Of all the animals in the game, I genuinely think the Timber Wolf is the ugliest. Pretty much all the canines in the game look good to great, but then you have the wolf and its face just looks so strange. I can't seem to place it, but its snout seems stretched too thin and the eyes are oddly spaced. I hardly use the timber wolves because I hate how they look, so I often opt for the arctic wolf instead. But I really feel like it could use a proper model update, I'd say more so than the lion or malayan tapir.
Timber Wolf is in desperate need of a model update
- Thread starter Sahara
- Start date
The arctic wolf, dingo and Dhole all look much better than the timber wolf, but I'd rand it third in the list of animals that need an upgrade. I think the male lion is the most problematic, and the Malayan tapir after.
The orangutan is another problematic one, in that it moves like a gorilla (even though the model looks fine), and that's why I don't use them nearly as much as I want.
The orangutan is another problematic one, in that it moves like a gorilla (even though the model looks fine), and that's why I don't use them nearly as much as I want.
I’d rank the tapir first. For me the lion is a stylised look which I don’t love but the tapir is just wrong and in urgent need of attention.
This! I want a definite decision on which wolf subspecies they are supposed to represent. Along with a map update.
I disagree with the current wolf representing the entire grey wolf species. In that case there should never have been an Arctic wolf subspecies added to the game, because we already had the wolf as a species and should have gotten white coat colors in the first place. But we did get an Arctic wolf subspecies, so I want to know which subspecies the"timber wolf" is supposed to represent.
Agree with a model change for wolves. And not only that;
I want actual distinguishable color variation for wolves. Wolves have been done so dirty with their three subtle shade differences. Wolves are colorful and have a great spectrum of coat colors!
My head-canon is that it represents both the northwestern wolf and the eurasian wolf. It kinda fits both.
It diesn't represent in any way the hot climate wolves (mexican, arabic, indian) because it gets hot at like 25°C
I think we all can agree that something needs to happen with the wolf. But I find it tricky to come up with the best solution.
- It could stay generic, change the name to Grey Wolf and update the model. This way the usability of the wolf would stay the same, but a generic grey wolf is probably always going to feel odd, because of the visible differences between the subspecies. And the Arctic wolf is still going to be a weird addition to the game this way.
- Make it a prober ''Timber'' Wolf. Canis lupus occidentalis seems to many to be the subspecies that the wolf was originally intended to be, which can be referred to as timber wolf. It especially makes sense to think it at least was intended to be a North American subspecies, because of the scenery in the New World set as well as it being called Timber wolf. This would require and updated model and some Zoopedia changes.
- Make it an Eurasian Wolf (Canis lupus lupus). The issue with making it a specific subspecies, is of course that it would take an animal away for at least one continent, depending on the subspecies. If we make it an American subspecies, then Europe would only be represented by the Greater Flamingo in the base game (if I remember correctly). People is already not satisfied with the European representation in the game, so taking anything away from this continent would not be popular.
The issue is that this would make the New World set pieces feel out of place, and maybe also mess up peoples zoos where the wolves has been used as a NA animal.
Otherwise this would require and updated model and some Zoopedia changes.
To me the only ideal solution is maybe to ask for a bit much. Split the Timber wolf into two. Usually I'm not going to ask for free species being added to the game, but since this is about fixing an issue, rather than really providing something, I don't think it would be fair to make people pay for it.
Let us have bot a Canis lupus occidentalis and a Canis lupus lupus. That way it will still represent the countries it is usually used for and not taking anything away for these continents. Nobody wants to see another Canis Lupus in a DLC, so this would have to be part of a Free update, since it would also affect players who only got the base game.
This is probably a lot more work, but I feel like it would be the best way to deal with this.
- It could stay generic, change the name to Grey Wolf and update the model. This way the usability of the wolf would stay the same, but a generic grey wolf is probably always going to feel odd, because of the visible differences between the subspecies. And the Arctic wolf is still going to be a weird addition to the game this way.
- Make it a prober ''Timber'' Wolf. Canis lupus occidentalis seems to many to be the subspecies that the wolf was originally intended to be, which can be referred to as timber wolf. It especially makes sense to think it at least was intended to be a North American subspecies, because of the scenery in the New World set as well as it being called Timber wolf. This would require and updated model and some Zoopedia changes.
- Make it an Eurasian Wolf (Canis lupus lupus). The issue with making it a specific subspecies, is of course that it would take an animal away for at least one continent, depending on the subspecies. If we make it an American subspecies, then Europe would only be represented by the Greater Flamingo in the base game (if I remember correctly). People is already not satisfied with the European representation in the game, so taking anything away from this continent would not be popular.
The issue is that this would make the New World set pieces feel out of place, and maybe also mess up peoples zoos where the wolves has been used as a NA animal.
Otherwise this would require and updated model and some Zoopedia changes.
To me the only ideal solution is maybe to ask for a bit much. Split the Timber wolf into two. Usually I'm not going to ask for free species being added to the game, but since this is about fixing an issue, rather than really providing something, I don't think it would be fair to make people pay for it.
Let us have bot a Canis lupus occidentalis and a Canis lupus lupus. That way it will still represent the countries it is usually used for and not taking anything away for these continents. Nobody wants to see another Canis Lupus in a DLC, so this would have to be part of a Free update, since it would also affect players who only got the base game.
This is probably a lot more work, but I feel like it would be the best way to deal with this.
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I like your solution. It probably won't be that much work, because the Eurasian wolf would be a clone of the north American wolf, with only new zoopedia info and minor model changes.
Absolutely agree with your Suggestion
I don’t have an issue with the wolf as-is but, of the alternatives you propose, this is the only one that has any appeal (TBH I’d prefer they leave it). IMO the morphological differences among temperate / taiga subspecies is fairly minor and it’s certainly not worth losing future animal slots to add an, essentially, identical subspecies.
Does anyone know what subspecies of grey wolf you would typically find in North American Zoos?
I can mostly find information about the Mexican Grey Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in some zoos, which there seems to be a breeding program for, because it is endangered. But still doesn't seems to be held a lot of places.
Otherwise I can find some information about the Red Wolf, but they are Canis rufus so not a grey wolf (Canis lupus).
Is any subspecies particular common there? Or is it mostly locally rescued wolves you would find in American zoos?
I can mostly find information about the Mexican Grey Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in some zoos, which there seems to be a breeding program for, because it is endangered. But still doesn't seems to be held a lot of places.
Otherwise I can find some information about the Red Wolf, but they are Canis rufus so not a grey wolf (Canis lupus).
Is any subspecies particular common there? Or is it mostly locally rescued wolves you would find in American zoos?
One classification I have seen being mentioned more in recent times, that could be used, is for the wolves of northern Eurasia and North America to be combined into a single group referred to as Holarctic grey wolves.
If this was used, it would then remove the much more different-looking southern subspecies such as the Mexican, Arabian, Indian and Himalayan wolves from the group.
If this was used, it would then remove the much more different-looking southern subspecies such as the Mexican, Arabian, Indian and Himalayan wolves from the group.
That wouldn’t solve the issue that people seem to have, since the holarctic includes the range of the arctic wolf subspecies.
This. I thought the same thing, but thought it was too farfetched.
I prefer if it's a specific subspecies because then it's weird we have the gray wolf and then the Arctic (gray) wolf. And if you include the dingo as another subspecies, it's even more inconsistent.
I'd say make it a North American species (we have proof it was meant to be that by looking at the New World theme, among other things). Then, tweak it here and there and give us a European/Eurasian species. I had a chart somewhere with different wolf types. Lemme find it...
Here we go:
Here's also a link to another thread about renaming the wolf: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...-by-changing-the-language-of-the-game.585670/
Here's also a link to another thread about renaming the wolf: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...-by-changing-the-language-of-the-game.585670/
The arctic wolf looks really good. That is all I have to say.
Im just leaving this here, for all the "bUt aLl tHoUsE bIg dIfFeRenCes".
These differences are not worth splitting them in two different ingame species, or to just take some representation from either continent.
Just a very not ideal move, and they should just rename them grey wolf.
Do they look like their warmer climate subspecies? No but who are we kidding, they were never meant to be. In discribtions, looks and biomes, they are meant to be the subspecies ranging from temperate to taiga, so calling for the northamerican subspecies, because "they dont represent all subspecies" is stupid. Id rather get the red wolf like we got the arctic one, some subspecies with actual visual differences, instead of doing this limiting move.
And thats the main problem, its limiting. So stop it, dont limit the ways we can use the wolfs for what ever differences you find in these 5 pictures.
The fact that its called timberwolf is the mistake and should just simply be renamed to grey wolf, cause its a bad word, as it is unprecise and doesnt have a real meaning. Its not a real species or subspecies, but just a cool way to say cold biome wolf.
I mean just look at were that word is mostly used? When you check the habitat, it most of the time shows both eurasia and northamerica, even in zoos (cause yes i found german zoos that used timberwolf for their european wolf and had the informations written for the generic grey wolf)
I actually think “Timberwolf” is not bad as a designation: the in-game wolf is a good representation the general taiga/cold temperate ecomorph of the grey wolf, that mostly inhabits forested areas. ‘Timberwolf’, though it does generally refer to North American wolves, does not refer to a particular subspecies, but does refer to the taiga/temperate forest ecomorph. It is hard to think of another term that specifically refers to forest wolves in this way… maybe ‘forest wolf’ but that’s not (as far as I know) a term that’s in general use.