I'd always known that creating an interesting variety of dens in the upcoming Katmai Coast game expansion would be difficult. This coastal strip is pretty flat and blanketed with grass and gravel. Wolves are smart enough not to den on the beach or in the mountains, which get quite rugged as they rise from that coastal strip.

So that means a lot of dirt burrow dens -- especially since most dens are in those grassy areas fairly near the shoreline. Most food for Katmai wolves comes from the water, so why wouldn't you make your den close to it? To dramatize this fact of life on the coast, rival wolves consider territory hexes near the shore more desirable than those inland. That'll present a tradeoff when choosing a den -- do you want to be closer to food but face more rival hex invasions and homesite raids, or choose a more peaceful den farther inland but then need to travel into rival territory every time you need to eat.

Given these constraints on dens, I turned to our Katmai science advisor Ellen Dymit who spent several months doing research along the Katmai coast. With her input, we've been working on ways to make some dens more distinct. Today's devblog follows along as I create two new dens. With these two dens, we have completed about half of the 30 that the map needs. So lots more still to do!