WOLF SURVIVAL
Version 0.14
Created by Gnarly Bastard Mods

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OVERVIEW
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Wolf Survival transforms Red Dead Redemption 2 Story Mode into a
hardcore animal survival experience.

Become a wolf, hunt animals and humans, feed from carcasses, drink from
natural water sources, manage health, stamina, hunger, and thirst, and
rest in a prone position to recover from injuries.

This mod is designed for free-roam Story Mode gameplay. It is not made
for Red Dead Online.

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REQUIREMENTS
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- Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC
- Story Mode
- ScriptHookRDR2
- A working ASI loader, normally dinput8.dll

WolfSurvival.asi and WolfSurvival.ini must be placed in the same folder
as RDR2.exe.

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INSTALLATION
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1. Close Red Dead Redemption 2 completely.

2. Open the main Red Dead Redemption 2 installation directory.

   This is the folder containing:

   RDR2.exe
   ScriptHookRDR2.dll
   dinput8.dll

3. Copy these files into that directory:

   WolfSurvival.asi
   WolfSurvival.ini

4. Remove every older or renamed copy of WolfSurvival.asi.

   Do not keep files such as:

   WolfSurvival_old.asi
   WolfSurvival_v013.asi
   WolfSurvival (1).asi

   An ASI loader may load every ASI file in the folder, causing multiple
   versions to run at the same time.

5. Start Story Mode and load a normal free-roam save.

6. Press F8 to enable Wolf Survival.

7. Press F7 and confirm that the status shows Wolf Survival v0.14.

IMPORTANT:
Back up your Story Mode save before testing ASI mods or changing the
player model.

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DEFAULT KEY BINDS
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F8
Enable or disable Wolf Survival.

F
Perform the scripted wolf bite or lunge attack.

LEFT MOUSE BUTTON
Additional attack input. The F key is recommended when Left Mouse does
not trigger the scripted attack reliably.

E
Context action.

Hold E beside a dead animal or human to feed.
Hold E while facing nearby shallow water to drink.

H
Howl.

Z
Enter or leave the hunting/resting position.

While resting, the wolf slowly recovers health when hunger and thirst
are high enough.

LEFT SHIFT
Sprint.

Sprinting consumes stamina. Pressing or holding Shift while resting
safely exits the resting position before sprint movement begins.

F7
Display current mod status and survival values.

F10
Reload WolfSurvival.ini without restarting the game.

F11
Emergency restoration key.

Use this if disabling Wolf Survival does not correctly restore Arthur or
John.

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STARTING A NEW WOLF
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A new wolf begins with:

Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Hunger: 50%
Thirst: 50%

Hunger and thirst reset to 50% after a new wolf life begins.

Turning Wolf Survival off and back on does not refill the bars. This
prevents players from bypassing the survival systems.

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SURVIVAL HUD
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The bottom-left HUD displays four labeled bars:

HEALTH
The wolf's physical condition.

STAMINA
Used while sprinting and attacking.

HUNGER
Restored by feeding from animal or human carcasses.

THIRST
Restored by drinking from rivers, lakes, ponds, and other natural water.

GNARLY BASTARD MODS branding is displayed beneath the HUD and inside the
F7 status menu.

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HUNTING AND COMBAT
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Approach a person or animal, face the target, and press F.

The wolf plays a bite or lunge animation and applies damage when the
target is within range.

People are valid targets by default.

If no target is close enough, the mod displays:

Attack detected - no person or animal is close enough in front of the
wolf

Tips:

- Face the target directly.
- Move within a few meters before attacking.
- Use F when Left Mouse does not trigger the scripted attack.
- Attacking consumes stamina.
- Entering combat automatically exits the resting position.

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FEEDING
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Stand near a dead animal or human and hold E.

The wolf plays a feeding animation while hunger is restored gradually.

Food recovery is balanced by carcass size:

Small animals:
Approximately 5% maximum hunger recovery.

Medium animals:
Approximately 15% maximum hunger recovery.

Large game:
Approximately 30% maximum hunger recovery.

Human remains:
Approximately 20% maximum hunger recovery.

Each carcass has a limited amount of food and cannot refill the hunger
bar indefinitely.

Feeding restores only a small, capped amount of health. Resting is the
main healing method.

The external WolfSurvival_Eating.wav file is no longer used.

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DRINKING
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Approach a river, lake, pond, or other natural water source.

Face the water, stop moving, and hold E.

The wolf plays a drinking animation with game audio while the thirst bar
fills gradually.

Carcasses take priority when food and water are both within interaction
range.

The wolf must be near shallow water. Drinking is blocked while swimming
or deeply submerged.

Press F7 near the shoreline to check whether the mod detects water.

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HUNGER AND THIRST TIMERS
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The default configuration drains a full hunger bar and a full thirst bar
in approximately 12 real minutes.

Because a new wolf begins at 50%, the starting bars last approximately
6 minutes if the wolf does not eat or drink.

These timers can be changed in WolfSurvival.ini:

[Survival]
HungerMinutesFromFullToEmpty=12
ThirstMinutesFromFullToEmpty=12

Examples:

More forgiving survival:

HungerMinutesFromFullToEmpty=24
ThirstMinutesFromFullToEmpty=18

Harder survival:

HungerMinutesFromFullToEmpty=8
ThirstMinutesFromFullToEmpty=8

Press F10 after editing the INI to reload the settings.

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RESTING AND HEALING
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Stop moving and press Z to enter the hunting/resting position.

While resting:

- Stamina regenerates faster.
- Health slowly recovers.
- The wolf remains vulnerable.
- Healing pauses when hunger or thirst is too low.
- Starvation and dehydration damage still apply.

Resting cannot out-heal starvation or dehydration.

When health becomes low, the mod displays:

Injured - press Z and lay down to recover health

If food or water is too low:

Injured - eat and drink, then press Z and lay down to heal

While already resting, the mod may display:

Healing paused - hunger is too low. Hunt and eat first

Healing paused - thirst is too low. Find water first

Healing paused - hunger and thirst are too low

When the requirements are met again:

Healing resumed - resting is restoring health

The warning cooldown can be adjusted in WolfSurvival.ini:

[Tutorial]
HealingPausedMessageEnabled=1
HealingPausedMessageCooldownSeconds=20

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STARVATION AND DEHYDRATION
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At zero hunger, the wolf begins taking starvation damage.

At zero thirst, the wolf begins taking dehydration damage.

Low hunger and thirst also reduce the wolf's ability to recover stamina
and health.

Laying down does not protect the wolf from starvation or dehydration.

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HUMAN REACTIONS
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Nearby civilians recognize the player as a dangerous wolf.

They should flee instead of greeting the wolf or speaking to it as if it
were Arthur or John.

Attacking people can still create witnesses, law responses, gunfire, and
other normal world consequences.

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HORSE BEHAVIOR
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When Wolf Survival is enabled, Arthur or John's active horse is sent away
and prevented from constantly following the wolf.

The horse is restored as the player's active horse when Wolf Survival is
disabled.

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DEATH AND RESPAWN
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When the wolf dies, RDR2 handles the normal respawn process.

The mod detects the new wolf life and restores the configured starting
survival values:

Health: Full
Stamina: Full
Hunger: 50%
Thirst: 50%

These values can be changed in WolfSurvival.ini.

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DISABLING WOLF SURVIVAL
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Press F8 to disable the mode and attempt to restore Arthur or John.

The mod restores:

- Human player model
- Visibility and transparency
- Collision
- Position and heading
- Human outfit components
- Player animation state
- Active horse state

The exact original clothing combination may not always be restored.

Press F11 if Arthur or John does not appear correctly.

Changing player models can interfere with missions, cutscenes, outfits,
saving, and scripts that expect the normal protagonist. Use Wolf Survival
during free-roam gameplay.

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CONFIGURATION
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WolfSurvival.ini controls:

- Key binds
- Wolf model
- Maximum health
- Starting hunger and thirst
- Hunger and thirst timers
- Starvation and dehydration damage
- Attack damage and range
- Human targeting
- Food recovery by carcass size
- Feeding and drinking speed
- Healing speed and minimum survival requirements
- HUD position, size, labels, and branding
- Human fear behavior
- Horse dismissal
- Tutorial notifications
- Respawn values

After changing the INI, press F10 in-game.

Key values use Windows virtual-key codes.

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STATUS AND TROUBLESHOOTING
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Press F7 to display:

- Mod version
- Health
- Stamina
- Hunger
- Thirst
- Resting state
- Water detection
- Human-food setting
- HUD status
- Current configuration status
- GNARLY BASTARD MODS branding

THE MOD DOES NOT LOAD

Confirm that:

- ScriptHookRDR2 is installed.
- dinput8.dll is installed.
- WolfSurvival.asi is beside RDR2.exe.
- Only one WolfSurvival ASI exists in the game folder.

THE BARS LOAD BUT ATTACKS DO NOT WORK

- Use F instead of Left Mouse.
- Move closer to the target.
- Face the target directly.
- Press F7 and check whether attack inputs are detected.

THE WOLF CANNOT FEED

- The person or animal must be dead or dying.
- Stand closer to the body.
- Hold E instead of tapping it.
- Check whether the carcass has already been consumed.

THE WOLF CANNOT DRINK

- Move closer to the shoreline.
- Face the water.
- Stop moving.
- Avoid deep water and swimming.
- Press F7 and check whether Water shows YES.

RESTING DOES NOT HEAL

- Check hunger and thirst.
- Healing pauses below the configured minimum levels.
- The wolf must finish entering the resting position.
- Starvation or dehydration damage may exceed healing.

ARTHUR OR JOHN DOES NOT RETURN CORRECTLY

Press F11.

If necessary, load a save made before entering Wolf Survival.

THE GAME CRASHES

- Remove old ASI copies.
- Restore the default INI.
- Avoid entering missions or cutscenes as a wolf.
- Increase the prone recovery delay in the INI.
- Review WolfSurvival.log for the final recorded action.

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UNINSTALLATION
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Close RDR2 and delete:

WolfSurvival.asi
WolfSurvival.ini
WolfSurvival.save
WolfSurvival.log

WolfSurvival.save and WolfSurvival.log may not exist until the mod has
been used.

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IMPORTANT NOTES
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- Story Mode only.
- Do not use in Red Dead Online.
- Back up your save.
- Intended primarily for free-roam gameplay.
- Other trainers and animal-control mods may conflict with controls.
- Model swapping can affect missions, outfits, cutscenes, and saving.
- GNARLY BASTARD MODS branding is compiled into the ASI and displayed
  while the mod is active.

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CREDITS
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Concept, development direction, testing, and release:

Gnarly Bastard Mods

Thank you for playing Wolf Survival.
