Horses, Donkeys, and Mules

[LadyWYT]

This isn't so much a suggestion that they should be added, as I expect them to be at some point, but rather how they could function when they are added and what could set them apart from the elk.

Travel: Horses handle the same as elk, but can only navigate one-block heights with ease, not two, making the elk the more attractive choice for exploration or navigation of rough terrain.

Equipment: Horses lack the slots for cooking pots and bedrolls, meaning that you'll need to pack these items into the saddlebags if you wish to bring them. The medallion slot is the same, though in the case of the horse an ownership medallion can be combined with metal plates/chains/scales/leather to craft armor for the head/neck(cosmetic). A lantern can be hung from the saddle, rather than the neck. More armor can be crafted for the horse's front and back, respectively, and protects from incoming damage while providing a small penalty to movement speed. The blanket slot can be occupied by either a standard saddle blanket, or by a much fancier(and therefore more expensive!) caparison. Some caparisons are only available through trade, or are exclusive to the Tailor class(there could be other equipment pieces that are exclusive to other classes though).

Color Variety: The most obvious trait that sets horses apart from elk--they come in all sorts of colors.

Combat: When galloping, horses are able to trample over medium or smaller creatures, doing some damage in the process. Assuming that it's feasible to code, they could also have a chance to kick nearby hostile entities, doing damage and knocking them back.

How to Acquire: Horses can be found in the grassy plains of temperate and cool climates, congregating in herds(for the sake of simplicity and less frustration, adult males do not try to kill each other like roosters do). This means that you can not only acquire them for free or before pursuing story content, but that you can acquire them on the Homo Sapiens game mode as well! Of course, if you are playing with lore content enabled, you can also purchase horses from vendors in certain locations(though none of the ones that currently exist in game). Horses are never for sale at trader wagons though, as traders find elk much more useful for navigating the wilderness.

How to Ride: Horses need to be tamed before they can be reliably ridden or claimed for ownership/decorated, but you can kit them with a saddle and bridle and ride them at any time. If they aren't fully tamed, however, they have a chance to buck you off, and the chance of that happening is greater the wilder they are. To tame a horse, you need to feed them from a trough; each time they eat, they'll become a little less wild. This way, you don't need to go through multiple generations of animals to acquire a mount, but early generations will still take a long time to fully tame(100 portions for gen 0). In contrast, generation 10+ will be born tame(horses purchased from NPCs will always be generation 10 or better), making them very valuable in multiplayer scenarios for players who have invested the time and resources into horse ranching.

As for the chances of getting bucked off--it depends on the tamed percentage. A horse that is 0% tame will buck the player off 100% of the time. A horse that is 25% tame will buck the player off 75% of the time, whereas a horse that is 75% tame will only buck 25% of the time. Horses only buck when they are mounted or when they are damaged, but never when they are fully tamed. If a horse bucks a player off, they will become stressed and need to calm down before they can be mounted again. Stressed horses will either flee a short distance or try to kick the player should the player try to mount them before they calm down.

Edited to add concepts for donkeys and mules...

Like horses, donkeys can also be acquired from the wild or purchased from certain vendors(again, not trader wagons). They use the same equipment as elk(so no armor or caparisons), and like elk are capable of traversing two-block heights with ease. They are, however, slower than elk, and cannot jump as high. The main advantage to donkeys, outside of offering elk-functionality in Homo Sapiens mode, is that they can be used to power a quern for a slower but more consistent rate of grinding than wind power. You will, however, need a tame donkey to do this, and you will need to keep the donkey in Decent condition or better to keep them working, as they will lose condition over time when harnessed to a quern(perhaps losing one stage of condition for every 8 hours worth of grinding).

To get a mule, one needs to breed a horse with a donkey, or otherwise purchase one from a vendor if possible. Mules cannot reproduce, though they will still follow the same generation rules as other animals when they are born. Mules use the same equipment as donkeys and elk, and use the same movement constraints as donkeys with the exception that they can run as fast as an elk. Like donkeys, you can also use mules to power querns, and mules can tolerate this work longer before they will need to be fed.

Edited December 30, 2024 by LadyWYT

[RobinHood]

Actually, the moose is a somewhat unrealistic riding animal, but well, why not? Horses would truly be an excellent option—perhaps even the best riding animal.

Here are some additional possible riding animals:

---

Land Animals

1. Donkeys

   • Particularly popular in mountainous regions or deserts due to their endurance. Mules—a horse-donkey hybrid—are also commonly used.

2. Camels

   • Especially dromedaries (one hump) and Bactrian camels (two humps), which are essential riding and pack animals in desert regions.

3. Elephants

   • Used as riding and working animals in Asia and Africa.

4. Water Buffalo

   • Occasionally ridden in some Asian countries, mostly for agricultural purposes.

5. Yaks

   • Used as riding animals in high-altitude regions like Tibet and Nepal.

6. Cattle

   • In rural areas, children sometimes ride cows or oxen.

7. Zebras

   • Very rare, but there are documented attempts to tame and ride zebras. Their wild nature makes this challenging.

8. Moose

   • In Scandinavia, there have been attempts to ride moose, but they are difficult to tame and not very cooperative.

---

Exotic or Unusual Riding Animals

1. Ostriches

   • In South Africa, there is an event called ostrich racing, where people ride on these large flightless birds.

2. Deer

   • Rare and generally impractical, but in some cultures, there have been attempts to ride deer.

3. Kangaroos

   • Not really suitable as riding animals, but occasionally tried as a curious experiment.

---

Mythological or Fictional Animals

1. Dragons

   • Popular in fantasy literature and films, although there are no real-world examples.

2. Griffons, Unicorns, Pegasi

   • Fictional riding animals from mythology and stories.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, RobinHood said:

Actually, the moose is a somewhat unrealistic riding animal, but well, why not? Horses would truly be an excellent option—perhaps even the best riding animal.

Deer aren't the most realistic option, no, but they are plausible and something different than the standard. I also agree that cows(and their relatives), donkeys/mules, camels, and elephants would all be nice to have as well, and while I have ideas for how they could function I'd going to save that for another time and post. And while I do like having lots of variety, in the case of mounts I think it's also quite important to make sure that there are distinct advantages/disadvantages to each type, rather than simply have it being a model swap. Takes more work, but is more interesting.

As far as mythological animals go...best to leave these to the realm of mods. I could see some sort of mechanical contraption added as a vehicle, maybe even some sort of Rust monster to "befriend"(although that's highly unlikely), but otherwise I don't think they fit into the vanilla setting.

[ribbbbbs]

I like this idea as a way to getting mounts. I would like to add that wild horses (and reindeer) ought to be very dangerous, able to 1-shot an unarmored player, and slow to breed, making their acquisition risky and arduous proportionate to their great utility.

Personally, I would like to have an Aurochs/Yak/Buffalo serve in the pack-animal/tractor role whereas horses/reindeer/camels serve as fast & rangy mounts.

[traugdor]

On 12/30/2024 at 11:45 AM, LadyWYT said:

Deer aren't the most realistic option, no

There goes my plans of having my sailboat be tugged ashore by a herd of deer like a smaller Flying Dutchman, but with less complaining from the occupants about whether or not we're there yet. All I'd have to do is yell "BANG BANG BANG" and they would run away and take my boat with them. I see no drawbacks here.