Redoing the Arid Animal Pack

FlameWizard492

FlameWizard492
Don't get me wrong, I'm REALLY excited for the Arid Animal Pack, especially for the porcupine, camel, and rhinoceros. That being said, one of the biggest criticisms that I have for the DLC is that it only covers animals from the African deserts and drylands. If that's the case, it should've just been called the Sahara Animal Pack. Anyway, if I were to redo the Arid Animal Pack, I'd add animals from the drylands of North and Central America, Australia, and Asia.

Here's to refresh your memory of what's to come:
  • Dromedary Camel
  • African Crested Porcupine
  • Black Rhinoceros
  • Addax
  • Dama Gazelle
  • Somali Wild Ass
  • Sand Cat
  • Exhibit: Desert Horned Viper
Here's how I'd do it:

Keep:
  • Dromedary Camel - Icon of the desert biome.
  • African Crested Porcupine - Extremely high on the Meta Wishlist.
  • Black Rhinoceros - A personal favorite that I've been waiting for.
  • Addax - I have a soft spot for them due to my nostalgia for Zoo Tycoon 2. They're also critically endangered.
Replace:
  • Coyote instead of Sand Cat - It's something that I've been wanting that also gives representation to North and Central America.
  • Blackbuck instead of Dama Gazelle - We get some Asian representation, and I think that it's also highly requested.
  • Greater Bilby instead of Somali Wild Ass - Australian representation with an incredibly unique creature (I'd save the Tasmanian Devil or the Echidna to be a flagship animal for another pack).
  • Budgies in WE instead of Desert Horned Viper - I'm beside myself on this one. We'd get our first exhibit birds though!
What do you all think? If you were to redo the pack, how would you do it? Would you add non-African animals or not?
 

zoomaster1994

Z
It is a great pack, but I also agree that it is not really an Arid Animal pack, more like an African desert animal pack. With that being said.

I'd go with this honestly;
Addax
Dromedary camel
Black rhinoceros
African crested porcupine
Somali wild donkey
Hamadryas baboon
Collared peccary
Exhibit;
Thorny devil

Okay it might still be heavily based on Africa, but hey it at least got a South American and Australian animal.
 

The_Riot22

The_Riot22
I actually like the animals in the DLC, but making them all from Africa was a strange choice.
Here's what I would have chosen - still half from Africa, but better diversity.

1. Black Rhino(Africa)
2. Olive or Hamadryas Baboon(Africa)
3. Addax(Africa)
4. African Crested Porcupine(Africa)
5. Persian Onager(Asia)
6. Greater Roadrunner(NA)
7. Lace Monitor(Aus)/Patagonian Mara - not sure if Mara qualify as "arid" though(SA)
8. Frilled Lizard(Aus)
 

macronecu

M
the only change i would make is swapping north african porcupine with indian, to balance out continent representations in the pack a bit

also because north african is the least kept species of crested porcupine in zoos worldwide and recent threads on the forum proved that the reason why north african was so high in the original meta wishlist is because of popularity/ranking bias and not because people actually prefer this species over others on average
many voters probably didn't know there are two african crested porcupines and all votes automatically went to north african for taking the early lead due to common name advantage
later threads showed people actually prefer cape/south african over north, probably for it being east and south african (what people think of when they think african savannah)

i feel like for most the animals in this pack this was the only chance for them to get into the game (except for rhino and porcupine), so i wouldn't replace the oddball choices like dama gazelle and even viper, which i think will come with some cool burrying in sand animations (which makes it the first exhibit animal to interact with terrain if im not mistaken)
 

Matyej167

Matyej167
Instead of Frontier I would have divided the animals into separate continents and added some birds for the Arid Animal Pack.

It would look like this:
1. Dromedary camel (Africa, Asia)
2. Crested porcupine (Africa, Europe)
3. Secretary bird (Africa)
4. Perentie (Oceania)
5. Ocelot (North, Central and South America)
6. Collared peccary (North, Central and South America)
7. Blackbuck (Asia)
8. Budgerigar (exhibit; Oceania)
 
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ReptoMin

R
The_Riot22 said:
8. Frilled Lizard(Aus)
Click to expand...
These guys are not found in Arid parts of Australia though. They are only found in Tropical and Savannah regions. I don't think an Animal without the Desert tag would make it into the Game with this Pack.

The_Riot22 said:
7. Lace Monitor(Aus)
Click to expand...
Lace Monitor is also not Arid. They are found in the Forested areas of Eastern Australia. Perentie is more suitable.

The_Riot22 said:
Patagonian Mara - not sure if Mara qualify as "arid" though(SA)
Click to expand...
Patagonian Mara does qualify, since they would have both Grassland and Desert tags. But Olive Baboon is a question mark.
 

Alexjh

Alexjh
Honestly, it's pretty close to what I'd have done, it's mostly the double gazelle I don't care for
  • Dromedary Camel
  • African Crested Porcupine
  • Black Rhinoceros
  • Addax
  • Dama Gazelle - Hamadryas Baboon
  • Somali Wild Ass
  • Sand Cat -alternate- Honey Badger
  • Exhibit: Desert Horned Viper - Budgerigar or a Cobra sp.
 

The_Riot22

The_Riot22
ReptoMin said:
These guys are not found in Arid parts of Australia though. They are only found in Tropical and Savannah regions. I don't think an Animal without the Desert tag would make it into the Game with this Pack.


Lace Monitor is also not Arid. They are found in the Forested areas of Eastern Australia. Perentie is more suitable.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I'm no taxonomist. I saw some records online where they listed both Frilled Lizard and Lace Monitor as inhabiting "arid and semi-arid regions", but I personally don't know. I almost wrote Perentie instead, but I like Lace Monitors better :)
 

RedPandaReggie

RedPandaReggie
FlameWizard492 said:
Don't get me wrong, I'm REALLY excited for the Arid Animal Pack, especially for the porcupine, camel, and rhinoceros. That being said, one of the biggest criticisms that I have for the DLC is that it only covers animals from the African deserts and drylands. If that's the case, it should've just been called the Sahara Animal Pack. Anyway, if I were to redo the Arid Animal Pack, I'd add animals from the drylands of North and Central America, Australia, and Asia.

Here's to refresh your memory of what's to come:
  • Dromedary Camel
  • African Crested Porcupine
  • Black Rhinoceros
  • Addax
  • Dama Gazelle
  • Somali Wild Ass
  • Sand Cat
  • Exhibit: Desert Horned Viper
Here's how I'd do it:

Keep:
  • Dromedary Camel - Icon of the desert biome.
  • African Crested Porcupine - Extremely high on the Meta Wishlist.
  • Black Rhinoceros - A personal favorite that I've been waiting for.
  • Addax - I have a soft spot for them due to my nostalgia for Zoo Tycoon 2. They're also critically endangered.
Replace:
  • Coyote instead of Sand Cat - It's something that I've been wanting that also gives representation to North and Central America.
  • Blackbuck instead of Dama Gazelle - We get some Asian representation, and I think that it's also highly requested.
  • Greater Bilby instead of Somali Wild Ass - Australian representation with an incredibly unique creature (I'd save the Tasmanian Devil or the Echidna to be a flagship animal for another pack).
  • Budgies in WE instead of Desert Horned Viper - I'm beside myself on this one. We'd get our first exhibit birds though!
What do you all think? If you were to redo the pack, how would you do it? Would you add non-African animals or not?
Click to expand...
My redo for this pack

I would keep Dromedary Camel, Addax, African Crested Porcupine and Black Rhinoceros. I love all the other picks, as they are good for safari parks and open range zoos.

But here is my layout:

Dromedary Camel
Addax
African Crested Porcupine
Black Rhinoceros

Hamadryas Baboon instead of Sand Cat
Greater Roadrunner instead of Somali Wild Ass
Collared Peccary or Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby instead of Dama Gazelle
Budgerigar or Thorny Devil in place of Desert Horned Viper
 

leehonglocal

L
I doubt that the Redoing will happened. After I red and memorize every upcoming animals per DLC pack in the planetzoo.com news, that came through like that game's creator kept 'promises'. Also, there were screenshots of upcoming species.
And after I saw that, I accept these to stay:
  1. dromedary camel
  2. black rhinoceros
  3. crested porcupine
 
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bkfireshark

bkfireshark
Let me start by saying, while I personally am not a fan of all the animals in this pack, the ones we've seen look GORGEOUS and all of them deserve to be in the game. So while I'm going to replace some of them, it's more of a I want their replacements now, and these ones later. My biggest gripe is it's basically an Africa pack, and misses out some of the diversity from other arid zones. Also, some iconic animals from Africa also missed out.

Keep:
African crested Porcupine
Dromedary Camel
Somali Wild Ass
Black Rhino

Replacements:
Addax -> Desert Bighorn Sheep, Saiga Antelope, Perentie, Sand Goanna (showing some other animals from other continents)
Dama Gazelle -> Secretary Bird, Southern Ground Hornbill, Greater Roadrunner (birds are another group we are sorely lacking)
Sand Cat -> Hamadryas Baboon/Vervet Monkey (both still from Africa, but more primates are needed)
Desert Horned Viper -> Regal Horned Lizard/Thorny Devil/Black Mamba/Mozambique Spitting Cobra (this one is tough because I'm glad we got a Viper, especially such a unique looking one, but I feel some of these more iconic animals would have been better choices)
 

leehonglocal

L
bkfireshark said:
Let me start by saying, while I personally am not a fan of all the animals in this pack, the ones we've seen look GORGEOUS and all of them deserve to be in the game. So while I'm going to replace some of them, it's more of a I want their replacements now, and these ones later. My biggest gripe is it's basically an Africa pack, and misses out some of the diversity from other arid zones. Also, some iconic animals from Africa also missed out.

Keep:
African crested Porcupine
Dromedary Camel
Somali Wild Ass
Black Rhino

Replacements:
Addax -> Desert Bighorn Sheep, Saiga Antelope, Perentie, Sand Goanna (showing some other animals from other continents)
Dama Gazelle -> Secretary Bird, Southern Ground Hornbill, Greater Roadrunner (birds are another group we are sorely lacking)
Sand Cat -> Hamadryas Baboon/Vervet Monkey (both still from Africa, but more primates are needed)
Desert Horned Viper -> Regal Horned Lizard/Thorny Devil/Black Mamba/Mozambique Spitting Cobra (this one is tough because I'm glad we got a Viper, especially such a unique looking one, but I feel some of these more iconic animals would have been better choices)
Click to expand...
I saw a screenshot of a sand cat so it might not be replaced or rejected. Once what species were written in the news in planetzoo.com, those 'promises' will stay that way.
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
  • Dromedary Camel
  • African Crested Porcupine
  • Road Runner
  • Gopher Tortoise
  • Dama Gazelle (depends on the Subspecies we're getting. Maybe replace with Yellow footed Rock Wallaby)
  • Somali Wild Ass
  • Hamadryas Baboon
  • Exhibit: agree that Budgies would be great
 

Magnolia

Magnolia
leehonglocal said:
I doubt that the Redoing will happened. After I red and memorize every upcoming animals per DLC pack in the planetzoo.com news, that came through like that game's creator kept 'promises'. Also, there were screenshots of upcoming species.
And after I saw that, I accept these to stay:
  1. dromedary camel
  2. black rhinoceros
  3. crested porcupine
Click to expand...
This is merely a thought exercise/a but of wish fulfillment, no one is expecting frontier to change the roster
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
leehonglocal said:
I saw a screenshot of a sand cat so it might not be replaced or rejected. Once what species were written in the news in planetzoo.com, those 'promises' will stay that way.
Click to expand...
Why would they even do that? The Pack is already at least mostly finished. It's just a hypothetical Scenario
 

Antimony96

Antimony96
Keep:
Crested porcupine
Dromedary
Addax
Sand cat

Replace:
Black rhinoceros -> Greater rhea (and save the rhino for a Safari Animal Pack that rounds out Africa)
Somali wild ass -> Sulcata tortoise
Dama gazelle -> Patagonian mara
Horned viper -> Common chuckwalla
 

ElectricMonk

ElectricMonk
  • Dromedary Camel
  • African Crested Porcupine
  • Black Rhinoceros —> Hamadryas baboon
  • Addax —> yellow footed rock wallaby
  • Dama Gazelle
  • Somali Wild Ass
  • Sand Cat —> numbat
  • Exhibit: Desert Horned Viper —>
    budgerigar
 
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