Dog companions

Vronkio · 2013-04-13T19:19:30.000Z

First of all let me thank the whole gang for continuing the work on this awesome roguelike which I’ve been following for some time and has already granted me around a hundred hours of entertainment and awoke interest to study coding more in-depth. So, thank you gang.

What I want to know is if anyone is working on the ability of having a dog companion, much like you have npcs, and how difficult do you think it would be to introduce in-game. Maybe it would be possible to do a quick patchover on companion behavior by pulling from the NPCs code? How feasible is this?

Best regards

Benedict · 2013-04-13T19:46:21.000Z

I think it would be an awesome addition to the game.

I made a thread about it a while back (feel free to bump it or ignore it, as you see fit): http://www.cataclysmdda.com/smf/index.php?topic=552.msg6021#msg6021

system · 2013-04-13T20:18:18.000Z

Dog whistle.

But after NPCs where removed I don’t have the foggiest idea of where to get them.

Benedict · 2013-04-13T21:11:22.000Z

You can also craft dog food and throw it at dogs, I think. I’m not entirely sure how the mechanic works, because currently companions are a huge pain (no vehicle compatibility, and often can’t keep up with you) so I skip them altogether.

KA101 · 2013-04-14T01:46:57.000Z

Yeah…the Dog from the starting quest can’t even keep track of you at night, making it a liability in the dark. Dog whistle toggles the dog from killing everything in sight (including the quest-giving NPC) to following you as closely as it can.

A Leash would be useful.

sodapop · 2013-04-14T04:29:31.000Z

As Benedict said, I believe throwing dog food to dogs will make them friendly A La nethack. Dogs kind of suck right now though and you flat-out need a dog whistle to control them. This currently exists, just doesn’t work exceptionally right now.

TaintedHolyWater · 2013-04-14T05:10:22.000Z

(A)pply dog food to a dog to tame it.

As for the dog whistle maybe a pawn shop? They seam to carry everything. Or just debug it in as it’s not a incredibly powerful item.

I second the idea of a leash. 30 ft rope? That or make them able to track your scent so they can follow you in the dark.

Hyena_Grin · 2013-04-14T05:16:43.000Z

I’d like to be able to stake a dog on a leash outside the door of my shelter. Have 'em bark a lot when enemies get near, and attack if within the range of the leash.

Though I am reluctant to turn dogs into some kind of pet simulation, having to feed them once in a while (raw meat or dogfood) might be interesting and offset any additional usefulness they may come to serve.

TaintedHolyWater · 2013-04-14T09:02:50.000Z

Bah! Once Fido is loyal I bring him to battle and feed him the [S]souls[/S] flesh of the towns darkly departed. Tainted meat might make me sick but it makes Fido a tireless murder machine once he dies and becomes a zombie dog.

All said dogs don’t really show a lot of use. The one advantage I have seen to having one is that they run down rabbits by the dozen so I’d assume they can feed themselves.

sodapop · 2013-04-15T22:29:20.000Z

Haha, I can’t keep them from decimating the local wildlife population. Fido tends to like to chase deer down, which he’s surprisingly capable of doing. The only time he gets into trouble is when he meets a wolf pack. They use the same tactics, there’s just more wolves and I think they’re tougher.