Hunter's World Blog

18.02.10 - Gathering information

We've spent most of this week looking through your forum posts, gathering up all of the best ideas and suggestions for future implementation into the game.

One thing that's really amazed us, is that so many people, without seeing what's in place already, can visualize the hunting reserve and add such fantastic ideas.

Our design documentation is now brimming over with some great new content, all provided by the community.

Please keep your ideas and suggestions coming and we'll continue to harvest them from the forum. Who knows, in a few months time you could see you brilliant suggestion implemented in the game!

12.01.10 - It's Been a Quiet Start to the Year

You may have noticed that toward the end of 2009 and during 2010, there hasn't been too much to report on lately. Although we're still attracting new visitors and registrations continue to increase, development work has currently been put on hold while we concentrate on finishing a number of other projects that are close to completion.

This doesn't mean that we're not being active in the forum though, as we continue to gather your ideas and suggestions for the game.

We're also still allowing new Rangers to enter Hunter's World, giving you the opportunity to see and try the game during the early development process.

So, while it may be quiet at the moment, we're gearing up for a big push that should see a number of your ideas and suggestions implemented into Hunter's World during 2010!

29.10.09 - A Brand New Gallery Page

We've just added a new gallery for you, showing game images and even some of our early concept art from Hunter's World. As we continue to build and develop the website, we'll be adding more images over the coming months, including pictures submitted by you!

12.10.09 - Looking at the History of Hunter's World

We've just added another part of the history of Hunter's World for you. This piece takes you up to the 1960s and gives you some more information about the 'Inter Lodge' trophy.

Despite the franchise lodge system having been set up in 1948 Crockett Lodge remained dominant as regards facilities, numbers of buildings and membership until the mid 1960s.

28.08.09 - A Whole New World!

The development team have been working hard over the past few months, designing, creating and implementing a host of new features into Hunter's World. We recently migrated all of this work into a new build of the game and let the Rangers loose, giving them the opportunity to test out all of the exciting new features.

We've now added emote commands, covering everything from showing anger to cheering and greetings.

The biggest and probably most important addition though, is the inclusion of a map! The Rangers will now be able to find out exactly where they are in the game reserve and how to get from one point of the island to another. The map also shows the player position and direction and while it's only a temporary solution, it's certainly a very useful tool.

Another exciting new feature is the ability to level up in the game. We've added a skill system that allows players to improve their tracking skills etc, turning their scores into improved skill ratings! This makes tracking and stalking easier with added information on their prey being shown on screen.

Each outpost now has a trader, allowing players to interact with them, train their skills and trade their carcasses.

Weather conditions have been improved to include rain and the sky now has an amazing realistic feel to it. Flowers have been added to the grass while the overall terrain and high detail textures have received a make-over, adding realism to the whole feel of the game.

There are also three new animals to be found in Hunter's World, with Coyote, Wolves and Groundhogs all added in this release. Not only have we included these new creatures, but we've also improved the animal AI so they actually relate to each other as they would in the wild. Therefore deer and smaller animals will now run from the larger predators, making it much harder to shoot them when the likes of bears and wolves are in the area.

And finally, voip is now fully functional within the game, permitting players to talk to each using a built-in voice communications system.

Yes, the development team have been extremely busy getting all these new features together, but don't forget, if you want to experience Hunter's World many months before the release of the game, you'll need to register, get yourself a forum account and become an active member of the forum. We're adding a new Ranger every week, so who knows, the next one could be you?

14.08.09 - Capturing Deer Sound

When I was asked to go along on a field trip to capture deer sound for the MMO, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. From what I had seen and experienced from seeing deer wandering around in local parks, my initial thoughts were that deer didn't make much noise, so a field trip to capture their sounds would be a bit of a waste of time. How wrong was I...

We arrived at Round Green Deer Farm and were greeted with a nice mug of tea, followed by a short drive out to see the deer. Our first experience saw us meeting a couple or rather large bucks. Our AV manager, Andy Gibson set his recording levels and nearly had his ears blown off as the buck roared into the boom microphone! The noise levels were astounding to say the least and after capturing these amazing sounds for 20 minutes or so, we moved into another area and were quickly surrounded by hundreds of deer and their young.

Once again, they didn't disappoint us, creating lots of noise that will certainly enhance the overall feel and atmosphere of the game.

I must admit though, I'm not that keen about going on the bear recording reference trip!

We've also created a short video, documenting the trip to Round Green, which will be appearing on the website shortly, giving you the opportunity to enjoy some of the sounds and atmosphere we encountered.

20.07.09 - Website Design Changes and Improvements

You may have, or at least we hope you've noticed, a number of changes to the Hunter's World homepage. We're currently working hard to improve the website, based on some of your suggestions in the forum and have started by added a video player to the homepage.

We've also improved the way we display the latest news stories, making it easier for you to keep up to date with all the latest Hunter's World updates.

Over the coming months you'll see more changes to the website as we build towards the release of the game, but don't forget that we value you opinion, so add any ideas to the suggestions forum and we'll do our best to incorporate them for you.

09.07.09 - Creating In-Game Video Footage

When you're in the early stages of developing a new MMO, it's fairly difficult to create a video that shows the game as a fully functioning working model. With Hunter's World still some way off the final release date, there's still a lot of work to be done, but we've been inundated with requests for in-game footage, so we thought, okay we'll create a teaser trailer for you.

Under the watchful eye of our Lead Artist, Kelvin Janson, we spent the afternoon stalking, tracking and hunting, capturing around 5 gigabytes of in-game footage. After storyboarding the video, we created a soundtrack, added the titles and encoded the video for release on the Hunter's World homepage.

Although we are still working on the overall look and feel of the game, especially the weather conditions, scenery, movement and reaction of the animals, hopefully the teaser trailer will give you an idea of what you can expect to see in the game.

As Hunter's World evolves and we add many more exciting new features, we'll be generating more video teasers so you can sample the game and hopefully get as excited about the final product as we are.

The in-game video teaser will be released on the Hunter's World website on Friday 10th July...

02.07.09 - First Rangers to Enter Hunter's World

With a lot of excitement and also a little apprehension on the part of the development team, the first Rangers are poised to enter Hunter's World.

We're been carefully preparing everything from the game client download experience, to ensuring that the reserve has been well stocked with all manner of beasts. Not only will the first Rangers provide us with valuable feedback from their experiences within the game, they'll also be sharing their thoughts with everyone else in the forum.

If you would like to be considered as a Ranger, sign up and ensure you're registered in the forum as priority will be given to active forum members.

Right then, I'm off to see what the Rangers are up to and officially greet them at the gates of Hunter's World!

11.06.09 - Capturing In-Game Video Footage

After a hectic afternoon in the studio and over 50 gigabytes of video capture later, we finally managed to get what we needed for the Hunter's World teaser trailers.

Lead Designer, Rob Watson guided us through the whole process of tracking, stalking, hunting and harvesting, all under the watchful eye of Kelvin Janson, our Lead Artist and Hunter's World perfectionist.

After a few technical problems, that saw the whole of the HW development team somehow crammed into a small studio, it was time to find our first animals of the day. Rob set off to an area where he thought they normally gathered, only to find that there were no tracks and no sign of any animals at all. After a trek through the woods, he came across a watering hole, but once again, no sign of any deer.

While it was great capturing the footage of the beautiful scenery, we only had a limited amount of time in the studio to finish our video capture. With time running out and the studio producer watching the clock, in the distance, just to the left of the forest at the top of a hill, we saw movement. Checking his sights, Rob was encouraged to see not only deer, but also a large buck. After carefully approaching the animals, Rob took aim, held his breath and bang! It wasn't a head shot, so the beast failed to go down straight away, but after a few seconds it dropped with the other deer scattering into the forest. We still had time to perform a harvest and the afternoon was successfully completed.

From a personal view, I was hoping to see a few bears, but the excitement of finding a trophy buck made the afternoon all worthwhile.

We'll going to start work on editing the footage soon, so you won't have to wait too long to get a first taste of what you can expect to see in Hunter's World.

18.05.09 - Talking Varmints

Although the title may suggest you can chat with a raccoon, natter with a squirrel or pass the time of day with a bunny, I would actually like to hear your views on varmints that can't talk. After finding out in our recent podcast that our Lead Designer, Rob Watson was concentrating on varmints at the moment, it would be interesting to find out if there are any varmints you would like to see added to the MMO that he hasn't already mentioned? So, if you fancy sharing your views, head over to the forum and start talking varmints...

14.05.09 - Waiting for the Final High Score Results

I'm sitting here, watching the high score table in the 'Proving Grounds', wondering if it'll change before 5.30pm BST today. The best scores will win an exclusive limited edition Hunter's World baseball cap if they're still in the top three by 5.30pm. Although I do have have much better things to do with my time, it's so exciting waiting to see who the winners of our first ever competition will be! With just over an hour to go, 'Mark H' currently has the top score with 'Nazeradom' running a close second. Someone known as 'mrtibbs' holds third place and must surely be sweating on holding his position for the next 60 minutes! Poor 'Justin' has been in the top three for months, but lost his winners position earlier today. Go on Justin, give it one more shot...

Update:

And the winners are:

• 1. Mark H 10361
• 2. Nazeradom 10065
• 3. mrtibbs 9995

27.04.09 - Ranger Registrations

Many thanks to those of you who have successfully completed the Ranger application form. We now have the unenviable task of sorting through your applications in an effort to find the the first ever Hunter's World Rangers. We're expecting this process to take a couple of weeks, but should be able to name our first Rangers around the middle of May 2009.

If you're interested in becoming a Ranger, you can fill out the application form by clicking here.

24.04.09 - Adding new Features and Pages

Not only are we concentrating on developing an amazing simulation of a hunting reserve, we're also working hard to improve the features on the website. For those of you who have recently signed up to Hunter's World, here are some of the applications we've created so far.

• Hunter's World YouTube page.
• Hunter's World on facebook.
• Follow Hunter's World on Twitter.
• Hunter's World Podcasts.

17.04.09 - Rangers - We're nearly there...

Another busy week, as we continue our preparations to start accepting Rangers into the Hunter's World game reserve.

We're currently in the process of putting the finishing touches on the Ranger application page, a little later than we would've hoped, but we're confident that you'll receive your first Ranger newsletter within the next week or so. If you haven't already created a forum account, we would advise that you register as soon as possible as we'll be requesting a forum username when you complete your final Ranger application.

We've also just finished recording our second podcast, an interview with Lead Designer, Rob Watson, so you can expect to see that on the website, along with our first podcast, very soon.

With video content and further news stories coming soon, we'll be offering an abundance of new material over the coming months, wetting your appetite for the game release itself!

16.04.09 - Web Talk

Once again, I'm pleased to report that it's all systems go, with the development team working around the clock on Hunter's World, especially the guys in the web department. We've made a few cosmetic changes to the website this week, making the sign up process much easier (as if it wasn't already simple) and we're also ready to plug in the Ranger application page. Those of you who've requested Ranger status should keep an eye on your inbox this week, as we're due to start sending out your first newsletter within the next few days. This will contain details of how to complete your application and where to find it on the website.

Our first podcast, an interview featuring Hunter's World Senior Producer Ewan Lamont, will also be appearing on the website very soon. You'll be able to listen to Ewan as we grill him with many of the questions you've posted in the forum.

Although we've noticed that our mini-game 'The Proving Grounds' is getting thousands of plays, I'm amazed that no one appears to be able to get into the top 10 on the high score table. We've got three exclusive Hunter's World baseball caps on offer for anyone who can break into the top three places by May 14 2009. Somehow, I don't think I'll be one of them!

08.04.09 - You Learn Something New Everyday

I've just been listening to a very informative interview with a well known hunter based in Scotland. Thinking that I had picked up nearly everything I needed to know about hunting and tracking, after listening to the interview I actually realised that I knew very little.

Something I found very interesting was that if a hunter knows a great deal about the herbage in the area he's hunting in, he has a much better chance of finding the beast he's tracking. I'm hoping that I'll be able to use part of the interview in a podcast at later date. In the meantime, if you've got any interesting hunting facts that you would like to share, please post them in the Hunter's World forum.

03.04.09 - Don't Scare the Graphic Artists

Someone sent me a PM in the Hunter's World forum, asking if I would go around the office, taking pictures of the Hunter's World development team and post them on the website. Well, first of all, they really are a shy lot, heads down, beavering away and half of the time they're so well camouflaged that I can't even see them. It's slightly concerning that they all appear to be growing beards at the moment and talking about mullets, which is especially worrying as I feel like I may have to follow suit at some stage. After some stealthy late Friday afternoon tracking, I did manage to locate our lead graphics artist who reminded me of a rabbit trapped in headlights.

Tip of the Week:

Never creep up on a graphics artist when he's rendering scenery on a hunting park. Not only will you scare him, there's a very good chance you'll be hunted down and harvested before the start of the weekend.