What did you do in Planet Zoo today?

[NZFanatic]

God damn. I'm so struggling with inspiration at the moment. I need to go back to not watching content creators - it's super demoralising seeing these people with seemingly unlimited patience build their zoos.

Maybe I should just build random habitats, or do a "put in whatever I want" zoo to get my mojo back. There's no rule that says zoos have to be sectioned and themed, after all.

 

[Xrystal]

God damn. I'm so struggling with inspiration at the moment. I need to go back to not watching content creators - it's super demoralising seeing these people with seemingly unlimited patience build their zoos.

Maybe I should just build random habitats, or do a "put in whatever I want" zoo to get my mojo back. There's no rule that says zoos have to be sectioned and themed, after all.

I use the marvellous zoos by content creators as inspiration on what is possible. Maybe another 5 years will get me closer rofl. But then they have another 5 years to get even further away rofl. Solution: Don't try to be as good as the masters at zoo building, but instead, build what you want to build or create your own idea.

In my case ..
Alphabet Zoo Series - Inspired from needing to know if I had all the animals researched and in zoos and easily found.
Zoolympic Games Zoo Series - Used when I'm taking part in the Zoolympic Games challenge ( latest challenge can be found at https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-zoolympic-games.625827/page-24#post-10449553 )
World Zoo Series - Next series of zoos to aid in official challenges and another source of animals to work alongside the Alphabet Zoos.

 

[CharlieXGaming]

Well that was exhausting but worth it lol First (and hardest) step of my next enclosure for one of the new animals. Don't often try making cages like this but I think this one turned out pretty solid, the large posts are my favourite, the new Zookeeper pack steel bars are very very useful in stuff like this.

 

[Aramar]

I added seals to the Eurozoo

 

[markun]

I made a small mixed species enclosure for Kirk's dik-dik and African spurred tortoise

 

[NZFanatic]

I use the marvellous zoos by content creators as inspiration on what is possible. Maybe another 5 years will get me closer rofl. But then they have another 5 years to get even further away rofl. Solution: Don't try to be as good as the masters at zoo building, but instead, build what you want to build or create your own idea.

In my case ..
Alphabet Zoo Series - Inspired from needing to know if I had all the animals researched and in zoos and easily found.
Zoolympic Games Zoo Series - Used when I'm taking part in the Zoolympic Games challenge ( latest challenge can be found at https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-zoolympic-games.625827/page-24#post-10449553 )
World Zoo Series - Next series of zoos to aid in official challenges and another source of animals to work alongside the Alphabet Zoos.

I'm more or less fine with habitat design. It's more the buildings I can't seem to satisfy myself with. I'm not even trying to do anything too fancy - I'm perfectly happy with varied-level boxes and I don't bother with interiors if guests aren't going to be seeing them - but even using simple decals I'm never happy with the final result. Even looking up some inspiration - such as Auckland Zoo's awesome, though compact, giraffe house.

It's annoying when you have a vision in mind but just can't quite realise it.

Though, besides all that, I'd say my biggest pain is creating smoother slopes. For example, I tried to recreate the African wild dog habitat at Orana Wildlife Park (my local zoo), which is basically level with the guest path, but slopes down into a ditch (it extends back at ground level to the separation pens and such). It's a rather simple habitat so should be easy, but that damn slope ends up all lumpy and all over the place, and there's really only so much you can hide with rocks.

 

[Xrystal]

I'm more or less fine with habitat design. It's more the buildings I can't seem to satisfy myself with. I'm not even trying to do anything too fancy - I'm perfectly happy with varied-level boxes and I don't bother with interiors if guests aren't going to be seeing them - but even using simple decals I'm never happy with the final result. Even looking up some inspiration - such as Auckland Zoo's awesome, though compact, giraffe house.

It's annoying when you have a vision in mind but just can't quite realise it.

Though, besides all that, I'd say my biggest pain is creating smoother slopes. For example, I tried to recreate the African wild dog habitat at Orana Wildlife Park (my local zoo), which is basically level with the guest path, but slopes down into a ditch (it extends back at ground level to the separation pens and such). It's a rather simple habitat so should be easy, but that damn slope ends up all lumpy and all over the place, and there's really only so much you can hide with rocks.

Ah .. I don't even bother with fancy stuff like that .. I just either use the conservation set or grab a wall and roof set that looks okay and cover some buildings with that to create a set rofl. Very basic stuff, no decals and usually only signs.
Ah terrain sculpting. That can be a pain. Mountains I'm usually okay with and as long as the animals and staff can walk on it where necessary then I'm happy rofl, but trying to design an underwater viewing area is a nightmare rofl. So I usually try to avoid it wherever possible.

 

[NZFanatic]

I also hate the buffalo grass.

By that I mean, I love the buffalo grass, I think it's an amazing addition, it looks beautiful, and it's super versatile, but boy if I don't feel obligated to use it. Imagine if the regular long grass terrain paint could look that good. I get why it can't - rendering that must be painful - but man it would be so much easier. I don't think I'm fancy enough for the buffalo grass. I wanted to gouge my eyes out after covering one small hill - I cannot imagine trying to use it for every other grassy habitat.

 

[Marvinb]

I also hate the buffalo grass.

By that I mean, I love the buffalo grass, I think it's an amazing addition, it looks beautiful, and it's super versatile, but boy if I don't feel obligated to use it. Imagine if the regular long grass terrain paint could look that good. I get why it can't - rendering that must be painful - but man it would be so much easier. I don't think I'm fancy enough for the buffalo grass. I wanted to gouge my eyes out after covering one small hill - I cannot imagine trying to use it for every other grassy habitat.

When i started covering my grassy areas with a mix of buffalo variants, periwinkle and stuff i could never go back to just the terrain paints, it just looks so much better imo

 

[NZFanatic]

When i started covering my grassy areas with a mix of buffalo variants, periwinkle and stuff i could never go back to just the terrain paints, it just looks so much better imo

No doubt, but it's so tedious. Plus, to make it realistic, you want all the sprouts pointing up, so 'align to surface' doesn't work on slopes; you've got to gradually layer small patches down the slope so that all the protruding foliage is facing the sky.

Anyway, I was watching a virtual tour of (I think) the Lied Jungle at Henry Doorly Zoo, and they've got Egyptian fruit bats in there (a colony 700+ strong, I believe?), which made me want to build for the species. Mine will not be as neat as Lied Jungle, of course, but it's going well. I'm currently working on the shell to surround the exhibit box. My original plan was to have two of the boxes side by side and create a "loop" where the two colonies look like one but I kept getting "obstructed" when I tried to place them right next to each other. In the end I opted for one anyway, as I'm still getting my groove back with the game.

It ain't much, but it's honest work. I'm tentatively planning on this leading into a kopje with meerkats, porcupines, and tortoises. I also have a concept of a plan for Japanese macaques (an old, rocky island habitat that has been expanded into a larger area as the zoo modernised), so we'll see how I feel once the fruit bats are finished. The back wall of the building is going to be facaded with faux rocks, including a shelf below the glass windows that the bats can hang from, and there will also be a "keeper access" door there (the strip of building along that side hides a keeper hut). I thought about adding scarabs and snakes to the front wall with glass windows on both sides but I kind of like that angle wall I'm building there so maybe not. Or maybe I'll just add scarabs and save the snakes for the kopje.

It occurred to me that whenever I start a new zoo, I always start with Africa. IRL African sections are among my favourites, as I love the sheer variety they tend to contain, so I love building them, too. In this case I think I'm going to try and go -for-tat - I'll build something on the "Africa" side and then go back to the other side for something else. I'll also have to (eventually) build an entrance and administration area but I always get stuck on entrances - a lot of zoos have very 'fancy', modern entrances that are beyond the scope of my patience.

Anyway, it doesn't yet contain bats. I'll put them in soon so I know where all the pre-placed enrichment is before I decorate the interior. The roof is going to be a mix of that metal clad and glass panels.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

No doubt, but it's so tedious. Plus, to make it realistic, you want all the sprouts pointing up, so 'align to surface' doesn't work on slopes; you've got to gradually layer small patches down the slope so that all the protruding foliage is facing the sky.

This does not help the slope problem, but in general: I watched a great foliage tutorial a while ago. You basically create a square, say 12x12 m. You then put plants like grass etc. into this tiny square until you are fully satified. Group it. Repeat the method with 1 or two more squares. Grouß them all individual.

Now you can grab a group, copy it and place it down. It helps planting even big habitats within just a few minutes. Also great for the edge of the map, if you build a forest there or something.

Here is Pauls Playlist, I got it from him.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXEzmdBnSXk&list=PLQsK3hozVZnvBI9IdUlC7tJvRs00Fa990

 

[Xrystal]

No doubt, but it's so tedious. Plus, to make it realistic, you want all the sprouts pointing up, so 'align to surface' doesn't work on slopes; you've got to gradually layer small patches down the slope so that all the protruding foliage is facing the sky.

Anyway, I was watching a virtual tour of (I think) the Lied Jungle at Henry Doorly Zoo, and they've got Egyptian fruit bats in there (a colony 700+ strong, I believe?), which made me want to build for the species. Mine will not be as neat as Lied Jungle, of course, but it's going well. I'm currently working on the shell to surround the exhibit box. My original plan was to have two of the boxes side by side and create a "loop" where the two colonies look like one but I kept getting "obstructed" when I tried to place them right next to each other. In the end I opted for one anyway, as I'm still getting my groove back with the game.
View attachment 405814

It ain't much, but it's honest work. I'm tentatively planning on this leading into a kopje with meerkats, porcupines, and tortoises. I also have a concept of a plan for Japanese macaques (an old, rocky island habitat that has been expanded into a larger area as the zoo modernised), so we'll see how I feel once the fruit bats are finished. The back wall of the building is going to be facaded with faux rocks, including a shelf below the glass windows that the bats can hang from, and there will also be a "keeper access" door there (the strip of building along that side hides a keeper hut). I thought about adding scarabs and snakes to the front wall with glass windows on both sides but I kind of like that angle wall I'm building there so maybe not. Or maybe I'll just add scarabs and save the snakes for the kopje.

It occurred to me that whenever I start a new zoo, I always start with Africa. IRL African sections are among my favourites, as I love the sheer variety they tend to contain, so I love building them, too. In this case I think I'm going to try and go -for-tat - I'll build something on the "Africa" side and then go back to the other side for something else. I'll also have to (eventually) build an entrance and administration area but I always get stuck on entrances - a lot of zoos have very 'fancy', modern entrances that are beyond the scope of my patience.

Anyway, it doesn't yet contain bats. I'll put them in soon so I know where all the pre-placed enrichment is before I decorate the interior. The roof is going to be a mix of that metal clad and glass panels.

If you wanted to try the multiple walkthrough exhibits seeming like one .. just put them near each other, with a path connecting them, decorate the gap in between to look as if its part of the exhibit and with your outer walls no one will be the wiser rofl. You can also remove the walls and door visuals so it will look like one big exhibit, they won't escape rofl. Here's an open visual of the two I made with a food and drink stop in between.

Franchise Community Challenge Discussion

My first ever franchise zoo I built a pile of quarantine space and turned animal aging all the way down. I never go in there other than to farm the animals stored in the zoo, so it allows me to keep a pile of animals without aging. Key here is to build your quarantines by a trade centre to...

forums.frontier.co.uk

And the following is one I made before with an outer shell.

 

[Cooper_yang]

I built an indoor habitat for the clouded leopards, where they can live more comfortably during cold or excessively hot seasons.

 

[NZFanatic]

Finished the Fruit Bat Ravine.

I actually changed the roof slightly since taking these but not enough to warrant new screens. Basically just doubled the length of the glass panels to let more light in. I like the effect of seeing the bats through the scarab tank from the outside.

The vibe I'm going for is a zoo that isn't world-class but has a semi-decent budget. They can build nice habitats and contain rare species, and take part in AZA/EAZA species survival plans, but you're not going to find massive glass domes or excessive levels of hard theming. This would be a relatively newer building in the zoo, perhaps built to contain a species the zoo received from another facility. All my fruit bats are female because it's sandbox and there's no point in dealing with all the additional bats that would inevitably spring up but we can just pretend otherwise.

 

[NZFanatic]

I've also finished the meerkats. They're a little walk away from the exit of the fruit bat house, and I'm intending on adding both the spurred tortoise and porcupine to this area, too, before the path opens up to the wider African plains area. Before I dive into all that, though, I think I'll go to the other side of the entrance and build something else so I don't get too bored of the same style of building.

I do wish we had more variety of faux rock. I don't really like the building facade, but in the space I had I did the best I could. At the moment there are only two meerkats, but the plan is for them to breed into a bigger mob. I'm also going to change the path to something else. Possibly just plain asphalt, the implication being that the theming around it was done later but the old asphalt path remained in place to save on budget.

Behind those trees will be the administration building and utility entrance. I've noticed that even a lot of realistic builders tend to forget about access roads - it's all well and good putting an elephant habitat in the middle of your zoo, but transporting elephants is an expensive undertaking and will require vehicles, not to mention the vehicles needed to build the habitat to begin with. I like to include wider roads of the dark asphalt through the zoo to imply these uses (and I put slithers of staff path where needed to keep the guests off, which I then cover with concrete off-grid panels coloured dark; not perfect but it works).

I'm hoping in Planet Zoo 2 we'll get more neutral staff paths, or the ability to designate paths as "staff only" through signage or something. It's a shame they never added a staff-only barrier. The full barrier prevents staff from moving through something and the kerb only lessens traffic but doesn't keep guests out entirely.

 

[Xrystal]

And the China portion of my World Zoo series is finished ( barring cheering up the guests rofl ).
The overhead transport is over the Panda habitat which is a temperate bamboo forest leading to a small mountain area.
The mountain essentially continues on the other side of the path and rises higher to house the animals that like high altitude and the colder areas. A food and drink area is in the mountain itself which the train station is near, for those that don't want the long walk from the temperate forest area.

And an overview of the whole zoo. Along with my plans for the next upgrade to it while I run it for the challenge later on as this is where my 2nd snow leopard pair is.

 

[NZFanatic]

And the tortoises are in! I've put in four females, again because managing baby reptiles is a pain. Initially I was going to have the porcupines roughly where the tortoise indoor habitat is located, but that plan changed. I'm not too sure where I'll put them now but maybe I'll find a gap somewhere as the African section grows.

I was hoping that inspiration might have struck by now for an entrance, but nada. So I'll go to the other side and start something there. I'm not too sure what yet, maybe the macaques.

 

[NZFanatic]

Work on the Japanese macaque habitat is ongoing. As you can see, the old habitat is to the right. Lore-wise, I imagine this used to contain baboons when the zoo was old. As welfare standards progressed, the baboons were moved out, and macaques were moved in, but of course welfare standards continued to improve. A second macaque habitat was built where another old habitat used to be, and a connection maintained to the old one as a historical curiosity. The macaques do use both.

There's a chance I might redo the newer part. It's not entirely what I wanted it to be and the longer I spend on it the closer I get to work time so it's not as enjoyable!

 

[Marvinb]

The sight of my empty aquarium was a little to daunting right now, so i started working on the seaside/seaview polar bear enclosure

 

[Cooper_yang]

Feeling good