Future Anniversary Animals

Fallax

Fallax
I've been thinking again, last years anniversary animal could hint towards this years.

The red deer is three things:
1. It represents a family of animals that was not represented in the base game but subsequently got a good representation through DLC
2. It was a decently requested animal, being pretty high on the META-Wishlist
3. It was not too difficult to make, being able to use the rig of a pre-existing animal

With these three things in mind, what is another species which ticks all these boxes?

The first thing my mind went to was this...

goodinfonet_10_of_the_happiest_fact_ever_sea_otters_hold_hands_when_they_sleep_1597456079_0.jpg

The sea otter fills these categories well but I don't think there has been much discussion about it as a contender.
1. Mustelids and specifically otters had no rep in base game but now we have multiple in DLC, we also have 0 marine mammals in base game
2. It's quite well requested and is high on the META-Wishlist
3. I imagine it could use the existing otter rig? Though some modders here might be able to say otherwise

What do you all think?
 

NachoB

NachoB
I think sea otters would require specific new animations for them, but also if included in the base game will reduce the selling value of both the aquatic and the wetlands packs since otters are very popular animals and i imagine are a big selling points of those packs i guess.

Also lemurs were already present in the basegame and yet we got another one for anniversary.

I still think both the rhea and the blackbuck are perfect for anniversary animals.
 

Marvinb

Marvinb
Could be. Although i have the Feeling they are gonna keep it as the big carnivore spot in a temperate pack. Cant really tell why, just a gut feeling.
But i think its likely well get something from the americas since we already went to africa and eurasia for the anniversary, so im guessing american flamingo, sandhill crane and squirrel monkey
 

Marvinb

Marvinb
I have the little therory that the red deer was chosen last year because it kinda was the perfect anniversary animal.
1. It was a nice to have animal, but nothing super exciting or major selling point for another potential dlc
2. It was decently easy to make since it, as far as i know, shares all Animation with the fallow deer
3. It neatly filled some big holes in the basegame roster namely: no deer of any kind and europe having litteraly zero animals besides the Flamingo.

So i hope this years anniversary animal can also do something similar :)
 

Fallax

Fallax
American black bear does seem like the obvious pick for a very easy to make, decently popular carnivore. Maybe too obvious, I mean the red deer basically shocked everyone.

It's quite difficult to predict this when our two anniversary animals are wildly different.

First is a literal reskin of a base game animal that while nice to have nobody really asked for.

Second is probably the most iconic species of it's family (which had no rep at all in base game) based on a dlc animal rig.

So can we expect a repeat of 2021, 2022 or something entirely different? Who knows lol 😂
 
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YesIndeed

YesIndeed
Crazy idea. I think the Lace monitor could be a pretty good anniversary animal. It can use the water monitor rig. Gives an animal to Oceania which was lacking in base game and we haven't visited in an aniversary. And it's fairly recognisable animal from the reigon.

Perentie could also work since its more popular but I think it's a bit less regonizeable then the average goanna.
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Cynogale bennettii II said:
I have decided I will focus on habitat birds here, specifically ones that can be made from the three base game species, because they are what I would want most for an anniversary animal:

A new flamingo species - Could be very easily made from the greater flamingo. I would go for either the American or Chilean flamingo, to add a New World species to the game.
A rhea species - Could be made from the ostrich, but would need a number of smaller changes. The greater rhea is the more commonly-kept species globally, while the Darwin's rhea has the more unique biome (living mainly in cold mountainous habitats).
Green peafowl - Could be made from the Indian peafowl, but again would need a number of small changes to make it unique. This would add an Endangered species from a different region to the Indian peafowl.

A couple of more oddball choices derived from the peafowl:
Ocellated turkey - Have a very similar overall form and appearance to peafowl, including the fan-tailed courtship display of the male, and could quite easily be made from them. They would add a vividly coloured bird that is also an excellent addition to Latin American tropical displays.
Great bustard - These also have the fan-tailed courtship display of the peafowl, but would need an additional animation where the throat sac is enlarged. Having seen them myself in a safari park, they are hugely impressive birds, that would add a threatened species native to Europe, Central Asia and Northwest Africa.

View attachment 357801
These images show the similarity in head and beak shape between the three species (the crest of the peafowl could be repurposed into the turkey's comb, or removed altogether for the bustard).

View attachment 357802
These images show the courtship displays of the three species - all share the dropped wings and fanned tail, but the turkey would need the extending of its snood and the bustard expansion of the throat sac.

I would say all of these would be as simple or simpler to make as producing the red deer was.
Click to expand...
I have found another bird that could use a lot of peafowl animations, albeit one that would require at least one set of completely original animations - the Temminck's tragopan. It isn't a massively requested species (only 8 votes on the meta wishlist), but would add a smaller pheasant species to the game from temperate and mountainous habitats. They will perform a display in which the tail is fanned out, as below:

1697638788616.png
1697638798592.png


However, they would need a new animation for their proper courtship display.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm2R8qUA0-U


I don't except them to be a free anniversary species, but I just really want them now that I've paid a bit more attention to them.
 

Fallax

Fallax
Cynogale bennettii II said:
I have found another bird that could use a lot of peafowl animations, albeit one that would require at least one set of completely original animations - the Temminck's tragopan. It isn't a massively requested species (only 8 votes on the meta wishlist), but would add a smaller pheasant species to the game from temperate and mountainous habitats. They will perform a display in which the tail is fanned out, as below:

View attachment 370987 View attachment 370988

However, they would need a new animation for their proper courtship display.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm2R8qUA0-U


I don't except them to be a free anniversary species, but I just really want them now that I've paid a bit more attention to them.
Click to expand...
Tragopans are underrated, this would be an awesome addition.
 
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