The Hunter: Catch All

Great, now there's water running down my ass crack.

Rain's working. Again, it captures the feeling very well, I can feel my wool jacket getting heavier as it gets soaked.

Quick question. What does it mean when two blue lines show up or one green on the PDA? I haven't figured it out yet.

Edit: nm I think its sound

I'm LobsterMobster, AKA Dino Fritz.

Do we have a GWJ hunting club or something?

TempestBlayze wrote:

Quick question. What does it mean when two blue lines show up or one green on the PDA? I haven't figured it out yet.

Edit: nm I think its sound

Yeah, it's sound. Keep in mind, if you don't hear a deer and the sound meter is up, that means that the wind is in full gear (you can see the trees and brush sway and increase the period frequency). I always drop down in case there's a deer downwind.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Do we have a GWJ hunting club or something?

No, not yet. I guess this thread can be a place holder until they allow us to create a group/clan. We need to get some type of huntung tournament together.

I have a once-used Collector's Edition of Hellgate: London (box and all). Should we make that first prize?

I can't kill the deer!

Give me a freaking camera! I'm going the route of National Geographic...

camnipotent wrote:

I have a once-used Collector's Edition of Hellgate: London (box and all). Should we make that first prize?

Only if you want to chase everyone away like wearing a cowbell around your neck in game.

Grubber788 wrote:

I can't kill the deer!

Give me a freaking camera! I'm going the route of National Geographic...

Camera got patched in today. As did a 30-06 that can hit something.

Is there any way to speed up the insanely slow mouse speed? Take away from the relaxing feel when I need to pick up my mouse 10 times to turn left.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Is there any way to speed up the insanely slow mouse speed? Take away from the relaxing feel when I need to pick up my mouse 10 times to turn left.

I have to increase my mouse's dpi speed for this game. I have the Logitech G5, so it's a button click, but you can also change it in the Windows device settings.

Woo! Got my first kill after tracking the same Mule Deer for 35 min:

Weight: 86.6 kgs (190.9 lbs)
Tracked: 35 Minutes 51 Seconds, 1.20 km (3920.6 ft)
Spotted: 12.2 m (40.0 ft)
Kill Distance: 12.1 m (39.7 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-15-2009 21:30

Wow, that's very cool camnipotent. I think I'll be able to squeeze in some hunting over the weekend.

Finally bagged a bull elk. Not a huge one, but hopefully it's a trend in the right direction.

Elk (M)36 4/8
Weight: 338.2 kgs (745.5 lbs)
Tracked: 20 Minutes 7 Seconds, 0.63 km (2066.9 ft)
Spotted: 118.3 m (388.1 ft)
Kill Distance: 15.7 m (51.4 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-15-2009 20:46

It took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to track anything, but once I got that down it was super easy to sneak up behind a deer and tag him, 10 minutes later. Hopefully my second time out will be a little smoother.

Hemidal wrote:
camnipotent wrote:

I have a once-used Collector's Edition of Hellgate: London (box and all). Should we make that first prize?

Only if you want to chase everyone away like wearing a cowbell around your neck in game. :)

... You're probably right. Plus, that'd rule out any Canadian residents!

I'm just going to announce it here:

1st Annual Gamers With Jobs Mule Buck Tournament

Tournament starts Thursday night, April 16th at 9:00pm EST and ends Monday morning, April 20th at 9:00am EST (for some Sunday night play).

The only requirement for entry is that you post your buck stats in the standard fashion.

Example:
Mule Deer (M)181 1/8
Weight: 98.6 kgs (217.3 lbs)
Tracked: --
Spotted: 88.8 m (291.4 ft)
Kill Distance: 18.4 m (60.5 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-14-2009 23:10

For your entry to count it needs to be a buck and in the time frame listed above (clean slate Stengar and bennard!).

Prizes:
Biggest rack score: Three Free One-night DVD rental codes for RedBox
Longest range buck kill: 1 rental code
Biggest (by weight) buck: 1 rental code

Only one winner per category and you can't win more than one category.
If someone wins both single-rental categories, first and second place winners of each category will each get a code.
If there's a tie, we'll go by time of kill (earlier kill wins).

I can't think of any other bases I need to cover, but if I missed something, let me know!

camnipotent wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Is there any way to speed up the insanely slow mouse speed? Take away from the relaxing feel when I need to pick up my mouse 10 times to turn left.

I have to increase my mouse's dpi speed for this game. I have the Logitech G5, so it's a button click, but you can also change it in the Windows device settings.

Is there another way? My mouse sensitivity is already turned up pretty high and I don't have a fancy DPI button.

Sure would be easier to find info on this game if it had a SLIGHTLY more creative title.

LobsterMobster wrote:
camnipotent wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Is there any way to speed up the insanely slow mouse speed? Take away from the relaxing feel when I need to pick up my mouse 10 times to turn left.

I have to increase my mouse's dpi speed for this game. I have the Logitech G5, so it's a button click, but you can also change it in the Windows device settings.

Is there another way? My mouse sensitivity is already turned up pretty high and I don't have a fancy DPI button.

Sure would be easier to find info on this game if it had a SLIGHTLY more creative title. :P

I know this says it's for Windows NT, but Vista has the same registry values (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse). I think by default the threshold values are set to zero, as well as the MouseSpeed. Changing it to 1 or 2 may help.

From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q149... :

To implement a higher default mouse pointer speed for the currently logged in user, use the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) to edit the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

Set the value of MouseThreshold1 to 0.
Set the value of MouseThreshold2 to 0.
Set the value of MouseSpeed to 1 or 2 (1 doubles the normal speed, 2 quadruples the normal speed).
Close Registry Editor, close all applications, and restart Windows NT.

It wouldn't hurt to try changing MouseSpeed to 1 and then rebooting to see if it worked. If it doesn't, just change it back to 0.

(I don't know how regedit works in NT, but if you use XP just go to 'Run' under the Start menu [if you use Vista, use the search to find for 'run'], and type 'regedit'.)

Finally did it!

21 3/8, 2 shots and killed it glitching into a tree, but killed it!

Weight: 110.6 kgs (243.9 lbs)
Tracked: 5 Minutes 58 Seconds, 0.27 km (879.3 ft)
Spotted: 46.3 m (151.9 ft)
Kill Distance: 46.1 m (151.2 ft)

I may wait a while to upgrade. I'm hoping for a higher-powered scope at some point. I've had two wonderful shots lined up from over 500 feet, but couldn't make the shot. Any advice for the long shots? How significant is the bullet physics?

After about 2 and a half hours of cumulative hunting I've (we've, according to my gf) gotten two female mule deer. The second hit was standing right next to a another deer walking along (which was infuriating to track "You have found a previous trail, abandon current?" Every third clue). After I shot one of them I tracked her buddy for several minutes. I finally found her sleeping in a meadow, snuck up to get an awesome picture, then she spooked and bounded off. Five minutes later I realized it was 11:30 and called it a night.

It's been fun so far. That Warden offer that expires at the end of this month, what are the specifics of it? Is it bonus things if you buy a warden account, or is there a way to get a temporary free warden account that I am not seeing?

Edit: When I was hunting solo I didn't think that colorblindness would be a handicap, but once my gf joined me she was spotting the clues waaay easier than me. I am going to email them and ask for an option to make the clues a bright blue instead of red on green forest.

Warden gives you 2 free guns(.357 mag revolver, and the 12 gauge shotgun), and allows you to use the 30-06 for a month. As long as you are still a warden you will be able to try out hunting any new animals they introduce free for one month, and also allow you to try out any new guns free for a month. They also mention that the ammo for your guns is free while trying them out(I'm a bit vague on this right now, does this include the .243, .357, and 12 gauge as well?).

I view the game as still in a beta of some sort, and the Warden license is a way for folks who have been playing before they fully implement the store to be able to play a bit cheaper once they do. Once the store is implemented it will be about microtransactions. I'm guessing that you will be able to rent a gun for a month for $X, as well as buy tags for a month for $X.

Once your Warden subscription expires I imagine you fall back to a normal member classification and must use the Microtransactions in the store to try out new hunts or weapons. Right now, buying the Warden license will open up Whitetail, Turkey, and Elk hunting and is the only way to do so.

Interesting with the color blindness. I have friends who don't hunt alone in case they have to track any blood trails, due to their color blindness.

Also, word of warning. .357 is no longer an ethical kill on elk. I just learned the hard way.

LobsterMobster wrote:

...I'm bitter because I want to look at turkeys and they want me to pay for that! :(

For you...

IMAGE(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/VegaGWJ/TheHunter/GobbleGobble.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/VegaGWJ/TheHunter/TurkeyLake_s.jpg)
(click for full size)

IMAGE(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/VegaGWJ/TheHunter/ExcitedTurkey_s.jpg)
(click for full size)

I picked off one at short range (15ft) which made the other 2 fly off to the other side of the lake. I lost track of one, but the other I kept in my sights as I made my way slowly around the lake. I figured I'd try a long range shot and was able to nail the second with a 329ft shot with the .357 Revolver. Thanksgiving came early!

Man.. I've spent so much time trying to even see deer with no luck, I've tracked down tracks to mind boggling small circles with no luck of seeing any.. I've actually spent 2 sessions tracking w/ it resetting on me before I could see the cursed thing.. I don't know what I'm doing wrong -_- probably look for a guide before attempting this again, it gets frustrating as beautiful as the environment is.

Delta wrote:

Man.. I've spent so much time trying to even see deer with no luck, I've tracked down tracks to mind boggling small circles with no luck of seeing any.. I've actually spent 2 sessions tracking w/ it resetting on me before I could see the cursed thing.. I don't know what I'm doing wrong -_- probably look for a guide before attempting this again, it gets frustrating as beautiful as the environment is.

When you are tracking don't run, ever! When you find enough clues and get a pretty good idea of distance and trajectory, pull out your binoculars and look. See if you can spot it. If not crouch and head in the direction the your pda says to go and look for more clues. If you find your in a good spot and you know where the deer is, use the deer caller (I think it only works on mule deer). Chances are if you stay still in a crouched or prone position you will be able to get the deer to come to you. You might also want to watch for which way the wind is blowing, and stay down wind of your target or they will know.

This game is all about patience. Once you figure out the tricks and how to approach your target it will get easier. Also the more you play the more skilled your hunter gets and you will get helpful outlines on targets from further off making it easier to spot them.

This game has me hooked. I love the fact you can jump in and out whenever you want and not have to worry about saving levels or any of that stuff. I purchased the 3 month package, it was dirt cheap and they give you an extra month free. I don't know if I will continue playing once it changes to micro transactions. We'll see.

One of the things I have been trying to do is long range kills. It's difficult though because not only do you have a smaller target to hit the further off you are but it's really tough spotting the target from a distance in the first place.

I found a great perch overlooking the lake in the middle of the big island but I have yet to see any deer approach the lake. Anyone had any luck killing anything there? I am talking about Deer or Elk not Turkey. I am wondering because I am not sure if the distance from my perch to the lake is too great.

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely give it a try, even without seeing any deer I've really enjoyed the exploration aspect of it, not ready to give up and might consider the package if I'm still hooked after a few kills, Hunt on!

Now this is what I call a tree stand.

IMAGE(http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt34/Vibramsoul/treestand.jpg)

On south island, not too far from the land bridge to north island there's a tree overhanging the road. Sure enough, you can walk up it. Wasn't seeing much, so I was messing around, and sure enough a whitetail doe walks across the road north of me.

Tree stand kill

Whitetail (F)N/A
Weight: 50.9 kgs (112.2 lbs)
Tracked: 21 Minutes 17 Seconds, 0.74 km (2431.1 ft)
Spotted: --
Kill Distance: 137.7 m (451.8 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-16-2009 01:55

camnipotent wrote:
Hemidal wrote:
camnipotent wrote:

I have a once-used Collector's Edition of Hellgate: London (box and all). Should we make that first prize?

Only if you want to chase everyone away like wearing a cowbell around your neck in game. :)

... You're probably right. Plus, that'd rule out any Canadian residents!

[b]I'm just going to announce it here:

1st Annual Gamers With Jobs Mule Buck Tournament

Tournament starts Thursday night, April 16th at 9:00pm EST and ends Monday morning, April 20th at 9:00am EST (for some Sunday night play).

The only requirement for entry is that you post your buck stats in the standard fashion.

Damn, I should have held off hunting this morning, I'm too early!

Mule Deer (M)181 1/8
Weight: 97.2 kgs (214.2 lbs)
Tracked: 8 Minutes 20 Seconds, 0.26 km (839.9 ft)
Spotted: 52.3 m (171.6 ft)
Kill Distance: 49.0 m (160.9 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-16-2009 04:52

Although, I did get my first Elk Buck.
Elk (M)197 3/8
Weight: 357.5 kgs (788.2 lbs)
Tracked: 9 Minutes 41 Seconds, 0.29 km (941.6 ft)
Spotted: 76.1 m (249.7 ft)
Kill Distance: 40.8 m (134.0 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-16-2009 05:07

Gaald wrote:

If you find your in a good spot and you know where the deer is, use the deer caller (I think it only works on mule deer).

Works for whitetail as well. Elk will generally respond to the call, but they won't move towards it. So for elk it's only good for pin pointing location or to get them to lift their head and stand still for a few seconds.

Gaald wrote:

I found a great perch overlooking the lake in the middle of the big island but I have yet to see any deer approach the lake. Anyone had any luck killing anything there? I am talking about Deer or Elk not Turkey. I am wondering because I am not sure if the distance from my perch to the lake is too great.

I've seen deer by the lake before (that's why I was there last night when I came across those turkeys). I got a 400+ft shot on a doe from there couple nights ago. Have yet to see any bucks, but it might just be a matter of calling them. I usually walk down to the shoreline and just scan the opposite side though. I'll have to look around for this perch overlooking it.

Well, I got my first kill last night, and I've concluded that until I find a way to get my mouse speed up, I can't play this game.

And here's why:

When I first set out, it didn't take me too long to find the first signs of life. My prey had apparently eaten something it shouldn't have, as I found three piles of poo on the road in close proximity. Between the cone on my PDA and a relatively steady trail of tracks, I managed to follow this deer for a good half hour before the trail just seemed to dry up. I never caught sight of it. My deer call didn't do anything. It may be that I COULD have seen it, except that every time I paused to have a look around I would have to fight with my mouse to do so, meaning it took longer to get a good look and distracted me, so who knows. Maybe I was looking right at it. Either way, I lost that trail so I gave up and went after another. It had crossed paths with at least one.

Followed that trail for a while. This one dried up much faster, and I ended up wandering in a circle, finding NOTHING. AT ALL. It would have been relaxing to just take in the majesty of nature but before I can do that I'm going to need to upgrade my turn speed to something above "ocean liner." It would also be nice to upgrade my walking speed above "moody teenager," perhaps to something more like "casual stroll." I mean, I know that if I move too fast I'll scare the deer, but there were NO DEER AROUND. Maybe for miles. Having covered a fairly large area without seeing any signs for a good while, I gave up, intimidated by the prospect of fighting the mouse to get my character in the right direction, then waiting to walk to new ground. I also know that this is supposed to be a zen-like, relaxing experience so running around making FPS-style twitch turns doesn't really work (even if it would be fun to pretend there's a bear chasing me), but having to FIGHT the controls was making it hard for me to appreciate the sun filtering in through the trees and the butterflies flitting about.

I started it up again almost immediately, in hopes that a "reset" would net me better luck. Walking toward the heart of the island, I managed to "detect" a deer. How, I don't know. My PDA just kind of blipped and as much as I looked around I couldn't find any actual tracks. Maybe I would have looked closer if my mouse wasn't so lazy. So with no tracks, I had no idea where this deer actually WAS. All I knew is that somewhere on this island, there was a deer. Great. I kept walking in exactly the same direction, checked out a tree stand, and started wandering south.

About then I heard a bleat in the distance, and my PDA pinpointed it to the north. It also helpfully informed me that this was the deer I was stalking. Thanks, PDA! I set off in that direction at a catatonic pace and finally reached the spot where the sound had originated. Nothing. No tracks. No poo. No deer. Then a few moments later, I heard another bleat. This one was even further north, near the coast, but not half as far away as the first one had been. Progress! I went on toward this second sound and finally, FINALLY, found some tracks. In fact, I found two sets of tracks. Right next to each other, belonging to the same animal.

In opposite directions.

I ignored BOTH and continued toward where I'd heard the sound but before I could reach its source, I heard yet another call, this time in the middle of a very thin stretch of land, almost a sandbar. While it was still reasonably far away, the topography of the map suggested I'd be able to see all the way across it if I crested a nearby hill. I did so, and came upon a sandy, rocky corridor across the water. There were no deer upon it so I scouted the area, crept forward on to the sand bar, and looked again. And finally, finally, I saw my stupid deer. On the other end of the sand bar, already a ways in to the sparse wood, I saw it. Crouching down, I brought out my rifle and loaded it (safety first!). Then I brought it to my shoulder and looked through the scope.

God dammit. The deer's gone again.

I don't know if it saw me, or tasted my frustration in the wind, but it was nowhere to be seen. Dejected, I rose up and started in its direction, sure that it must have left SOME trace of which direction it was going. Nope. Not a thing. Not a damn thing. I looked at my surroundings and figured it didn't just teleport and there wasn't enough time for it to run off in a stupid direction, so it must have gotten behind a tree and walked away while obscured. Using that assumption, I started off in the direction I decided it went.

It worked! Before long I came across a little pile of deer poo. No direction, but at least a little encouraging. I kept to the same direction, pausing frequently to scan the horizon looking for the faintest hint of movement. When I used my binoculars to zoom in on one particular shift, I finally located the stupid thing. It was a good ways off and walking among some trees, so it had pretty good cover. It would have been smart of me to keep stalking it, wait for a better shot, but not only was it getting late but I was FURIOUS with this stupid animal and wanted nothing more than to end its beautiful little life. I'm starting to understand why hunters do this. Deer are evil.

Crouched down, got out my rifle (still loaded!), and took aim. The scope wasn't as good as my binoculars and I could only see part of the deer between some distant trees. Not a great shot, but still I took it, with no more hesitation than it took to steady my aim.

After the shot rang out, the deer sprinted off as if I'd done nothing more than stood up and shouted OOGA BOOGA BOOGA! I figured I'd been too eager, missed my shot, and now the thing was long gone. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, it was too stupid to run away or that I'd managed to at least tag it and slow it down, I went over to where I saw it and found some sets of tracks. Thankfully, these all showed the same direction, and I wandered on that way. Then among some trees, I saw the familiar red glow of the trail and went to investigate. I found a dead deer. A stupid, dead, jerk deer I had absolutely no remorse for destroying after what it had put me through.

Confirmed kill. Female, shot through the hind leg (oops) at a range of nearly 300 feet.

So in short, as long as I'm having these control problems the game's just too frustrating and irritating for me to feel anything but cold-blooded malice for the adorable denizens of the forest. That's not how I want to experience this game, especially after hearing about how good it is when you get into it. I want that same hesitation on the trigger that Rabbit mentioned. I want to respect this deer, and have to decide whether I really want it dead.

Maybe it's time for a new mouse.

Stengah wrote:

Mule Deer (M)181 1/8
Weight: 97.2 kgs (214.2 lbs)
Tracked: 8 Minutes 20 Seconds, 0.26 km (839.9 ft)
Spotted: 52.3 m (171.6 ft)
Kill Distance: 49.0 m (160.9 ft)
Time of Harvest: 04-16-2009 04:52

You and your 181's...

Just for that, I'm going for a 203+ albino buck tonight.

Edit: Out of respect for all things Transformers, I changed my avatar for you. Thundercats is a close second.

Yay! First confirmed(!) kill this morning!
I decided to give it another try before work since I played for almost two hours last night on the southern island and saw nothing. Not a trace of life. Not a sound, not a trail, no droppings... Is there any wildlife down there at all? I finally figured out how to use the Huntmate thingy to register clues (it turns out that there is a manual... ) I am SO used to getting all those interface cues 'in-game' that I just jumped in. How hard could it be?
A couple of thoughts:
I'm getting some graphic glitches if I turn my AA or Anis filtering above 1x. Distant trees are in rectangular boxes that block the scenery. It took a few restarts before I found the combination of settings that wouldn't give me that glitch since there is no way that I have found to adjust graphic settings in-game. It would have been much nicer if there were some sort of 'test-graphics' mode I could load instead of starting and canceling hunting trips.

I know why they don't, but I kinda wish that they populated the woods with all the wildlife, not just what you're hunting (unless they already do and I'm just THAT horrible at stalking).
My two hours wandering around would have been a little less despondent if there were some squirrels or rabbits to scare up occasionally. Or even other hunting parties that you could blame for scaring away all the game! I would even accept a "population" counter, some sort of Population count on the PDA. Wandering in empty woods would seem amazing instead of depressing if I knew for a fact that I was sharing these woods with 352 Mule Deer. It would make me question my luck, and not the maybe-random deer generator.

I really enjoy the comments section in the Journal, but I wish I could write a little more. I tried adding a Hunt-play-by-play like Lobsters story above, but there's a pretty low character limit per post.

My nick is Rezzy, Jarrod 'Rezzy' McLain.

Rezzy wrote:

I know why they don't, but I kinda wish that they populated the woods with all the wildlife, not just what you're hunting (unless they already do and I'm just THAT horrible at stalking).

I think the reason they don't do that is that you need to pay real money to hunt those animals, and if they were in the game but bulletproof it'd just be... weird.

Anyone know if the game actually tracks more deer than the one you're hunting? Is it possible to just stumble upon one? I've never heard a call from a deer I wasn't tracking, so it makes me wonder if it doesn't just randomly generate tracks till you select one to follow.