I love watching bull moose fight in the current version, and the fact that this behavior is being expanded to bull elk is a very nice touch. I hope more interactions among the different animals can be added in the future. Though I did notice that the two elk fighting used the same sounds as the bull moose fighting in the current game. I'm hoping that's just a placeholder for now and that the elk will be getting unique fighting sounds as well, because them making the same sounds as the moose in the current game messes with my immersion a little bit, though that's understandable if these sounds did have to be reused for budget reasons. I'm a little bit sad that this, along with multiplayer and the new bighorn sheep, won't make it into the first early access release on PC/Mac, but after looking at some of the comments on the video, I can see why you guys want to release the new version as soon as possible (people are pretty much demanding that the new version be released immediately) and if some minor details have to be cut from the first release on PC/Mac to get it released sooner and appease some of the impatience from the fans, that is understandable. Hopefully, the impatience over WolfQuest 3's long development will die down a little once the first version is available on PC and Mac to allow the team to take some time to add these new features and focus on Slough Creek. Regardless, thank you for keeping us updated and for working as hard on the game as you do, and I look forward to seeing what the new version is like once I get to play it.

[SophieTheAiredale]

Wow! Looks like it is coming together very well! How will the fights work? Will there be a time when all the bulls but one is chased off? Or what?

[Phasoli]

Can't wait to watch this spectacle from a distance in-game. I'm rooting for you guys.

[poncho0287]

This is so Pawesome. Who will win?

[Zoopal55]

This looks pretty awesome! Fun to watch the two bulls come together in a epic battle, though a little buggy!

-StarBender2000

[IcyRaven]

Wow... I so appreciate the attention to detail that the WQ Team has! These ‘Battling Bulls’ will add another extraordinary level of immersion into the game, and I can’t wait to encounter them in the game (even if they wont be ready by the Early Access release)!

[Necros]

Whoa, this game really is improving and evolving into something else. Here I was thinking my friend was pulling my leg! Dang... they look way better than I remember. The animations look great too.