Hey there, folks!
Welcome back to Monster of the Week, the series where we take one of DDoD’s mutants, put it under the development microscope, and show how it went from an idea to something that is very clearly trying to kill you.
Cow Gunner 🐄
When the Fog spread across the region, some livestock were left trapped inside abandoned farms.
They kept breathing the contaminated air, and eventually something inside them changed.
The Cow Gunner’s lungs and stomach mutated into a kind of unstable elemental reactor. Fog builds up inside its body, condenses into volatile masses, and can then be released as explosive projectiles.
So yes.
The cow has guns now!
Its exposed ribcage has been torn outward and reshaped around its body. Beneath the skin, glowing elemental veins pulse through the creature as the Fog keeps feeding the mutation.
Despite its size, the Cow Gunner is not just a slow ranged enemy.
Getting closer does not solve the problem.
A Very Heavy Problem
At close range, the Cow Gunner relies on the traditional bovine combat toolkit:
Horns. Hooves. And several hundred kilograms of bad intentions.
Its Double Punch starts with a horn strike, followed by a much stronger second hit that knocks the player down.
It can also simply Charge toward its target, using its full mass to smash through anyone standing in the way.
So if you see it lowering its head toward you, moving would be a reasonable response.
The Gunner Part
Keeping your distance is not much safer.
When the Cow Gunner prepares its Elemental Charge, it opens its exposed ribcage and builds an unstable elemental projectile inside.
Then it fires.
The projectile explodes on impact, dealing elemental damage around the point of detonation.
The original creature idea was built around the Fog accumulating inside the animal like an unstable reactor. In combat, that idea became something much more visible. The ribs open, the energy builds, and you get a short warning that something unpleasant is about to leave the cow.
Usually in your direction.
So... How Did We End Up Here?
The Cow Gunner started with a fairly simple question: What if the cow itself became the weapon platform?
The early concepts took that idea quite literally.
The basic bovine silhouette stayed recognizable, while the ribcage was pushed far beyond the body and turned into the creature’s defining feature.
Huge ribs run along its entire back, creating something between armor, a cage, and a natural weapons rack. Some of the early concepts literally explored weapons sitting between those ribs (because apparently simply mutating the cow was not enough).
Step One: Open the Cow
The biggest visual challenge was making the exposed ribcage feel like part of the creature rather than something placed on top of it. The concepts explored how the ribs could spread apart when the creature attacks. From the side, they create a strong silhouette. From above, they open around the body and expose the mutated tissue running along the spine.
The result gave us an important part of both the visual design and the gameplay language:
Closed ribs, giant mutant cow.
Open ribs, probably move.
Simple enough.
Step Two: From Weapons Rack to Natural Artillery
Some of the concept sketches pushed the “Gunner” idea very directly, with firearms caught or mounted inside the enormous rib structure.
But the final creature moved further toward biological horror.
Instead of relying on weirdly placed firearms, the Cow Gunner itself became the artillery system. Its mutated organs produce the ammunition. Its exposed ribs frame the firing mechanism. And the Fog provides the energy.
That made the creature feel less like a cow carrying weapons, and more like something the Fog had rebuilt specifically for combat.
Step Three: Bringing It Into the Game
The final model keeps the parts that make the creature immediately recognizable, as there is still a cow underneath all of this.
The bovine head and body remain intact enough to read at a glance, while the oversized ribcage completely changes its silhouette. Exposed bone surrounds the back. Raw tissue sits between the ribs. Bright elemental cracks run through the body and show that whatever is happening inside this thing is very much still active.
Those glowing areas also help communicate the creature’s connection to the Fog and draw attention toward the mutated parts responsible for its ranged attacks.
Once it starts moving through the environment, the contrast becomes even stranger: a familiar farm animal shape carrying a giant skeletal artillery frame.
Which Monster Should We Dig Up Next?
That’s it for Monster of the Week #3!
The Cow Gunner may now return to its normal daily routine of charging people, launching explosive Fog, and calling the whole neighborhood whenever someone fights back.
If you enjoyed seeing how the creature evolved from early concepts into the version you encounter in DDoD, let us know in the comments.
More importantly, which DDoD monster should we cover next?
Tell us below. We’re curious which creature you’d like us to put under the development microscope next.
See you in the next Monster of the Week.
Your DDoD Team 🐌View game page