Original Post — Direct link

Firstly, I understand that the game is still in development, and I also understand that the issue of AI pathing is a prevalent issue with any game that has randomly generated terrain and no preexisting nodes.

That being said...

Eco's animals are especially janky, which is surprising given how much the game seems to get right.

My issue:
When idle, animals will meander around aimlessly—which is fine, and the game encourages you by design to hunt them while they're in this state (camo clothes, etc). Even still, animals will often time float, clip through map terrain, or end up lying down with their heads buried in a cliff or tree trunk.

Not too bad in and of itself, but if you manage to startle them, then the real jank begins. Animals will run in short bursts, oftentimes changing directions at random and with little to no telegraphing depending on the server's latency. While this doesn't make them impossible to hit, it does make it a frustrating endeavor; I've given up on getting headshots and resorted to just riddling a fleeing deer or elk's butt with arrows just because trying to hit their head while they twist around and move like chess pieces is just not enjoyable.

I get that hunting a startled animal is supposed to be difficult, but this isn't what I'd call a proper challenge or obstacle. When you consider the range at which animals spawn around the player and how they're likely to become startled regardless of your efforts (predators, etc), it just becomes a pain to deal with.

Is there any plan to change the way they function?

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over 3 years ago - /u/SLG-Dennis - Direct link

Originally posted by AlaskaLuvs

As said, I understand that you can apply realism to it, but it doesn't feel realistic, and it most certainly doesn't feel designed to be a realistic hunting sim. Even if I play the patient hunter, have got the right gear to reduce detection range, and wait for the perfect shot I'll still see the doe 'sit' with its head halfway into a tree or meander up and down a sheer cliff.

My only question is if we're going to see some improvements to the way animal AI behaves, or if this is just something we're going to have to deal with.

Yes, one day. It's not a big priority, but there is an AI pass currently worked on though.