Winter of the Bovine [4/5 Chapters, 50k words]

Will there be bulls in the game that you can romance (or any romance at all)?

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Not for most of the game, though there will be a bull in one of the three endings. Any romance would just be implied, I think.

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Sorry my bad sense of humour it seems, wasn’t meaning it to be a trolly post if its been taken that way. I just saw the picture you posted and it reminded me of this one. (You’re right most cows arent nasty.)

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You’re good! It’s actually an interesting statistic. I don’t mind any of the posts on this thread except for the few where people hopped in with the sole intention of pissing me off.

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Please flag those posts so they may be removed or whatever.

Everyone else, please respect the author who is trying to get this WiP published.

@hustlertwo - “Bless your heart” :wink:

@Jacic - what is the Aussie frenemies term of endearment? I’d like to learn this one, just in case I ever visit your wonderful nation :slight_smile:

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@Eiwynn What are you trying to say? (j/k :smile:)
Seriously though, I don’t know that there really is one although you could watch the inflection on “mate”. (Can mean friend or enemy depending on how it’s used.)

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@Eiwynn

A ‘bless your heart’ for moi? A choice cut indeed. Straight to the (T) bone.

I sincerely hope you were born in the South, though. If carpetbagging Yankees start co-opting our regional colloquialisms for their own stealth insulting purposes, we will have start blessing their collective hearts with great gusto and panache.

Looking forward to trying out the first chapter! Not at all looking forward to any romantic potentials later in the story! Because really, that just sounds like quite a load of bull, doesn’t it?

Thank you! I’m here all week! Be sure to tip your waitstaff!

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@Samuel_H_Young

So will the reader be able to choose what kind of cow they are, like if they’re a Scottish Highland cow or a Texas Longhorn or is the type of cow breed for the MC set? Will the herd be the same breed of cow as the Bovine MC? Will the Bovine MC have been born in this organic farm and have lived there for most of their life or were they brought in and introduced to the farm later on in their life?

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That’s an interesting idea. I had planned on all of you being born there and all of you just being Jersey cows, but I could consider having you be a different breed.

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Jersey cow would be my guess - most people think of them when thinking dairy cow.

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Isn’t Jersey cow brown though? The most common cow (at least in my country) is the black and white one

Gr8 idea.
Will be like goat simulator interactive fiction
Can’t wait to try it

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I’ll have to do some research, since the main character cows are all different colors. (One white, one white/black, one brown, and one black.)

@dragoabhi
Thanks! Progress is going at a steady pace.

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I have a limited knowledge but I thought the Jersey cows imported to America were specifically bred to be black/white and/or spotted. I only know dairy farms on the West coast too, so maybe they are different in Wisconson and on the East coast :slight_smile:

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My knowledge on dairy cows is a little rough, so I could be wrong. But if I’m remembering it correctly:

Jersey cows are one of the most common dairy cows used, but they are often brown or tawny coats with solid coloring. The Holstein cows do appear to have the black and white pattern fur that many associate with the appearance of a dairy cow and are also a very commonly used dairy cow type.

At least, I think that might be the case. Please correct me if I’m wrong. :thinking:

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No your right, dairies often keep Friesians (or Holstein Friesians for their full name, they’re the black and white ones) as they are large and produce a lot of milk but it is a bit watery so there are also often a few jerseys which are smaller but have better buttermilk content to make up for it. There are other breeds though and it depends on the farm. Could be different in the US but that’s what’s common around here.

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Holstein Friesians are black and white and are larger than Jerseys who are brown. The first breed is known to produce more milk and the second produces a more concentraded milk. I think Jerseys are the cutest ones and they are also the more gentle.

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Well it looks like I’ll be having a mix of breeds, then.

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I’m most interested to see how much agency the protagonist will possess. It seems like the setting would limit choices, but I’m sure you will surprise us.

Oh, I’m also interested to see how the player “acts” as the cow. How sophisticated will the cow’s thought processing be? Does the protagonist think/see things as a human would? Or are things described in most basic ways, the way a cow might view them? (That might be very hard to pull off)

(I admit to not having read the Cat CoG to see how that author handled it. And Choice of Dragon pretty much had the dragon fully anthropomorphic in speech and behavior.)

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Because of the setting, WotB will be a little more linear than, say, The Magician’s Burden, but you will still have different ways of reacting to things and interacting with other characters. For example:


Suddenly, you hear a twig snap behind you. Whipping around, you’re alarmed to see Havoc staring back at you, his eyes glinting in the light. For a moment, you’re frozen in fear, and your heart begins to pound wildly in your chest. He is a coywolf, a mix of a coyote and a wolf, and it shows. Although he looks very much alike to his pack mates, his ears are shorter, his snout is wider and more powerful, and he’s just a bit taller and heavier than a regular coyote.

The leader of the local coyote pack has black ears, as well, and a dark, thin line of fur traces itself all the way from his neck to his tail. Most intimidating of all, part of his left jowl is missing, leaving some of his vicious, sharp teeth permanently exposed. “Hey there, darlin’,” he says in a scratchy voice that somehow manages to still sound silky. “A little far away from your herd, aren’t ya?” He licks his chops and gives you a wolfish grin. “If ya aren’t careful, you might become someone’s dinner.”
*fake_choice
#You narrow your eyes at him and stand your ground. Keeping your voice as firm as possible, you retort, “You can get in as many bites and scratches as you want, but you and I both know that one good kick from my hoof will leave you as good as dead.”

#You slowly back away as much as the rope around your neck will allow, and say hesitantly, “You can’t get me as long as I’m behind this gate. Besides, you’re more scared of humans than any of us are of you.”

#You stick your tongue out at him and goad, “If you really want to take a bite out of me, why don’t ya jump over this gate and come get me?” With a laugh, you begin to shuffle your hooves around as you say, “Ya aren’t too slow, are ya? Come on, I weigh fifty times what ya do!”


There are several paragraphs of text after each choice, of course, but this gives you an idea of what many of the choices will be like.

Think of it like Animal Farm or Chicken Run except for where you still only have the physicality of a regular animal. You can’t build an airplane. :slight_smile:

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