#How Hunting seasons can be added to maps

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tawdry moon
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Hunting seasons can be simulated by decreasing the population of certain species and increasing the population of other species during certain seasons. For example during whitetail season on Layton you may see less Black tail but more white tail in areas that you would normally see Black tail. And of course during Black tail season you would see more Black tails In areas where White tails are normally seen. This will increase the chance of spawning more dimes / rares during those respective seasons ..

These seasons can also be done very effectively with water fowl so that you might see certain waterfowl show up on maps that they are not on currently. And new waterfowl species on some maps that aren't even in game currently.

Add seasons in this way will allow the devs to add whole new species to maps that currently don't have those animals ....

warm anchor
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I might do my own version of how I think they could be added but this sure is cool.

spiral root
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no because why force players to hunt species they dont want to hunt? also it ruins grinds for grinders

tawdry moon
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I figured the grinders would not like this but I don't think it would be too difficult to have this coded into the map so that you could have a version of the map with and without seasonal hunting ....

vast arch
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I've often thought that EW could build on their work by creating seasons for existing maps. Winter in Silver Ridge Peaks would be amazing - frozen lakes like in Medved, oh yeah!

fiery dirge
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Let's remember that IRL waterfowl seasons are often far from regular hunting seasons, so it wouldn't be unusual to only see 1 or 2 species of mammals and a lot of duck species.
Each irl area in which the reserves are based has many species of aquatic birds, for population reasons it is impossible to add them, but with an Exclusive Waterfowl Season we could have all the species without problems

tawdry moon
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bump for more discussion

fickle jungle
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I'm not sure about this idea. How would it work with herd management systems?

fiery dirge
fickle jungle
tawdry moon
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Yes ... we must embrace the grind ... That's the mantra ... So As Rex said the seasonal transitions would not reset each new season but it would need to save those off season herds so they can be restored at the beginning of the next hunting season. The only thing that will probably upset the grinders is they might have to change maps during an off season .... And for this reason EW would probably never do this because "*** thou shall not upset the grind*** " ....

boreal frost
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I think it is an interesting concept but as a more casual player I prefer the way it is currently. I can hunt what I want when I have the time to play.

tawdry moon
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I think I mentioned after the OP that there could be an option not to have seasonal hunting which could be accomplished by have two copies of each map . One for seasonal hunting and one as is ... Not sure how this will impact the folder size as I haven't really done an analysis of their file structures ....

fickle jungle
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Right, I get it. Hmm. Not sure. I don't think I like this idea in terms of gameplay and practicality. I think its trying to be too realistic. COTW uses an arcade style system of shoot-one-spawn-one and deliberately plays as a game. This seems like it's trying to be like Way of the Hunter, which is a beautiful simulator that offers a similar idea with a more realistic experience. But COTW feels like an actual game and Id hate it if it they changed that.

fickle jungle
tawdry moon
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Thanks for the feedback ...

boreal frost
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The option idea is great in theory but you would need to code and rewrite current functionality to fit a small percentage of players. The grinders won't use the option most casual won't either. I doubt that EW would spend the precious development time on something most would opt out of. But I could be wrong.

fiery dirge
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It is not as complicated as you are describing it, the idea of seasons has always been on the table, when selecting a map you would choose whether to hunt in the Fall or Spring season or Duck Season, each season will have different animals like it does in real life, the team already use this concept just look at Mississippi where we have only one duck on the map because we are in the rainy season (July-October) where only teal hunting is allowed o NEM where every plant and tree has the exact shapes and colors they have in real life during the Fall...

The point has always been to include ALL the animals that actually live on each map, since fur-bearing animals and waterfowl have separate seasons and there are many species, too many for them all to coexist on a map.

fickle jungle
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It's a nice idea, as long as it doesn't break the current arcade-style gameplay, but I still can't see it happening.

boreal frost
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Perhaps it isn't complicated, I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to code. But each map would need to be reworked with foliage changes, weather changes, ground cover changes, sky box changes, shaders etc. Separate population tables and save files for each season would also mean no more continuity in spawns unless you stay in that season right?

fickle jungle
# boreal frost Perhaps it isn't complicated, I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to code. ...

This right here.
But how complicated these changes are is subjective and is not really the point. This is about how much time and costs they can afford to allocate to this idea and unless they can monetise this it won't happen. It would have to be some sort of add-on DLC and then would enough people buy it? Possibly, but it seems like a huge gamble to me when they can just build a new map, gun pack or hunting device with some confidence that those will sell.

safe pollen
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i think something like this, or just weather changes on each map would be nice, i think some maps could be even better looking in fall or winter, or spring, would change some places and hunting, like medved but without ice

fiery dirge
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Each map has approximately 30 species of trees and plants, a recoloring of the foliage to match another season of the year and a change in the frequency of the weather or it would be a lot of trouble, after all the same render would be used without major changes..
Of course it would be paid content, after all we are talking about introducing new animals, I'm sure no one will have a problem paying for new species.

Regardless of whether it is easy or not, I think it will be content in the future, when no more maps are released, unless we have Mini Maps that other threads suggest 💪🏼

fickle jungle
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So, completely new original species for the seasonal areas of the maps? I'm less convinced with each argument. I like the idea but it's an entirely new game and it would be better if they built it on a new engine.

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Also, when I buy a new map DLC I want all it's content including future updates.

fiery dirge
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Same map, you just choose which Season to enter, the Spring season will have XX amount of animals and the Autumn season will have XX amount of different animals, you don't have to make a new game for that...

You can't expect them to add content for free, that will never happen, that's why totally new species aren't added to old maps...

This is the only way to have ALL the animals on a map, since there will never be a Mississippi 2.0 DLC or a Medved Taiga 2.0 to add seasonal Furbears and Waterfowl.

boreal frost
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I would assume in this scenario that the season dlc would be a singular dlc correct? If so you are asking them to rework each map for two additional seasons and adding new species all for a single dlc which doesn't seem likely. If that isnt the case do you plan on people buying a seasons dlc for each individual map including base game maps?A new game with this implemented from the start would be more logical than trying to retrofit COTW.

fiery dirge
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No, seasons are not applicable on all maps, some maps already have all their legal species, however Yukon, SRP, Layton, Medved and Mississippi have many species of small game and furbear that (I think) justify their addition through DLC , although I admit that changing the time of year for Taiga would require a completely new design 🫤

fiery dirge
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Although each region where the game reserves are located has its own Duck season, I think they will require a different mechanic than the one referred to in this thread, something like a mini map or restricted access only to wetland areas within each map.
(Since during duck seasons you can only hunt waterfowl in wetlands without rifles)

fickle jungle
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New species on a map are essentially backfills. We don't pay for backfills.

boreal frost
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It seems fairly involved for a dlc.
I'm all for new species but I would prefer new maps with new species instead of old maps in a different season. Don't get me wrong I think EW would make it look great but it isn't the same as a new map.

But if you take this idea and Jaxy's buck fever idea you would have the start to a decent hunting sim focused more on realism.

fallen flicker
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I’m for this IF the “season” is, in reality, just another map DLC. In other words, the player could pick from SRP Spring, SRP Summer, SRP Autumn, SRP Winter (assuming you want to hunt in 10’ deep snow with hardly any animals about), but all are available at all times and selectable from the main menu. I don’t want to be forced into a season I don’t want.

fickle jungle
fallen flicker
# fickle jungle If you mean that these are completely separate maps with their own populations t...

Yes, that is what I mean. Essentially, there would be a new DLC (paid or not) for each season and each map as required. So, for example SRP Summer but maybe not SRP Winter, but Medved could have Spring, etc. Essentially "all" EW would have to do (and it would be a heck of a lot of work!) is use the base map, add in the weather, foliage, etc., select appropriate animals (current ones with different populations, including their numbers; new ones that are more appropriate [such as migratory birds]), and perhaps adjust some of the models (different skins/plumages if they molt or change from brown to white, etc.; velvet on antlers (or even smaller ones if they have been shed recently and are only now growing back) , and so forth. It sounds like a lot of work, but at least the basics would be there.

tawdry moon
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Honestly no more work than a totally new dlc map and lets be honest eventually they will run out of geographic locations for new maps.... So this would be a great way to contiinue putting out new content. Just create seasonal maps from already existing maps ...

fickle jungle
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I think seasonal maps of current locations are an awesome idea. They should definitely be paid-for DLCs. Can't expect them to do all that work for nothing. LOL.

@timid spear , Devs, please take note of the above conversation. Some great ideas coming out of this thread for your ideas board.

timid spear
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oh yes, as i mention on the streams, this has long been a topic amongst our team! COTW

also, we see all the forums posts and record them.

boreal frost
safe pollen
boreal frost
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Full thaw Medved would be very interesting and play like a completely different map. I'm on board with this one

fiery dirge
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Well, Taiga looks completely different in the summer season 😅.
In this case, even if the same map and render are used, I suppose it would require a lot of work.

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tawdry moon
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The seasonal maps could also be handled as a separate map depending on the season you wanted to hunt .... Also more opportunity for DLC ....

This would make for early season maps with less big game but more abundant small game and water fowl ....

For example I would say Layton, SRP and MA examples of early season maps ....

With MA being a good example of having more gators, turkeys, and water fowl species in early season but would have more whitetail , less gators and water fowl in late season...

The late season maps would would have less foliage on the trees and even snow in appropriate regions making it easier to spot larger game making those populations effectively larger .....

scenic forge
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What do you think about the bow hunting season that usually starts before the rifle season? During bow season, hunting with a rifle is banned.

south matrix
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This makes me imagine a fawn/cub season with certain animals being more wary or more agressive than normal. I can only imagine the dread of hearing/ seeing a bear cub and wondering where momma bear is 🤣

scenic forge
south matrix
# scenic forge There is Spring Black Bear Hunting

Like, as a suggestion or an irl thing? Cause I have limited knowledge of irl hunting, though I have been told it's mostly the female grizzly with cubs that are way more dangerous compared to without cubs

scenic forge
warm thicket
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Perfect when & how much to get this started? Grinders can adapt they claim they like the challenge. Give Devs more incentive to carry out their intended gameplay vision as a hunting game. Starting bid $20 to add IRL Seasons with populations to follow suite.

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If you really want to cater to grinders then add a separate gallery mode exclusive for them and keep adding more authentic features to the core game. Bethesda did this with Fallout 76 separating PvE & PvP as 2 different gameplay modes, so its a simple solution. Give Grinders a basic Gallery mode with intense challenges & continue to add authentic features to the Core Game.