Aww that's a shame. I was actually considering getting another couple of puzzles since I've taken an interest in puzzles as a hobby.
DLC 19 Speculation
- Thread starter USzoofan42
- Start date
I really hope Frontier is atleast doing slightly better than what I am currently thinking, if not I highly doubt they would allocate resources to Planet Zoo again.
While I’m happy to be proven wrong, I am really not looking forward to the next dlc if that’s the case.
While I’m happy to be proven wrong, I am really not looking forward to the next dlc if that’s the case.
Oh, that’s bad. The only thing is we don’t have console sales to look at. Planet Coaster 2 was designed for the console in mind, so maybe that’s going better than on the computer?
Oof I already knew but everytime I see it it still stings
I will say I am a Warhammer fan (40k fan boy) but seeing Realms of Ruin do so bad is very depressing. I will say from the tabletop perspective I heard age of sigmar is doing ok, and it has some cool models.
Unfortunately Frontier was asked to make a game for one of the least popular Warhammer series, on top of it doing pretty bad too.
Been busy with real life stuff, but now that the dust has settled, I really wanted to ask the group, WHAT happened with Zookeeper's Pack lol
Like...imo it was so clearly meant to be the last pack - the celebration theme, the grab bag roster of community favorites, PUTTING THE ACTUAL FRONTIER BUILDING IN THE CAMPAIGN (!!!), how is it not the last pack?
Now mind you this is not a complaint, far from it. I'm absolutely ecstatic support is continuing next year, but what do all think happened behind the scenes. I'm curious, because I have it down to a few options:
Like...imo it was so clearly meant to be the last pack - the celebration theme, the grab bag roster of community favorites, PUTTING THE ACTUAL FRONTIER BUILDING IN THE CAMPAIGN (!!!), how is it not the last pack?
Now mind you this is not a complaint, far from it. I'm absolutely ecstatic support is continuing next year, but what do all think happened behind the scenes. I'm curious, because I have it down to a few options:
- It was never intended to be the last pack, and truly meant to be a fifth anniversary DLC through and through. And the roster and theming was a "Thank you for five amazing years!" thing
- It was 100% meant to be the last pack as is - BUT in the last minute, whether it was a higher up, the devs, the King of Frontier, whoever, decided "nah, we gotta keep going" - fueled mostly by the success of the console release
- It was meant to be a final, larger pack a la Ghostbusters in PC or Jurassic Park in JWE1, but halfway through they decided, "f**k it, we'll just double our profits and split it in two". Zookeeper's will be the B-team, whereas the next pack will be the heavy hitters - think tree kangaroo, South American monkeys, walrus, you-know-who-with-feathers-but-I-don't-want-to-jinx-it
imo I think this is the most likely option
- Who cares we're getting more animals, BABY.
Option E: they need money and on top of that they screw up with the roster and animal quality so there was community uproar (as per usual).
As a final pack was really lackluster. It wasn't even the true community favorites, felt more like a sprinkle of a couple of community favorites and Frontier picks (maybe devs favorites) like the sifaka and dik dik.
Man, I really don’t know to be honest I find 1-3 all equally likely.
I think it was initially planned as a final but early in development of the pack when they started gauging the reception to PC2 they decided to keep support going
Man idk either
Like on the one hand the pack screams final pack.
But then also if you do a Community favorites pack is this really what anyone would come up with?
It could be a combination of all of them.
I just hope they dont overestimate again what they can get done like with zookeeper and chose the animals accordingly.
Good squirrel monkey > halfassed spidermonkey for example
Caribbean pack
(current zoos @zootierliste.de)
1. antillean manatee (22)
2. Common squirrel monkey (288)
3. Grivet / Green monkey (125)
4. Cuban Hutia (20)
5. Eastern Brown Pelican (23)
6. Roseate spoonbill (123)
7. American crocodile (50)
8. Ocelot (127)
9. indian grey mongoose (2)
10. virginia opossum (95)
11. cuban iguana [E] (39)
12. Brown anole [E] (27)
(current zoos @zootierliste.de)
1. antillean manatee (22)
2. Common squirrel monkey (288)
3. Grivet / Green monkey (125)
4. Cuban Hutia (20)
5. Eastern Brown Pelican (23)
6. Roseate spoonbill (123)
7. American crocodile (50)
8. Ocelot (127)
9. indian grey mongoose (2)
10. virginia opossum (95)
11. cuban iguana [E] (39)
12. Brown anole [E] (27)
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I've been feeling like it's #3 for a while now. Thought being that we were meant to get a larger finale pack with maybe 50% more content than usual... But given shifts in resourcing and financial needs the company pivoted and opted for two packs instead. In doing so they added a few extra species to both packs and shifted some of the more "heavy-hitting" ones out for a "true" finale pack as well as some critical scenery pieces.
The additional time would allow them to flesh out the rest of the next pack at a more reasonable pace. And, as you suggested, would allow them to make a bit more money (i.e., instead of one pack for $15.99 they are selling two packs for $9.99). And saving some of the "big hitter" species for a finale pack would make it feel like a big proper send-off even if it's the same amount of content.
I'm also thinking that the Zookeeper pack scenery was meant to match the theme a bit more than it did. I love the pieces but... A lot of them feel like they could have been planned for release as part of the free update and were pulled into the DLC to cover a gap. Those pieces are pretty "generic" (and I say that as a feature and not a bug LOL) so it would have been relatively easy to bolster what was planned (the tents and bunting, maybe?) with some additional pieces to leverage the "celebration" angle as part of the DLC. And shift anything more "zoo-y" that was developed for a later DLC.
...This would also make the odd dictionary additions make a li'l bit more sense. Adding the baboon, tree 'roo, and the secretary bird at once then only implementing one in the pack. Tin foil hat time? Maybe. But it would be logical!
I want to believe this, but after a straight year of “this is gonna be the bestest final pack ever” I really don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch. The no birds and NWM being in ZooKeeper really bummed me out, and overall it added very little of what would actually excite me. Not to mention I found a lot of the pieces in ZooKeeper less interesting than barnyard. Not gonna say this isn’t a possibility, but I’m doubtful at this point.
Definitely sound logic, but I also think it’s still possible we get more mid tier easy animals. Like getting a pack high in the usual animal suspects. Basically I have a sneaking suspicion bird, monkey, and South America might just be screwed out again.
I actually love this theory. If this is the case it makes the free update even more disappointing.
Once again not to be a downer, but after a whole year of “OMG the dictionary guys!!!!!!” I’m not gonna believe it until I see it. I would love to get a secretary bird, but I’ll say if it’s the only bird or the last bird I’ll be a bit sad. Likewise the tree roo is also an awesome addition, but a tree roo and no NWM would leave me a bit sad.
I mean, if I can be captain obvious, NWMs, birds, and South America have been discussed to death. After ZooKeeper removing some of the other animals not from SA, I think a revisit can be in order. I mean at this point the Coati, Ocelot, and Black Howler monkey are some of the top meta wishlist animals. Add in some birds, a rodent, and maybe a reptile and that could be a pretty good pack on its own.
Option 3 also seems the most likely to me although now, with PC2 underperforming, we may well see two packs this year. Essentially though so long as we get a Coati and at least one more New World Monkey, I'm okay with whatever the rest of the roster will be, as far as mammals go. Though of course, I have my preference those two are the only real critical ones for me.
Not sure, but my guess is they just wanted to pack some popular animals together and choose a “celebration” pack because it was about to release near the anniversary. It never really felt like a last pack theme to me, but rather a “lets celebrate 5 years together” pack.
I think this depends on your definition of "mid-tier." Or what you're willing to accept that represents each of those three categories above. I think secretary bird has a very strong chance. And there's also a decent chance that Latin America gets 2-3 species represented if its based on the meta wishlist at all (with black howler monkey being most likely as far as monkey rep goes). Which might be enough for some people. Especially if it allows other critters to get worked in that aren't from that region.
I just don't see them ignoring the top five of the meta wishlist this time around. Up until 2024 every pack from Wetlands on provided the #1 most requested animal with one exception (the Devil sat at #1 for a hot minute; they were saving it for Oceania). And the rest were mostly gleaned from the bottom half of the top 10 with others being from the top 20 (and then an oddball or two or three). Barnyard forced them out of that pattern and Zookeeper dipped into it a bit more, though nothing was really from the top 5... They still clearly considered the wishlist. The markhor, baboon, and bear were all pretty high up. Pallas's Cat too. The tortoise, dik-dik, and sifaka were the oddballs and lower on the list.
I mean, it would make sense, right? In the past, we got "Bernie's Bakes" and some of that scenery as part of the update. So giving us some "celebration scenery" as part of the free update (and some of it being implemented alongside other, more "generic" zoo scenery in the pack) would have made a ton of sense and been "within budget" given what those pieces were...
But if they opted to shift into multiple packs, that would have felt reasonable to bump out whatever the true "zookeeper" items were for a pack down the line and just more fully flesh out the "celebration" pieces further.
I hear you! To be sure, this is pure speculation on my part but... I dunno. The fact that those three names were all added around the same time, then one got removed? To me, that feels like the "pack split" may have happened and they're saving some of the higher-requested critters for the end.
I definitely agree with you that Latin America deserves another re-visit. And there's more than enough to warrant it. But, in the end, if there's just one pack left? I'd prefer they give us 2-3 of the 'key' Latin American species and let the rest be more general/broad (but I'm a tree 'roo simp so... I'm biased here
). But if there's two packs? Yeah, get a full-blown LA animal pack with a new exhibit species followed by a more general sequel to the Zookeeper pack (with 7 habitat + scenery)!Two packs this year would be nice. And, honestly, would be my ideal... Give me a Latin American pack plus another generic/broad pack to close things out and I'm stoked! But until we hear otherwise, I'm going to continue assuming this next pack is the last one.
If that isn’t meant to be the last pack, I don’t know what ever could be. I mean it’s the ZOOKEEPER pack, what a good way to end the game. It having celebratory scenery only solidified this fact, and (while I would argue this) it did have some animals the community wanted for awhile.
I don’t know what could ever be considered the last pack, at this point one day we do get a Coastal Pack and then everyone is shocked when nothing happens for over a year.
I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I was absolutely thinking of an “Oops, all ungulates!” or at least packs that were very ungulate heavy.
Like:
- Barnyard
- Eurasia
- Arid