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See also: Permadeath.

Death in WolfQuest is a state which occurs when an entity (the player themself included) has lost all of its health. As WolfQuest is a mostly realistic simulation following a set campaign, wolves can die through accidents, or natural causes such as conflict or starvation. This state exists for many NPC prey and predator animals found in-game. While some animals can die, others cannot — the conditions may vary across major revisions of the game.


In WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition, with the exception of birds, no animal in the game is truly immortal. While playing the game, the player's wolf can die to many different causes; damage caused by conflict, retaliation or struggle damage (biting and holding onto animals, or taking direct damage from its kicks or bites), fall damage, starvation, or old age. Prey and competitors and predators are capable of killing the player-wolf, with higher odds the larger and more dangerous the animal is. The only animals incapable of killing the player are those who do not deal retaliation damage when attacked. In the Gray wolf campaign, the vast Yellowstone wilderness is an unforgiving place with devastating, if not fatal consequences for its wild population!

Deaths and kills are not tracked in the Pack Info interface. The only deaths that are logged will be those of ironwolves and elder wolves, who will be marked as dead and can no longer play should they perish by any means.

In WolfQuest: Classic. the game continues from it's predecessor's mostly-realistic depiction of a simulation following in the tracks of an American gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park. Players should expect this potential consequence in such a vast, unforgiving wilderness as an outcome of hunting prey or harassing competitors, or through prolonged starvation.

Should the player overstay their welcome at the cattle ranch after feasting there, their wolf will succumb to a fatal gunshot wound. This death is relatively inconsequential since the game will automatically reload the last ranch auto-save instead of causing a game over.

The game actively tracks all deaths and kills in each individual wolf file via the Pack Stats interface.

In Legacy versions of WolfQuest, as the game is intended to depict a realistic wolf simulation set in the tracks of real gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park, one of the factors players can expect to encounter is death whether it occurs to their avatar, mate, pups, prey or other predators. Dying is only possible once the health bar (red) has been completely depleted — the result of any one cause: prey, predators, or prolonged starvation.

Should the player overstay their welcome at the cattle ranch after feasting there, their wolf will succumb to a fatal gunshot wound. This death is inconsequential since the game will automatically reload the last ranch auto-save instead of causing a game over.

The game keeps track of all deaths and kills, the only exception being kill counts against grizzly bears since the entity lacks the necessary programming due to the accomplishment being impossible during normal gameplay. Kill and death counts are displayed under the Pack Stats interface while the game is paused.


Player-wolf[]

In the Anniversary Edition, in the event of the player-wolf's death, a brief death song will play. If the death occurred in single-player, the game ends there with a message informing the player that their wolf's corpse will be feasted upon by carrion feeders in the coming days, before prompting the player to either reload a previous save file or return to the main menu. If the player-wolf is an ironwolf, an elder wolf, or an elder ironwolf, their wolf is permanently dead and the player will only be presented with the option to return to the main menu.

A player whose wolf has survived to reach old age becomes an Elder Wolf (or Elder Ironwolf if playing Ironwolf mode). Starting from Age 8, the player-wolf's remaining lifespan will gradually tick down, ticking down faster with each sleep. When the wolf is nearing the end of their life, they will receive a premonition. Only after this dream has occurred will the player have a chance of receiving one of several random fates if they sleep once more, or the player can guarantee a peaceful, pain-free natural death if they hold the rest input for five (5) seconds or more which will slowly fade out to black while playing a shorter clip of the Premonition of Death song. Deceased elder- and ironwolves will no longer be playable in a new game after they have died, though they will remain viewable in the My Wolves carousel.

If the death occurred in multiplayer, the player will be temporarily incapacitated for 10 seconds. Once the timer's countdown has ended, the player is then free to revive their wolf and resume play.

Multiplayer revival is not without consequences; when the player does revive their wolf, it only restores 10% to their health meter after it has emerged from its comatose-like state. Note that if the player-wolf was killed by a competitor, predator or prey animal who was fighting for its own life against the player, it may still turn and kill the player-wolf again mid-revive. Should this be a problem, then the player will need to wait for the animal to clear off a little ways away before trying again so as not to become stuck in a deathloop. If animals show no signs of moving away from the site, request assistance from other players to see if the animals can be lured away. If that doesn't work out, request that living players move elsewhere.

In Classic, when the player-wolf dies, they will hear a brief death song play while the camera pans around to the front of the avatar. This song differs in Lost River. In single-player, this spells game over and the game will prompt the player to reload a previous save or to return to the main menu.

In multiplayer, a short time after the camera has panned around to the front of the player's fallen wolf, the avatar will respawn after a brief countdown has ended with 100% health, however the player will lose 500 experience points for each death their wolf incurs while playing online.

In Legacy versions, if the player's own wolf dies, they will hear a brief song play as the camera pans to the front of the avatar. A short time after this has happened, their avatar will respawn with refilled health and stamina, allowing the game to resume with no penalties.


NPCs[]

In the Anniversary Edition, the death of an NPC (provided they do not possess a health cap!) will always generate a carcass as soon as their corpse comes to rest on the ground. Edibility is determined by the animal's category — if it was prey, its carcass will be edible as soon as the death animation ends. If it was a competitor or predator, its carcass will not be edible and the player cannot interact with it whatsoever. It will despawn some time later.

The only NPC entities who cannot be killed are adult grizzly bears, ravens, golden eagles and bald eagles. The player's mate is immortal only while the permadeath setting is disabled.

NPCs who are able to be killed in a single strike are gray wolf pups (only when attacked by coyotes, golden eagles and rival wolves) and snowshoe hares. Fish are also shown to die in one strike when caught by bald eagles, which are the only animal capable of fishing in-game.

Most deceased NPCs will emit colored scent spores that match their living scent spores.

In Classic, the death of an NPC (provided they do not possess a health cap and do have a carcass state) will always generate a carcass when the animal's health reaches 0. Edibilitiy is determined by the animal's category — if it was prey, its carcass will be edible and can sustain the pack. If it was a predator or competitor, its carcass will not be edible and the player cannot interact with it. It will despawn a short time later.

The only NPC entities who cannot be killed are grizzly bears, ravens and golden eagles. The player's mate similarly cannot be killed.

In Legacy versions, the death of an NPC (provided they do not possess a health cap and do have a carcass state) will always generate a carcass when the animal's health reaches 0. Edibilitiy is determined by the animal's category — if it was prey, its carcass will be edible and can sustain the pack. If it was a predator, its carcass will not be edible and the player cannot interact with it. It will despawn a short time later.

[While not intended to be killable, [Grizzly bear#Legacy|grizzly bears]] can die, but the feat requires patience and either luck or the bear being stuck, or a combination of the two. A killed grizzly lacks a proper carcass state and will instead stand a loop its idle animation until it despawns. Ordinarily, this was easiest to do in a multiplayer server which failed to load when it was in service.

The only NPC entities who cannot be killed are grizzly bears, ravens and golden eagles. The player's mate similarly cannot be killed.


Pack[]

In the Anniversary Edition, a pack in single-player consists of the player-wolf, their mate, and anywhere between one to seven (1-7) offspring. A pack in multiplayer consists of up to eight (8) human player-wolves, and one to seven (1-7) NPC-controlled pups only in the Story Mission.

In Classic, a pack in single-player consists of the player, their mate and 4 offspring. A pack in multiplayer consists of up to eight (8) human player-wolves, and four (4) NPC-controlled pups only in the Raise Pups game type. All members gradually lose health to hunger and fatigue.

In Legacy versions, a pack in single-player consists of the player, their mate and four (4) offspring. A pack in muiltiplayer when it was in service consisted of up to five (5) human player-wolves. All members gradually lose health to hunger and fatigue.


Mate[]

In the Anniversary Edition, the mate's mortality is completely dependent on the permadeath setting. If it is set to On, the mate can die if its health reaches zero (0). If it is set to Off, the mate cannot die and its health will be capped, preventing it from falling below six percent (6%) even if it continues to receive damage. How it behaves at low health is dependent on its personality traits.

Once a mate reaches its elder wolf state (Age 8+), the permadeath setting is ignored and it can die through any means, including in its sleep.

Should the mate die, the game will trigger the Find a New Mate subquest, allowing the player to find a new dispersal or non-hostile pack wolf to court who will then go on to replace the deceased mate when courting is completed successfully.

In Classic, the mate is an essential NPC throughout the entire game. It cannot die, but it will abandon any hunt or attack it may be participating in with the player when its health falls dangerously low. It will then retreat to the nearest food source in order to replenish its health before returning to the player and continuing to assist.

If there are no nearby food sources felled by the player and their mate, the game will generate an instance specially for the mate's personal use. Approaching a carcass generated for the mate's use will cause the special instance to immediately despawn.

In Legacy versions, the mate is an essential NPC throughout the course of the game's story campaign. Therefore, if they should die by any means, he or she will respawn shortly after they have met their end with health fully restored as evidenced by its heart on the wolf badge and its health readout in Pack Stats. This serves to reaffirm that a mate is a permanent companion once a bond has been established. The same is not true for dispersal wolves as they cannot be killed during an encounter and will usually leave regardless of the choices made during any socialization opportunities.

While the mate can die to predator attacks, prey recoil damage or starvation, this likelihood decreases once pups have been born during the second episode.


Wolf pups[]

Gray wolf pups[]

In the Anniversary Edition, gray wolf pups aged 1-2 months old are always vulnerable. Rival wolves, golden eagles and coyotes will kill them in a single blow, while grizzly boars and cougars will attempt to carry them away, dealing rapid damage that can prove fatal if it does on for too long. Starvation is not an immediate death; instead, health is slowly sapped until it hits zero (0), at which point they will die if not fed in time to save their life.

Pups are equally at risk of dying in the presence of aggressive or defensive prey.

In Classic, wolf pups are permanently vulnerable throughout the second episode. They can easily die to the jaws or claws of trespassing stranger wolves, grizzly bears, cougars or coyotes, by drowning, or by starvation if the player or their mate cannot gather enough food or if either neglect to feed their litter for a prolonged period of time.

Pups who have died do not respawn, meaning the only way to reclaim a lost pup would be to either reload a previous save file or, should the entire litter die, select the "restart with pups" option when prompted.

A deceased puppy will sink into the ground. This entity despawns much faster than other animals after it has died, which may be intentional so as not to upset younger players. Additionally, the health indicator of a dead pup (shown in the wolf badge) is not removed from the display. The icon will be permanently empty for the rest of the game unless an earlier save is reloaded or the episode is restarted from the beginning.

In Legacy versions, pups are in a constant state of vulnerability to predators, as well as being at risk of starvation if the player and their mate cannot gather food or both parents neglect to feed them for a prolonged period of time. Unlike their parents, pups do not respawn in the event of their death, meaning the only way to revive a lost pup would be to either reload a previous save file or, should the entire litter die, select the "restart with pups" option when prompted. Cancelling this prompt will instead allow for extended play without pups.

A deceased puppy will sink into the ground and despawn much faster than other animals. This may be intentional so as not to upset younger players. Additionally, the health indicator of a dead pup (shown in the wolf badge) is not removed from the display. The icon will be permanently empty unless reloaded or restarted.


Predators[]

In the Anniversary Edition, predators and competitors each possess their own health meters. Some can die, while others are protected with a health cap that makes killing them impossible in normal gameplay. Their carcasses are inedible and serve as little more than trophies; they will despawn some time later.

In Classic, Predators do not possess any form of gradual, naturally-occurring health decay. They are intended to be fought from full health to zero health, though the majority are intended only to be beaten into submission rather than being fought to the death. Owing to the abundance of prey in Yellowstone, their corpses are inedible.

In Legacy versions, predatory animals do not possess naturally degrading health. Most can only be killed by the player and their mate. Flying predators can't be killed at all.


Grizzly bears[]

It is extremely difficult for wolves to kill grizzlies and near enough impossible in a 1-v-1 scenario. Instances of wolves killing grizzlies have been recorded, though success is largely a pack effort; this wouldn't be natural in-game, where the player's pack is in its very early stages.

In the Anniversary Edition, it is impossible to kill grizzly bear boars and sows due to an imposed health cap, but completely possible to kill cubs who are typically travel in litters of 1-4 in spring-summer with one sow, or alone in fall with their mother.

In Classic, it is impossible to kill grizzlies due to the presence of a health cap in their script coding under normal circumstances. With their impossible fleeing speed and the fact that they will despawn once enough distance has been placed between themself and the player-wolf, they are impossible to kill. This was put in place to ensure players could never kill them again.

WolfQuest_Amethyst_Mountain_Deluxe_(v1.6.4)_-_Kill_the_Bear_-_old_glitch

WolfQuest Amethyst Mountain Deluxe (v1.6.4) - Kill the Bear - old glitch

Killing a grizzly bear in 1.6.4.

In Legacy versions, it is normally impossible to kill grizzly bears. It was proven to be possible in multiplayer when the server failed to load properly, resulting in a "lag" or endlessly-loading state made possible if the connection between host and client players were too slow or could not establish a stable connection.

The game lacks programming that would acknowledge a Grizzly's death, hence there is no kill count for them in the Pack Stats interface, no death animation and no corresponding carcass. Instead, a dead Grizzly will stand and loop through its idle animation forever until it despawns.


Stranger wolves[]

In the Anniversary Edition, there will be occasions where the player can find carcass spores eminating from a wolf carcass. It is possible to follow these spores to their source, but the player will be disappointed; wolf carcasses rarely identify the wolf by ID or pack. These random deaths can be any number of things — a dispersal killed by stranger wolves, or a stranger wolf killed in conflict by a rival neighbor in a territory dispute. We will never know what these random world generation dead wolves are.

Wolves killed by the player always generate a carcass. If the wolf belonged to a rival pack, it will be replaced by a new, randomised wolf within the coming in-game days. While it used to be possible to do so in very early builds of the game, it is no longer possible to render a pack extinct.

In Classic, stranger wolves are only shown to be killable in social encounters, but they do not die easily and most will flee before the killing blow can be dealt. A red-headed Druid female is one notable exception. Even if killed, they will respawn.

Predator wolves are wolves who spawn to attack pups. It is unknown if they can die.

In Legacy versions, stranger wolves are only shown to be killable in social encounters, but they do not die easily and most will flee before the killing blow can be dealt. A tawny Druid female is one notable exception. Even if killed, they will respawn.


Prey[]

In the Anniversary Edition, deceased prey will always reliably generate an edible carcass from the moment their death animation ends. Large prey and heavy carcasses cannot be moved at all, but small lightweight carcasses can be carried and transported from one spot to another with apparent ease.

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In Classic, prey animals do not possess naturally degrading health, though all instances do spawn with fixed amounts of health when they are generated. All instances of prey can only be killed by a pack of player-wolves or by the player-wolf and their mate, and all felled prey carcasses are edible. No other predator will attempt to hunt prey.

No carcasses can be moved.

In Legacy versions, prey animals do not possess naturally degrading health, though all instances do spawn with fixed amounts of health when they are generated. All instances of prey can only be killed by the player and their mate, and all felled prey carcasses are edible. No other predator will attempt to hunt prey.

No carcasses can be moved.


Gallery[]

Anniversary Edition Gallery

Contributions for Death in the Anniversary Edition are welcome in t his gallery!

Classic Gallery

Contributions for Death in Classic are welcome in t his gallery!

Legacy Gallery

Contributions for Death in Legacy versions are welcome in t his gallery!


Bugs[]

Anniversary Edition Bugs

Classic Bugs

  • If the player-wolf loses all of their pups, selects "Load Game" and backs out (may need to repeat 2-3 times), they will be able to resume play without pups.

Classic & Legacy Bugs

  • The cattle calf carcass has a stretched neck.

Legacy Bugs

  • A major game-breaking bug in 2.5.1 may prevent players' deceased avatar from despawning correctly after dying during the Amethyst Mountain map. This can make it impossible to save if death occurred in stranger wolf territory or any other affected areas. It is advised to save frequently in single-player in order to ensure progress is not lost as a result of this issue.
    • While this bug is in effect, resting will cause the camera to focus on the first deceased avatar, rather than panning to and around the player's living and resting avatar.
    • When it was in service, the same issue would occur during multiplayer sessions.
    • Curiously, Slough Creek is unaffected by this issue.
  • There is a bug that prevents the mate from eating; this issue can be fixed by reloading the save or restarting the game.
  • Double-elk-carcass (2

    Double stack of elk carcasses.

    Carcasses spawned during world generation will sometimes be multiplied, resulting in a stack of up to three carcasses to appear on the same coordinates, only revealing itself as they are consumed.


Trivia[]

Anniversary Edition Trivia

Classic Trivia

  • Old age is not a possible cause of death. The player is depicted as and will always assume the role of a two-year-old gray wolf. Aging, though implied through the passage of time and seasons, is not a factor.
  • In earlier free versions of the game, the mate could die. This was not a permanent state and thus it would respawn after a brief delay.
  • Grizzly bears, too, could technically die in earlier free versions, but the death was not legitimate. Often it was possible due to lag.

Legacy Trivia


References & External Links[]


Technical
Configuration Graphics QualityLauncherShaders
Features AccountsAchievementsAge perksCustomizationElder wolfExperience pointsFriendsHuman ImpactsMultiplayerPackRestSleep
Game Files Add-onsAudioModelsMusicTextures
Game Mechanics AffinityAIAuto-saveCompanionshipDeathDifficultyFondnessScent viewSpawnersWeather
Interactive AnimationsCarcassCourtship (Anniversary)Den sitesEmotesNPCsHuntingMapPack RallyRendezvous sitesSocial arena (Classic/Legacy)TimeZones
Interfaces User InterfacesHeads-up DisplayPack Stats (Legacy/Classic)Pack Info (Anniversary)Tutorial
Miscellaneous Bugs and GlitchesCheatsDevelopment buildsDeveloper shortcutsSkyboxTroubleshooting
Operating Systems LinuxMacintoshWindowsIOSAndroidKindleStorefronts
Versions Legacy (1.1.0-2.5.1)Classic (2.7.X)10th Anniversary
Update historyHidden updates
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