The Hunter

[Pennilenko]

Relevant link for this post: The Hunter

I looked around and haven't been able to find any posts here for this game. A friend got me into this a week ago and I have been playing it like a maniac.

It is basically the best hunting sim I have ever seen much less played. For me at least, it has just the right amount of realism without being a giant stab in the dick.  In my opinion the maps are beautiful and in the right moments can be amazing.  The animals are fun to hunt and have probably the best AI I have seen for a game like this.

I won't say that it is free to play, but it certainly is free to try. They have a guest package that gives you a free small caliber rifle with ammo and a license to hunt mule deer. Guest passes can load all of the maps, but can only shoot and track mule deer (which only appear on two of the maps). The way they monetize the game is by selling licenses to hunt the animals. A player can purchase a temporary license for specific animals or they can purchase "membership" packs that offer three, six, and twelve month complete license packs (membership bundles include all licenses).  The six and twelve month bundles come with a healthy helping of free gear to get started with, with the twelve month bundle including enough weapons and gear to hunt any of the animals effectively.  There is a store where you can buy additional weapons, calls, scent lures and other fun stuff.  However I haven't purchased anything beyond just the twelve month starter bundle for $60 bucks and I have been killing things left and right without any of the fancy camo or lures and stuff. It's worth checking the free quest pass thingy just to  shoot some mule deer and get a feel for the game some.

One minor annoyance though is that the company is a really small crew and the download speed of the client can be slow to super slow. However, the actual game client is less than 2 gigs.

Some pictures of my exploits.  Disclaimer, I messed up posing some of the animals. Also spoilered for people who might be sensitive to this sort of game.

Elk: White Tail: Brown Bear: Moose: Black Tail: Mule Deer:
There is also pheasant hunting as well as an entire map dedicated to swampy duck hunting.

Edit: I forgot to add that there is multiplayer, a player can choose to host a multiplayer game for up to 8 people.
Second Edit: Damn I suck at this, I also forgot to add that the membership bundles include ammo, basically each time you load a map you get right around 30 rounds for every weapon you own. You have to buy ammo if you choose not to go with a membership bundle. Ammo can be purchased with in game or real money currency.

[Samwise]

It would be awesome if you had to hunt Man for the boss level.   

[calapine]

It would be awesome if you had to hunt Man for the boss level.  

If it was an localised Austrian version you'd be driving around in a SUV - drunk - and hunt by shooting out the driver's window and kill an army conscript because you'd mistake him for a boar.

True story, sadly.  

[Goreschach]

Looks like skyrim with all the interesting stuff taken out.

[calapine]

Looks like skyrim with all the interesting stuff taken out.

Still a better love story than Twilight though.  

[Pennilenko]

I guess I knew that posting about this game here was a crapshoot.

[Rasix]

Could always necro the Cabella's thread.  I know it's around here somewhere... 

I think there's a couple hunters here.  Who knows? 

[Falconeer]

It would be awesome if you had to hunt Man for the boss level.   

That is actually Day Z. Especially considering wildlife hunting is going to be added soon.

[calapine]

I guess I knew that posting about this game here was a crapshoot.

Sorry. Didn't want to be a douchebag! 

There is a longer thread at RPG Codex and the response is quite positive. The way you described it reminds me of Euro Truck Simulator, another game were the usual initial response is "Really...?" but which turns out be quite addictive.

[Stormwaltz]

Dead End Thrills has posted a few shots of this - I have at least one in my screensaver rotation.

It's no more my type of game than the average sports-ball title, but it is quite beautiful.

[schild]

People teabaggingposing with virtual animal corpses still makes modern hunting laughably idiotic to me.

[Mithas]

The game looks kind of interesting to me. I would be much more likely to play this and get some enjoyment out of it rather than actually hunt and sit in the woods for hours on end waiting for an animal to cross my path.

[veredus]

That's why you bird hunt. Much more action then deer etc and never far from the truck when it's cold as shit out. Added bonus way easier to clean too.

[rk47]

Wish we can eat it. 

[calapine]

Ok, well. Hunting is surprisingly fun!

Plus points: 1,5 GB client and can do some basic hunting for free, so the entry barrier for trying is pretty low.

Gameplay itself: After completing the tutorial I did one of the basic "missions", which are tasks one can do within the freeform game. Most basic one: Find the track of a deer mule and then three subsequent one (of the same animal). Now here the game lets you cheat just a little, due tracks being highlighted in a glowy orange. After that it's simply a matter of identify the track (deer mule or not?) and following their general direction. Think "Hänsel und Gretel - The Game".

Well, tried to do just that, but it's not that easy (or I am incompetent), and I lose the track when...suddenly...bleating. I have the general direction of the sounds so start sneaking (and here some patience can help...), until my path ends at a chasm in front of me, surrounded by pretty thick vegetation and thus low visibility. I stop, stay crouched and decide to give the "deer call" bleating thingy a try (why not, can't hurt at that point...). No response...little while later, still pondering what to do, there is definitely a noise of movement. Am looking around, without daring to get up (Occulus rift would be nice here...), but nothing.... Then 20m ahead, coming in sight between the trees...a deer! I forget all about the tracking task and get my gun. Impossible to miss at that distance, but no clear shot. Tense seconds.

Baam! I shoot, get up. Deer gone.

15 RL minutes of desperate track hunting ("Oh god, botched it. It's running around wounded somewhere...") later I find the corpse. Female mule deer. Wohoo!

[Pennilenko]

I really think the maps are beautiful. The brown bear I posted in my op tried to kill me. Moose, bears, large bull elks, and coyotes can maul you and send you back to a lodge on the map.

The tracking is kind of an art. By the way, tracking, spotting and individual weapon shooting skills level up over time with use and become more effective.

[rk47]

  sounds very fun. murdering bambi the simulation.
will try it this weekend.
let me psyche myself up by watching donald duck cartoons.

[schild]

Name your character Elmer and do a Radicalthon. Society demands it, rk47.

[Fabricated]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjZI1QMKsxo

[Pennilenko]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjZI1QMKsxo

That's not this game.

[calapine]

Wooot! Bragging time!

After stalking for almost two hours the savage creature that terrorized the woods was slain. Calapine vs. Coyote: 1-0!



Managed to shoot over 153m (503 ft), which felt harder than it sounds. Maybe I need a bigger scope.  

Edit: Looking at the picture it feels like I killed a cute wolfie. But I prefer to think I saved a lot of virtual rabbits from certain death...

[Lantyssa]

I can't say how accurate they are compared to looking through a real scope, but most people prefer shots of 100m or less, at least for whitetail in Texas.  Terrain probably plays a lot into it.

[Kitsune]

At that range it's not a matter of scope accuracy, it's of environmental factors like wind.  If you don't have good, well-adjusted sights, you aren't hitting anything past thirty or so yards in the first place except by luck.

[WayAbvPar]

This game is shockingly fun. UI could use some work, but I just blew 4 hours and $20 and enjoyed every minute of it. We should get some team competitions set up sometime. Add me as a friend if you have a membership...

[WayAbvPar]

Getting deeper into this, and still really enjoying it. The slow pace is a nice break from frantic clickfests. I would LOVE to see an overseas safari sequel/add-on for this (Africa/South America/Asia, etc. I wanna kill a virtual Komodo Dragon!). And then a dinosaur version 

[Yegolev]

Jesus, the Superbowl's corpse hasn't even cooled yet and now you're going on about wabbit season.

[WayAbvPar]

I gotta fill the time until next season (and also until Hex, whichever comes first  ), and my EVE characters are in long training stretches, I am pissed off at World of Tanks, and my son has co-opted my 360 so hockey/football/soccer/hoops are mostly out. That leaves me with Marvel Heroes (which I am not convinced I like yet), and this. If it lasts me a month before I drop it, it will be money well spent. Shit, I spent more than twice what I have dumped into this so far on Sunday when I took my family to see The Lego Movie and stopped for burritos afterwards. And that was for 4 hours of entertainment total.