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18 December

Status Update 18th December 2014

Hello hunters,

Welcome to the last status update in 2014! Tomorrow our team is leaving for Christmas vacations to spend quality time with their families which means there will be no updates or newsletters for the next two and a half weeks. We’ll be back at the office on January 7th, ready to start another chapter in the theHunter history. Please note that our support hours will also be reduced during the holiday season.Thank you for your understanding!

Peter on the art in theHunter

Our art director Peter Johansson has recently made a long in-depth interview for a 3D art magazine 3D Art Direct. In it he is sharing how an artist designs 43 square miles of real-time 3D wilderness (to us known as EHR), and make it convincing enough for experienced real-life hunters to enjoy. If you want to get fundamental behind-the-scenes information on theHunter art, this is definitely a must for you to check out. You can read the interview by registering on the magazine’s website. You’ll receive an online version in your email inbox.

Looking back at 2014

It’s been a truly amazing, mind-blowing, flabbergasting year for all of us at theHunter and we want to thank you, our community, for spending it with us, playing the game, sharing your thoughts and stories in the forums and guiding us in the development. We hope that you’ll stay with us in the next year as well, we’ve already planned a bunch of stuff and we can’t wait to hear what you think of it.

We’ve looked back at 2014, at everything that has happened in theHunter and crunched some numbers to make an end-of-the-year wrap-up.

Here is what has been achieved in 2014:

New reserve – 1
New species – 4
New weapons – 15
New pieces of equipment – 26
New items of clothing – 39
New special event items – 38
New game features – 3
New missions – 130
New competitions – 114
Bugs fixed – 150+
Special events – 13
Tutorials – 1
Community created competitions and prize draws – 46
New people joined the EW team – 10
New people joined the community forums – 3 405
Supports tickets answered – 18 136
Release on Steam nailed – 1
Player surveys created and replied to – 2
Questions answered by Devs in Ask Me Anything – 264
Store Discounts / Sales – 57
Free species hunts – 8

I’ve also asked the team and community members to share their personal highlights of 2014, and here are some of them. For more of team and community highlights of 2014 check your inbox for the theHunter newsletter, holiday edition.

Daniel Jansson, EW Game Designer: My favorite was the Summer Fiesta because it was really fun to make difficult missions and then seeing people on the forum helping each other out by posting tips and strategies.

JackRbbt, community member and Romanian translator: The new additions: Val-de-Bois, Alpine Ibex and, of course, new rifle for it: Stambecco. Also, but this is something quite personal, Romanian localization.

Andrés Hansson, EW Lead Client Programmer: The highlight of 2014 was when we released theHunter on Steam and got a lot of new players.

TundraPuppy, Community member and Forum moderator: My favorite theHunter related thing was the release of the air rifle and rabbits in May. It was an excellent belated birthday present because it represented an interesting change for theHunter – not only did we see a move towards smaller prey (as opposed to deer) which also required more careful and precise aiming (as opposed to the more twitchy sky-filled-with-lead shooting of birds), but we also got a new weapon which isn’t a traditional gunpowder based weapon – it has excellent range, is very precise, and was tailor made for small prey which means we could see more small prey added with an existing valid weapon to use on them. It was an interesting shift for the game which helped add variety and options for people who were tired of the same-old same-old hunting options we previously had.

Jose Diaz, EW Animator: Interaction animations between the Ibex made by Hampus. More of that!

Blind Mole, Communtiy member: Official: new map Val-de-Bois
Non-official: caledonianblues’s competition “Gotta hunt them all”

Pratze, Community member and Video creator: Highlights of 2014 - Video

That’s it from us for today and this year, happy holidays and see you in 2015!

8 comments Read more

12 December

Status Update 11th December 2014

Hello hunters,

It’s time for a status update from us and here is what’s been cooking up here, in one of the darkest corners of the world right now:

Holiday Event update

It looks like many of you have been enjoying the Holiday Event, but there has been a fair amount of negative feedback received, mostly due to the bugs and other issues affecting the event page, scoring etc. We tried to jump on and fix these as soon as they were reported and we hope these issues have not put people off the whole event. Thank you for staying with us throughout the event and lots of other hiccups that have happened during this year! Here’s a small holiday gift from us – the warm and cozy knitted sweater for long hikes in Hemmeldal. You can get it for free from the store during the next 2 days, hurry up and claim your present.

Movember donation

November is over, and so is our Movember campaign. Our community bought 1624 moustaches which equals $3248 worth of donations. The corresponding amount in Swedish crowns has been transferred to the Movember foundation and will go towards the research of men’s cancer and health issues. Thank you for your contribution everyone, you were great!

Hooray to our volunteer teams

Once again, we wanted to thank our amazing volunteer moderators, translators and wiki team, over 70 people all together, for the tremendous job they’re doing for the theHunter community, making the game accessible and enjoyable all over the world, keeping the forums a clean and welcoming community where everyone’s opinion is heard and respected, and collecting and storing the bulks of the fine theHunter knowledge for you to become a better player. As a small token of our appreciation, we’ve created special T-Shirts, so you can recognize them while hunting.

If you have passion for theHunter (and some spare time) and want to help the community in any way, you’re welcome to apply to join any of our volunteer teams!

What’s going on with Primal

As we’re approaching the release date of the theHunter’s small but scary brother (we’ve said before Christmas, right?), people are starting to get impatient. So, here is some news for you hunters: it’s been decided that Primal will first be released on December 15th, as an Early Access game on Steam. During the Early Access phase we’ll be collecting feedback from the community and working on additional features and tweaks before the proper, full release, next year. You can read more about our plans regarding Primal on its Store page – and while you’re on there, be sure to add it to your wish list as well ;)

Happy hunting!

10 comments Read more

Reviews

“The Hunter offers the most compelling hunting experience ever offered by a PC game.”
MMO Reviews

“This game looks incredible, the graphics are simply astonishing”
90% – Retro Game Shelf

“The complete experience of tracking and hunting an animal is highly-rewarding and simply not found in other games.”
88% – Gaming Nexus

Key Features

Hunt 20 different species including Black Bear, Brown Bear, Moose, Whitetail Deer, Turkey, Pheasant, Coyote, Red Fox, Roosevelt Elk, Wild Boar, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Mule Deer, Blacktail Deer, Feral Hog, Mallard, Canada Goose, Cottontail Rabbit, Reindeer & Alpine Ibex.

Explore 8 different huge environments with state-of-the-art graphics, complete with day cycle and weather effects.

Co-op multiplayer with up to 8 friends

Extensive online features. Increase your skills, see statistics and trophy shots. Participate in competitions and leaderboards or take on challenging missions and achievements.

theHunter is continuously updated with new species, environments, equipment and features.

System Requirements

Minimum:

OS: Windows ® 8/7/Vista/XP
Processor: Intel 2 GHz or AMD Dual Core
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: NVidia GeForce 8800, ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2400 (NVidia GeForce 8800, ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2400)
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Hard Drive: 7 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

Interface

Full audio

Subtitles

English

French

Italian

German

Spanish

NotSid

59 products in account

Not Recommended

72.6 hrs on record

Posted: 21 October

A disgustingly bad business model on an otherwise fantastic game..

It's such a shame when you come across a fantastic game that's ruined by one of the worst payment models in any game you've ever seen. TheHunter is one of those games. What can you do for free, you ask? Well, you can hunt Mule Deer. That's it. That's all you can do. Shoot Mule Deer with one gun, one type of ammo. The default stuff you start with is all you get. It says you can also hunt Cottontail Rabbits, ah but the catch is you need to buy the correct gun to use in order to be allowed to hunt it. So, Rabbits aren't even free either.

Can you earn enough to eventually buy another gun? Only one other gun is available for purchase using the game's earned currency (called gm$). Every other gun must be bought using real world money (called em$). And that's not all.

Want the privilege to be able to hunt something else? You need to buy licenses. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? Well, they come in 1 day, 7 day, and 28 day variants. Yup, that's right. They expire. So you have to buy them multiple times to continue hunting what you want. Buy a 1 day license but then get called in to work? Congrats! You've just wasted your money! You CAN buy these with gm$, but the costs are so high that you'll be farming Mule Deer for weeks in order to finally be able to experience something else.

Oh but hold on. It's not like each kill you make earns you gm$. Hah! You wish! Nope. The only way to earn gm$ is to complete "missions" which range from tracking certain animals, spotting certain animals, and harvesting certain animals, among other similar tasks. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? Well, they typically reward only 100 gm$ for each mission, and your shotgun costs 6300 gm$, a typical 1 day license costs anywhere between 1800 - 2400 gm$. For ONE DAY, for ONE SPECIE. Let that sink in.

Would I recommend this game? Based on its business model at the time of writing? NO WAY. Stay FAR away from this cash-grab game, unless you enjoy having them grab at your pockets the moment you try their game.

Also, NEVER EVER EVER DO ANY OF THE 3RD PARTY STUFF THEY ASK YOU TO DO. You can do things like surveys, downloads, watch videos, etc. to earn some em$ (that's right, paid currency). But most of these third party "offers" infect your computer with all sorts of malware, and most of them don't end up forking over the em$ at the end. You'll be turned away from most surveys because you "aren't the target consumer". For instance, when I answered that I was a white male on a survey, I was immediately declined and turned away, reward not given.

If the payment model is improved? I would recommend this game in a heartbeat. It's fun to play, all the shady practices considered. I just wish they had gone about their payment model better than this garbage. Oh well, someone else will come along and do it right eventually.

Was this review helpful? Yes No

guac

95 products in account

Recommended

39.6 hrs on record

Posted: 8 October

Day 1 of the hunt: I left my log cabin with a sniper rifle and 10 bullets. I tracked a deer for 372 miles, and yet I can not find him

Day 2 of the hunt: I saw the deer. I named him Willy. I can never seem to get a good aim at Willy because he never stops moving. Ever.

Day 3 of the hunt: I have been tracking willy for over 900 miles now, and yet he shows no faults in his actions.

Day 374930223932 of the hunt: WILLY WILL DIE. I WILL KILL HIM. I WILL FEAST ON HIS FLESH.

Day 44359803849539583290485039285039458309512903125102 of the hunt: FINALLY. I AM RIGHT BEHIND WILLY, MY SCOPE POINTED AT THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. THIS WILL END NOW. AS I BEGIN TO PULL THE TRIGGER stop, you have attempted to kill a white tailed deer. you do not have a licencse to hunt this animal. you are not permited to kill it.

Day 928488349894823942903509825092840958092834095725928509280928359823095823095820985092850948235947360720967357637563908650927609576872094976072906730976093760972697096702976027602967934709376093760 of the hunt: I am alone in my cabin. I now know the truth. Willy will never die. Willy cannot die. And untill Willy dies, I cannot die.

Day 27598275981982748237412748127489123749812734982734982153451265819658736458713658197456983756948756187456978345671836578146871345691347519378456783651987568745198756198576187345697834651785678916947856178569178651378561987651987561983756934857618379456837456917384567834561837456378643786153785693638475671935 of the hunt: Willy taunts me. He danses around my cabin. No matter how hard I try I cannot kill Willy. This is it. This is my hell. This is: The Hunter

Trickymeteor

220 products in account

0.4 hrs on record

Posted: 26 October

You have to pay to click on a bird with your gun.

IzziRedd

19 products in account

0.6 hrs on record

It costs nothing to download, but I feel entitled to a refund.

First of all, there was no tutorial for this. I was just thrown in, and expected to know how to hunt. I wandered aimlessly for a while, until I found some tracks. I followed them, and found some more tracks and some scat. There was so much scat, that I began to wonder if this animal was sick. I followed the trail for about one in game hour unril I saw it: a whitetail deer. Living in an area with a lot of rednecks, I was excited. Apparently deer are something you should want to hunt. I readied my rifle, and clicked the fire button. Nothing. Was the left mouse button not the fire button? The right mouse button readied the gun, so I figured the left would fire. Then a message popped up: "You don't have the required license to hunt whitetail deer". What? I just spent almost forty real minutes tracking this thing down, only to not be allowed to shoot it. This is a video game! I shouldn't need to buy licenses to hunt animals! And, since this was my first time playing, wouldn't it be nice to give me some licenses for free, so I can get a feel for the game before investing money in it (it's free to play, so I shouldn't have to pay to play it)! I quit the game, went to the store, and looked up how much licenses cost, only to see something that really pissed me off. The licenses are temporary! Are you ♥♥♥♥ing ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ me!?

If you don't buy the licenses, this is just "Hiking Simulator". I live in an area full of hiking trails. I can literally drive five minutes, and find a hiking trail. I do not have a gun, hunting equipment, or hunting licenses. I played this so I could hunt. After playing this, I might as well just get all of those things, because it would be something I could make memories out of, actually go outside, and do with my friends.

Valve, I am begging you, set standards for what can and cannot be free to play. I am asking that either this game be removed from Steam, or you make the developers add free content. I am not going to pay to play a game that is listed as "free to play". I will pay for extras, but only if the game is good.

EDIT: Okay, so apparently I didn't notice that there is a tutorial. You people can stop commenting on it.

Some people are saying "well, it's a simulator". Simulators don't have to be one hundred percent realistic. The buying lisences part did not have to be in it, and made the "realism" (it's just a excuse to have microtransactions) too much.

♫| AlbatroAz™

37 products in account

0.7 hrs on record

Posted: 11 October

"You Need Membership To Review"

FreeManMeta

132 products in account

0.9 hrs on record

Posted: 28 September

To get any weapons and to be with any chance of actually finding something that can be killed you must pay a small subscription fee of £15.99 a year. After hours of searching I finally found a rabbit. I tried to shoot it in the head only to be told that I am not permitted to kill it. I moved on and found a small bird. I tried to shoot it. The game crashed. 10/10

MisterSpigot

51 products in account

3.2 hrs on record

I had a big long review written out but I quickly realized it's all the same ♥♥♥♥ that's been said in all these reviews. ♥♥♥♥ this game. ♥♥♥♥ this company.

MrRedTube

114 products in account

6.3 hrs on record

Posted: 18 October

It's a pay to win game, you have to pay real money to buy almost anything except from licenses. 3/10

Total_Noob

149 products in account

0.3 hrs on record

Posted: 31 October

its free to download, not free to play
1/10

Ser. Seven

115 products in account

1.8 hrs on record

Posted: 27 September

Just like real life you need to spend real money to get a gun.

Lehm

22 products in account

3.1 hrs on record

Posted: 10 October

It may be free to play but you have to pay for a subsciption (example: xbox live) to be permitted to hunt certain wildlife, tags for said wildlife can purchased with in game money but it's expensive, and certain wildlife can only be killed by permitted weapons (example: rabbits may only be killed by a .22, shotgun, or bow) . Weapons and equipment can bought as well but the points to buy the items can only be bought with money in real life making it more difficult for the player to enjoy the game, if there was starter items such as tags for animals or in game money i would recomend it to friends.

4/10: score will change if listed above have been altered or more store options have been added

taki.flower

45 products in account

2.4 hrs on record

Posted: 25 October

Whats the point of making a game free to play if players are not allowed to enjoy full content.

BOT Harold

163 products in account

3.9 hrs on record

Posted: 29 September

110% pay to win.

The Great Pacman Of Ukraine

91 products in account

PAY TO WIN. DONATE EVERYWHERE. PAY MONEY TO KILL RABIT. DONT INSTAL THIS ♥♥♥♥

OedipusRekt

94 products in account

0.1 hrs on record

Posted: 14 October

I have no idea if the game is even decent or not because I spent 20 min downloading it through steam just for it to bring up a window to go to the website where i would then create an account, select avatars and usernames, download the launcher, update the launcher, and spend another 20 min downloading the game AGAIN; And to my avail i cant play with my friends on multiplayer without buying a 3, 6, or 12 month membership. Immediate unistall.

[F*A*G] Loki the Librarian

86 products in account

1.1 hrs on record

This game is perfect for the adventurous gamer who enjoys spending real money on memberships, buying virtual items and buying the privilege of clicking on things that look different from other things. It comes with a decent selection of weapons - all you have to do is buy some ingame cash with your actual cash. Is a bear threatening your backside? No problem - just buy the bear hunting licence for a few dollars and he'll be toast. Wanna play with friends? That's great - slap some more dollars their way and you're good. As a free-to-play character you get one rifle and you get to hunt a whole two animal types.

The visuals are fantastic for the year 2004 - I especially enjoyed having the animal I was watching at one point twist its head around and give me the bedroom eyes from behind before it vanished into the ether. Then my buddy sank into the river, where his eyes separated from the rest of his head.

The F2P experience is, in short, a complete waste of time.

Taz

119 products in account

This game looks like it has potential and is fun. However the 'Free-To-Play' label is misleading. After downloading the 2GB game I looked forward to shoot some helpless animals but, as soon-as I loading in the open world I had no idea what to do or get started. No controls or help menu was available in-game, so I had to resort to an online video on the internet.

After getting used to the main controls I ventured out to hunt… I found a trail of a Blacktail deer and ID’d it with my gadget. A pop-up appeared saying I need a licence or a membership to hunt this animal. I then looked up to see what I could kill. Apparently there are only 2 animals you can hunt and 1 weapon you can use in this F2P game.

I now know this Free-to-play is actuallya Fee To Play and Pay-To-Win game, with micro transactions, donations and memberships everywhere.

Sorry, but I looked forward to play this game and not Pay-To-Win… It has really good graphics quality though.

Rating: 2/10

Wubs4Scrubs

112 products in account

0.2 hrs on record

Spent 20 minutes wandering the wilderness, which to be fair is quite immersive and beautiful, and finally found a deer. I laid down, aimed my shot, and took the shot. Except instead of firing I was told for the first time that I needed a hunting license for that specific animal and that I had to get one before I could hunt that deer.

anthrax

20.8 hrs on record

First of all - This title is fake!!!
Is not Free to Play.

If you are looking for a free to play hunting title i have to start this review with some bad news: this game is not free to play by most interpretations of the term "Free to play". As a limited member you can do the following:

You can enter all the reserves and wander around.
You receive one basic rifle, a scope and unlimited ammunition refills for that rifle. You will also receive a deer caller.
You can only hunt Cottontail rabbits and Mule Deers.
Hunting all other animals is prohibited!!. You can see them, but shooting them is not possible.
To shoot them you need to buy a license with real money
Unlike other free to play games you can make points to unlock new content like weapons and other stuff. You are stuck with what you have and that is it.