What happened to the planned Hippos and Crocs?

[jaelyn666]

In February they said they were going to add Hippos and Crocs to the tropics as well as a new tropical boar form, I was extremely excited for this as I live in the tropics in game and it is severely lacking in predators and it would add so much life to a neglected region of the game. I am sorely disappointed they didn't add this in 1.21, that being said this is still my absolute favorite game of all time and I have nothing but appreciation and respect for the developers, I would feel a lot better if I knew these animals were still coming. I hope they do a tropical update and really flesh out the equator a lot more for tropical lovers like myself. The coral reefs were definitely a step in the right direction :3

[Ryilo]

More fauna is always welcome. The 1.21 is more about fixing other things, I think I have read somewhere that 1.22 is going to be more about content, though they talked more about new "mechanical" content, I'm not sure.

[Echo Weaver]

Hmm. Those are both scary predators, so it makes sense. 

(OK, hippos don't technically count as predators, do they? They're herbivores. They'll kill you and not even eat you.)

I don't know that I want vanilla to have a whole lot of species of fauna, honestly. The current state reinforces the sense of a post-apocalyptic world that is rebuilding its ecosystem. But it may be that the devs never intended it to have that kind of bleak feel; they just haven't been able to add all the fauna they want. 

Edited August 21, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[Maelstrom]

42 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

I don't know that I want vanilla to have a whole lot of species of fauna, honestly. The current state reinforces the sense of a post-apocalyptic world that is rebuilding its ecosystem. But it may be that the devs never intended it to have that kind of bleak feel; they just haven't been able to add all the fauna they want. 

I too like the sense of a world rebuilding itself after an apocalyptic event (and here comes the but...
 

spoilered because of story lore theory.

Spoiler

There's hints that what Jonas did was to somewhat avert the apocalypse but the shenanigans he did warped time creating a different apocalypse.  One that has potentially not yet occurred.

 

Edited August 21, 2025 by Maelstrom

[Echo Weaver]

1 minute ago, Maelstrom said:

I too like the sense of a world rebuilding itself after an apocalyptic event (and here comes the but...

Gah. I'm just starting Chapter 1 at last, so I'm afraid to read your spoiler. I'm kind of awed by how little I know about the worldbuilding so far. That's a huge compliment to this forum's respect for spoilers.

I'm sure it's a good insight. I'll take your word that there are lore reasons that adding more fauna makes sense. 

[Maelstrom]

Indeed.  Mind you my comment is based on chapter 2 lore disclosures (while not disclosing anything specifically) and is highly speculative.  Which means what the devs develop will likely be wildly different than what I dreamt up in the moments of reading your comment.

And that is theoretically, imaginarily, hypothetically all.

Edited August 21, 2025 by Maelstrom

[LadyWYT]

I'm pretty sure that was 1.22 content that was teased. 1.21 is primarily fixing a lot of issues and improving already existing content.

2 hours ago, Echo Weaver said:

(OK, hippos don't technically count as predators, do they? They're herbivores. They'll kill you and not even eat you.)

Funny thing about the animal kingdom...just because it eats plants doesn't mean it won't snack on some protein from time to time. For hippos specifically...given how aggressive they are and how many people and other creatures they manage to kill per year, I would say they count as honorary predators, at least.

[Maelstrom]

41 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

For hippos specifically...given how aggressive they are and how many people and other creatures they manage to kill per year, I would say they count as honorary predators, at least.

I'd say the hippos are like bighorn sheep and get rather spicy about their personal space except the hippos tell dem sheeps, "hold my beer.  Watch this!"

 

[jaelyn666]

On 8/21/2025 at 6:52 AM, Echo Weaver said:

Hmm. Those are both scary predators, so it makes sense. 

(OK, hippos don't technically count as predators, do they? They're herbivores. They'll kill you and not even eat you.)

I don't know that I want vanilla to have a whole lot of species of fauna, honestly. The current state reinforces the sense of a post-apocalyptic world that is rebuilding its ecosystem. But it may be that the devs never intended it to have that kind of bleak feel; they just haven't been able to add all the fauna they want. 

Hippos absolutely do eat meat occasionally, and if you look into the animal kingdom almost all animals if not all will eat meat given the opportunity, cows will eat dead birds on occasion on my families ranch.

[jaelyn666]

On 8/21/2025 at 9:37 AM, LadyWYT said:

I'm pretty sure that was 1.22 content that was teased. 1.21 is primarily fixing a lot of issues and improving already existing content.

Funny thing about the animal kingdom...just because it eats plants doesn't mean it won't snack on some protein from time to time. For hippos specifically...given how aggressive they are and how many people and other creatures they manage to kill per year, I would say they count as honorary predators, at least.

I sure hope we get this content in 1.22 cx

[Nabbs1]

On 8/21/2025 at 6:52 AM, Echo Weaver said:

Hmm. Those are both scary predators, so it makes sense. 

(OK, hippos don't technically count as predators, do they? They're herbivores. They'll kill you and not even eat you.)

I don't know that I want vanilla to have a whole lot of species of fauna, honestly. The current state reinforces the sense of a post-apocalyptic world that is rebuilding its ecosystem. But it may be that the devs never intended it to have that kind of bleak feel; they just haven't been able to add all the fauna they want. 

they are actually omnivores but generally mainly eat plants.   They do eat crocs,  and they are the most dangerous animal in Africa

[Echo Weaver]

5 minutes ago, Nabbs1 said:

they are actually omnivores but generally mainly eat plants.   They do eat crocs,  and they are the most dangerous animal in Africa

I had no idea they ate meat at all. Lesson learned.