On the trail

[JP_Finn]

One thing I’ve not seen in the wilderness is ski tracks. I’m not sure how simple it is to model NPC hunters and adventurers to ski around, given their tendency to circle and wander around.

Foreign traders and Njerp parties, when sleighs&sleds(&carts) get added should use them and then your Finn, ahem, could trade/profit...

^Tracking skill check on ski tracks should reveal to direction of travel, where Looking at them wouldn’t necessarily. Also if there’s been heavy travel on the trail, or single skier. (Multiple ski stick marks, plenty of short ski kicks. Hoof prints for carts/sleighs.

On established trail*, fatigue should be lowered vs ploughing through fresh thigh deep snowdrifts.

Also, any tracks before snow, should be fully covered (removed) with snowfall.
And fresh tracks should imprint better/clearer after rain. So the spring shower wouldn’t really hinder stalker-tracker efforts on staying on a fresh trail.

*ski or foot trails in snow.

Question is, is all the additional work, worth the end result? LOL

[PALU]

Well, currently NPCs don't know how to use skis, and cheat by moving at their normal speed through snow. Thus, the only character potentially capable of leaving ski tracks is currently the PC...

I certainly would like NPCs to use skis and snow penalties, but that will also affect villages, as they'd then need to know how to use a shovel to move snow to be able to move about in the settlement and use skis outside of it (or use skis constantly) when the snow is deep enough.

When carts are introduced I'd guess they'd be used only when there's not too much snow, possibly causing foreign traders to stay away during that horrible season, or use sleds/sleighs.

[JP_Finn]

If the established (snow) trail mechanic were to be implemented, it’d also affect villages. I.e. trample/shove the snow. Dev notes already mention shoveling snow as planned feature.

It’d be awesome if snow depth had some visual clue. And not only the : look command’s printout.
Maybe add knee (or even 3rd for thigh depth) snow graphic on tree, building, actors et cetera tiles.
But not very helpful on clearings. Maybe display packed snow/trail similar to downhill/gulch graphic, but more subdued.

[Ara D.]

Well if we are talking snow mechanics persistence hunting large game in deep snow the player should get a huge advantage when wearing skis. Imagine an elk ploughing through deep snow vrs a hunter chasing it by skiing on top of the snow. I read an article in Nat Geo about an ethnic group in far west China that traditionally hunted that way.

[JP_Finn]

Same in Finland, elk can move at considerable speed through even deep snow, long skinny legs help in that. But it does fatigue them fast.

On the other hand, hare found in Finland (lepus timidus) has feet similar to American snow foot hare (lepus americanus) and can run/hop at considerable speed on the snow drifts. Later migrated brown hare (lepus europeaus) isn’t so well adapted for snow and is relatively easy catch, especially with a chasing dog (beagles are great, they’ll run on snow unlike hounds that tend to sink in deep snow. I’ve never hunted with Spitz)

If conditions are suitable; snow falls close to 0C/32F, then temperature plummets to -20C/-3F area. The snow drifts will carry a slow and steady, Hiding, people pretty reliably.
(~60kg/~130lbs of teenage me, going slow, could stay on the ‘hankikanto’ ‘drift-carrying’ not more than 1:20 steps sink in the snow. Now at grown weight, 90kg/200lbs, drifts don’t want carry me no more. Although American snow seems powdery compared to Finnish snow.

Not sure if Sami wants to model in varied snow fall temperatures and record the layer thickness and the top layer freezing to ‘hankikanto’ ... Ton of work.

[Sami]

One thing I’ve not seen in the wilderness is ski tracks. I’m not sure how simple it is to model NPC hunters and adventurers to ski around, given their tendency to circle and wander around.

We’ll first have to give NPCs an ability ski and then think about the tracks. NPCs don’t ski currently. Both would naturally fit to the game world perfectly, and ’m sure will this coming alive at some point.