DLC18 discussion and predictions

[Xrystal]

April I think it happened literally right after they announced the barnyard pack it was in their closing statement for the planet zoo section right after the trailer played the second time.

Thanks, looks like I definitely missed that part rofl .. for others that might have as well ..

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xvQ3wkbvd4
- Frontier Unlocked #4 And just after 19:55 into the video.
Knowing that, I suspect November for Anniversary purposes, but it is only beginning of August, we still have a summer pack opportunity, but if it is the last one this year ( or for the forseeable future ) then I feel November would be the time for it. We will just have to wait and see.

 

[Bughs]

Did this thread changed name XD
We are still having chances for Summer DLC cmon XD
15th announcement and 22nd DLC
or
20th announcement and 27th DLC
it still is Summer innit?

 

[Captain Callum]

Did this thread changed name XD
We are still having chances for Summer DLC cmon XD
15th announcement and 22nd DLC
or
20th announcement and 27th DLC
it still is Summer innit?

Yeah it changed, the likelihood of a summer dlc is not the best so it's now a general dlc 18 thread rather than just summer speculation.

 

[Losing My Lunch]

If they are waiting this long to announce a new pack, is it possible that this pack will be a larger animal pack than normal?

Still holding on to hope for a Zookeeper’s Top 25 Animal Pack

 

[Milurian]

If they are waiting this long to announce a new pack, is it possible that this pack will be a larger animal pack than normal?

its possible but its not guaranteed since there are plenty of reason for the delay including console release, layoffs and the last 2 pack having huge and buggy free updates. We might just be in catch up mode. Also the pack may be normal sized and come with a huge free update we literally know nothing besides its an animal pack

 

[RightWhale]

If they are waiting this long to announce a new pack, is it possible that this pack will be a larger animal pack than normal?

Still holding on to hope for a Zookeeper’s Top 25 Animal Pack

We talked about this before, but I wouldn’t recommend thinking the next pack will be bigger. It’s better to be pleasantly surprised than to have your day ruined on false expectations.

 

[Marvinb]

If they are waiting this long to announce a new pack, is it possible that this pack will be a larger animal pack than normal?

Still holding on to hope for a Zookeeper’s Top 25 Animal Pack

There sure is a chance that it will be a larger pack, but as said before i would expect a normal sized one as thats imo still the more likely scenario.
But in any case 25 animals is just an insane amount, i mean thats what we usually get in a whole year.

 

[Thylaco]

If they are waiting this long to announce a new pack, is it possible that this pack will be a larger animal pack than normal?

Still holding on to hope for a Zookeeper’s Top 25 Animal Pack

We do keep going back to this hope. Safer explanation is that they've been busy on other things or understaffed.

None of the other games' finale packs have come any later than a normal DLC, despite two being larger than normal. The only other similar delays have been from Covid on the Australia pack, and from a free content update replacing a JWE2 DLC (Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary).

The guy they interviewed for Barnyard mentioned he was previously on JWE2, so there probably is decent movement between games. Between PC2 in November, JWE3 in possibly less than a year, and console edition, it might just be limited man power.

As to scale, 3x normal is pretty large, heading into September or later you get the question of why it wasn't split into a 1x normal and 2x normal pack, for the sake of filling the time gap (8 of 25 not having a theme in common seems pretty unlikely, with plenty of generic terms still available, like Americas, Old World, even synonyms for existing packs).

 

[NachoB]

Still hoping for 12 animal pack regardless haha

 

[AndyZoos]

I think a larger pack is still on the table mostly because of how much extra time they're taking and past history with Planet Coaster and JWE. JWE2 is the exception but giving fans two packs within two months of one another isn't that far off from a larger finale pack TBH... They could have just waited until May and delivered them in one.

So assuming that a final pack for Planet Zoo will have like, 25-50% more content than usual doesn't feel so far-fetched. It's definitely not a guarantee, but I don't think it's as wildly unlikely as people are assuming either. And with each day/week that passes it feels more likely to me, honestly.

 

[RightWhale]

Still hoping for 12 animal pack regardless haha

I think a larger pack is still on the table mostly because of how much extra time they're taking and past history with Planet Coaster and JWE. JWE2 is the exception but giving fans two packs within two months of one another isn't that far off from a larger finale pack TBH... They could have just waited until May and delivered them in one.

So assuming that a final pack for Planet Zoo will have like, 25-50% more content than usual doesn't feel so far-fetched. It's definitely not a guarantee, but I don't think it's as wildly unlikely as people are assuming either. And with each day/week that passes it feels more likely to me, honestly.

I mean, a 12 animal pack isn’t unlikely. It has happened before. The difference being 5 animals that only differed in textures. I agree with all the extra time it is suspicious for a bigger dlc planned, likewise they way Frontier has treated birds (and how the JWE2 dlc went) makes me think we could get some birds long wanted by the community.

Still, that’s what I hope will happen.
I’m still planning on a regular 8 animal pack, with 1 carnivora, 5 ungulates, 1 bird, and 1 exhibit herp.

 

[TheDuckKnight]

There's a lot to say about the possibility of a larger, finale pack. While I do think it is a possibility (and I mean like 10-15 animals, certainly not 25, 13 would get the roster to 200 - which not only has been stated as a goal of Frontier, but just feels right), there are still a lot of factors that make me want to temper such expectations:

• While it's been a LONG wait since Barnyard, this isn't the first time we've waiting for a DLC. During 2020, it was sometimes over 4 months in-between DLCs, while Conservation and Twilight had a huge gap - none of those were super-sized or larger than normal.
• I'll fully admit I'm talking out of my rear here - but this company did see some major cuts so it's possible there's less hands and hours available to give anything better than the usual expectations.
• The lack of social media presence could be a tactic to quiet down the community and end things more conservatively. Create a "well, at least we got something" mindset.
• The eventual release onto console as a bundle is by the far the biggest hinderance to having a larger pack. Would Frontier be okay breaking the $9.99 cycle for a larger pack that'd be combined with an average sized, pre-existing DLC? Would they need to boost the price up to justify it? Would fans feel gypped they gotta pay more for the finale pack to get to say Arctic or Tropical or whichever? What's the ROI looking like for this kind of choice? These feel like real questions a company in the red would be having...

Now with that said, I don't completely rewrite off the possibility of a larger, farewell pack:

• Everyone - probably including the creatives and devs - wants one.
• It's a tradition within the company since PC1
• It has been a LONG wait lol
• Half a dozen more highly requested animals or whatever they decide, for a higher price point would make a pretty payday for Frontier in the short term.
• PZ has been one of the company's most successful games and the console release was a tremendous success. I don't doubt there's a renewed sense of optimism and they want to treat the fans with ending with a bang.

Ultimately, it could go either way. All I know is that this upcoming animal pack is 99.9% chance the last one and will be a Zookeeper's Pack of community wants.

 

[Marvinb]

I think a larger pack is still on the table mostly because of how much extra time they're taking and past history with Planet Coaster and JWE. JWE2 is the exception but giving fans two packs within two months of one another isn't that far off from a larger finale pack TBH... They could have just waited until May and delivered them in one.

So assuming that a final pack for Planet Zoo will have like, 25-50% more content than usual doesn't feel so far-fetched. It's definitely not a guarantee, but I don't think it's as wildly unlikely as people are assuming either. And with each day/week that passes it feels more likely to me, honestly.

Maybe but i still think anything above 12 animals is not in the cards.
If we get a larger pack i would think the majority of the extra stuff to be scenery with maybe an extra animal or two. Say 8 animals plus a normal pack s worth of pieces for example.

And frankly i think thats way more likely than a pure animal pack but larger. Builders make up a good portion of the playerbase, so ignoring them for almost a year (aside from the few scraps in barnyard) and than ending the game without receiving anything would be a punch in the guts honestly

 

[AndyZoos]

I mean, a 12 animal pack isn’t unlikely. It has happened before. The difference being 5 animals that only differed in textures. I agree with all the extra time it is suspicious for a bigger dlc planned, likewise they way Frontier has treated birds (and how the JWE2 dlc went) makes me think we could get some birds long wanted by the community.

Still, that’s what I hope will happen.
I’m still planning on a regular 8 animal pack, with 1 carnivora, 5 ungulates, 1 bird, and 1 exhibit herp.

From my perspective, we've never actually gotten 12 species in a pack. I get that the butterflies are technically five different species but the models are the same with different textures. So, to me, it's really just the standard DLC pack with additional variants for the exhibit species. Because, in practice, that's pretty much what it is.

I'm talking about getting more distinct habitat species than usual. Specifically how many more, what the theme is, etc. is anybody's guess though.

I just really feel like they won't let Planet Zoo go out with a whimper.

 

[AndyZoos]

There's a lot to say about the possibility of a larger, finale pack. While I do think it is a possibility (and I mean like 10-15 animals, certainly not 25, 13 would get the roster to 200 - which not only has been stated as a goal of Frontier, but just feels right), there are still a lot of factors that make me want to temper such expectations:

• While it's been a LONG wait since Barnyard, this isn't the first time we've waiting for a DLC. During 2020, it was sometimes over 4 months in-between DLCs, while Conservation and Twilight had a huge gap - none of those were super-sized or larger than normal.
• I'll fully admit I'm talking out of my rear here - but this company did see some major cuts so it's possible there's less hands and hours available to give anything better than the usual expectations.
• The lack of social media presence could be a tactic to quiet down the community and end things more conservatively. Create a "well, at least we got something" mindset.
• The eventual release onto console as a bundle is by the far the biggest hinderance to having a larger pack. Would Frontier be okay breaking the $9.99 cycle for a larger pack that'd be combined with an average sized, pre-existing DLC? Would they need to boost the price up to justify it? Would fans feel gypped they gotta pay more for the finale pack to get to say Arctic or Tropical or whichever? What's the ROI looking like for this kind of choice? These feel like real questions a company in the red would be having...

Now with that said, I don't completely rewrite off the possibility of a larger, farewell pack:

• Everyone - probably including the creatives and devs - wants one.
• It's a tradition within the company since PC1
• It has been a LONG wait lol
• Half a dozen more highly requested animals or whatever they decide, for a higher price point would make a pretty payday for Frontier in the short term.
• PZ has been one of the company's most successful games and the console release was a tremendous success. I don't doubt there's a renewed sense of optimism and they want to treat the fans with ending with a bang.

Ultimately, it could go either way. All I know is that this upcoming animal pack is 99.9% chance the last one and will be a Zookeeper's Pack of community wants.

Hold up. Frontier's on the record as saying they want to hit 200 species? Do you have a source for that, per-chance? Not doubting you. But I'd like to see/hear it with my own eyes if possible! Haha.

Your points about a larger versus normal pack are all sound. The biggest piece, IMHO, is the staffing picture which we're all pretty much in the dark on. But even if they've reduced staff, shifted resources, and so on... 4-5 months between DLCs is a pretty big gap. Especially as they presumably started working on some of this content prior to the Barnyard pack release.

I don't think the price point is a big concern. I'm sure they would need to bump it up. But it would probably be about $5 or so. And if the pack's content is worth it (e.g., a strong roster)? People will pay. Also worth noting that each of the DLC for console are available solo, not just as part of the bundle.

Maybe but i still think anything above 12 animals is not in the cards.
If we get a larger pack i would think the majority of the extra stuff to be scenery with maybe an extra animal or two. Say 8 animals plus a normal pack s worth of pieces for example.

And frankly i think thats way more likely than a pure animal pack but larger. Builders make up a good portion of the playerbase, so ignoring them for almost a year (aside from the few scraps in barnyard) and than ending the game without receiving anything would be a punch in the guts honestly

12 habitat species is about where I cut-off too. I'm leaning toward that, maybe an exhibit species or two, and about the same amount of scenery we got with the Barnyard pack. There's also a chance that the free update picks up a bit of the scenery slack too. Maybe even with new features rather than just scenery items (e.g., addition of hotels or elevators would inspire people; scaling would be a game-changer; and so on).

 

[RightWhale]

From my perspective, we've never actually gotten 12 species in a pack. I get that the butterflies are technically five different species but the models are the same with different textures. So, to me, it's really just the standard DLC pack with additional variants for the exhibit species. Because, in practice, that's pretty much what it is.

I'm talking about getting more distinct habitat species than usual. Specifically how many more, what the theme is, etc. is anybody's guess though.

I just really feel like they won't let Planet Zoo go out with a whimper.

Yeah I get that, for me personally I consider it 12 animals. I just want more species in game! I don’t care how “easy” they are, for me representation is representation!

I’m a mixed bag for how I feel like the next dlc will go, I don’t think they want to let Planet Zoo go out with a whimper, but there is a big difference between what the company is expecting vs. the community. By community I will also refer to myself here. My main worry, is Frontier just does what it would usually do. So the pack is “more of the same” in the worst way possible (personally).

Frontier decides to follow the meta wishlist, and gives us a whole bunch of animals that are highly requested.

1. Hamadryas baboon
2. Secretary bird
3. Muskox
4. Blackbuck
5. Markhor
6. Ocelot
7. Spectacled bear
8. Exhibit animal: cobra

This could be a very realistic outcome, we get our yearly primate, we got a bird, we got a bear and a cat, Frontier even undershoots and only does 3 ungulates. For Frontier, they followed the meta wishlist adding what animals they can, so the final dlc should go out with a bang! After all, these are the animals we asked for. For me, something like this wouldn’t be a great final dlc. Especially as it adds only one bird, one primate, and otherwise is just more of the same all around. I don’t care if the final dlc is bigger, I want it to be different. By different, I also want it to fix gaps in the roster to the best of its ability. It won’t be perfect, obviously not everyone can be happy, and obviously I also don’t speak for everyone. I just hope it will be different, while I like all the dlc we got in the past year. I think a lot of them suffer from feeling like they undershot where they could have gone. The only one that felt really different was Oceania, and that’s because it focused on a region that needed it, while adding animals that needed the representation (birds, marsupials, and bats).

 

[jcp011c]

At this point I'm expecting just an animal pack, but at very most I can see an animal and scenery pack combined. Bolded are clones/near clones/animals that wouldn't take much work to do, I'd think

The New World:
American Black Bear
North American River Otter
Wild Turkey
Muskox
Elk
Coatimundi
Ocelot
Spectacled Bear (two bears are okay since it's essential two packs worth of animals)
Greater Rhea
Howler Monkey
Patagonian Mara
Golden Lion Tamarin (WTE)
Two Toed Sloth (WTE)

Scenery: Urban/City building set.

That also gets us to 200 animals, with a King Cobra for the anniversary animal and to get us to "over 200" animals.
Anniversary could also give us a smaller easier to do building set like the Log Cabin or a Bavarian theme that has more pieces blueprinted together for us already. Things we can technically do now, but with many pieces, that adding in as full on objects would just be for easier quality of life to go with those themes.

Sad for no Secretary Bird, Baboon, Tree Kangaroo or other Old World animals, but overall Africa, Asia and even Europe to an extent are pretty well represented.

 

[RightWhale]

At this point I'm expecting just an animal pack, but at very most I can see an animal and scenery pack combined. Bolded are clones/near clones/animals that wouldn't take much work to do, I'd think

The New World:
American Black Bear
North American River Otter
Wild Turkey
Muskox
Elk
Coatimundi
Ocelot
Spectacled Bear (two bears are okay since it's essential two packs worth of animals)
Greater Rhea
Howler Monkey
Patagonian Mara
Golden Lion Tamarin (WTE)
Two Toed Sloth (WTE)

Scenery: Urban/City building set.

That also gets us to 200 animals, with a King Cobra for the anniversary animal and to get us to "over 200" animals.
Anniversary could also give us a smaller easier to do building set like the Log Cabin or a Bavarian theme that has more pieces blueprinted together for us already. Things we can technically do now, but with many pieces, that adding in as full on objects would just be for easier quality of life to go with those themes.

Sad for no Secretary Bird, Baboon, Tree Kangaroo or other Old World animals, but overall Africa, Asia and even Europe to an extent are pretty well represented.

Throw in a duck and a spoonbill and it honestly wouldn’t be too bad.

 

[AndyZoos]

Yeah I get that, for me personally I consider it 12 animals. I just want more species in game! I don’t care how “easy” they are, for me representation is representation!

I’m a mixed bag for how I feel like the next dlc will go, I don’t think they want to let Planet Zoo go out with a whimper, but there is a big difference between what the company is expecting vs. the community. By community I will also refer to myself here. My main worry, is Frontier just does what it would usually do. So the pack is “more of the same” in the worst way possible (personally).

I just don't think Frontier misses the mark anywhere near as much as people think they do. 75% of the species included in each pack are pretty highly requested and the oddball packs generally have a justifiable reason for inclusion. Arid and Twilight are maybe the only two exceptions but even then... I feel like the Twilight species picks have aged pretty well (and let's be real; two of the key nocturnal critters were being saved for Oceania; I still think that's why we got the wombat in that one) and Arid was more than 50% requested species. Those two packs feel like the theme forced them to shoehorn things more than they would have otherwise TBH.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I feel like am ore general theme will see us getting more of what we want in the best possible way. Because they don't worry about what is or isn't associated with whatever the pack name is... They can just do what is needed. If that makes sense.

At this point I'm expecting just an animal pack, but at very most I can see an animal and scenery pack combined. Bolded are clones/near clones/animals that wouldn't take much work to do, I'd think

The New World:
American Black Bear
North American River Otter
Wild Turkey
Muskox
Elk
Coatimundi
Ocelot
Spectacled Bear (two bears are okay since it's essential two packs worth of animals)
Greater Rhea
Howler Monkey
Patagonian Mara
Golden Lion Tamarin (WTE)
Two Toed Sloth (WTE)

That also gets us to 200 animals, with a King Cobra for the anniversary animal and to get us to "over 200" animals.

Sad for no Secretary Bird, Baboon, Tree Kangaroo or other Old World animals, but overall Africa, Asia and even Europe to an extent are pretty well represented.

TBH, I think the three you said you were sad to not get (secretary, baboon, tree 'roo) are more likely than so many of the picks in your list given that they have names in the PlanCo dictionary. Not a sure thing but definitely makes them a lot more likely than the musk ox, mara, etc.

Real talk: The NA river otter are definitely similar to species we already have but they'd both make me super happy.

 

[Marvinb]

I just don't think Frontier misses the mark anywhere near as much as people think they do. 75% of the species included in each pack are pretty highly requested and the oddball packs generally have a justifiable reason for inclusion. Arid and Twilight are maybe the only two exceptions but even then... I feel like the Twilight species picks have aged pretty well (and let's be real; two of the key nocturnal critters were being saved for Oceania; I still think that's why we got the wombat in that one) and Arid was more than 50% requested species. Those two packs feel like the theme forced them to shoehorn things more than they would have otherwise TBH.

Its not really that they dont do requested species, its more that the requested species they pick are mostly from the same groups.

Like in the current 2024 wishlist the Top 20 is 50% monkeys and birds, but i totally expect them to do something Rightwhale suggested and essentially doing the other 50%.
I mean you can easily do a version of a final pack thats 90% ungulates and carnivorans again and have all of them be in the Top 20, so they are all highly requested but at the same time thats not really what people want for a final pack