Hunting

''This article is about the hunting game mechanic. For information about specific prey items, see Prey. For information about hunting patrols, see Patrolling.''

Hunting is an integral part of life for a wildcat, making it a core feature of From the Ground Up's early gameplay loop. Before bolstering warriors for their Clan to send on hunting patrols, the player must hunt for themselves. Throughout a hunt, a hunter's success is determined by dice rolls, which can be buffed or debuffed by their skills and stats, among other factors. The higher a hunter's hunting skill, for example, the more likely they are to succeed. Hunting in a preferred environment, such as under tree cover for tree-dwelling cats or on open ground for fast cats, also adds a bonus. Conversely, attempting to hunt while feeling ill, sleepy, or fatigued, will make the task harder.

Finding Prey
Before a cat can even think about eating, they must first find their meal. When prey is plentiful, most spots on the map will have an abundance of prey running around, and catching a scent or a sound will be easy. During less fruitful months of the year, prey grows scarce, and thus harder to come across. Typically, a cat will not have to track prey across multiple tiles, but when prey is not quite so plentiful, this may be necessary to find enough food.

Stalking
Once a suitable prey animal has been found, the hunter can decide to pursue their quarry, or abandon it. Sometimes, it is more important to conserve time and energy than risk chasing after prey that isn't likely to be caught. The best example of this are rabbits, which are very fast, and very hard to catch for cats that are not equipped to catch them. Once a cat has decided to stalk their prey, the first die is cast. If the cat succeeds, they are able to pounce; if they fail, the prey notices them and runs away. The hunter can choose to give chase, but this rarely succeeds unless the cat possesses the Fast special trait.

Pouncing
Upon a successful stalk or chase, the hunter pounces on their prey. Usually, the prey is considered caught and killed, and ready to eat or bring back to the Clan. Uncommonly, the prey may manage to escape, in some cases for a second time, if the cat's hunting skill or agility score is low, or is otherwise impaired.

Overhunting
It is possible to overhunt an area, depleting the prey resource and making it harder to hunt there over time. Every tile on the map has a number attached to it representing how much prey exists there. Each time a prey animal is successfully caught and killed on a tile, it gets subtracted from the total. Prey will eventually return to the area; every hour, a new prey animal moves into each tile that is not already at capacity. However, if prey is hunted faster than it can replenish itself, it will become harder and harder to find food. During plentiful times of the year, one tile will have enough prey to sustain a sizeable Clan. Therefore, it is beneficial and recommended to vary hunting spots, to increase chances of finding something to hunt, as well as decreasing the chance of overhunting any specific spot.