Let's get this on the top: I play on Linux and this game works well

Never kinda understood why some one would want a hunting sim. Saw this one on big sale and thought: "Oh what the heck. I'll give it a shot." So, now I have all the dlc and almost 700h of playtime...

The maps are nice and varied, and some places are down right beautiful. Some issues here and there, but it's the common stuff most mainly procedurally generated maps have. The soundscape.... Oh man the soundscape. It's spot on. I don't even care to guess how much of my life I've spent in the great outdoors, but that's the good stuff. After the map (Revontuli Coast) based on Finland (where I live) came out, I noticed that in many places the surroundings were pretty perfect, but in others things were.... wrong. Like an island bordering the open sea had the long smooth rocky side towards the mainland, and the side with trees coming almost to the waterline towards the horizon. It was the wrong way around. I've talked with others from places the maps are based on, and they have similar experiences.

Shooting's pretty decent. You have bullet drop and drag, and wind affects the trajectories in a reasonable manner. A good deal of the organs inside the animals are modelled so that hits in different parts have different effects. Double lungshot and the animal either drops right down, or gets a short distance before the blood loss and shock drops it. Get a flesh wound on a water buffalo, and you can track those blood drops til the end of time. Rifles and pistols have generally two types of ammo, one that does shock and a wide wound channel but loses penetration fast, and a penetration focused that does the opposite. Both tend to have their uses. Bows and x-bows have different draw strengths, that combined with the weight of the arrows or bolts affect the shot. Shotguns come in different gauges (10, 12, 16 and 20) and bird-, and buckshots and slugs.

I think the gamification of hunting is quite decently done. You have those slow times when it feels nothing happens, and then ones where you get a lot of game. Still, you get stuff done at a comfortable rate without much of a hassle. Portable hunting structures (various blinds mostly) and tents etc give some variation and utility. Lures (sound and scent), wind, ambient sound level, terrain and vegetation all play into the sneaking part, as well as the senses of the particular animals around. The story missions are mainly for easy cash and xp for those starting out, and give some ambience. Do them or don't. Nothing's forced.

I think that's the main gist of it. I find Hunter: CotW really relaxing and a good way to get that light nature "fix" if I can't get the real thing. ;)

Let's get this on the top: I play on Linux and this game works well Never kinda understood why some one would want a hunting sim. Saw this one on big sale and thought: "Oh what the heck. I'll give it a shot." So, now I have all the dlc and almost 700h of playtime... The maps are nice and varied, and some places are down right beautiful. Some issues here and there, but it's the common stuff most mainly procedurally generated maps have. The soundscape.... Oh man the soundscape. It's spot on. I don't even care to guess how much of my life I've spent in the great outdoors, but that's the good stuff. After the map (Revontuli Coast) based on Finland (where I live) came out, I noticed that in many places the surroundings were pretty perfect, but in others things were.... wrong. Like an island bordering the open sea had the long smooth rocky side towards the mainland, and the side with trees coming almost to the waterline towards the horizon. It was the wrong way around. I've talked with others from places the maps are based on, and they have similar experiences. Shooting's pretty decent. You have bullet drop and drag, and wind affects the trajectories in a reasonable manner. A good deal of the organs inside the animals are modelled so that hits in different parts have different effects. Double lungshot and the animal either drops right down, or gets a short distance before the blood loss and shock drops it. Get a flesh wound on a water buffalo, and you can track those blood drops til the end of time. Rifles and pistols have generally two types of ammo, one that does shock and a wide wound channel but loses penetration fast, and a penetration focused that does the opposite. Both tend to have their uses. Bows and x-bows have different draw strengths, that combined with the weight of the arrows or bolts affect the shot. Shotguns come in different gauges (10, 12, 16 and 20) and bird-, and buckshots and slugs. I think the gamification of hunting is quite decently done. You have those slow times when it feels nothing happens, and then ones where you get a lot of game. Still, you get stuff done at a comfortable rate without much of a hassle. Portable hunting structures (various blinds mostly) and tents etc give some variation and utility. Lures (sound and scent), wind, ambient sound level, terrain and vegetation all play into the sneaking part, as well as the senses of the particular animals around. The story missions are mainly for easy cash and xp for those starting out, and give some ambience. Do them or don't. Nothing's forced. I think that's the main gist of it. I find Hunter: CotW really relaxing and a good way to get that light nature "fix" if I can't get the real thing. ;)