Wolves currently have 3 major things going for them..
they attack in groups and counter whenever any are attacked... or see a sheep..
they can be tamed/become friendly to the player..
and they can be healed with meat.
not so bad as far as a mob goes but, I was thinking, the wolf AI is not all that impressive at all.
at their 'peak' you'll see wild wolves attacking sheep possibly for "food" purposes but other than that, they virtually could be replaced with any other type of animal and still have the same ruleset of abilities applied to them.
that is why I'm suggesting that the wolf AI be upgraded to include some of the following canine traits:
Howling - Wolves naturally have heightened senses and can detect when enemies are nearby, as such they would howl to summon more of their pack into combat. Wild wolves nearby would hear this howl and assist, Tamed wolves would act the same way.
~The idea behind this would be to not only to alert the player of wild wolves but give a more sense of usefulness for tamed wolves as well as adding environmental effects.
(dunno about you guys but if I was in the middle of a snow field and heard a wolf howl I'd probably need a new pair of pants)
Fetching - It is a well known fact that wolves, both wild and tamed, are natural hunter/gatherers, as such tamed wolves have developed an exercise to maintain their wild instincts that humans often call "playing". these activities usually include tugging on a rope, hiding, and throwing a stick/frisbee. The idea of "fetching" is throwing an object and waiting for the animal to bring it back to you, a trait that is common amongst canines, especially trained ones. For this improvement I would like to see trained wolves "fetching" objects that are lying on the ground for the player.
~This idea could be rather annoying for players if they are trying to ditch stuff on the ground but the dogs would see this as a type of "play".
Settling - For those that don't know, canines are very territorial creatures and will often attack intruders that they believe to be a threat to their safety. Tamed canines are no different. I'm sure most people have heard or seen rottweilers, pitbulls, or a doberman. These beasts are intimidating and scary as foes but are friendly and playful allies. back on topic, canines are territorial creatures, thus I believe there should be some way to "set a spawn point" for them so to speak. Like villagers, they would not venture too far from their spawn location unless following the player and would have the ability to always find their way back to their spawn. Thinking of a way to do this, I came up with the theory of of another use for the bone. dogs are protective of their bones, as such they bury them. This proccess of burying bones could be the trigger for setting a home/spawn point for tamed wolves and could be triggered by simply throwing a bone and waiting for your dog/puppy to bury it nearby.
~The idea for this was brought about by the age old saying "dogs can always find their way back home". This saying was originally invented because of some breed's unique sense of smell and tracking, thus always finding the trail back to their region/home.
Herding - While not a dominant trait in all dogs, the idea of "herding" is derived from the hunting with a pack instinct within wolves. as such it would be quite humorous to watch tamed wolves attempt to herd/chase animals around without attacking them. In this way, sheep would be especially susceptible to being herded/gathered by tamed wolves.
~This idea could honestly be panned out more, but it was more of a humorous thing that I thought would give more depth to the dogs interaction with the world around it.
Cats - The age old rivalry of dogs and cats goes back to ancient times, however from what we know it seems that canines have always managed to grasp the upper hand in that troubled relationship. While some cases of animal companionship have proven that canines and felines can exist together, in most forms, the dogs end up chasing the cats, and I think this too would be a rather humorous addition.
~The idea that dogs chase cats is fairly common and would add more depth to the mindset of the game as well as a more 'realistic' environment.
Villages - A common misconception is that man won canines as some sort of prize, or that man choose dog as his "best friend" while it has been proven scientifically that canines were actually the first to "choose man" so to speak. The early canines would often lurk around the outskirts of early human settlements due to the abundance of leftover food, warmth, and safety reasons. Because of this humans took them in and made use of their own skills in a symbiotic relationship. I believe canines, both wild and tamed, thus would naturally occasionally be present near some of the villages. To clarify, tamed by the village, not by the player.
~This was part of my bigger idea that villages, over time, should evolve and never be locked down to always being a tiny village within minecraft. However, even at it's base level of just being a village, this idea fits in perfectly still.
Overall interesting, but I don't like the cat idea, it discourages the player from having an army of tamed animals, and keeping both wolves and cats in your home. I would also like to see them attempting to avoid high cliffs and falls like Zombies do. Wolves AI makes them take too much fall damage.
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"The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."
"There were four people involved; two of them were idiots, one of them was incompetent, and the other one was, well, a good guy." ~ My Father
Overall interesting, but I don't like the cat idea, it discourages the player from having an army of tamed animals, and keeping both wolves and cats in your home. I would also like to see them attempting to avoid high cliffs and falls like Zombies do. Wolves AI makes them take too much fall damage.
well the cat chasing, in my view, wouldn't be a constant and more of a randomized thing.
kinda similar in a way to how enders go aggro with players.. (and yes I know staring and blah blah blah, I'm making a point)
normally enders are nuetral mobs, but under certain conditions they go bitchcakes and chase/attack the player.
I'm not suggesting the dogs attack the cats, but chasing would be funny.
I do agree with your idea about wolves getting better AI about cliffs though.. my wolves are constantly knocking each other off cliffs in order to get my attention =(
well the cat chasing, in my view, wouldn't be a constant and more of a randomized thing.
kinda similar in a way to how enders go aggro with players.. (and yes I know staring and blah blah blah, I'm making a point)
normally enders are nuetral mobs, but under certain conditions they go bitchcakes and chase/attack the player.
I'm not suggesting the dogs attack the cats, but chasing would be funny.
I do agree with your idea about wolves getting better AI about cliffs though.. my wolves are constantly knocking each other off cliffs in order to get my attention =(
Maybe something like Pack Formation or Pack Order could be defined within their AI too so that wolves would normally have a set pattern that they follow in.. kinda like options from the game gradius... though I fear that would make them look less environmental and more rigid as a game mechanic =/
You got a very interesting idea here,but herding animals is the only part not sounding good.
I like the part about villages taming wolves but i'm not sure how that could be implemented,But would we be able to
Re-Tame the wolves to help us instead?
You got a very interesting idea here,but herding animals is the only part not sounding good.
I like the part about villages taming wolves but i'm not sure how that could be implemented,But would we be able to
Re-Tame the wolves to help us instead?
well no.. the village would own the tamed dog(s). It would be like interacting with another players dog in multiplayer.
I guess I should clarify that a bit more though.. what I meant was that on spawn/creation, the village 'might' have wolves in the general area and some of those wolves 'might' be tamed by the village itself.. I had no intention of saying that villagers would go out and tame wolves themselves.
the implementation could be somewhat simple though, it would be the same, or similar, to iron golems from my view.
well no.. the village would own the tamed dog(s). It would be like interacting with another players dog in multiplayer.
I guess I should clarify that a bit more though.. what I meant was that on spawn/creation, the village 'might' have wolves in the general area and some of those wolves 'might' be tamed by the village itself.. I had no intention of saying that villagers would go out and tame wolves themselves.
the implementation could be somewhat simple though, it would be the same, or similar, to iron golems from my view.
what's wrong with the herding animals part?
Imagine you're going to kill a pack of pigs/cows,then your wolf goes batshit and shuns all the animals away.
I'd be pretty angry at that.
About the villages,maybe villager dogs have a blue collar instead?
they attack in groups and counter whenever any are attacked... or see a sheep..
they can be tamed/become friendly to the player..
and they can be healed with meat.
not so bad as far as a mob goes but, I was thinking, the wolf AI is not all that impressive at all.
at their 'peak' you'll see wild wolves attacking sheep possibly for "food" purposes but other than that, they virtually could be replaced with any other type of animal and still have the same ruleset of abilities applied to them.
that is why I'm suggesting that the wolf AI be upgraded to include some of the following canine traits:
Howling - Wolves naturally have heightened senses and can detect when enemies are nearby, as such they would howl to summon more of their pack into combat. Wild wolves nearby would hear this howl and assist, Tamed wolves would act the same way.
~The idea behind this would be to not only to alert the player of wild wolves but give a more sense of usefulness for tamed wolves as well as adding environmental effects.
(dunno about you guys but if I was in the middle of a snow field and heard a wolf howl I'd probably need a new pair of pants)
Fetching - It is a well known fact that wolves, both wild and tamed, are natural hunter/gatherers, as such tamed wolves have developed an exercise to maintain their wild instincts that humans often call "playing". these activities usually include tugging on a rope, hiding, and throwing a stick/frisbee. The idea of "fetching" is throwing an object and waiting for the animal to bring it back to you, a trait that is common amongst canines, especially trained ones. For this improvement I would like to see trained wolves "fetching" objects that are lying on the ground for the player.
~This idea could be rather annoying for players if they are trying to ditch stuff on the ground but the dogs would see this as a type of "play".
Settling - For those that don't know, canines are very territorial creatures and will often attack intruders that they believe to be a threat to their safety. Tamed canines are no different. I'm sure most people have heard or seen rottweilers, pitbulls, or a doberman. These beasts are intimidating and scary as foes but are friendly and playful allies. back on topic, canines are territorial creatures, thus I believe there should be some way to "set a spawn point" for them so to speak. Like villagers, they would not venture too far from their spawn location unless following the player and would have the ability to always find their way back to their spawn. Thinking of a way to do this, I came up with the theory of of another use for the bone. dogs are protective of their bones, as such they bury them. This proccess of burying bones could be the trigger for setting a home/spawn point for tamed wolves and could be triggered by simply throwing a bone and waiting for your dog/puppy to bury it nearby.
~The idea for this was brought about by the age old saying "dogs can always find their way back home". This saying was originally invented because of some breed's unique sense of smell and tracking, thus always finding the trail back to their region/home.
Herding - While not a dominant trait in all dogs, the idea of "herding" is derived from the hunting with a pack instinct within wolves. as such it would be quite humorous to watch tamed wolves attempt to herd/chase animals around without attacking them. In this way, sheep would be especially susceptible to being herded/gathered by tamed wolves.
~This idea could honestly be panned out more, but it was more of a humorous thing that I thought would give more depth to the dogs interaction with the world around it.
Cats - The age old rivalry of dogs and cats goes back to ancient times, however from what we know it seems that canines have always managed to grasp the upper hand in that troubled relationship. While some cases of animal companionship have proven that canines and felines can exist together, in most forms, the dogs end up chasing the cats, and I think this too would be a rather humorous addition.
~The idea that dogs chase cats is fairly common and would add more depth to the mindset of the game as well as a more 'realistic' environment.
Villages - A common misconception is that man won canines as some sort of prize, or that man choose dog as his "best friend" while it has been proven scientifically that canines were actually the first to "choose man" so to speak. The early canines would often lurk around the outskirts of early human settlements due to the abundance of leftover food, warmth, and safety reasons. Because of this humans took them in and made use of their own skills in a symbiotic relationship. I believe canines, both wild and tamed, thus would naturally occasionally be present near some of the villages. To clarify, tamed by the village, not by the player.
~This was part of my bigger idea that villages, over time, should evolve and never be locked down to always being a tiny village within minecraft. However, even at it's base level of just being a village, this idea fits in perfectly still.
"There were four people involved; two of them were idiots, one of them was incompetent, and the other one was, well, a good guy." ~ My Father
well the cat chasing, in my view, wouldn't be a constant and more of a randomized thing.
kinda similar in a way to how enders go aggro with players.. (and yes I know staring and blah blah blah, I'm making a point)
normally enders are nuetral mobs, but under certain conditions they go bitchcakes and chase/attack the player.
I'm not suggesting the dogs attack the cats, but chasing would be funny.
I do agree with your idea about wolves getting better AI about cliffs though.. my wolves are constantly knocking each other off cliffs in order to get my attention =(
Maybe something like Pack Formation or Pack Order could be defined within their AI too so that wolves would normally have a set pattern that they follow in.. kinda like options from the game gradius... though I fear that would make them look less environmental and more rigid as a game mechanic =/
I like the part about villages taming wolves but i'm not sure how that could be implemented,But would we be able to
Re-Tame the wolves to help us instead?
well no.. the village would own the tamed dog(s). It would be like interacting with another players dog in multiplayer.
I guess I should clarify that a bit more though.. what I meant was that on spawn/creation, the village 'might' have wolves in the general area and some of those wolves 'might' be tamed by the village itself.. I had no intention of saying that villagers would go out and tame wolves themselves.
the implementation could be somewhat simple though, it would be the same, or similar, to iron golems from my view.
what's wrong with the herding animals part?
Imagine you're going to kill a pack of pigs/cows,then your wolf goes batshit and shuns all the animals away.
I'd be pretty angry at that.
About the villages,maybe villager dogs have a blue collar instead?