DLC18 discussion and predictions

[DarthQuell]

Genuine Question:
Who else here would also be extremly annoyed if we get flying birds lets say macaws but inside of the WE without any changes to it and instead just like the sloths a prebuild climbing frame as their seating area that they would flutter between?
Im not saying WE birds cant work and id even admit that for smaller more active birds like songbirds it might be the best option, but a macaw, owl, eagle, vulture, whatever wont be moving most of the time. In fact most of the time they would be sitting and just fly to get from one seat to the next. And if those seats and the size and the whole fact that its a forced walkthrough are still just as unflexible and forced upon us as they are rn that would be such a dissappointment.
Cause like hands up we genuinly likes using the sloth? To place down a 8 meter long straight path, no terrain variation cause path, forced walkthrough, no variable climbing frame (that doesnt even look decent, not even mentioning good) and all that for an animal that barely moves.
I certanly dont and i have build for sloths in my zoo, they are just asleep all the time because a faux sloth climbing frame and sleep box are infinititly more entertaining to build then to work around the very rigid and limiting WE. And even if we get the miracle 5 different macaws, if they are still in that horrible box i doubt id use them

At the very least, we could have some alternate layouts that we can switch around, giving some kind of differences, like winding paths and different structures inside.
But I doubt we'll get aviary birds to begin with, and even if we did I doubt we'll get new exhibit designs at this point, which is a real shame

 

[Iben]

Thanks man, but there is no pdf like all previous years showing what they have?
They mentioned we have pdlc for pz this fiscal year but not how many. JWE2 got 2 and PZ one dlc.

Those come in January, September and November.

The ones that are published in June are much smaller and seem to all have been published on June 14th, so whilst we'll have some info next week I wouldn't count on much as last years' document also didn't include any info on the PDLC for the next FY.

 

[The Carcharodontogenius]

I can see it now:

Hayo Zookeepers. It's time to bring the game to a new level. Planet Zoo has worked alongside Microsoft to bring you: the Minecraft Animal Pack. We have so many wonderful animals we ported over from Minecraft. Let's check them out.

The oceans will seem alive with the addition of the Squid. They'll shoot out ink of startled. Joining our them will be Bottlenose Dolphins, which will lead you to uncovered treasures, and Green Sea Turtles.
We also plan to have 3,072 different Tropical Fish.
But what's that on the horizon? Why, those are Mustangs. Welcome the beautiful horses into the game. Now, let's go up the mountains and give you the Mountain Goat. And if that's not enough, how about an Ocelot to come and visit? Oh but we're not done yet. What's that hopping in the bushes? Why, those are Rabbits, hopping their way into our hearts.
Alongside the pack will be a few new pieces, including shovels, hoes, pickaxes, regular axes, fishing rods, and saddles. We'll also be including various minerals such as: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, lapis lazuli, gold, iron, copper, and amethyst.

The pack will be sold for $9.99, plus a free 3 day trial for Minecraft Java edition...


Dang, I wasted my time thinking this up

Good choice of animals, but why Minecraft?

 

[RightWhale]

Genuine Question:
Who else here would also be extremly annoyed if we get flying birds lets say macaws but inside of the WE without any changes to it and instead just like the sloths a prebuild climbing frame as their seating area that they would flutter between?
Im not saying WE birds cant work and id even admit that for smaller more active birds like songbirds it might be the best option, but a macaw, owl, eagle, vulture, whatever wont be moving most of the time. In fact most of the time they would be sitting and just fly to get from one seat to the next. And if those seats and the size and the whole fact that its a forced walkthrough are still just as unflexible and forced upon us as they are rn that would be such a dissappointment.
Cause like hands up we genuinly likes using the sloth? To place down a 8 meter long straight path, no terrain variation cause path, forced walkthrough, no variable climbing frame (that doesnt even look decent, not even mentioning good) and all that for an animal that barely moves.
I certanly dont and i have build for sloths in my zoo, they are just asleep all the time because a faux sloth climbing frame and sleep box are infinititly more entertaining to build then to work around the very rigid and limiting WE. And even if we get the miracle 5 different macaws, if they are still in that horrible box i doubt id use them

I wouldn’t mind, I’m of the opinion that something is better than nothing. Making the WTE habitats null helps me a lot, and then I just plan accordingly. Sometimes I put it behind a window, sometimes I make it part of the main path. It’s a huge giant block and annoying, but to me it’s better to have the species in game than nothing.

I tried to think of a way of adding those larger birds while keeping it modular. In ZooTycoon on the Xbox the flying birds were locked in the small animal habitats, and I thought of a way to potentially add them together. Some large birds basically are living statues, so I thought to use that to my advantage.

1. Step 1, basically design a basic habitat. Door and fences, the whole works.
2. Step 2, pick one of the new modular “Aviary” sets. I imagine they would come in three or so themes: natural, wood, or metal. Of those sets you have four types to choose from: a basic perch, food and water, shelter, and enrichment. You have to place at least one of each type in the habitat area.
3. Step 3, pick your bird. Like all WTE/ Exhibit animals they will have looped animations. You can place your birds you adopted into the marked habitat.
4. Step 4, considering everything is modular you can decorate the habitat how you want. You can make it a walkthrough, put it behind glass or mesh, or just make it open air.

So while they would still be living statues like all WTE/ Exhibit animals, they can at least have cute animations and be more creative than a giant box.

Another idea I had would be between each aviary piece a direct “flight path” would be generated. It is basically a straight line that the birds can use to “fly”, which is just an on rails flight animation. So it’s not true flight, and would be like using automated and invisible climbing pieces. That way you could make places that give the illusion of being a free flying aviary, and be able to have birds fly over your head. All without having to create navigation for true 3D free flying.

 

[Stygi]

Good choice of animals, but why Minecraft?

Read the quoted messages

 

[DarthQuell]

Good choice of animals, but why Minecraft?

It was just something that popped into my head in response to saying how Ocelots are in Minecraft

 

[CharlieXGaming]

and who wouldn't want a housecat-sized jaguar?

A lot of people, just like how some didn’t want the sand cat, hyena or the caracal. People just like how some said “we already had a wildebeest” or “we already had a hyena” in grasslands, will say it again here “well we already have the Jaguar why would I want another one but smaller?”

 

[The Carcharodontogenius]

It was just something that popped into my head in response to saying how Ocelots are in Minecraft

Oh, OK.

 

[DarthQuell]

A lot of people, just like how some didn’t want the sand cat, hyena or the caracal. People just like how some said “we already had a wildebeest” or “we already had a hyena” in grasslands, will say it again here “well we already have the Jaguar why would I want another one but smaller?”

That argument is used for practically everything, though. It doesn't matter what animals come to the game, somebody's gonna complain about it. I bet that people are gonna complain about the baboon saying how we already have the mandrill. The only animals I doubt will have much complaints about are birds and New World monkeys, and even then there'll be complaints

 

[Stygi]

That argument is used for practically everything, though. It doesn't matter what animals come to the game, somebody's gonna complain about it. I bet that people are gonna complain about the baboon saying how we already have the mandrill. The only animals I doubt will have much complaints about are birds and New World monkeys, and even then there'll be complaints

The new world monkeys might end up being the most controversial when peoples personal choices aren’t picked, because realistically we are probably not going to get both the howler and spider

 

[Utahraptor Arcanus]

That argument is used for practically everything, though. It doesn't matter what animals come to the game, somebody's gonna complain about it. I bet that people are gonna complain about the baboon saying how we already have the mandrill. The only animals I doubt will have much complaints about are birds and New World monkeys, and even then there'll be complaints

Hear me out: Coati

 

[Captain Callum]

Hear me out: Coati

Basically a better looking raccoon.

 

[Utahraptor Arcanus]

Basically a better looking raccoon.

It's still a upgrade than.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

A lot of people, just like how some didn’t want the sand cat, hyena or the caracal. People just like how some said “we already had a wildebeest” or “we already had a hyena” in grasslands, will say it again here “well we already have the Jaguar why would I want another one but smaller?”

Those people most likly will either 1) dont care about specific species of animals and most likly want specific boxes to be filled, 2) be casual enough that they are charmed by the cat or 3) most likly be to busy being happy about the rest of the pack if it doesnt suck so most likly it wont bumm them out enough to not buy the cat.
And thats without mentioning that tiny jaguar is grossly over simplified.
This

and this

look very different, not even to mention the vastly different weight classes with the heaviest ocelots still weighing just short of 10 times less then a large jaguar.

If anything the ocelot is a south american clouded leopard but people do not care enough to actually look at the animal and just judge based on "from same continent = must be the same"
And im saying all of this as someones whos very well fed up with cats in the dlc, but really of all the generic "clones" we can get an animal with such a bonkers range across pretty much all non temperate biomes of south america that also is only a clone by technicallity as its instantly recogniseable and fills an empty and open niche of south american carnivore that isnt on stilts or steroids, thats also arboreal and is a great companion piece to the coati?
Id take the ocelot over another flamingo any day

 

[Thylaco]

Now if a South America pack can get us 5 species of macaw, that would definitely convince people to buy it, but would frontier do that? Probably not.

You never know, though 5 is probably a bit much (model and skin on a butterfly is significantly less work, and Macaw diversity is pretty well represented by 4 species). If it were a more general DLC, larger Cockatoos seem to have the most similar sized bodies, assuming that's important for animations (though not sure how well it'd really work with identical skeletons and animations), with the next ones down being African greys, Amazons & Eclectus/Alexandrine parrots.

There's only so many non-bird WTE candidates for South America. There's two toed sloths, but I've doubts on further bats. The Pale spear-nosed bat seems the largest American one in captivity (about two thirds an Egyptian fruit bat), and the Spectral bat is the largest American one in general.

 

[The Carcharodontogenius]

Now if a South America pack can get us 5 species of macaw, that would definitely convince people to buy it, but would frontier do that? Probably not.

Why not?

Also a DLC with 5 Macaws sounds like a good idea.

 

[Spartan_Squat]

Those come in January, September and November.

The ones that are published in June are much smaller and seem to all have been published on June 14th, so whilst we'll have some info next week I wouldn't count on much as last years' document also didn't include any info on the PDLC for the next FY.

Weird we didnt have any info regarding to the new game from them. Maybe in gamescom?
Now the only way to see a dlc is coming is from steamdb and frontier unlocked events.

 

[Mr-Hyrax 2]

How would you guys feel if we get a SA Pack that's just 5 macaws for walk-through and nothing else from SA until Planet Zoo 2.

 

[AndyZoos]

Weird we didnt have any info regarding to the new game from them. Maybe in gamescom?
Now the only way to see a dlc is coming is from steamdb and frontier unlocked events.

I would imagine they'll announce the new game independent of a report like that and then speak to how it might influence financials in the report itself.

And yeah, for now we'll only know when the new DLC might be coming via SteamDB. They might reference something through other channels but I think that's pretty unlikely. But I wouldn't stress too much about it though... We know there's a new one coming already. It's just a matter of when.

 

[Stygi]

Quick question for Walrus fans, what about it makes you want it in game?