The Hunter: Catch All

Mr Crinkle wrote:

I just killed the toughest doe in history.

First shot - Head - 151 ft
Second shot - Head - 122 ft
Last shot - Head - 9 ft

That's it, I'm downloading this now.

bennard wrote:

I'm really enjoying it. I upgraded my membership today. Looking forward to some Elk hunting.

I've been contemplating it. It definitely crossed the fun threshold where I feel I owe something to the devs. On the other hand, I sort of disagree with their payment options. I'll probably wait towards the end of the month and make my decision then.

camnipotent wrote:
bennard wrote:

I'm really enjoying it. I upgraded my membership today. Looking forward to some Elk hunting.

Keep us updated on how you like it. I was planning to upgrade once I exhausted the Muley missions, but I think I might just do it anyway so I can get to the elk.

I was kind of thinking the same thing, but I think I'm going to wait a while and see if they implement bow hunting. The forums made it sound like they are going to put them in eventually.

Just a word of warning if you're holding off on 'subscription'. Currently the only thing you can buy is a package deal that upgrades your status to Warden. As far as I know it comes with bonus extension on time you purchase. It gives you some basic stuff as a package and also guarantees that any new content is available to you for 1 month on trial basis. Normally, you would purchase individual aspects of the game (game licenses, weapons, clothing, etc) separately, or as small packages. I'm not sure, but I think licenses may be time based.

Anyways, the warning part is that the Warden packages are only available until the end of the month. After that you will no longer be able to purchase Warden's license.

Distance Travelled 3.66 miles (5.90 km)
Hunt Duration 1 Hour 51 Minutes 49 Seconds
Confirmed Kills
Mule Deer (M)18 4/8
Weight: 119.1 kgs (262.5 lbs)
Tracked: --
Spotted: 123.6 m (405.5 ft)
Kill Distance: 91.2 m (299.3 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-10-2009 22:34

Geeze took me forever but it also took me an hour to realize how the tracking device worked!

I spent a couple hours in the game just now without realizing it. I totally suck as a hunter so far. I made it to an outpost and finally saw my first buck (and a couple doe). I aimed at the neck/chest, shot, and it ran off. I saw the trail of blood but lost it, so I was a bit bummed - a lot of intersecting tracks from other deer got in the way.

Pretty neat stuff so far, it has that nice, peaceful vibe from Oblivion, just walking around through the forest. Looks great maxed out at 1920x1200.. some of the ground textures are pretty amazing.

Thanks for bringing this game to my attention!

I bought the 3 month "license" but haven't played with the new stuff enough to get a great feel for it. I shot an elk, and doc yelled at me for using the wrong gun :(. It certainly makes the island feel more inhabited, with turkey, elk, mule deer, and whitetails all running around. I was getting a bit overwhelmed by how many different animals I could track in some places.. I do wish that the hunter-mate thingy would tell you how old tracks were. I lost two deer (an female elk and a mule buck) because it doubled back on itself and went up hills. I couldn't tell whether the tracks I was following were from before, or after I shot the damn thing, and tracking while climbing a mountain with dense foliage sucks. Still, $3.25 a month (since the 3-month one gives you an extra month) is a pretty sweet deal, especially since (as I understand it) you get a free month with any new prey and weapons as they're released, and you get to keep your elk license even if you don't renew.

Downloading now. Username GameraOtaku. Hunter name "Forest Peoples". I look like a deer in headlights, not a hunter :).

Man, f*ck them deer!

I must have spent over an hour tracking about 15 different mule elks (kept coming across other trails) and each trail lead to some dead end or another where I couldn't find the next part of the trail. After a long trek of 7000+m I finally spotted my first deer. I thought it was a rock. I even stood there looking at it going, "Look at that rock. It looks slightly different than the others. Probably just the angle. Maybe I should pull out my binoculars and take a look. Phht, it's just a rock. Let's keep tracking because this Hunter-GPS thing hasn't blipped and I'll be damned if I'm quitting before I at least see a deer". Then suddenly my rock moved, stood up, and leaped off... never to be seen again. Buncha jerks.

Swat wrote:

I saw the trail of blood but lost it, so I was a bit bummed - a lot of intersecting tracks from other deer got in the way.

As both I and later camnipotent mentioned, tracks from the current animal you're tracking are aglow, while tracks from different animals have a thin crescent halo only.

Coincidentally, if you walk up to those other tracks until huntermate beeps, it will actually process those other tracks. So that if you ever switch to that other animal, it will know and track all those other tracks, even if you didn't press the mouse button on them and switch to that track.

I'm trying to play, but the lack of inverted Y axis mouse is seriously hurting my brain. Is there no way to enable this yet?

Okay, I think I'm missing many things. I spent an hour trying it out and got bubkas. Seriously, no calls from anything, no sign of tracks or crap. I just hiked (and yes, I was walking) through the wood for an hour...

If you don't see or hear anything in the first hour (game time), try backing out and restarting. I did that this morning, and started at the lodge on the other side of the island and had a group of 5 within 30 minutes (game time).

Tach wrote:

Okay, I think I'm missing many things. I spent an hour trying it out and got bubkas. Seriously, no calls from anything, no sign of tracks or crap. I just hiked (and yes, I was walking) through the wood for an hour...

If you haven't had much luck with the first trail/track, I'd suggest following the roads or trails until hear/see something. It may take 10-15 minutes, but you'll always get a call (at least) following the roads.

Like I said, I always start at 5:00 am and have pretty decent luck with a trail by 5:30 in-game time. That's 15 minutes of our time. It helps me to follow the outer road using my binoculars to scan the area between the road and the shore quickly. With the rising sun and stark contrast between the reflection of the water and the silhouetted trees, I can check that distance very effectively. Plus, the deer stand out just as well from the reflection of the water and there are times I spot deer before I even hear or track them.

Side note: I've been trying to add people to my friends list as they join. This is the list of players I have so far. If you're not on this list, can you add me as a friend? Lovely.

Players from GWJ:

Roozey
GameraOtaku
Anodyne
bennard
Certis
Druidpeak
GlennHull
kaostheoryGWJ
MoonDragon
Redhwk
RobAnybody
Stengar
VegaGWJ
Podunk
Hemidal
Gaald
Rallick
RichardPound
Bubbs

Mr Crinkle wrote:

I just killed the toughest doe in history.

First shot - Head - 151 ft
Second shot - Head - 122 ft
Last shot - Head - 9 ft

I can see it now. This doe will become a rapper. The best rapper ever.

I took two to the head
so now you know
when you're on my trial
you gotta walk slow

my ears are perky
my path is jerky
I learn my moves
from my buddy the turkey

so, let's hear it
one to the head?
no, I don't think so!
two to the head?
no, I don't think so!
three to the head?
ok maybe.
but don't you forget
this sexy lady.

Okay, I heard deer and saw poop and tracks! But I'm still mystified by the audio part of my HunterMate after that. Every now and then, I'll get it up to a green bar. So I stop and I look at my HunterMate, and I pull out my binoculars and look around 360 degrees slowly. And uh, yeah, then the bar goes away. No indicator on my screen, nothing. Frustrating.

Also, the manual is kind of vague. After I find poop and tracks for my deer, will I find more poop and/or more tracks for my deer? I mean once I have the 'three lights' on the tracker?

EDIT: Okay, I finally think I understand and managed to track down a deer, which was very exciting. Lined up my shot, took it, thought it was pretty clean. Now I can't track down my deer, the trail of blood just ends near the lake I feel like a heel.

ANOTHER EDIT: Found him, Thank God, because I felt really bad.

Weight: 106.5 kgs (234.8 lbs)
Tracked: 3 Hours 19 Minutes 30 Seconds, 2.05 km (6712.5 ft)
Spotted: 41.1 m (134.8 ft)
Kill Distance: 41.3 m (135.6 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-11-2009 14:04

Tach wrote:

Okay, I heard deer and saw poop and tracks! But I'm still mystified by the audio part of my HunterMate after that. Every now and then, I'll get it up to a green bar. So I stop and I look at my HunterMate, and I pull out my binoculars and look around 360 degrees slowly. And uh, yeah, then the bar goes away. No indicator on my screen, nothing. Frustrating.

Also, the manual is kind of vague. After I find poop and tracks for my deer, will I find more poop and/or more tracks for my deer? I mean once I have the 'three lights' on the tracker?

EDIT: Okay, I finally think I understand and managed to track down a deer, which was very exciting. Lined up my shot, took it, thought it was pretty clean. Now I can't track down my deer, the trail of blood just ends near the lake I feel like a heel.

ANOTHER EDIT: Found him, Thank God, because I felt really bad.

Weight: 106.5 kgs (234.8 lbs)
Tracked: 3 Hours 19 Minutes 30 Seconds, 2.05 km (6712.5 ft)
Spotted: 41.1 m (134.8 ft)
Kill Distance: 41.3 m (135.6 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-11-2009 14:04

I'm still not sure what the bars on the top of your Huntermate stand for. I think it might have to do with ambient sounds, but I've never spotted a deer when the bars are nearly maxed out. I have noticed, however, that the wind is usually quite strong when the bars are maxed. If it's directly measuring wind speed, then the full bars are telling you to get down into a prone position. Believe it or not, like in real life, the deer can smell you. The only time I know for sure that the sound matters is when my Huntermate beeps and shows an audio source on screen accompanied by a flashing red dot to the left of the audio/wind bars.

Anyone else have any ideas on what they represent?

GWJRabbit

Got my buck.

Mule Deer (M)60 3/8
Weight: 78.2 kgs (172.4 lbs)
Tracked: 23 Minutes 21 Seconds, 0.51 km (1679.8 ft)
Spotted: 14.5 m (47.6 ft)
Kill Distance: 18.6 m (60.9 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-11-2009 15:45

The bars on top represent sound. If the sound is a dear, the little red dot next to the bars will be on. If it's not on, then it's just ambient noise around you.

So I ran around the southern part of the island and never even saw a trace of a mule deer. Do they only inhabit certain parts of the island or something?

Also, how does this scoring thing work? Like I killed a buck that says 63 2/8 next to it. Huh?

DrJonez wrote:

So I ran around the southern part of the island and never even saw a trace of a mule deer. Do they only inhabit certain parts of the island or something?

Also, how does this scoring thing work? Like I killed a buck that says 63 2/8 next to it. Huh? :(

I think they are all over the place. I'm starting to wonder if time of day matters. I mean, I always start in the morning, but I'm wondering if I'll have better luck mid-day if the deer are more active then. Any hunters on GWJ forums know about that stuff?

Also, that score is the rack size. It's the length of the antlers from skull to tips, added up. It's measured in 1/8 inches. So if you see 2/8, it's just saying it in the unit of measure.

camnipotent wrote:
DrJonez wrote:

So I ran around the southern part of the island and never even saw a trace of a mule deer. Do they only inhabit certain parts of the island or something?

Also, how does this scoring thing work? Like I killed a buck that says 63 2/8 next to it. Huh? :(

I think they are all over the place. I'm starting to wonder if time of day matters. I mean, I always start in the morning, but I'm wondering if I'll have better luck mid-day if the deer are more active then. Any hunters on GWJ forums know about that stuff?

Also, that score is the rack size. It's the length of the antlers from skull to tips, added up. It's measured in 1/8 inches. So if you see 2/8, it's just saying it in the unit of measure.

I'm not a hunter myself, but a couple guys I work with are pretty hardcore. Seems that they move right around sunup and sundown the most. We aren't allowed to hunt during the night, but they are very active once the sun goes down. I guess it's just too easy to hunt them at night because all you have to do is find them with a spot light and as the old adage goes "deer in the headlights" they just stand there.

Well, I was all giddy to try this out, but apparently my laptop can't handle it.

I load up the settings menu thing, try to start it, and it crashes.

camnipotent wrote:
DrJonez wrote:

So I ran around the southern part of the island and never even saw a trace of a mule deer. Do they only inhabit certain parts of the island or something?

Also, how does this scoring thing work? Like I killed a buck that says 63 2/8 next to it. Huh? :(

I think they are all over the place. I'm starting to wonder if time of day matters. I mean, I always start in the morning, but I'm wondering if I'll have better luck mid-day if the deer are more active then. Any hunters on GWJ forums know about that stuff?

Also, that score is the rack size. It's the length of the antlers from skull to tips, added up. It's measured in 1/8 inches. So if you see 2/8, it's just saying it in the unit of measure.

I dunno, the deer I killed had antlers that weren't enormous, but they were DEFINITELY bigger than 2/8ths of an inch.

DrJonez wrote:
camnipotent wrote:
DrJonez wrote:

So I ran around the southern part of the island and never even saw a trace of a mule deer. Do they only inhabit certain parts of the island or something?

Also, how does this scoring thing work? Like I killed a buck that says 63 2/8 next to it. Huh? :(

I think they are all over the place. I'm starting to wonder if time of day matters. I mean, I always start in the morning, but I'm wondering if I'll have better luck mid-day if the deer are more active then. Any hunters on GWJ forums know about that stuff?

Also, that score is the rack size. It's the length of the antlers from skull to tips, added up. It's measured in 1/8 inches. So if you see 2/8, it's just saying it in the unit of measure.

I dunno, the deer I killed had antlers that weren't enormous, but they were DEFINITELY bigger than 2/8ths of an inch.

Oh yeah, of course. Yours was saying 63 2/8th meaning 63 and 2/8 inches. I had one that ended in 2/8 and my 3rd grade fraction conversion memories started to question either the accuracy of the game code, the QA process at Avalanche or if the 2/8 meant something else.

On a side note: I've been having terrible luck with finding buck (that rhymed). Anyone else? I come across, literally, a pack of 6 doe on a regular basis, but no bucks in site. Do the does normally travel in big groups if there's a buck around? In one hunt last night I spotted 11 deer. Only one of those was a buck. Frustrating.

Okay, I think I finally got the hang of it and how to use the calls. I've seen tons of does now that I could have taken down, but I was waiting for the bucks.

Finally I saw this guy hiding in the trees. I called and he started to slowly make his way towards me. I was about to take the shot when suddenly something much bigger came out of the trees.

He dropped with one shot.

Mule Deer (M) 172 6/8
Weight: 103.4 kgs (227.9 lbs)
Tracked: --
Spotted: 47.4 m (155.5 ft)
Kill Distance: 59.3 m (194.7 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-11-2009 19:58

And of course right after that Doc gives me the mission to bag a 6-point buck.

Okay, I think I finally got the hang of it and how to use the calls.

Do tell! I haven't found the calls to be super helpful yet. Are you making them and then sitting still for a while? Do you make them after you've heard a deer?

DrJonez wrote:

Also, how does this scoring thing work? Like I killed a buck that says 63 2/8 next to it. Huh? :(

This should explain it:

IMAGE(http://www.thehunter.com/pub/images/newsandblogs/scoresheet_preview.jpg)

My biggest one yet

Mule Deer (M)171
Weight: 75.0 kgs (165.3 lbs)
Tracked: 8 Minutes 21 Seconds, 0.13 km (433.1 ft)
Spotted: 25.5 m (83.7 ft)
Kill Distance: 24.9 m (81.8 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-12-2009 14:51