Feature creep but if any variation of the ideas could be used I want to share and hope . Just spitballing here.
Variables in tracking
I've been away and had the unique experience of spending some time with Maasai people in Kenya. I went on many morning and evening walks with a man named Kwenia from the tribe and to say it was a lesson in tracking is an enormous understatement.
So, poop, ha yes, I'm bringing up poop again. BTW giraffe poop is tiny, spherical bottle cap size, and very light, like having no weight. May be an easy thing to model, a few types of scat. Visible only to (class + tracking level ) blah blah mechanics. A nice thing to have just randomly be present when you're playing a tracking capable class. "Oh look a chipmunk poop, I hate those critters, all cute and harmless looking until you turn your back and they steal all your nuts, jerks"
Foot prints, fresh, a day old or a few days old. Just add little leaves to indicate how old. Again visible to class and level appropriate.
Finally and most importantly the prey predator relationship. If I was tracking an herbivore could there be an increased chance of encountering a predator I would rather avoid? Maybe just an increase in detectability of my player by X predator whike tracking Y animal? So if I am actively tracking a deer then the wolves in the area are more likely to detect my scent and sound etc . Also if I attack that prey it also acts as a signal to nearby predators.
Anyway, hope all is well. The Maasai people are wonderful and I am envious of the connection they have with the lands they call home.
Spouse and I went on four trips to East Africa over a 10 year span over 30 years ago. Several included visits to Masai villages. Quite likely places set up for tourists and bearing little resemblance to the real thing but perhaps actually real villages. Definitely quite interesting.
Good ideas but every year I get more emphatic in opposition to feature creep - and more convinced that "the perfect is the enemy of the good".
Number one priority - get to release as soon as humanly possible with the one caveat that the game must be good enough to attract and keep players and do well. No delays for any purpose other than making sure the game is good enough to do well. Let anything else wait for later updates.
Number two priority. Same as number one.
For the record - I said as soon as humanly possibly but this was not intended to reflect xenophobia. Apologies for the poor wording. Alien investment in Pantheon or use of alien technology to speed up the process would be more than welcome.
Broken branches for large game. Birds or bugs being present around the area of a target animal. Animals that flee from a predator being an indication of direction to search. Directional audio . All kinds of options in fleshing out the tracking features. But I prefer the poop.