Vurhonga: Remaster Lions Next

[viral belfry]

Many of the earlier maps could do with some love to bring them up to or near to the standard of the latest releases which are of a superb quality and I'm sure this is part of EW's overall plans. However, the map that stands out the most to me in needing a full refresh is Vurhonga. In my opinion, is the most dated looking map in the game and I think a remaster of the surface textures and ambient details including sounds and minor wildlife would really bring it to life again. The two most desperate looking animals, the lion and Cape buffalo, which are now really sticking out as appearing a little Atari when compared to the models and beautiful furs of the Yak and water buffalo, would benefit greatly with an update.
This thread is not about an Africa 2.0 or a new Africa map. It's about a full or partial remaster of Vurhonga. No animals should be removed unless they exist somewhere else in the game or can be moved to another or new reserve. But with 9 species on Vurhonga, I believe that a potential backfill of 2-3 new species would really give this map the revival that it needs.
I'm sure there are many updates planned for COTW's roadmap but if the community gets behind this then maybe we can see a refreshed Vurhonga not too far off in the future.
Obviously, this is a massive project so I wouldn't be expecting it in one update.

[vast robin]

A Vurhonga TLC is very much needed

[shell scaffold]

We can get rid of the Eurasian Wigeon in favour of a duck species native to Africa then

Afterall the Eurasian Wigeon already exists on Revontouli

[viral belfry]

Agree.

[shell scaffold]

The only way to get rid of Lesser Kudu would be to have a reserve set in Ethiopia or Tanzania that also has Lesser Kudu
Just so those antelope have a home

[vast robin]

(I don’t know how to tag threads)The springbok/ lesser kudu issue

[viral belfry]

Yes.

[viral belfry]

Top right corner should have link. Seen those threads though. I think that's more foe a brand new map discussion though.

[rancid nymph]

I'd rather not replace the wigeon with another duck, honestly. I get that ducks exist in Africa but given that the game has a limited number of species with which to convey the feeling of a place, I don't think any duck is the best way to do that. I'd much rather see a Class 1 that's more specific to that part of the world, like guineafowl.

[silver trail]

they need to remove the human teeth in Cape buffalo asap.

[rancid nymph]

I made a whole post about mis-colored dental pads here: https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1163652776602112101

[shell scaffold]

Why can’t we have both guineafowl and a species of waterfowl from Africa like Cape Teal or Yellow-billed Duck

[rancid nymph]

Quacks kill the vibe, basically. I know they're not strictly out of place, but like I said: when you have limited options for conveying the feeling of a place, what you choose is very important.

It's like a film director choosing what to have framed in a shot. There are many things that could plausibly be in a scene, but they have to be selective about including the things that best convey their vision, filtered through audience expectations. So while in the real world there are of course ducks quacking their hearts out in Africa, it's not the best tool for the game to convey the idea of Africa with the limited avenues it has to work with.

[robust shale]

if they wanna replace the duck maybe they can add guinea fowl 👀

[viral belfry]

I'd rather have guinea fowl too but I don't recognise Vurhonga's landscape as South Africa so maybe widgeon are more familiar a little farther north where I think this map is actually based,

[random glade]

Personally I would replace the wigeons with the Egyptian Goose. They're a much more interesting species imo

[quartz cypress]

What area in Africa does this map correspond to? It's to give me an idea. Is it Africa South or Mozambique?

[viral belfry]

Both Egyptian goose and guinea fowl make a lot more sense. I personally prefer guinea fowl as they're funny little critters that I would see running all over the place so quite fond of them.

[random glade]

I think it's just southern Africa in general, pretty sure the specific country isn't specified in the game

[silver trail]

It looks like The Drakensburg range (specifically outside the map) but was apparently Botswanan to the Devs in the early stages of the game, looks more like Mozambique/Tanzania on the map very confusing combination of Africa.

[rapid mulch]

They said in an old twitter post that Vurhonga is based in Botswana

[random glade]

well there you go

[quartz cypress]

It is not seems Botswana for me

[quartz cypress]

Creating a new mechanic and modeling the lion is a priority.

[viral belfry]

Well, I'm South African so I can tell you its definitely not South Africa.
Why? The fauna, such as wigeons and lesser kudu, are not typical there. Well, I've never seen them.
The flora, such as those tall yellow bark Fever Trees, only exists in a tiny area in SA but is a lot more common in Eastern Africa. Also, there is zero representation of the protea, South Africa's flower.
The Eurasian wigeon, lesser kudu and fever tree can all be found in Kenya, which I think is the main inspiration for Vurhonga.
Some POIs on the map point to South Africa but the history of South Africa impacted the entire continent.

[quartz cypress]

Developers needed to better prepare during their pre-production phase.

[viral belfry]

Indeed! Sadly that ship has sailed. If they want to introduce the Big 5 , the next Africa map has to be based on South Africa and maybe Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique a little bit, so it'll be interesting how they explore the SA history again.

[rapid mulch]

That’s great bud, but they have literally said it’s in Botswana…

[viral belfry]

You and I have both spent time in Botswana, right? Where the hell is that mountain? 😂
I want to see that post. Kenya makes much more sense.

[quartz cypress]

In my mind Botswana is about delta river. It is beautiful zone.

[viral belfry]

Its definitely not Drakensburg but I can see the similarity with the map edge. At a massive stretch, the mountain could be the eastern cape but not really. The only area that is familiar to me is the central Savanah which would be Mpumalanga but it's too vague. The southern part of the map could be Natal or Southern Cape but without proteas it could anywhere in Africa.

[viral belfry]

Yeah, I've travelled all over Botswana and I mean the entire country. If Botswana was their source for Vurhonga my mind is utterly blown. That's hilarious! 😂
You can't have a Botswana map without the Delta and Chobe areas. And the Salt pans! No no no no. 😂

[shell scaffold]

Tanzania you mean?
Tanzania has some mountains

Kenya also banned ALL hunting in the 70s

And Vurhonga was made back when EW was against adding Elephants and AR15s

The main reason I pinned Vurhonga as South African was all those codex entries you get from the landmarks and those little stone “points of interest”

But in general, Vurhonga has an identity crisis

[viral belfry]

No, I meant Kenya but I hadn't yet looked up their hunting laws. Geographically and species distribution pinpoint to Kenya but Tanzania also came up as a possibility. If hunting laws suggest Tanzania, then I'd be happy to concede to Tanzania but I'm not familiar at all with Tanzania's landscape. I'd have to look it up. It's definitely an middle Eastern Africa map. It's not South Africa and explained before that SA history was/is important to all of Africa. Personally, I found the POI references to South Africa to be factually inaccurate on some points but that's another story I'm not going to get into.

[viral belfry]

It sure does! 😂

[shell scaffold]

Yeah Kenya banned hunting in 1977
Found out when I was reading through hunting magazines

Tanzania is the opposite of Kenya in that they still receive hunters every year and is one of the 2 countries where Lesser Kudu can be hunted (as far as I know)

Now if Vurhonga was in Tanzania
• Gemsbok would be Fringed-eared Oryx
• Blue Wildebeest would be White-bearded Wildebeest (
• Springbok would either be Thomson’s or Grant’s Gazelle
• Scrub Hare would be Savannah Hares

The rest would be the same

[viral belfry]

Very interesting. I'm looking up Tanzania landscape now. I'll just say it's a little more convincing than South Africa. I think the truth is is that they just grabbed bits from all parts of Africa that looked 'cool'. End result is a vague mishmash.
For future Africa maps to be placed in Southern Africa for big game, I'd be happy for them to nudge Vurhonga to the middle east of the continent and give it more appropriate game.

I just killed my first tahr. Wow. Lions HAVE to be next.

[rapid mulch]

I can see the literal drakensbergs from where I’m standing. Looks nothing like Vurhonga 😦

[viral belfry]

Are you in Kruger atm?

[rapid mulch]

Greater Kruger

[viral belfry]

Very nice. I'll be there in October. Can't wait.

[balmy sierra]

I've been thinking exactly about this lately. Even though I love Vurhonga, the animals are in dire need of an upgrade. Apart from lions and buffalo, kudu bothers me a lot. The proportions are strange and the skull has absolutely nothing to do with it, and what's more, the vocalizations are from saiga antelopes. Wildebeest are also a bit strange. Although I like the animations and the model, the eyes are strangely human and so is the mouth.

[urban summit]

Its all pretty nice, but I would not expect a massive change like this to be free.

[urban summit]

Made me google it and now I need to save money to visit that place someday xd

[rapid mulch]

It’s lekker out here.

[viral belfry]

Ya boet!

[rapid mulch]

Yasus boet

[viral belfry]

YEESLIKE, your Afrikaans is better than mine, my boet!

[urban summit]

I...I dont understand the meaning of lekker 🥲 , it is a joke? Google sends me links to bycicles, cafés... xd

ahhh 😂

[rapid mulch]

Means “nice or good”

[urban summit]

yeah, now all makes sense

[viral belfry]

You use it like you would use 'cool'.

[tepid ocean]

The map needs love, released years ago and they never paid attention again, the distribution of animals on the map is bad, with dead zones, map itself isn't unique either, I feel like a mixture of several things and models like the lion need attention
Using the map remaster to announce Africa 2.0 right after would be a great marketing move.

[viral belfry]

Vurhonga: Remaster Lions Next

[viral belfry]

🦁

[vast robin]

🦁

[smoky trout]

I was like huh? 🤣 I'm down south USA we got some doozies here too. Like "laruping" means delicious or good lmao. "This bowl of soup is laruping" but our accent makes it sound like "lurping". I can't say "fire" I pronounce it "far" lol

[viral belfry]

A lion remaster alone will breathe new life into Vurhonga.

[weak owl]

Vurhonga just needs a massive overhaul. I’d take a Vurhonga overhaul over a new map tbh. Add in some new species, give the old species some much needed love, give the maps terrain some love (as it damn well needs), etc.

[fossil lodge]

make the long grass on vurhonga NOT FRY MY DAMN XBOX 😭😭😭

[velvet osprey]

I agree in a way I think Vurhonga Savanna could use a massive overhaul but I'd rather a new map tbh

[viral belfry]

I would too. With 15 maps, I'm not feeling desperate for a new one other than one with polar bears or new African animals. Not sure how they could pay for it though. I don't think an add-on DLC would work as has been suggested on other threads. It would either have to be done bit by bit with other releases or as one massive overhaul project with the release of a second Africa map. We wouldn't see anything for at least a year but I think the payoff would be worth it. It would be extremely popular. More popular than the tigers. And they should raise the price. I would easily pay £15 for a new Africa that came with a refreshed Vurhonga. I'd probably go as high as £20. It would be on the level of what other games charge for their DLC extensions.

[viral belfry]

What version are you on?

[fossil lodge]

Xbox series s

[viral belfry]

Ah, okay, I'm on series X so I wasn't seeing that issue. I came very close to getting the S originally. Thinking I made the right decision. I wish they came with bigger memory though.

To be honest, I'd probably go with PS5 if I could choose again.

Well, I did actually get a PS5 but the delivery went missing and they wouldn't take responsibility for it. Took 3 months to get a refund out of them.

[viral belfry]

Just saying.... (courtesy of Tyk)

[solemn crane]

Lions need a pride mechanic, I'll say that forever. Lions live in prides, we should have that in game!

[viral belfry]

Prides would definitely feel more realistic.

[viral belfry]

So while everyone is deliberating on which gun to vote for, I decided to remaster the Vurhonga lion with a new shaggy mane.

[shell scaffold]

That looks like some sort of mythological abomination

[viral belfry]

Call of the Wild: Beasts of Olympus

[tepid ocean]

Dragon's Hunter 2

[viral belfry]

No photoshop...

[shell scaffold]

Monster Hunter Call of the Wild (Funny enough there is an upcoming game called Monster Hunter Wilds)

[viral belfry]

Sounds interesting... I will google.

[vast robin]

Manticore backfill

[viral belfry]

Why not? 😂

[vast robin]

Walking around looking for buffalo, only for this abomination to show up and give some riddles

THE ANSWER IS TIME YOU JERK!
(Bang)

[tepid ocean]

something like this I found on google

[viral belfry]

I think I got it bang on. 😂

[vast robin]

No, no, What you made was a walking war crime

[viral belfry]

I see an opportunity for EW to take a new direction. 😬

[vast robin]

New petition to keep Zen away from the EW headquarters

[viral belfry]

I'm going to be the first to down vote that...

[silver trail]

Looks like a brown football jig.

[viral belfry]

This one definitely has some jig in him.

[tepid ocean]

Someone take the COTW lion to a plastic surgeon

[velvet osprey]

Oh my lord take that satanic creature to the crematorium

[viral belfry]

It definitely needs an exorcism.

[weak owl]

Looks like a bad rendition of a chimaera

[shell scaffold]

Its just missing a goats head and a snake for a tail

[fossil lodge]

DON'T FORGET!

[viral belfry]

bump

[quartz cypress]

It’s about time we got the next new African map. Upvote if you want it!