Spring dlc Speculation 2023

Nightmares:

  • Scenery Pack with more than 1 Carnivoran
  • Animal Pack with more than 2 Carnivoran
  • Any cat or dog
  • No birds or monkeys
  • Domestic theme as an Animal Pack (fine theme as scenery)
  • No Birds for the WE (unless they go with a full exhibit update or similar)
  • Birds that would work fine in the habitat put inside the WE because ''they will fly out in real life''
 
Islands Scenery Pack:
  • Tasmanian Devil
  • Tree Kangaroo
  • Kiwi
  • Fossa

Why?
Cause its boring af, has no General use species with all 3 oceanian animals being rarther rare in zoos and often only in highly theemed areas with the fossa being the only that is genuinly flexible, most of it coming from the fact that its africas first non primate climber somehow.

For ingame Use they are compareable with the fossa as a new cat gameplay wise, only really getting the pass cause madagascar and no african climbers, tassie devil is a terrestrial small carnivore which we have quite alot of but gets a pass for being australian as only cruel people would count the red fox there, the kiwi is the giant panda but bird, greatly taking away from its flexibility while also not even looking particulary pretty for a grounded bird, i know its iconic but its just a brown blob whennwe could have something like victoria crowned or nicobar pidgeon or even the nene. Its like having a peafowl that has no zoo presence, no colors, cant be walkthrough and doesnt even look pretty.
The only one actually bringing something new would be the tree kangaroo with its weird way of movement while also being mire flexible in use then both the tassi and the kiwi.

These animals in general would easily be among the most useless and inflexible additions unless your making an australian or new zealand zoo, which is fine and all in theory when islands couldnt offer us so much more unique and interesting things that also would have more general uses like rhinoceros iguana, solomon island skink, parsons chameleon, pig nosed turtle many other cool reptiles, many different kinds of birds like the nicobar or crowned pidgeon, nene goose, white cheeked pintail, primates, 2 of the most important petting zoo animals, much needed asian ungulates and much much more that would be just as fitting of the islands theme while also having a much greater general use case.
And really thats what i want most, i just want atleast one or two generally usefull animals each pack and this scenery pack really does not deliver on that.
Specialised animals are good and have their place in the game but if a pack only has them i better hope the scenery is damn good if a pack that could have given us more primates, our first waterfowl, a dlc reptile that wasnt a crocodile or any other animal that has more then 3 use cases.
Fix be rather easy, either make it an animal pack or kick the kiwi for something not oceanian with a more diverse use like the nene or a shetland pony.
Haha, just posted the EXACT same thing pretty much😂😂 I completely agree, it’s a boring and oversaturated idea with no room for versatility!
 
Nightmares:

  • Scenery Pack with more than 1 Carnivoran
  • Animal Pack with more than 2 Carnivoran
  • Any cat or dog
  • No birds or monkeys
  • Domestic theme as an Animal Pack (fine theme as scenery)
  • No Birds for the WE (unless they go with a full exhibit update or similar)
  • Birds that would work fine in the habitat put inside the WE because ''they will fly out in real life''

senator-armstrong-meme (1).gif
 
The Low-Demand Animal Pack
  • Red Junglefowl
  • WE - Five more butterfly species
I know there are plenty of other birds blah blah, but the red junglefowl (wild version of chicken) would not look out of place in a Children's zoo pack or an easter orientated pack or domesticated pack. It's not a preference but as I am okay with the potential of turkeys, geese, mallards, scottish cows, miniature goats, or rabbits like myself then I'm not going to have a problem with this colourful bird either.

rooster.jpg

and I wouldn't mind free new butterflies being snuck in every now and then either
 
Haha, just posted the EXACT same thing pretty much😂😂 I completely agree, it’s a boring and oversaturated idea with no room for versatility!
No gonna lie.... I mostly don't understand the reasoning. Like sure the Tasmanian Devil and Kiwi seem rare across the in zoos in both NA and Europe, but at least in US the majority of the zoos I've visited have tree kangaroos and fossas are somewhat common across aza facilities. I personally don't really care whether we get the devil or not, but I kind of like the idea of the Kiwi. But I would say the tree kangaroo is essential for me and the fossa is pretty high up there. I think a pack of mostly oddball picks wouldn't be the most successful or well received...
 
I must ask why. These are the main island regions of the world:
  • British isles
  • Carribean
  • Japan
  • Oceania
  • Madagascar and Indian ocean islands
  • Pacific islands
  • South east asia
  • Arctic circle islands
Of these the only ones to produce high amount of zoo relevant endemic species are Oceania, Madagascar and SEA.

With SEA having its own pack, it makes sense the other 2 regions would tske center spot in an islands pack, especially a scenery pack.
While I mostly agree, I think classing Oceania as a single island region is rather reductive and doesn’t help the argument. All of the major islands in Oceania are highly distinct from one another, with New Guinea and Tasmania being at complete opposite ends of the same continent (with drastically different climates to match - it’s sorta like Japan vs Indonesia) while New Zealand is essentially a world of its own.

In any case, I knew this “nightmare scenario” question would quickly devolve into more arguing about islands lol. If there’s one thing that’s more repetitive and played out than the usual devil/kiwi/tree roo/fossa islands scenery pack roster (which I still very much support regardless), it’s this same discussion of endemics vs non-endemics and Oceania vs everywhere else that keeps popping up. I don’t have much to add to it any more.
 
Islands Scenery Pack:
  • Tasmanian Devil
  • Tree Kangaroo
  • Kiwi
  • Fossa
If you make the tree kangaroo a tanuki, a Scottish wildcat, or a Sumatran tiger instead, which I think would be more likely than the kangaroo. Then that is the true nightmare.
The devil, fossa, and kiwi are all somewhat understandable inclusions for PZ, (though the kiwi is a weird priority in a game with less than 10 birds) and in an Island Animal Pack, I would not really mind any of them. But in a scenery pack where the fourth spot risk going to something pointless, then this trio just feels like it won't bring much to the game.
And then add some Easter Island-themed animal statues on top of it...
 
No gonna lie.... I mostly don't understand the reasoning. Like sure the Tasmanian Devil and Kiwi seem rare across the in zoos in both NA and Europe, but at least in US the majority of the zoos I've visited have tree kangaroos and fossas are somewhat common across aza facilities. I personally don't really care whether we get the devil or not, but I kind of like the idea of the Kiwi. But I would say the tree kangaroo is essential for me and the fossa is pretty high up there. I think a pack of mostly oddball picks wouldn't be the most successful or well received...
Im not asking for oddballs or do i have something against the animals (besides the kiwi) i just dont want them all together in a scenery pack.
I also consider the treekangaroo essential and eventhough im personally quite indifferent to the tassi devil i do understand why it should be in the game, but that doesnt change how inflexible the animals are and how little actual unique gameplay they bring to the table.
Imo the best animals for the game are those with the widest use, but for an example lets take the black swan, imo a 10/10 addition.
Things that the black swan offer are not limited to but include:
  • first waterfowl to the game
  • australian representation
  • fits well in wetland themed areas with platypus and saltwater crocodiles
  • fits just as well on just any random pond
  • walkthrough
  • possibility of mixed enclosures (imagine platypus black swan mix)
  • european park bird also usefull when not building a zoo cough cough sallands adventure zoo cough cough
  • implied wild animal
  • common all around the world

And most importantly you could throw this animal in any kind of zoo and it would work great, be it low or high budget, no matter what continent or not even a zoo.

Now the tassie:
  • first marsupial predator
  • australia/tasmania themed areas
  • australian zoos
  • nocturnal houses

And that while being a small carnivore something we got dozens of gameplay wise and is quite rare.

Im not against the tassie devil, like i said im quite neutral with it but i think that underlines my point quite well
 
If you make the tree kangaroo a tanuki, a Scottish wildcat, or a Sumatran tiger instead, which I think would be more likely than the kangaroo. Then that is the true nightmare.
The devil, fossa, and kiwi are all somewhat understandable inclusions for PZ, (though the kiwi is a weird priority in a game with less than 10 birds) and in an Island Animal Pack, I would not really mind any of them. But in a scenery pack where the fourth spot risk going to something pointless, then this trio just feels like it won't bring much to the game.
And then add some Easter Island-themed animal statues on top of it...
True i just wanted to go with the generic one cause i really dont like it.
Imo a really really bad one would be tanuki, tassie devil, scottish wild cat and kiwi, one animal i dont like and 3 small carnivores, a dog, a cat and stooopid subspecies
 
The Low-Demand Animal Pack
  • Mule Deer
  • Mexican Gray Wolf
  • Galápogos Penguin
  • Gobi Bear
  • Domestic Water Buffalo
  • Sri Lankan Elephant
  • Red Junglefowl
  • WE - Five more butterfly species
Give me a third brown bear which is bit he Eurasian brown bear and I will riot.

Really weird we dont have an update with outsource_lqa in steamdb, and we are one month less to the dlc release
Not really, that file is usually updated very close to the announcement day.
 
In any case, I knew this “nightmare scenario” question would quickly devolve into more arguing about islands lol. If there’s one thing that’s more repetitive and played out than the usual devil/kiwi/tree roo/fossa islands scenery pack roster (which I still very much support regardless), it’s this same discussion of endemics vs non-endemics and Oceania vs everywhere else that keeps popping up. I don’t have much to add to it any more.
My prediction is this: people will keep arguing until we get the islands pack which will focus on oceania.

The same happened with the "greater asia" conept until the conservation pack came along and pretty much provided that.
 
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My prediction is this: people will keep arguing until we get the islands pack which will focus on oceania.

The same hapoened with the "greater asia" conept until the conservation pack came along and pretty much provided that.
Yeah whats out is out, no reason to still talk about it.
Like im gonna be disappointed but im not pretending like i wouldnt buy it, content is content even if a tree kangaroo is the only of the 4 i have an actual interest in using
 
Islands Scenery Pack:
  • Tasmanian Devil
  • Tree Kangaroo
  • Kiwi
  • Fossa

Why?
Cause its boring af, has no General use species with all 3 oceanian animals being rarther rare in zoos and often only in highly theemed areas with the fossa being the only that is genuinly flexible, most of it coming from the fact that its africas first non primate climber somehow.

For ingame Use they are compareable with the fossa as a new cat gameplay wise, only really getting the pass cause madagascar and no african climbers, tassie devil is a terrestrial small carnivore which we have quite alot of but gets a pass for being australian as only cruel people would count the red fox there, the kiwi is the giant panda but bird, greatly taking away from its flexibility while also not even looking particulary pretty for a grounded bird, i know its iconic but its just a brown blob whennwe could have something like victoria crowned or nicobar pidgeon or even the nene. Its like having a peafowl that has no zoo presence, no colors, cant be walkthrough and doesnt even look pretty.
The only one actually bringing something new would be the tree kangaroo with its weird way of movement while also being mire flexible in use then both the tassi and the kiwi.

These animals in general would easily be among the most useless and inflexible additions unless your making an australian or new zealand zoo, which is fine and all in theory when islands couldnt offer us so much more unique and interesting things that also would have more general uses like rhinoceros iguana, solomon island skink, parsons chameleon, pig nosed turtle many other cool reptiles, many different kinds of birds like the nicobar or crowned pidgeon, nene goose, white cheeked pintail, primates, 2 of the most important petting zoo animals, much needed asian ungulates and much much more that would be just as fitting of the islands theme while also having a much greater general use case.
And really thats what i want most, i just want atleast one or two generally usefull animals each pack and this scenery pack really does not deliver on that.
Specialised animals are good and have their place in the game but if a pack only has them i better hope the scenery is damn good if a pack that could have given us more primates, our first waterfowl, a dlc reptile that wasnt a crocodile or any other animal that has more then 3 use cases.
Fix be rather easy, either make it an animal pack or kick the kiwi for something not oceanian with a more diverse use like the nene or a shetland pony.
Your Nightmare would be my dream Pack if we should get Islands Scenery. 4 highly demanded animals which are also very Special in appearance. Clear, it seems a bit much Oceania but I honestly do not mind about that.
 
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