Dangerous Animals is modmod for Caveman2Cosmos that tweaks animals and hunters and that has a significant effect on the early game (mostly during the Prehistorical era).
What's the idea?
In core C2C, hunter units are the masters of the wild. Save a few, animals aren't really dangerous units and any hunter unit (even the Chaser) can beat and try to capture most of them without taking any real risk.
With this modmod, this is no longer true: many animals will now be a real threat, even for hunters. You'll have to use scouting and tactics to avoid or try to defeat predators while hunting for easier preys. And you'll treat bears with fear and respect
The early game will in consequence play quite differently. Venturing outside your starting city limits will be dangerous. Exploring far from you starting city mostly out of the question. Animals will be the real danger, not distant civs that couldn't even send a military unit to your doors even if they wanted to. On the other hand, hunting is also more rewarding and can provide a decent boost to your early growth if done properly.
This mod is intended for players which are already experienced with hunting in core C2C, preferably also with the Size Matters and Fight or Flight options. You'll need good tactics and tricks to survive and beat animals, so get a knack for hunting in the core game first so you don't get frustrated!
Any advice to get started?
Fundamentally it's not that different from the core game - except that you'll have to be more careful and ready to accept regularly losing units to animals. Here's a list of tips to help you get your marks.
- Don't even try to engage animals with non-hunting units. Chasers, trackers and hunters have a low strength but have a huge bonus against animals, making them better than most units until much later in the game. That said, clubmen are still useful to fight barbarians. In other words, before you get Persistence Hunting (for Chaser), you're probably better to stay inside your city border.
- Scout the area! The early explorer units (Wanderer, Scout, Explorer) now see further. Put one or two on hills near your city to have a clear picture of the animals nearby and avoid inadvertantly moving your hunters near a dangerous animal.
- Stay near the border of your territory. Animals won't enter civ territories, so it's a good idea to stay close to the border to let your units heal inside if needed. Also, if you're going too far you'll have trouble bringing back to your city the animals you might have captured.
- Don't engage dangerous animals early on! The chance of survival of even a Chaser against bears, felines and other predators is very low. Try to avoid them and focus on less threatening animals first, at least until you get some Trackers (and even then you'll probably lose some if you try to attack them).
- Don't be too afraid to attack superior units with your hunting units.
Hunting units are designed to be good at hit'n run tactics - first strikes and good withdrawal when they are damaged. Get several hunting units attacking in succession to weaken then kill or capture strong animals (but not too strong otherwise you'll get your hunter all killed). Pay attention to your retreat chance in the combat statistics rather than to the chance to kill the unit (which will be probably close to 0 for a full-health non harmless animal). - You'll lose units when fighting animals. That's normal. Sometimes your unit was not able to withdraw. Sometimes a predator that you did not see crossed two tiles and attacked you. Sometimes you just don't have luck. Don't be too disappointed if you regularly lose units, even experienced ones, that's not necessarily a sign of bad play. The costs of Chasers, Trackers and Hunters have been halved to take that into account and you'll regularly earn some
when fighting animals that will offset some of the cost of training new units. - Get help from the hunter buildings. Hunting instructions is the first you'll probably want to build: it'll give enough initial xp to grant a promo to your new hunter units! When you capture a big animal such as a Glyptodon or a Pig, make it build a Master Hunter to get some free starting experience for your hunter units. And if you manage to capture a strong animal (bear, lion, elephant, etc.), it will be able to build another building, the Trophy Hunter that gives even more starting experience. Getting either is also very important since hunting units after Chaser require one.
- Waiting for the animals can be very efficient. A unit in a hill with a forest get a +75% bonus. If you fortify it and give it "defense promotions" such as Escape Plans (for a better withdrawal chance) or Trap Hunting (for a bonus against animals), your unit will have a much higher chance of survival if you can lure an animal to attack it.
What's the list of things this modmod changes?
New animals
Every animal has been tweaked to give it a specific "flavor", mostly depending on the category they belong to (though there are some variations inside each category - a panda bear is much less dangerous than a brown bear). Even some animals such as horses or boars have been upped a bit and might offer some resistance.
Be careful of camouflaged animals! Even though your hunters and scouts will be able to detect them, they might surprise a regular unit venturing outside your territory thinking it's safe.
Low threat
Birds are harmless animals that are hard to hit and that will flee as soon as possible (and are good at doing so). OTOH they have very low HP so you only need a few hits (maybe even one) to get them.
Fleeing herbivorous are mostly harmless animals like deers, giraffes, etc. that will try to flee as soon as possible when engaged in combat and are good at doing so - maybe not as much as birds, but they aren't as weak to compensate.
Flightless birds are quite similar to fleeing herbivorous in their behavior. A few ones (like ostriches) might try to pursue a fleeing attacker.
Insects have first strikes and good evasion/pursuit capacities. However they have a very low HP (meaning one or two hits should be enough to kill them), and as they only include tarentulas which have a low strength (they aren't dangerous to humans), they can be put in this "mostly harmless" category.
Monkeys are rather weak, dodge well and flee fast, but not before trying to land a few first strikes if they are attacked.
Small animals include a wide range of mostly harmless animals like lizards, treesloths, iguanas... that won't do much but try to flee if attacked. Skunks and aardvarks might try to repel you instead though.
Small but not defenseless include small animals like foxes or ratels that aren't really threatful but might land a few hits during a fight before they flee.
Tapirs aren't too much of a threat and will happily flee; they stand out from other animals by their thick skin and lack of weak points (represented by armor in-game) and their keen senses that allow them to detect camouflaged units.
As you can expect, Turtles are harmless animals unable to flee whose survival relies on the boredom of its attacker trying to pierce its shell.
Medium threat
Birds of prey are, like birds, good at fleeing if necessary, but have a bit more HP and strength than ordinary birds. They aren't too dangerous but can still be a threat to wounded units. They can also see camouflaged units (rogues beware!) and have a first strike.
Boars have a moderate strength, but are very vindicative. They will rush their enemies (lowering their fortification defenses bonus), try to kill every unit on the same tile when attacking and pursue fleeing defenders. Don't get too cocky with them!
Kangaroos don't have a very high strength (well, except the Procoptodon), but can still be challenging and are good at fleeing or pursuing.
Large hebivorous like horses or bulls will usually try to flee if attacked (with a good chance of doing so), but if they fight, they remain challenging opponents, so don't engage them too easily thinking they are easy prey.
Apes are mostly similar to Monkeys, except the Gorilla which stands out as stronger and less likely (and able) to flee.
Snakes (except the placid ballpython) have a rather low strength, low HP and will flee easily when attacked. However, they have a potentially very dangerous bite (simulated in game terms by several possible first strikes) and are thus more of a threat than their strength would lead to believe.
High threat
Bears are strong animals that will rarely withdraw and will pursue your chaser. Avoid them early on, they're really dangerous! (well, except the panda)
Crocodiles are dangerous creatures with rather high strength that can move fast (yes they can!) - they have a chance to first strike and will try to pursue fleeing units.
Elephants are among the most fearsome animals, with a very high strength and a bit of armor. Fortifying is nearly useless against elephants, which will also (like boars) engage every unit on the tiles they attack.
Felines are another class of very dangerous animals with high strength that are very fast - good at dodging, at pursuing units or at fleeing if necessary. And they can detect camouflaged units.
Hippos are kind of similar to boars and elephants in behavior but in-between in terms of raw strength.
Think of Rhinos as hippos with strong armors and you'll be mostly accurate.
Wolves are quite similar to felines, though they lack their stalking abilities (no first strike) and are less likely to flee. They can also detect camouflaged units.
Here's the full reference table:
Birds | Low | | | | High | High | | | | | High | | Low
Flightless birds | Low | | | | Avg | High | | | | | | |
Insects | Avg | | Yes | Low | Avg | Avg | | | Low | Low | Low | | Low
Small harmless | Low | | | | Avg | High | | | | | Low | |
Small not defenseless | Avg | Yes | Possible | Low | Avg | High | | | | | Low | |
Tapirs | Avg | Yes | | | Avg | Avg | Avg | | | | | |
Turtles | Low | | | | | | High | | Low | High | | |
Apes | Avg | | Possible | Low | Low | Low | | | | | | |
Birds of prey | Avg | Yes | Yes | Avg | High | Low | | | | | Avg | | Low
Boars | Avg | | | High | Low | | | Low | | | | Yes |
Fleeing herbivorous | Low | | | | Avg | High | | | | | | |
Kangaroos | Avg | | | Avg | Avg | Avg | | | | | Low | |
Large hebivorous | Avg | | | Avg | Low | Low | Low | Low | | | | |
Monkeys | Avg | Yes | Possible | High | High | Avg | | | | | Low | |
Snakes | Avg | Yes | Yes | Avg | Avg | Avg | | | | | Avg | | Low
Bears | High | Yes | | Avg | Low | | Low | | | | | |
Crocodiles | High | | Possible | Avg | Low | | Avg | | | | | |
Elephants | High | | | Avg | Low | | Avg | High | | | | Yes |
Felines | High | Yes | Yes | High | Avg | | | | | | Low | |
Hippos | High | | | Avg | Low | | Avg | Avg | | | | Yes |
Rhinos | High | | | High | Low | | High | High | | | | Yes |
Wolves | High | Yes | | High | Avg | | | | | | | |
New hunters
Units in the hunter line have been modified. The first three (chaser, tracker, hunter) have 2 strength (1.33 with SizeMatters) and their bonus against animals is now respectively 200%, 300% and 400%. This makes them better than most units against animals, but not that much, and bad against about anything else.
On the other hand, they have very useful abilities:
- They get 2 first strikes (and can gain more through promotions)
- They will try to withdraw as soon as they are hit with a base 40% chance (some animals might reduce that)
- They are good at pursuing (with significant increase as you progress in the game)
- They are camouflaged (beware, many animals such as felines, bears and wolves can still detect camouflage)
As you'll regularly lose some, their base cost has been halved.
Great Hunter units have a bit more strength than their base counterpart and have a better withdrawal chance, making them much more likely to survive animal encounters. Further hunter units have also been changed along those lines (I won't go into details since they are usually much less relevant to the game).
Wanderers, Scouts and Explorer now start with Hunter Sight 1 and can learn Hunter Sight 2 to further increase their scouting range. They can also detect camouflage (though they aren't camouflaged).
Trackers now require Games technology instead of Tracking (making them a bit longer to get).
The former Master Hunter building has been "split" in two: Master Hunter and Trophy Hunter. The Master Hunter works about the same as before: it can be built by "big" captured animals (any that gives at least 10
when killed) and have the same properties except that it only gives 1 xp to new hunters. The Trophy Hunter can be built by capturing a dangerous animals (mostly those in the "High threat" category above) and gives 3xp to new hunters. Building Trackers and Hunters requires either the Master Hunter or the Trophy Hunter.Better hunting results
The
and "rewards" for killing animals have been completely changed.The main lines are:
-
and yields have been upped significantly. Killing a pidgeon will give only 1-3 and maybe 1-2 , but a bear might provide up to 20 and 10.- Some animals will also provide
(which translates into science and gold depending on your taxation level) - parrots feathers, bear or jaguar fur, boar tusks...)- Killing animals with high strength also provide some
- tales of how the hunters defeated that nasty tiger...The available actions with captured animals (apart from building myth/stories/...) have also been tweaked along those lines:
- Butchering (in a city) is available to every captured animal and provides about 50% more resources than a kill.
- Animal Combat is available to non-wimpy captured animals. It will provide less resources than a kill, but more gold and culture.
- Record Tale is available to every captured animal and provide additional
and , but don't provide any food or production.- Animal Study is available to every captured animal and will provide less resources than a kill, but much more
.How do I install it?
Just extract the attached files into Modules/My_Mods/DangerousAnimals/
This modmod has been balanced with Size Matters and Fight or Flight both activated. I advise to use the modmod with those options activated otherwise it won't work very well. Using "Size Matters uncut" is not advised, some animals will be more powerful than intended.
It probably won't work well in an existing game (since the new strength/abilities will not be applied to existing animals and units) so I advise starting a new game.
Your feedback is always welcome!
Version history:
1.00 (25/05)
- Feature-complete version
1.01 (28/05)
- Master Tracker and Trophy Hunter now require Games
- Wanderer no longer has Hunting Sight 1
- Improved withdrawal capabilities of Scout and Explorer
1.02 (02/06)
- Toned down a bit the Master Hunter units and late hunter units
- Lowered capture chance from Master Hunter units and from a few promotions
1.03 (07/06)
- Reworked a bit the combat classes from Size Matters. Some animals became a (little) bit stronger in the process. Playing without Size Matters shouldn't be so unbalanced now, though it's still unadvised (and unsupported).
- Removed camouflaging from the animals that had it (led to some issues with spawning and moving into cultural borders)
- Tweaked a few other animal properties
- Nerfed subdued animals, they now all have 1 move and at most half the corresponding animal's strength
- Adjusted the Kill Outcomes so that the capture bonuses apply as intended
1.04 (10/06)
- Doubled the base strength of every hunter unit. Animals strength has also been adjusted to about 170% of what it was in 1.03. Regular units will have a much harder time against animals now while hunters shouldn't be too affected.
- Explorer units no longer have a Hunter combat class. Hope it will help with the AI.
- Hunting Instruction & Master Hunter tradition now only give Hunter 1 to hunter units
- Squashed a number of small bugs and a few other very minor adjustments
View attachment DangerousAnimals 1.04.7z
, but it is still a valid game play choice.
. In the mod they represent venomous (and possibly including disease-carrying) insects in general. I guess they're just the only one that art has been found for. Plus just because they may not kill people these days, doesn't mean they didn't in earlier eras.
