How to make Layton the best map in the game once again...

[crisp moat]

Most of us can agree that Layton is the best base game map. Even with this status, it's not as great as in 2017. So here's a list of things Layton could benefit from!

Nr 1: Bacfkillings Layton's mountains are extremely dull and could use some new species to help make them more fun. Not just the Mountains, but multiple other aspects of the map. Here are some species that could help make Layton fresher.

Bighorn sheep (Remodel)
Bobcat (Small population)
Canada Goose
Common Raccoon
Gadwall
Goldeneye
Green-Winged Teal
Mountain Goat
Mountain Lion (Small population)
Red fox
North-American beaver
Northern Pintails
Wood ducks
Snow Goose
Canada goose

Nr 2: Graphical updates Quite simple, just make general graphical improvements, remove the fake birds, etc.

Nr 3: Remodels Roosevelt Elk, Blacktail deer, and Jackrabbits all have outdated models. Whitetail deer have unrealistic antlers and scoring, and turkeys need tru-beards.

Nr 4: Redistribution The animals need new homeranges, the homeranges are unrealistic and don't quite make sense. Whitetail deer, moose, and rabbits could be in the lowland forests and marshes, and the blacktail, coyote, and elk could be in the higher areas. Bighorn, mountain goats, mountain lions, and Olympic marmots could be found in the mountains, etc.

Nr 5: This could work for any map, but a challenge where if you get a diamond of every species on Layton, you'll get the Bison fur coat outfit, New Aspen woodgrain, and an engraved.338 with a bison on the one side of the stock, and a moose on the other.

*** Suggestions are welcome in comments***
***I might pin some other threads going in to more depth on some of the subjects I briefly touched on ***

[quick hatch]

The amount of Layton rework posts are actually insane bro 😭 🙏

[crisp moat]

It’s such an underrated map that feels kinda neglected. It deserves the love.

[crisp moat]

How Bighorn looks vs how they look in-game

[quick hatch]

I mean you are very correct but the photo on the right is like a level 1 male-

[crisp moat]

The horns aren't the main point rn. Should've also mentioned they have extremely unrealistic curls.

[spiral viper]

I think you have a few too many ducks in your lineup ....

[crisp moat]

The map is mostly water, ducks are small species, I don’t really see the issue. Also, these are just suggestions. Not all of these have to be added, just a few species that could be added

[crisp moat]

I found some threads going into detail about some of the things I lightly touched:
https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1184845232072818688
https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1083391378920308858

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1316561266223087676
https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1201216001195389049

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1294684372917551215

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1281956469037858816

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1334337122106347531

[crisp moat]

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1131615912705937428

👆 These posts could help make Layton better, check them out

[crisp moat]

Mallards could also benefit from a remodel as well as new rares. These are 3 hybrid Mallards, the first one is Mallard x American Black duck, the second is Mallard x Wood duck and the last is American widgeon and Mallard

[crisp moat]

The American Badger

[crisp moat]

The ruffed grouse

[quick hatch]

I love badgers

[crisp moat]

Coyotes have so much fur potential

[crisp moat]

Correcting myself here, it’s an erythristic Badger, my mistake instead of Albino Badger

[spiral viper]

I would like to see some of those pelts hanging in my trophy Lodges ....

[crisp moat]

Indeed, they should make rugs. Imagine having a Great one black bear rug in your lodge. It would be really cool.

[spiral viper]

They should let us replace a wall plague with a pelt rack that would let you hang several small to med pelts, 2 or 3 med to large skins or 1 x large skin which could also be laid on the floor as a rug .....

A buffalo rug would also look very nice in front of a fireplace .... and over the mantel a picture frame where you can post pictures / trophy shots of the kill ..... Lodges could really look different instead of all looking the same ....

[heavy gust]

Hey @crisp moat ! We truly appreciate the time you've taken to share all of these ideas and suggestions. It’s clear you have a passion for the game and a strong vision for what you’d like to see, and we love the creativity you're bringing to the table. With more creative ideas like these, you can also contact us here: https://support.thehunter.com/hc/en-us/requests/new.

[crisp moat]

I came across this cross fox. Can’t believe we don’t have this as a rare…

[crisp moat]

How did you find those? Ik those aren’t base game or a G1 varient?

I’d also like to say that a bird species that you have to shoot out of the air, like pheasant and quail for E.g, could also be cool on Layton. My personal picks are probably pheasants, or California quail, but something similar could be really cool.

[crisp moat]

I agree. They should really make a big update with a brand new lodge, incorporating a lot of these ideas. They should also include trophy shots and obviously skull mounts.

Just a lil BTW, we have bear rugs in some of the outposts on Rev. What gives that we can’t have them in our actual lodge?

[spiral viper]

Those are G1 variants release with the last dec 24 update ..... You can find them as a G1 on any reserve that has red foxes .... but there are a few more variants as well ....

[crisp moat]

Has to be a very rare variant, or you guys are messing with me lol. I’ve never actually seen one posted ever.

Never mind, it’s a mod called Vanillatweaks or something like that 🫤

[spiral viper]

a mod might have been used to spawn that pic but I believe it is a known G1 variant ... not messing .... Here's a vid from scarecrow on the variants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfsVhniKQBk

[crisp moat]

No it isn’t an actual variant. It looks like Midnight Poppy, but isn’t exactly the same. If you look up Nexus mods for COTW those variants are shown. So they aren’t legit.

But the OG picture is the midnight poppy, but a lot brighter.

[crisp moat]

But I still think a cross fox rare would be really cool, because currently the only “cross fox” we can get is the midnight Poppy, which I know a lot of people don’t care for grinding. Also the silver fox variant from classic can’t be so hard to add to COTW.

[crisp moat]

Missed opportunity to give Mountain Lions a spotted fur

[crisp moat]

One thing I would like to say... Wolves COULD work on this map. I've seen people on other platforms in the community recommend it. It isn't a bad idea, but not a good one either. Wolves are currently WAYYYY too aggressive, so they wouldn't work on a map where mainly new players play. If predators get a rework and wolves attack very rarely, it could be a great idea, but currently, it isn't. So, before anybody says I should add wolves to the backfillings list, read this post!

[crisp moat]

Real Columbian Black-tailed deer vs COTW Black-Tailed deer...

[crisp moat]

What piebald beavers could look like if added 👇

[native cloud]

Nope Hirsch will remain the og forever and there are some pretty well liked threads to prove that

But yeah Layton needs love

[native cloud]

The mallard x american black duck is already in-game and called brown hybrid. American black duck are an east coast species that's why I think other ducks like the bufflehead of American wigeon would fit better on layton

[crisp moat]

Bufflehead is a good idea, and I think they should be added. I’m not going to be removing the American black duck though. I still think it would be nice for the map. I’m also not sure if Brown hybrid is 🇺🇸 black duck. The real life and in-game look nothing alike.

[crisp moat]

I didn’t say everybody agrees, just said most people.Could you perhaps remove the hirschfelden links though? I’m not trying to promote a Hirschfelden remake.

[native cloud]

Gurl let's not Beef I still think Hirsch has the majority

[crisp moat]

I understand your opinion, but please could you remove the threads. I only want threads posted here that could improve Layton, not other maps.

[native cloud]

I did tgat

[crisp moat]

Thank you ❤️

[crisp moat]

If we ever got otters, this should be a multimount.

[crisp moat]

BTW, sorry if I ever sound mean or aggressive, I'm genuinely not trying to be. It's just kinda the way I am. I apologize in advance.

[crisp moat]

An easy multimount that could have been in the Layton trophy cabin… One of the foxes could have possibly been substituted for a Coyote…

[crisp moat]

If pheasants and bobcats were to be added to Layton, this is another Multimount possibility

[crisp moat]

Bump

[crude grove]

We have this multimount basicly in the game and could use it if we would have the option to choose multiple species per slot and only 1 with a needed gender. There could be endless possiblities if we could do that

[crisp moat]

Yeah the species restriction could go. What I mainly meant was like the pheasant on the branch and the bobcat leaping onto the branch is the cool part.

[crude grove]

Yeah i know it looks very cool a shame it didnt came with rancho or new england

[native cloud]

#1241417134832222319 👀

[crisp moat]

Possibly my most wanted thing from the survey

[native cloud]

Yeah

[crisp moat]

Like why don’t we have this yet???

This is gonna sound so stupid rn, but hear me out… What if the G1 pheasant could attack you like the Wood grouse? I know it’s not typical for pheasants to do this, but my image of a G1 is an overly aggressive, large and beautiful animal. IDK it’s just my opinion.

[crisp moat]

If the fishing option on the survey wins, these are the mounts I wanna see.

[still lynx]

Unlockable guns to show off big achievements (like harvesting a diamond of every species on the reserve) is such a cool idea.

[crisp moat]

I made another separate post for that, here it is:https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1362526919777845318

[still lynx]

updooted for the great idea!

[crisp moat]

Thanks!

[crisp moat]

Some cool stuff

[native cloud]

You want to hunt t¹ts?

[crisp moat]

Just the mounts are so cool.

[native cloud]

Yeah, #1241417134832222319

[crisp moat]

Bump

[crisp moat]

I just played some RDR2 and I harvested the legendary buck. After shooting it I immediately thought of how cool it looks and how cool new piebald whitetail variants could look in COTW.

[still oriole]

All of these suggested reworks would be perfect

[crisp moat]

Srry for inactivity, I had some important things to deal with

[flint ore]

Nope... Hirschfelden is the best base game map... but yeah... Layton could really get some love.

[crisp moat]

Bumping this up again

[crisp moat]

Wanted to say, if you’ve ever played the Season, you’d know the bucks have amazing racks. Turkey hunting is also the most realistic of any game. I highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t. Really good game with a lot of details that could improve COTW if implemented to COTW

[crisp moat]

Just look at these models 🤩 These have to be added to Layton!

[crisp moat]

Hirsch is definitely a fun map, but in my opinion Layton is my favourite and I feel like more of the community likes Layton

[crisp moat]

I have changed the post to only include backfills, because with the recent update and map a lot of the “new species option” on this post was added, so they are all now Backfills, and this map no longer needs brand new species, just backfills

[crisp moat]

I will post some more pictures of Animals I got on Askiy that I think should be on Layton.

Also, I’d personally enjoy Wood Bison on Layton. Does this idea make much sense? Not really, since it’s a PNW map, but I’d still like them on it. I know the majority of people dislike the idea of Bison on Layton, thus they aren’t on my list of backfills. I’d like the same for Pronghorn, but they aren’t on this list for the same reasons as Bison, and same goes for Mule deer and Wolves

[crisp moat]

These would be awesome on Layton!!

[crisp moat]

I know a lot of People don’t like the idea of Pronghorn on Layton since it’s a PNW map and would make it a mix half a mix of all the NA, but just look at these models

[crisp moat]

Bump for Layton Lakes!!

I thought I’d pin this here: https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1330035521510178846

They did a much better job at showing how a map can be improved

[crisp moat]

A lot of species renames should also be of top priority. We need Sub-species as well as a Black bear drink time change

[crisp moat]

Why do we have a “Layton lake duck hunter” wrap for our weapons, but only have 1 duck on Layton?

[worthy coral]

yeah I agree, it really doesn't make sense that there's only one waterfowl species on the map

[crisp moat]

Exactly, the new Pintail would work amazing. And the Gadwall ducks. If we could only get 2 species to backfill onto Layton, I’d pick these two, even though Bighorn sheep and Mountain goat would also improve it massively.

[crisp moat]

Updated Backfilling map. Yellow is already on map, green is in game but not on map. Pink is honourable mentions. Personally I think Layton doesn’t need any species not in game. It just needs a lot of backfillings.

[valid kayak]

Gray Wolf

[crisp moat]

There has been previous discussions as to why Gray Wolf would not work on Layton. Firstly, it’s a base game/beginner map, so it would not be a good idea to let overly aggressive wolves attack new players. Secondly, Gray wolves are endangered in Washington and are illegal to hunt.

[valid kayak]

Understandable the first one, but the second one counter argument we have Bengal Tigers and snow leopards in the game, and we have Woodland Caribou in Alberta which last time I checked are also illegal to hunt so that argument is now thrown right out the window so if they added gray wolf to Layton not to mention before Yukon was announced at night in Layton Lakes, you could clearly hear wolves howling in the distance meaning there are wolves in Layton Lakes or the surrounding area so it wouldn’t necessarily be the most controversial or questionable thing they’ve done they could just give the wolves lower 3 to 6 packs on the map alone population just like Mountain lions. I’d also argue about having mountain lions on Layton because there’s a chance they could make them more aggressive in the future with a rework so yeah.

[crisp moat]

Snow Leopards and Tigers are the main selling point of Sundarpatan, and Woodland Caribou don’t make a huge difference to Askiy ridge. Wolves on Layton would not work, and I will not add them to the list.

[valid kayak]

OK, fine but I’d also argue mountain lions probably wouldn’t work because I have a feeling they might become more aggressive if they ever get reworked…. Which I have a feeling might be happening soon, due to them and Grizzlies both being highly requested for Askiy Ridge

[crisp moat]

That’s why I put Mountain lions on the list as a small population. Also, Mountain lions almost never attack/kill people in real life, so there would be no point in making them “more aggressive” they could go aggressive on very rare occasions, but not actually pounce on you.

[valid kayak]

True but there are more reports of mountain lions attacking people, Then there are wolves attacking people IRL so they could probably rework the wolves to make them less aggressive

[valid kayak]

Also, to be fair though, you could also make the same suggestion for “Askiy Ridge” with Mountain Lions!…. This could even apply with grizzly bears too.

[crisp moat]

Askiy ridge is perfect as it is. It needs to improvements whatsoever.

[valid kayak]

Not really me and a lot of other people agree that while it’s fantastic it is feels like some species are missing not to each their own I guess but yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if they add mountain lions and grizzly bears, which I and many of the community hope they do

[crisp moat]

74 people compared to a lot of others isn’t a lot. Now I’m not saying 21 votes to upgrade layton is a lot, but I’m just stating that not many people would like to see that change for Askiy ridge.

This is not an Askiy ridge improvement forum, so let’s keep it Layton related things.

[valid kayak]

Yeah no your right about Layton we should keep this on About Layton but Still still feels kind of weird that those two species were mentioned in the story missions, but are not huntable species… especially since mountain lion hunting is big in Alberta and British Columbia…. But we’ll talk about that on my post if you want…. But anyways yeah, let’s stick to Layton for now.

[mystic lark]

There are no wild bison near where Layton Lake District is based, although honestly I would have loved to have them in this map so much. I absolutely love it, it's become my favorite animal in the game.

[crisp moat]

Yeah that’s why I have them on honourable mentions, it wouldn’t make sense to include them on the map, but I’d love to have 2 base game bison species.

[mystic lark]

That's right, I completely agree with you. After all, if they send us a duck that has no business being in the Vurhonga savannah, they can make up for it with the wood bison from the Layton Lakes District.

[crisp moat]

Also with the Kudu on Vurhonga, so maybe having Wood bison on layton isn’t a huge stretch.

They could work on the east side of the map, or possibly the more central areas like the Balmont region

[mystic lark]

And then, bison, compared to wolves, when they attack, aren't scary.
On the other hand, aggressive animals are less frightening than the largest and most dangerous predator, which recently received an update: the black bear. Seriously, now they give you heart attacks when they scream; it's horrible.

[valid kayak]

Actually, I think I do have a way we “Could” work with gray wolves on Layton. Emphasis on “Could”… and that is have them exclusively be for a fun holiday event like a “Halloween event” like in Classic with Werewolves but instead have it be regular Gray Wolves… this will be the only time wolves will ever be on Layton ever during these events and that’s it!… again this is just an idea will it probably happen maybe maybe not…. Probably not but still it’s just a fun idea

By the way, this isn’t just for this. I’m just saying in general like if they the devs ever decided to do something like that. This would probably be the only way to do it.

[crisp moat]

Actually… I can definitely get behind an idea like that! It’s a fun little thing to make layton a little more challenging in a certain part of year. I also like that idea since it keeps the game realistic, and spooky without adding criptids. There could also be a special rare variant obtainable during this time of the year, almost like a great one fur. Yeah, that’s a great idea.

[mystic lark]

after that we can also make sure to see them only at night because we expect them at night. Or if I remember correctly there is a wolf coyote hybrid, this could be a kind of rare coyote skin.

[crisp moat]

bump

[quick hatch]

BUMPPPPPPPP

[crisp moat]

^

[crisp moat]

In the layton lake trophy cabin there's green winged teal decoys above the fireplace 👀 👀

Also Greylag goose decoys butttttttt, maybe those two are going to get backfilled to 1 of the two base maps. Greylag to hirsch and teal to Layton.

Also Tufted duck decoys but yall get what I'm trying to say here lol

[zinc carbon]

I'm getting the impression that a lot of stuff in the Layton Lodge is supposed to reference the other reserves:

• the photos you took for Doc on New England Mountains
• waterfowl decoys for Revontuli Coast
• Grankin's Shotgun from Medved
• "Alpine Ops" poster from Te Awaroa
• i think some of the light purple flowers are either from Cuatro Colinas or Parque Fernando
• "Los de Abajo" novel from Rancho del Arroyo (i think it's also found in some of the outposts on NEM too)

there's probably a few more that I'm forgetting lol

[zinc carbon]

though some of these are also reoccuring throughout other reserves in general, especially the Alpine Ops poster

[crisp moat]

Probably is just a few references, but I'll forever hope and pray Layton gets more Waterfowl. Snow Goose, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Pintail, Wood duck and Green-winged teal (Even though they are a honorable mention on my list)

[crisp moat]

And the fishing poster that can be found in many outposts.

[zinc carbon]

oh yeah, the record album covers that you can use with the record player in the Spring Creek lodge are in the Layton one too

[crisp moat]

btw, would it be alright if I pin your moose revamp post here? I'll give you credit for it of course, but I feel like if that happens, Layton immediatly gets an epic upgrade.

[plain stream]

Why is wood bison even an honorable mention, they never lived in the lower 48 considering Central Alberta is as far south as they ever lived historically and the only US state they ever called home was Alaska (And yes there is Plains Bison in Alaska, they only got introduced because at the time the wood bison was thought to be extinct).

[crisp moat]

I've said this before... It's just a list of things I'd like that do not make sense at all. I know it's a very stupid thing to ask because it's so highly unrealistic, but Bison are my favourite animal. So the main list was things the main community would like from my understanding, and the honorable mentions are just the silly, unrealistic things I want.

[crisp moat]

This is just reference that I have said so before btw

[zinc carbon]

sure! moose hunting on Layton is an iconic thing for me, since that's where I shot my first diamond (which was a moose) back in 2021 when I started the game, so improving moose and being able to enjoy them on Layton in more realistic locations would be awesome ^-^

[crisp moat]

Alright, thank you 💚

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1388233541644587008

A post made by @zinc carbon (All credits to her) about how to improve moose. Moose are super cool, but not exactly realistic, and this post explains how they could be better. I personally also adore moose and really hope they get reworked.

[valid kayak]

So I guess now we can Add “Gray Wolf” on the list….BUT if so Make Sure to Mark them As “Halloween Event Exclusive” as In You can only Hunt Gray Wolves on Layton During The “Halloween Season Event” as a fun little Challenge for that map on that time of year, and for that time of year the challenge does feel right even for a beginner friendly map….but any other time of the year it just feels kind of wrong for a beginner map…. There are still gray wolves in the area so they definitely should be added for Halloween but again Halloween only. and afterwards they are gone and I have to wait again for the next Halloween event next year like a more realistic version of the Werewolf Events from Classic!

[plain stream]

Why are you so insistent on grey wolves being on Layton Lakes?

[valid kayak]

Because they are in the Area! Before Yukon was announced as a fun hint At night on LL you could hear Wolves howling in the Distance so they are in the area! Plus With a Halloween Event you can play around with this kinda like the Werewolves in Classic but in a more Realistic kinda way

[zinc carbon]

yeah, iirc there are populations of grey wolves in the Pacific Northwest, so it's not completely unrealistic for them to be on Layton

I wouldn't mind it if they were made to be somewhat rare (like tigers and snow leopards are on Sundarpatan), that way we don't get another SRP situation (you can barely hunt bc mountain lions are ALWAYS chasing stuff)

[crisp moat]

Yeah extremely low populations or the halloween event suggestion.

[plain stream]

I am personally against their inclusion on Layton Lakes, not every map needs to have protected species on it and not every map needs to have dangerous predators on it (I do enjoy the dangerous animals but not every map needs them)

If any large predator deserves to be on Layton Lakes, its the mountain lion

[valid kayak]

I mean, I can understand why, but also don’t entirely throw them out besides, they would be exclusive for the Halloween event! Again, we’re just saying exclusive the Halloween event or like mountain lions, gray wolves would have very low population

[valid kayak]

Also, this might just be me thing but I’m dying for a mountain lion and gray wolf shared map. I would just like to see how the 2 species of would interact with each other. Also, I would love to see a coyote and Gray Wolf shared map. We already have a gray wolf and red fox shared map Yukon and we have a Red Fox and Coyote Shared map NEM but we still don’t have a gray wolf and coyote shared map

[plain stream]

While I do remember COTW having a Halloween event in the past

That seems more of something done in Classic

[crisp moat]

bump

[crisp moat]

To the top! Layton needs a rework!

[crisp moat]

bump

[crisp moat]

Up

[trim plover]

To much birds, this is a map for new players. they wont add to much waterfowl and geese because there is no birdshot unlocked for new players

[crisp moat]

Bro I'm sorry but do you not know what Suggestions means? I'm literally giving EW options for what could work. Did I ever say they need to add everything??

[trim plover]

ik bro but they probably wont add anymore waterfowl or geese or upland birds

[crisp moat]

Layton has 1 Waterfowl species, but it could have so, so, so many more options. A map with so much water but only 1 duck is just silly. The least they could do is add 4 more waterfowl so that the map has 5 instead of just one. Those should preferably be: Gadwall, Pintail, Snow Goose, Canada Goose/Goldeneye.

[trim plover]

maybe they could add a few more considering more then just new players play it.

[crisp moat]

Most new players avoid Layton lmao, Layton is just nostalgic to most people who played way back in 2017-2021, and with the changes it has suffered over the years adding some new species in the form of waterfowl/upland game birds/Big game/Small game is needed to bring players back.

[spiral viper]

I think in order to justify the cost of doing a Layton rework they would need to make it Layton 2.0 ....

You would still be able to play the Original Layton Map and some updated models would cross over between the 2... But it should be treated as a new map DLC to get the new species and the enhanced environments .....

[trim plover]

true

[crisp moat]

They could do this with a lot of maps, great idea 💡

[spiral viper]

I touched on this in this Idea of having seasonal maps here ... https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1224777679790669955

So the original Layton Map could stay as is and be renamed Layton Early Season ... And the new Layton Map would be Called Layton Late Season .... The price charged for the Layton late Map would depend on how much work went into the changes made .... So maybe not the cost of a full map ...

Along the same lines .... as you say .... they could apply this same seasonal treatment to some other maps as well .....

Just a thought to generate additional revenue for EW and give the players additional value as well ...

The only downside could be the increase in size of the installation files having basically 2 or more versions of the same map ....

[safe musk]

Snow goose really?

That seems unrealistic

[crisp moat]

Please explain why? They’re in the region and they are in Oregon…

[safe musk]

Because i thought they only were in snowy areas

What do the colors indicate on this map?

[crisp moat]

There wasn’t a key included with the map, but I think yellow is year round and idk about the others.

[crisp moat]

You know snow melts, right…

[crude grove]

I hope they do that for hirsch, it has so much wasted potential

[crisp moat]

I agree

[crude grove]

Most of the wateredges Look trash, the Terrain is sometimes weird and the Western parts has unused high Alpine mountains that would be perfect for chamois and ibex

[safe musk]

*colder areas such as the Arctic, maybe Greenland and most of Canada

Forgive me for not being specific, because snow can even reach the desert so my bad