Smoke & Scent

Smoke & Scent — Vintage Story 1.22.3

Smoke & Scent overhauls how the world reacts to fire, raw meat, foul containers, and the smell of animal hides. Every system is tied to real environmental logic — wind direction, room separation, fuel type, container contents, and sustained proximity all matter. All features can be toggled and tuned independently by server admins, with preset configurations for different playstyles.

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🔥 Campfire Smoke Repels Creatures

Lit firepits push nearby wildlife and hostile creatures away from your camp. Wind direction influences the effective range — creatures downwind of your fire are pushed farther back, while upwind creatures are less affected. This makes fire a genuine defensive tool, not just a comfort mechanic.

Fuel type now matters. Different fuels produce different smoke profiles:

<table> <thead> <tr> <th>Fuel</th> <th>Repel strength</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Peat</td> <td>1.4&times; &mdash; thick, acrid smoke</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Coal</td> <td>1.3&times;</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Firewood</td> <td>1.0&times; &mdash; baseline</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Charcoal</td> <td>0.7&times; &mdash; clean burn, weakest repel</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

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Peat around a camp perimeter is now a meaningful survival choice. Charcoal is better for cooking areas where you don't want to drive animals away.

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🥩 Raw Meat Attracts Predators

Carrying raw meat, offal, blood products, raw fish, or bone marrow makes you a target. Predators in range will actively seek you out. Detection range now scales by what you're carrying &mdash; not all raw scent is equal.

<table> <thead> <tr> <th>Item type</th> <th>Base detection range</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Butchering carcass</td> <td>60 blocks</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Offal</td> <td>50 blocks</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Blood products</td> <td>45 blocks</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Raw meat (general)</td> <td>40 blocks</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Bone marrow</td> <td>35 blocks</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Raw fish</td> <td>30 blocks</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

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Wind direction modifies all ranges &mdash; creatures downwind detect you from up to 1.5&times; the base range. Upwind creatures detect from as little as 0.5&times;.

Preserved, cooked, dried, salted, smoked, cured, roasted, pickled, and baked variants are excluded &mdash; processing your food removes the scent entirely.

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📦 Scent Containment by Container

How well you contain your meat determines how far the smell carries. A predator shouldn't detect raw ribs from 40 blocks away when they're sealed in your backpack.

<table> <thead> <tr> <th>Storage location</th> <th>Effective range</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Hotbar / hand</td> <td>100%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Backpack / character slots</td> <td>70%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Nested container in backpack</td> <td>20%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

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If any exposed slot contains raw meat, the worst case applies &mdash; there's no hiding a carcass in your hand while your bag is clean.

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🐾 Scent Trails

Players carrying raw meat leave a temporary scent trail as they move. Predators crossing the trail may follow it toward the source &mdash; even after the player has left the area.

• Trail nodes drop every 10 seconds while carrying raw scent items
• Nodes persist for&nbsp;3 in-game hours&nbsp;by default
• Rain&nbsp;washes trails away 4&times; faster
• Snow&nbsp;preserves trails 2&times; longer
  
  

A hunting trip now feels dangerous after the kill, not just during it.

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🐺 Predator Filtering &amp; Animal Logic

Every entity is classified before any scent behavior applies. The old system sent water buffalo and baby deer chasing after meat &mdash; that's fixed.

<table> <thead> <tr> <th>Class</th> <th>Entities</th> <th>Behavior</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Aggressive</td> <td>Wolves, bears, hyenas, cougars</td> <td>Full aggro range, seek player</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Curious</td> <td>Foxes, pigs, boars, badgers</td> <td>Half range, investigate only</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Avoidant</td> <td>Deer, elk, goats, hares, rabbits</td> <td>Flee carcasses, no aggro</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ignore</td> <td>Fish, crabs, chickens, livestock, insects</td> <td>Completely unaffected</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

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⏱️ Per-Animal Alert Cooldown

Animals can no longer spam alert behavior every half second. Each entity has an individual cooldown before it can be alerted again. Default is 8 seconds per animal, configurable in SmokeScentConfig.json.

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🩸 Blood &amp; Butchering Sites

When a butchering carcass is detected, the kill location is registered as a blood site. Predators will continue investigating the area even after the body is gone.

• Blood sites last&nbsp;3 in-game hours&nbsp;by default
• Attract aggressive predators within&nbsp;30 blocks
• Wind-affected, same as all other scent ranges

Field dressing animals makes the location itself dangerous for hours afterward.

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🧟 Butchering Mod Compatibility&nbsp;(optional)