Kiddo’s Dark World Wildlife Weather and Visuals V1.2

DARKNESS

Night is now enveloped by a deeper darkness between 10pm and 4am. Moonlight is a saving grace on clear nights, but intense weather and dense forests will require a lantern to navigate. Encountering wild predators, ambushers or bounty hunters is now difficult and dangerous. Exposure changes also limit Deadeye and Eagle-eye ‘lighting-up-the-night’ during late hours, making herbs, animals and enemies harder to identify.

Artificial Indoor Light has been removed to prevent unnatural white light showing up in caves and interiors. Abandoned houses are now dark. 

Bloom Adaption has been slowed by 25%, adding realism to natural eye adjustment when the player moves from dark to light, indoors to outdoors or vice versa.

Lanterns now have a warmer tone, since they are technically an oil powered fire source. Still not as orange as the Electric Lantern.

Sky Atmosphere reduced by up to 75% during night time, preventing the sky from appearing like blue daylight at the horizon line.

Vignette has an option to be removed, separate download available! No more dark shadow at the screen edge.

TIMESCALE
Huge Thankyou to WIckedHorseMan for their customizable Timecycle script!

Timescale is now 2x slower than vanilla, allowing the player to get more done during the day, enjoy a sunset for longer, then head into the night for a horror aesthetic or nocturnal hunt. Much like real life, going to sleep now has environmental and functional relevance. In vanilla, the sun often rose before the player had time to discover an Owl, Racoon, or similar nocturnal animal. 

Extra Timescale Options available in download.
Vanilla -> 48 minutes = 1 Game Day.
1.25x -> 60 Minutes 
1.5x ->  72 Minutes
1.75x -> 84 Minutes 
2x ->  96 Minutes
2.5x ->  120 Minutes 

PERCEPTION

Law Perception has been significantly reduced at night, with a further reduction in visibility and noise detection for rainfall and weather events. Hiding from Bounty Hunters at night allows for better preparation and execution, permitting the player the occasional chance at a stealth kill or two before being detected. 

Animal Perception including sight, smell and hearing have been increased, which makes for more realistic hunting. Animals and Birds will detect you earlier, and mammals will flee slightly further away when frightened, making Cover Scent and stealth crouching more relevant. No more accidentally trampling over Deer that didn’t hear you coming.

Bloodhounds now have superior smell, but vanilla sight and hearing. This makes Cover Scent more effective for stealthy flanking maneuvers when being tracked by Bounty Hunters at night.

WILDLIFE

Animal Behavior has seen a subtle overhaul, with reduced duration for basic idling, and more potential for activities such as drinking, grazing, playing, hunting, howling and more. Mammals should no longer appear to stand lifeless, and will almost always be seen immersed in natural behavior. 

Birds have a 20% increased spawn rate, allowing for realistic flock sizes and more tiny birds flying out of bushes. This change is purely aesthetic, but comes with the added potential for birds such as Woodpeckers and Owls to appear in new places, as they previously had very limited spawn locations. 

Prey Birds circle around corpses for longer before landing, and eat for longer.

Fish now school together more frequently, and jump out of the water 25% more often.

Dogs now bark 50% less often when in a non-aggressive state. This may also have some subtle benefit for players who use the mod ‘Immersive Dog’, but it requires more playtesting.

TEMPERATURE 

Temperature maximum threshold has been reduced by 1 to 3 degrees in mid-northern regions such as Roanoke Ridge, New Hanover and East Grizzlies, allowing the player to wear warm coats and clothing in more regions, more often. Sunny/High Pressure at midday is now the only time these areas should cross the warmth threshold. 

WEATHER
Huge Thankyou to WhyStopNow for his direct contribution to Weather and Rain Particle Effects!

Weather now has the potential to last 1.5x to 4x longer, making weather events feel more random and organic. You may now experience a brief sun shower, or a persistent all-night thunderstorm.

Weather Transition speed is now 6x to 10x slower, creating seamless blending between events. Rain will gently spit before a full downpour, cloud formation is much slower, and certain weather events have more noticeable and varied wind speeds. Weather will no longer appear or disappear suddenly.

Wet Weather probability has been reconfigured for more realism. 
Drizzle or Shower is more likely to appear before a Thunderstorm, and the Thunderstorm will lead back into overcast or clouds, instead of Sunny, etc.

Drizzle is now 3% more likely to occur, as it was mostly unseen in the vanilla game, and has a very peaceful atmosphere. It can now occur in all regions.

High Pressure is now 5% more likely to occur than Sunny. It is now the brightest weather type at night, and has a more unique aesthetic and feel.

Rain Particle Fix prevents the vanilla rain particles appearing like milk when seen through light shafts.

VISUALS 

Weapon Pickup Glow has been removed. No more flashing weapons in the dark.

Grass Physics now allow for better wind mechanics. Grass now blows in the breeze like the game ‘Ghost of Tsushima’.

Drying Time for both player and environment has been slowed and scaled based on temperature, allowing wet clothing and puddles to persist longer after wet weather. 40 seconds –> 2 to 5 minutes.

LOD Lighting Fix merged! Corrects campfires and glowing light sources from losing quality while viewed from a distance. Lights should also no longer turn off behind the player.

Persistent Dirt. The player will now properly accumulate dirt, mud and bloodstains on clothing, and they will not fully disappear until the player baths, swims, changes clothes, or rides through the rain. This feature is not functioning correctly -> May work for some players, not others.

Horse Dirt accumulation slowed by 3x, preventing your horse from becoming instantly muddy when you walk through town. Dirt and Mud now primarily accumulate on the legs and underbelly, and often dry up before splattering on the haunch.

TAA Sharpening improved, particularly for objects in the far distance while not in motion. This is gentle compared to other TAA mods.

Stars & Constellations improved. Stars twinkle less abrasively, with stars and milky way both fractionally increased in size and visibility.

Rivers & Streams have a 20% faster current.

Horse Sweat will appear more slowly.

WEAPONS

Reload Speed has been reduced by 25% for most weapons, and 15% for Repeaters, adding realistic tension to gunfights.

Carcano & Rolling Block Rifle are no longer forced to look down the scope, and have appropriate heavy recoil like the rest of the rifles.

GRIPS

Grip Carvings on Shotguns, Repeaters and Rifles now apply a secret 10% bonus to weapon damage. 40 damage becomes 44.

LAW

Train Robberies have an increased delay for law arrival, preventing them from appearing on top of you unrealistically. The wanted delay time scales based on proximity to the closest town, with rural areas taking longer to trigger law attention. Wanted status should now occur once the player has nearly completed a more extensive robbery, allowing you a chance to escape if you’re efficient.

Credits:

JackKiddArt