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Old 01-04-23, 10:56 AM   #1
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Default The Way of the Hunter

There is a new hunting game out, and I read that it looks great and does quite some of the things I complain about in Call of the Wild, better: namely the animal behavour and herd behaviour.



The game has for the remaining 26 hours of the sale a -25% discount, and so I decided to give it a try, its ucrrently downloading. The season pass makes no sense currently, since the additional two reserves it promises, are not yet completed.



I will testplay it tonight and see what get. If I do not like it, I refund.



This is the expanded, explanatory trailer. Sounds good what it says. Question is how it is all implemented in practical game play. I tested other hunting titles different to the two The Hunter games before, none of them convinced me. This one could be different. I let you know.



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Old 01-04-23, 11:17 AM   #2
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I've been looking at that one. Please let us know how you like it, Skybird.

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Old 01-04-23, 03:43 PM   #3
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Looks, after 40 minutes, like plenty of potential mindlessly wasted. There are bugs, one I stumbled over already after 2-3 minutes, is a game breaker, and it exists since at least 4-5 months, and they have not cared to adress it, obviously. When i open the ingame map, the game freezes, and I need to manually crash to desktop to get the rig moving again. I left a post at Steam and see what feedback I get, but I assume I tomorrow will refund, since the devs seem not to be present.

Thats a shame, the looks are VERY good. But technical stability is a must, and it is not given here. I read there are other cracking bugs, too, and that it has become worse with every patch they released.

So until here my advice is: save the money and look at the situation again in a year or so.
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Old 01-04-23, 04:24 PM   #4
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Was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen.

Refunded.


Schade drum. I would have loved to like this. But constant CTDs are a knockout criterion.
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Old 01-06-23, 12:18 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skybird View Post
Was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen.

Refunded.


Schade drum. I would have loved to like this. But constant CTDs are a knockout criterion.
Thank you for the report, Skybird. I believe that I'll do exactly as you suggest, look in on it in another year.

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Old 01-10-23, 01:35 PM   #6
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I've dropped about 40 hours in to this one so far and I like it. I've not had a single crash.

The hunting side of the game is quite good. The tracking, sign, shooting, wind and scent and penetration models are all well done.

There's a herd management mechanic where the player can influence the genetics of the animals in the reserves over time. It's obviously super accelerated, with generations taking days instead of decades. But I've already begun to see the effects. If you cull the old and weak, then future spawns will reflect higher quality animals.

Weapons include rifles and shotguns, in many of the expected calibers. From .22 through .350 mag. There's an 'ethical energy' mechanic, where the idea is to match the hitting power of the round to the animal, to kill cleanly but not to over do it. Works well.

I'm playing on the medium 'Hunter' difficulty and the animals are suitably wary and alert. It's a good hunting simulation in the field.

The only marks I have against it is the narrative or story side. Imagine your state government producing material to teach about hunting ethics in the 1970's to grade schoolers. That's what it is like. Thankfully these moments pass quickly, and the missions pay money for buying new kit, so I tolerate it. But I really dislike how it's done here. I'm not nine years old.
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Old 01-10-23, 04:12 PM   #7
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Quote:
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The only marks I have against it is the narrative or story side. Imagine your state government producing material to teach about hunting ethics in the 1970's to grade schoolers. That's what it is like. Thankfully these moments pass quickly, and the missions pay money for buying new kit, so I tolerate it. But I really dislike how it's done here. I'm not nine years old.
LOL! I remember that sort of state material from back in the 60s and 70s. Hopefully they'll improve that situation.

Are the devs active and rolling out updates fairly often?

I may give this one a try. I like a good hunting (or fishing) game, and there are very few out there.

Thanks for the report, Threadfin!

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Old 01-10-23, 05:35 PM   #8
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A new update dropped today. I've only been in it a short time, so can't say how well the devs support it over time. But I've not seen any complaints that they are slow or inattentive. New missions, animals, weapons and more have been added since release.

This game is clearly a direct contender for Call of the Wild. I only played that one a short time (actually bought it for my son and his X Box). I don't have enough time with CotW to compare the games really, but the simulation aspects get good marks in comparison by the player base. It's a newer game and not so robust like CotW, yet anyway.

If you can either like or tolerate the story side, there's a really nice hunting simulation here. New maps, animals and weapons will bring it closer to CotW over time I think in terms of content.

The devs clearly saw the need to head off ethics complaints, but they went way overboard with the presentation, at least for me. Others will find it charming or quaint I imagine, so just one man's opinion.

I was surprised to see Skybird's comments about instability, but that's the gaming soup. It runs fine for me, on a modest box, Win 10. Your mileage may vary.

I like it. The bones are good. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.
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Old 01-10-23, 06:39 PM   #9
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Its were not stable for me and some others who complaine dbaotu that in Steam forums, but others said they had no issues, so it seems to be mixed.

I tested it for curiosity, since I like these kinds of games anyway. But i could as well also stay with the two Hunter games, they still do fine enough for me.
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Old 01-11-23, 09:50 AM   #10
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Yeah, it's too bad it ran poorly for you. Wonder what the issue is, because it's been trouble free for me, as far as stability is concerned. At least the two-hour Steam refund window is enough time to see if it runs soundly, if not enough time to know whether any particular player will like it.

I think if someone is in to hunting games WotH is a good choice, but the same could be said for CotW and even the Hunter, old as it is. If someone is really in to hunting games they'll buy them all and then decide which one to spend the most time with.

I've quite taken to it. I spend 95% of my time stalking. Just moving slowly through the reserve, always upwind of course, pausing often to glass the surrounding areas and listening for tell-tale signs of game nearby. Once a worthy target is found, then it's a matter of positioning for a good shot. It's not uncommon to spend thirty minutes circumnavigating a position in order to approach from the downwind side. It's essentially stealth gaming, and the quarry is alert. It feels good, the balance in this. But of course this is subjective and everyone will see it through their own lens.

I've dropped 50 hours now, and taken 80 animals, which is a nice round sample with which to judge the state of the game. I think it's in a good place, particularly the hunting sim side. As the devs expand the content (like archery for example which is planned) it will get better.

Personally I'd like to see more weapons and animals. More lever-action rifles. Grouse, quail, woodcock, turkey, coyotes. A blind and stand building mechanic (there are currently tower stands sprinkled throughout the maps).

I think a game like this would benefit from a working camouflage system. Oddly, apparel is a non-issue in Way of the Hunter. There are no clothing choices. This would be welcome, to need to choose your dress to enhance your stealth in whichever environment you're hunting in.

I've got real-world hunting experience, although I don't do it any longer for personal reasons. But Way of the Hunter hit home straight off with Grandpa's rifle. It's a spitting image of my first deer rifle, a Marlin tube mag, lever action .30-.30. I have three of these as well as a .243, a .270 and a number of others, plus shotguns. This doesn't mark me out as an expert, but it does give me an informed opinion, and WotH hits a lot of good notes. If the dev team keep on improving their game I think it's well worth a go for anyone interested in the genre.
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Old 01-11-23, 10:42 AM   #11
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I will check it again in a year, next winter's sale for example. COTW I also adopted just later too, and I still play Hunter Classics. COTW has so huge reserves and over a dozen now, I have barely seen a fraction of all there. And there is no doubt that it is a work of art and beauty, too. I currently disocvered a thick dense, foggy forest in New Zealand, a real thick, dark place with kind of a heavy mood, like the spider forest from the Hobbit movie, and I did not even know it was there.


Me too prefers to stalk, and us ebinos a lot. I do nto care whether I shoot somethign duzring a tour or niot, to me its to 95% the immersion in the world and the trekking what its about. In COTW. in HC, I enjoy to see old places I am familair with bvut havent seen sicn eyears, maybe, while reactiuvatign old memories. These reserves are like good old friends one has not seen since a long time. In a way, they are therefore precious to me, and thats why I keep HC.


Immersion in these typoe of open world sandbox games, is everything. Thats why I have logged so insanely many hours in Fallout 4, too, building new bases all time long. Before, I played Skyrim for years, and had comparably many hours.
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Old 01-11-23, 11:20 AM   #12
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Good post Skybird, and we share a similar outlook. You mention Fallout 4 and whilst I was late to that party, I still have dropped 400 hours in to it. The gameworld is great. I've long since finished the main quest (in survival mode) and now I just exist in it. Almost level 100 now which is great. No level cap has enabled me to stay engaged throughout the run, since there's always a new perk point around the corner. Survival mode grants a big bonus on combat XP, so it makes for fast leveling to reach 95 at this point.

I played Stalker COP's Misery mod the same way, just existing in the world, with little attention paid to moving the story forward or completing missions. More of a life in the zone sim than a game, ya know?

Way of the Hunter has really nice maps (Idaho and Transylvania), that feel huge. I think in actual size they are close to something like GTA's Los Santos, but with no helicopters and fleets of supercars it feels way bigger. The terrain is excellent and varied, with subtle shifts in the biomes as you move between lowland marsh, lowland forest, grassland, highland forest and mountains for example. That's a minimum expectation for this sort of game, and they've done a fine job of it.
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Old 01-19-23, 09:20 AM   #13
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I've been having such a good time with Way of the Hunter I decided to pick up Call of the Wild too. I don't think I'll enjoy the hunting sim side quite as much, but the game's been out a long time and there's plenty of content so why not?


Skybird, did you have a long thread about CotW? Or was that the Hunter? I can only find the latter so maybe my recollection was faulty.


I've now dropped 100 hours in to Way of the Hunter and I really like what it offers in the field. The stalking, tracking, reading sign, wind and scent, animal behavior, herd management, shooting and penetration models are all good. It's still early in it's cycle, and I'm looking forward to see what the devs add down the line.
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Old 01-19-23, 11:34 AM   #14
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Over the years I think I had threads on both, but it all molt together I think, or I moved more to COTW, but under the Classic Hunter thread label. Classic is alive and has new developers who foster it, but new reserves are not being done. I have my quarrels with some aspects of COTW, but the beauty of the world in it brings me back to it time and again. Same is true for Classic Hunter.

Nice to hear you like WOTH. I will certainly check it again in a year or so. Next christmas season in sales for example. So far, I currently play COTW again, and a lot, daily, after a longer absence. SDome fo those reseves are so unbeliavbyl beautiful. Colorado. Alaska. New England. Siberia. Hirschfelden.
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Old 01-19-23, 11:40 AM   #15
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From 2009, holy moly...
https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...ghlight=Hunter


2012, second thread
https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...ghlight=Hunter


I now recall, I initially had reservations against the always online thing and the business model. Thats what delayed me to embark on it, by some years.
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