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Old 01-04-23, 10:56 AM   #1
Skybird
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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:
Originally Posted by Threadfin View Post
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 01-19-23, 11:40 AM   #9
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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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Old 01-19-23, 12:18 PM   #10
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I see. Both games are 'The Hunter' right?

One is Classic. One is Call of the Wild. I knew the latter was released in 2017 and when I saw the thread kicked off in 2012 I reckoned it was a different game. But now I see you've combined the two, makes sense.

I'd suggest not waiting a year for WotH. I think, based on how well it's run for me, that one of the recent updates may have improved things, but that's speculation. Get it soon on sale, with the season pass, and that way you'll pay a lot less down the line. If it runs well -- and I guess that's a big if -- the game is in a good state now. It lacks many of the features CotW has, like blinds, tents, archery and the like, but the actual hunting is good.

But that's a matter of opinion, so blaze your own.

As for CotW, I'm looking forward to giving it a go, and will this evening. Like I said I think the hunting sim will not feel quite so, err, sim-like? But I believe the sum will be greater than the parts. And then I'll be able to draw direct comparisons between the two titles.

It's only money....
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Old 01-19-23, 01:59 PM   #11
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I just had tried it, just days ago. Crashes after some time as described. EVERY time.

After all, I have two hunting games, I am not desperately needing a third one.

--------------

Yes, there are two The Hunter games. The first started 2009, then wa s almost ruined and the original owner adn developer was bancrupt, and so it was sold to the new developer that also runs Call of the Wild, and brought it to shine. Its micro transactions system meanwhile is deactivated, it can be played practically for free now. Still holds its ground, still has its fan base, and when Call of the Wild was released (being The Hunter 2 effectively), the first game was outsourced to a maintance developer who keeps it floating and alive, renaming the old game as The Hunter Classic.

If you do not know the old classic The Hunter, check it out. It still is a damn fine game with plenty of reserves well done. The animal AI is better than in COTW, it does not do these bug-like stunts that you not rarely see happening in COTW, but does not know as big herds as you sometimes see in COTW. I still play it - frequently, so do many other players.


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Old 01-19-23, 03:51 PM   #12
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Maybe I will, get Classic, at some point down the line. But I'm set for now, after all I have yet to even install Call of the Wild, only bought it last night. So let's see how that goes, but thanks for the recommendation.


I thought it had been a few weeks since you played WotH, not a few days. Too bad that. Have you tried a different video driver maybe? Like you said, you're covered already so not priority.


100 hours for me, no crashes. For you, crashes constantly. Doesn't seem logical, but this has always been the way with our hobby.
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Old 01-19-23, 07:22 PM   #13
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There are quite some people having many crashes, I read in reviews at Steam as well around the net, so I am not that alone. While others have none, apparently.

In one year again.
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Old 01-19-23, 10:08 PM   #14
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I played WotH a lot when it was released and even with it flaws and bugs back then, I very much enjoyed it more than CotW. While the latter obviously has more content atm, WotH's hunting just feels more "sim-like" than The Hunter's. Especially once you understand the mechanics, you rarely need to stalk anymore in CotW, just run around until you hear the warning call.


I did get burned out eventually, but definitely going to return to it sometime soon.
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Old 01-20-23, 07:41 AM   #15
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Yes, thats true, COTH is less simulation than Hunter Classic. The only remedy is to act with self-restriant oin side of the player. Itrs said you get form a sim what you out into it, handle it like an arcade game and you get an arcade game reaciton, handle it more seirous, and you get more realism. Thats is true for a serious flight or racing sim, for example. In COTW I mean to not mow down a full herd just ebcasue you can, the animal AI is at times terribly stupid, they did a rela loiusy job on that and refuse to repair it.

In the end COTW is what it is, either one likes or or not. One thing however is certain: it is beautiful to look at, many reserves are visual feasts, and works of beauty and art. When i want a more challenging "hint", I fall back to classic Hunter, however, which I still play. It also has its flaws, however, perfect none of the two is. But heck, in the end we are just playing a game, and we better play only that what gives us subjective enjoyment. COTW to me is a walk-in-the-park/forest simulator in the first.
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