prisma flint
As others have said before me, both the Mule Deer and Blacktail Deer in-game need some love design-wise (blacktail especially). They could also benefit greatly from having their calls updated, as they use the wrong calls right now. I'll go into detail below:
Mule Deer: Suggested Changes
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Tweaks to the face: The face needs a few adjustments, such as the position and angle of the eyes and the surrounding bone structure
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Body Shape: While not exactly bad, increasing the overall mass of the neck and belly would look great, as mule bucks can be exceptionally robust at times
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TruRACS Antler Updates: many of the antler variations don't look great. Some suffer similarly as the Whitetail (particularly low-scoring racks), while others just look unrealistic. Improving the shape and angle of the beams and tines, increasing the overall mass of the antlers across the board, and adding more variety in diamond-scoring racks would all go a long way in making Mule Deer more visually impressive
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Color Adjustments and New Variants: While the in-game colors aren't too far off from different irl variants, they feel a bit too saturated at times. Desaturating them/adjusting them to be more like that of irl Mule Deer would help a ton.
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Call Adjustments: As of now, Mule Deer don't make the correct calls. Their "Mating Call" is a wheeze, a sound that deer make when they are alarmed. This can also be heard when using the electronic caller. I suggest that this sound be moved to the Warning Call. Meanwhile, both bucks and does make more distinct sounds that can fit as "Mating Calls."
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Unique Animation - Stotting: Mule Deer engage in a behavior known as "stotting," where they will bounce around with all four legs leaving the ground at once. This isn't too dissimilar from the pronking seen in Springbok, though Mule Deer to remain more stiff and gain much less air time. While this may make them harder to shoot at times, this would go a long way in making them feel more grounded/immersive.
Blacktail Deer: Suggested Changes:
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Model Rework: Blacktail Deer, as of right now, are recognized as a subspecies of Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus specifically for the ones seen in Layton Lake District), and as such look much like their main species. Essentially all the changes made to the Mule Deer would need to be seen in the Blacktail Deer as well, albeit custom-tuned for the subtle differences between the two
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TruRACS Antler Adjustments: the Blacktail Deer desperately needs an updated TruRACS system. It is notorious for having very wonky variations. With the Mule Deer's proposed antler updates, the Blacktail Deer would also benefit from receiving updated antlers that better represent the actual animal, as well as ensuring that they are impressive enough to encourage players to seek them out
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Color Adjustments and New Variants: Same as the proposed Mule Deer changes
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Call Adjustments: The suggested Mule Deer changes also apply to the Blacktail Deer if I remember it correctly. The current sounds are very deep and growl-like, a far cry from how they actually sound and more reminiscent of a Whitetail buck
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Unique Animation - Stotting: As with the Mule Deer, Blacktail Deer have also been observed stotting.
Videos:
Mule Buck Calls - https://youtu.be/hJyr6hseufw?si=xb9eU-sH47311bV9
Mule Deer Stotting - https://youtu.be/h8DweS5Z684?si=angFuHBt4z6obCKf
Blacktail Buck Call - https://youtu.be/rlhADA_MMnA?si=mgte6s927-63LKyk
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