Just an idea. What if we had cats and/or dogs that just roam the village, they breed on their own, can be sold maybe, but they cause happiness. More is more happiness. They can start with the people a certain amount depending on how many villagers there are, then "breed" on their own. They take care of themselves, just provide happiness. What you all think?
Hello!
That is such a lovely idea. Having pets would definitely bring more life and a sense of 'coziness' to our villages in Banished.
Thinking from a modding perspective, your idea has a specific technical challenge: the game is programmed so that hunters attack any animal that roams freely across the map. If we created dogs and cats that walk around like deer do, unfortunately, the hunters would target them almost immediately!
A solution I've been considering (which would keep the pets safe) would be to create them as special decorative objects:
Realistic Models: Instead of having them standing still like statues, we could have models of dogs and cats in natural poses—some sitting, others napping, or stretching. This makes them look real and part of the village routine.
Happiness Aura: Each pet would have a 'Happiness' component. That way, whenever villagers walk past them, their happiness level increases automatically.
Flexible Placement: You could place them anywhere: in front of houses, at the markets, or near town fires, creating some beautiful scenes.
Symbolic Cost: To simulate them 'breeding' or arriving with new settlers, they could have zero cost (or just a tiny bit of food), allowing you to scatter them throughout the town as it grows.
What do you and the community think about this approach? It would be a way to have the visual charm and the happiness bonus without the risk of hunters causing a tragedy in the village!
Would prefer them animated and just adding to the village happiness on their own. I think there is a way to keep them from being hunted if they just stayed in the village???
I'm still quite new to modding, so please bear with me! So far, the best solution I could come up with for Pets was using decorative objects.
I've been experimenting with a new animal recently, but I haven't figured out how to tweak the code to stop them from being hunted. The way the game works, once an animal is animated, it starts wandering across the entire map—just like the deer we see moving from the forests, through the villages, and across the rivers. Because they move so much, it's very hard to keep them safe inside the village where the hunters won't find them.
I'll keep an eye out to see if the more experienced modders have a clever trick for this, but for now, that's the challenge I'm facing!
Quote from: Necrolex on January 14, 2026, 09:15:23 AMI'm still quite new to modding, so please bear with me! So far, the best solution I could come up with for Pets was using decorative objects.
I've been experimenting with a new animal recently, but I haven't figured out how to tweak the code to stop them from being hunted. The way the game works, once an animal is animated, it starts wandering across the entire map—just like the deer we see moving from the forests, through the villages, and across the rivers. Because they move so much, it's very hard to keep them safe inside the village where the hunters won't find them.
I'll keep an eye out to see if the more experienced modders have a clever trick for this, but for now, that's the challenge I'm facing!
Hi there, I'm not a modder, but I can seriously hack a lot of mods! lol
Some thoughts:
How about making them farm animals and not wild game?
When I want to have horses, but not have them slaughtered, I build a fenceless pasture, put 2-3 in to start then turn off the worker so no one kills them. They do continue to breed on their own, but I feel like sometimes they do need a year or two of care?
Then when it starts to reach capacity, I tear down the pasture, and then they kind of wander around and slowly die off.
I keep 2-3 pastures of my "riding horses" going and do swapping, destrying, rebuilding, etc.
It does take a lot of management, but it is a very cool look to have an RK stable and live, animated horses grazing out front.
not possible in the way it was described on several issues. can be done with roll playing. pretty sure KIDD made a cat and a dog for deco. he also has smiley faces that can be set down to add happiness. so you could "breed them" yourself and add more happiness faces.
with horses, there are a few options. CC horses that provide meat from pastures can be traded. there are horse decorations that you can combine with KIDD's animal breeder mod and trade the offspring. NECORA has a barn that puts out "domesticated animals" that has to be fed. the domesticated animals will trade.
the game has limits. a lot of RP has to be utilized.
Hello.
I am sorry to say i pass,
it is a beautiful wish but 90% of all you are wishing is impossible in Banished.
and also i tried 5-6 times to animate an animal, latest try was the fox i wished to had. i failed miserably.
you know, making a mod is not re-programming the game, we would need to rewrite Luke's game programmation almost entirely.
the most closest thing you can do is having a pasture with cats and another pasture with dogs which you destroy and rebuild. and pretent to RP. (Role Playing)
animals also cannot have an happiness component attached to it.