spoilers Is the Cougar Darkwalker-Inspired?

[Veskaida]

Potential Spoilers for the "Escape the Darkwalker" challenge, as well as the Cougar's behavior in survival sandbox.

 

First things first:

I love the Cougar's theme and the struggle animation, it's so atmospheric once it arrives or if you're near it's den. TLD has a lot of gorgeous animations (the huge variety for wolves/timberwolves, the mo-cap in Storymode, and the new hand animations) but I think the Cougar's struggle easily is head and shoulders above the rest, it's so detailed and I love how much personality you can get from this animal with how it looks at the survivor and reacts during the attack.

I'm also sad to see the Cougar currently disabled, I liked the implementation as well as the feat and items, and I sincerely hope that Hinterlands does not make these two new Cougar items or the Feat "Big Cat Killer" deprecated, and that they can still be acquired in a future patch. I also hope that the Cougar's gorgeous struggle animation remains, I really do feel this is by far the best animation in the game.

 

I did have some questions/speculation and wanted to hear other player's thoughts, but my personal interpretation is that the Cougar is Darkwalker-inspired.

• Both follow the survivor to new regions (Darkwalker very quickly, Cougar after the encroachment period)
• Are invisible entities which pursue the survivor across a region
• Frighten nearby wildlife (Darkwalker is in a ~50m radius, Cougar seems to be when the animal arrives in-region)
• Play unique audio (Darkwalker footsteps, Cougar footsteps/hiss/cries)
• Play unique music which gets louder the closer it nears to the survivor (Darkwalker theme, Cougar theme)
• Play a scripted cutscene upon reaching the survivor
• Can be defeated by performing a ritual in a specific location (Darkwalker: gathering notes and travel to Ash Canyon, Cougar: gather noisemakers, travel to randomized Cougar Den)

Personally I like this implementation of the Cougar. The Darkwalker is a fun challenge but isn't survivable long-term because of "Toxic Fog", so I see the Cougar as being a more survivable version of The Darkwalker for sandbox mode. Of anything I wish the timer for the cougar to appear was shorter, like maybe half of what it currently is just to be able and see it more often and be threatened more by it.

Edited June 29, 2024 by Veskaida

[rush247]

Raph actually already answered this in another thread.