The Hunter

[Skybird]

Does anyone know this online hunting game/sim?

http://www.thehunter.com/pub/

It's free, they say, and checking screenshots and videos from their site, it looks stunning, and - beautiful.

If you know it, how is it? Any bad stuff they try to get onto your system? How's gameplay and realism?

[Arclight]

Yeah, I stumbled acoss that before, seems legit. It's free but you're limited to 1 rifle and only 1 type of animal to hunt. Getting more then that requires membership.

If you're afraid of spyware, I'm willing to serve as guinea-pig. Wouldn't mind stalking through a forest hunting "mule deer". :hmmm:

IMHO the whole thing is just too detailed to be a scam of sorts. Just check out that quick-start guide.

[Rilder]

I thought it only had one rifle and animal to hunt because it was in beta?

[NeonSamurai]

No, they say i think in their faq that you are limited to 1 gun and one land area. If you want more you will have to pay a monthly fee.

[Arclight]

So I've been playing this for a week now, and not only is it legit, it's addictive. So much so, that I signed for a 1 year membership (45 bucks, only gets you 3 months of WoW!). :doh:

The forest looks awesome, best I've seen in any game. You'll need a beefy card to run it at max detail though (with 16xAF & 4xAA), I'd say 8800GT minimal.

Even if you don't plan on playing much, the free account with just 1 rifle and 1 species offers enough to remain fun for a long time. If you enjoy stalking through forests, keeping hidden and taking out the "enemy" with a well placed shot, you'll enjoy this. If only they made sniper games to this formula.

If you become a member before May 1st, you get "warden" membership, which has a few perks over regular:

Includes standard membership benefits:
- Hunt Mule deer, Whitetail deer and Turkey
- 3 free weapons
- Free ammo for all 3 weapons
- Extra clothing items
- Server priority
PLUS by becoming a member in the launch phase:
- Special 'Warden' status: receive a free 1 month licence for ALL new animals and firearms as they are released!
- Free Elk licence, when Elk are released
- 15 months for the price of 12!

Basically 1 month trial for new guns and species, after which you'll have to purchase the weapon/license. Trial starts when content is released; if you're on vacation for a month, you're SOL.

Free license to hunt elk, for as long as you're a warden. You'll remain one for as long as you maintain your membership; letting it expire and signing up again makes you "just" a member.

1 month free for 3 month subscription, 2 months with 6 months subsciption and 3 with 12 months subscription.



Anyway, here's the site (http://www.thehunter.com/pub/).

And here are some gameplay videos (http://www.youtube.com/Arclight386), to give you an impresion of the game.

Oh, and the community there could definitely do with some of that SUBSIM charm. :yep:

Hope to see you there, feel free to ask some questions. :salute:

[Syxx_Killer]

Great videos, Arclight! I couldn't believe you could actually play Breakout on your GPS! :haha: I sure wouldn't want to miss that trophy buck, though, because of Breakout. :D Anyway, the game looks fantastic. It's about time a hunting game uses current graphics instead of the dated graphics you find with current hunting games at the store. I might try it later on. The only thing I don't like is the subscription system. I'd much rather be able to buy a physical copy from the store with no subscription system.

[Arclight]

It's the fact that there is no DRM involved that convinced me. Client download is free, guest account is free and all your stats are online; you can reïnstall/unïnstall all you want, install it anywhere and play anywhere. I couldn't resist, just because of that. :)

What I don't like though is having to buy additional weapons and licenses eventualy, but I'm quite happy with the content I have now and it should get better as time goes on. You're not forced into buying additional stuff.

Playing mini-games to pass the time is great, but now there's only Breakout (or Breakthrough as it's called in-game). Fingers crossed for Pong. :D

Really, the quality on youtube doesn't do it justice. I packed 5 of those in an archive and am trying to put it on Filefront. It's not coöperating. :nope:

[porphy]

That looks interesting. Will check it up. I would like to stalk another hunter, the ultimate trophy... :)

[Arclight]

That'll have to wait. MP isn't in yet, but it's coming. :yep:

Uploaded another vid, 6min long to better demonstrate gameplay. Blame youtube for the quality, I do. :D