Hot takes for planet zoo

[RightWhale]

here is some more hot takes from yours truly:

1. To be honest, I think the birds we 100% need in game right now are mixed habitat birds only. I can live without a secretary bird, burrowing owl, or whatever other stand alone bird species we need. Trying to make something like a tropical house is really hard when you don’t even have a single good bird to put in it. Not to mention any wetland habitat, Savannah, etc.
2. The new pack format really causes a “jack of all trades master of none” type scenario. We don’t get an exhibit animal anymore, we don’t get complete scenery either. You still get 7 habitat animals, and some props. But as of the current state of things, that has had its own issues. With less packs each year you are also much more likely to dislike what is provided.
3. I miss the exhibit animals, and Frontier might as well have never dropped the WTE. Outside of the butterflies, all the other animals are clunky. Not to mention they picked species that barely work as actual WTE animals. As others have pointed out on the speculation thread, releasing a system with flying animals but never doing birds is so stupid. Yes, we were never promised anything. We also were never not promised anything, and hey look Frontier can do some sort of flying system if they want. They just won’t do birds in them for reasons we will never know.
4. Iguanas should have been habitat animals from day one, they are roughly comparable to the Nile monitor in size.
5. The pangolin is one of the weirdest animal choices, especially as a base game animal.
6. NA needs a bird way before it gets the ABB.
7. Keepers should be able to have everything fixed just by walking into a habitat, that way people can place feeders above the ground.
8. My very hot take, I think the lack of monkeys and birds may be due to someone influential in the office. A lot of people find monkeys creepy, and don’t care for birds much. I think this extends to making packs (outside of the difficulty making new animals).
9. For a game that’s supposed to have an “education” feature as essential to “gameplay”, it does a really bad job with anything related to that. We have a sign for poaching, got nothing else for it. This is just one example, and I think to represent the modern zoo we really need more educational props.
10. The hate against Barnyard was ridiculous, but only if you have an issue with Planet Zoo having domestics. I’m fine if it’s not your thing, and I also find it super valid to have issue with the breed and animal choice.

 

[Mjmannella]

The new pack format really causes a “jack of all trades master of none” type scenario. We don’t get an exhibit animal anymore, we don’t get complete scenery either. You still get 7 habitat animals, and some props. But as of the current state of things, that has had its own issues. With less packs each year you are also much more likely to dislike what is provided.

Frontier must've heard the full proverb: "a jack of all trades, master of none, is oftentimes better than a master of some"

 

[Marvinb]

here is some more hot takes from yours truly:

1. To be honest, I think the birds we 100% need in game right now are mixed habitat birds only. I can live without a secretary bird, burrowing owl, or whatever other stand alone bird species we need. Trying to make something like a tropical house is really hard when you don’t even have a single good bird to put in it. Not to mention any wetland habitat, Savannah, etc.
2. The new pack format really causes a “jack of all trades master of none” type scenario. We don’t get an exhibit animal anymore, we don’t get complete scenery either. You still get 7 habitat animals, and some props. But as of the current state of things, that has had its own issues. With less packs each year you are also much more likely to dislike what is provided.
3. I miss the exhibit animals, and Frontier might as well have never dropped the WTE. Outside of the butterflies, all the other animals are clunky. Not to mention they picked species that barely work as actual WTE animals. As others have pointed out on the speculation thread, releasing a system with flying animals but never doing birds is so stupid. Yes, we were never promised anything. We also were never not promised anything, and hey look Frontier can do some sort of flying system if they want. They just won’t do birds in them for reasons we will never know.
4. Iguanas should have been habitat animals from day one, they are roughly comparable to the Nile monitor in size.
5. The pangolin is one of the weirdest animal choices, especially as a base game animal.
6. NA needs a bird way before it gets the ABB.
7. Keepers should be able to have everything fixed just by walking into a habitat, that way people can place feeders above the ground.
8. My very hot take, I think the lack of monkeys and birds may be due to someone influential in the office. A lot of people find monkeys creepy, and don’t care for birds much. I think this extends to making packs (outside of the difficulty making new animals).
9. For a game that’s supposed to have an “education” feature as essential to “gameplay”, it does a really bad job with anything related to that. We have a sign for poaching, got nothing else for it. This is just one example, and I think to represent the modern zoo we really need more educational props.
10. The hate against Barnyard was ridiculous, but only if you have an issue with Planet Zoo having domestics. I’m fine if it’s not your thing, and I also find it super valid to have issue with the breed and animal choice.

To be fair i cant very easily see why the iguanas are exhibit animals, i definetly would prefer them as habitat animals but i can see why they arent. The climbing animation for them just cant be as it is for every other animals where they just walk on whatever they are climbing on, since their legs go of to the sides instead of mammals' which are directly under their body. So they do essentially "hug" whatever they are climbing on, and since there are like dozens of different climbable objects with various different thicknesses in the game. So you would have to tailor make a climbing animation for every piece (or atleast a couple different ones) and have the tech in game for it to recognize which one is needed at the current time so the lizard is not constantly clipping into the piece. I hope that makes sense
And that seems like something that probably wasnt really in the cards back in basegames time, especially when you could put them into the exhibit instead.
Thats likely also the reason why the water monitor didnt get climbing eventhough it really should have.

So habitat iguanas will probably stay a dream, unless we somehow get the rhino iguana in the future which doesnt really climb.

For sure agree on the pangolin, very bizarre choice for the basegame but certainly not an unwelcome one imo.

 

[Sclurp]

Aside from not being able to release colormorphs into the wild, what else would you recommend for punishment? Colormorphs are generally more popular than regular animals, so an enclosure with a colormorph should be more popular with guests...not sure how to balance out a punishment.
Also, not all colormorphs are negative and would prevent release into the wild. Such as the black color for wolves.

Oh as in, the zoo should have a reputation hit if the player is running a puppy mill of albinos etc and a penalty to conservation credits received when putting them on the market.

 

[SuzieSky]

here is some more hot takes from yours truly:

1. To be honest, I think the birds we 100% need in game right now are mixed habitat birds only. I can live without a secretary bird, burrowing owl, or whatever other stand alone bird species we need. Trying to make something like a tropical house is really hard when you don’t even have a single good bird to put in it. Not to mention any wetland habitat, Savannah, etc.
2. The new pack format really causes a “jack of all trades master of none” type scenario. We don’t get an exhibit animal anymore, we don’t get complete scenery either. You still get 7 habitat animals, and some props. But as of the current state of things, that has had its own issues. With less packs each year you are also much more likely to dislike what is provided.
3. I miss the exhibit animals, and Frontier might as well have never dropped the WTE. Outside of the butterflies, all the other animals are clunky. Not to mention they picked species that barely work as actual WTE animals. As others have pointed out on the speculation thread, releasing a system with flying animals but never doing birds is so stupid. Yes, we were never promised anything. We also were never not promised anything, and hey look Frontier can do some sort of flying system if they want. They just won’t do birds in them for reasons we will never know.
4. Iguanas should have been habitat animals from day one, they are roughly comparable to the Nile monitor in size.
5. The pangolin is one of the weirdest animal choices, especially as a base game animal.
6. NA needs a bird way before it gets the ABB.
7. Keepers should be able to have everything fixed just by walking into a habitat, that way people can place feeders above the ground.
8. My very hot take, I think the lack of monkeys and birds may be due to someone influential in the office. A lot of people find monkeys creepy, and don’t care for birds much. I think this extends to making packs (outside of the difficulty making new animals).
9. For a game that’s supposed to have an “education” feature as essential to “gameplay”, it does a really bad job with anything related to that. We have a sign for poaching, got nothing else for it. This is just one example, and I think to represent the modern zoo we really need more educational props.
10. The hate against Barnyard was ridiculous, but only if you have an issue with Planet Zoo having domestics. I’m fine if it’s not your thing, and I also find it super valid to have issue with the breed and animal choice.

1. Filler mixed wetland picks, especially the spoonbill/ibis, grey crowned crane, ducks, and probably the great white pelican are all at the top of my habitat bird wishes. So many of my zoo projects are missing them!
2. I like the new format, but they should probably add the chameleon and cobra before giving up on 4x4 exhibit animals. Demand for them is so high. Reptile house pack?
3. I like the butterflies, bats were a no-brainer for twilight, and an exhibit sloth is better than no sloth. I'm still waiting on birds. I don't even have crazy-high expectations for them. They don't have to move much, can have somewhat obvious loops, and we might only get a handful of species, but I'd still love them. They can make more and better ones in a sequel if they want.
4. Somewhat agree. They'd be cooler as a habitat animal, but I'll gladly take the boxed version over none at all.
5. Agree. It seemed weird, especially with so many basic small mammals missing. In hindsight, I think it was smart. They are a pretty important conservation species in China, which has a big market. On that end, they still probably need a deer, monkey, reptile/amphibian, and colorful bird(s). The GSNM, alligator, pheasants, and muntjac were featured prominently in a zoo I visited there, but I wasn't fortunate enough to see a pangolin.
6. Bald eagles are the only ones I'd put before it in terms of iconism, but having zero birds is a little ridiculous. I'll even take the cobra chicken at this point, but I'd prefer a turkey, wood duck, heron, or crane among the likely choices to be 'our' habitat bird.
7. I somewhat like the animations, but I think they could pause before leaving habitats and clear all missed trash and feeders.
8. Maybe? I've thought this about birds in the base game, especially. I think the monkey snubbing is a combination of monkeys being difficult, demand being focused on other 'star' species, and many monkeys not being popular overall. Lemurs, gibbons, great apes, squirrel monkeys, and tamarins are usually liked from what I've seen. The first two have gotten good attention; the last two push the boundaries of animal size limits but are hopefully around the corner. Tiny monkeys are cute! Howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and guerezas are up next in popularity and would also go a long way for many of my projects. Beyond those, there are some regional picks that probably ought to be addressed, and some additional African species would be very nice to have.
9. More interactive pieces would be nice. For player education, I really want a plantpedia.
10. A lot of the feedback was positive, but there were some people who were never going to like it. It would have worked better on a faster DLC release schedule, so they didn't have to wait so long for more wild animals. The breed choices could have been better, but I'm ok with them.

 

[SuzieSky]

I'd be happy with more domestics even after Barnyard. Not necessarily more breeds of species we have (I'm fine using basically of them as generic stand-ins) but species we are completely missing. I'd love to see a domestic rabbit (even European rabbit with colour-morphs) or some kind of "farm waterfowl" be that a mallard with colour-morphs, a Muscovy duck or a type of goose. Then beyond that, the omission of a pony feels a bit strange but not super "needed" and I'd even like to see a ferret. There's also animals which aren't really domestic but can stand in like the waterfowl I mentioned but also a turkey or guineafowl.

Basically, theres still more Frontier could explore and I don't think Barnyard needs to be the end of it.

Watusi cattle are also pretty cool. Yaks come up sometimes. I also kind of want a rabbit and need a few ducks.

 

[SuzieSky]

Just because a species is “filler” does not mean it is not essential or important (even if it’s moreso a group that’s essential rather than a particular species), those are not mutually exclusive. I feel like people have been using the term lately to brush off animals as unimportant or uninteresting, but filler species are just as important as star animals, make up the bulk of zoo collections, and are among the most common zoo animals as a whole, it’s very difficult to build a realistic park without a diverse selection of them. Imagine if we only had giraffes and zebra for our African hoofstock sections, but small-medium antelope were left out because they were “boring filler”, or if we had nothing for our reptile houses beyond crocodilians, komodos, and giant tortoises. That's what the game's bird roster feels like.

The musk ox is not essential in the slightest and might be the most overrated community favorite there is. It’s a very cool animal and I can see why people want it, but calling it essential is a massive stretch.

Going off of that, neither are the secretary bird or shoebill (I’d love both, don’t get me wrong, but with how few birds we get they just aren’t a priority), and that's coming from someone who adores shoebills irl (they're so stinking cute). The helmeted guineafowl, grey crowned crane, ground hornbill, great white pelican, and an African waterfowl species are all birds from Africa alone that I'd find more useful than them even if I wouldn't consider all of them essentials.

As someone who builds lots of NA zoos… I can live without the ABB. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still like it - it’s an insanely common animal and one of my favorite bear species - but my zoos don’t really feel like they’re missing much without it. We have plenty of star animals for the region to choose from already and my zoos feel far more empty without any bird to sprinkle into my native wildlife sections. I’d rather have us get at least two picks between a landfowl, waterfowl, and wader before any mammal for the region. We also don’t need another deer species for that matter.

The rhea was more essential than the spectacled bear and it’s not even close.

If animal packs keep going the way they are, then I kind of miss scenery packs as our last two were far better than any of the recent animal packs, (though Barnyard has grown on me quite a bit even if its breed choices were lackluster). I’d love Frontier to prove me wrong and give us another pack on the level of Grasslands, Wetlands, or NA though (please…)

Even as someone who doesn’t build in Europe, the region is prime for widespread, temperate bird species and it’s a crime that all we have is the mute swan (and it took us a while to even get that). I’d hope for a white stork (364 holdings in the EU alone btw lol, that's a whole lotta bird) at least one other waterfowl species, and of course the pelican.

The only essential ungulates left beyond the blackbuck and muntjac (or other similar species that fill the same niche) are all domestics. Sorry, but I think a kunekune, dwarf goat, ankole-watusi, etc. are far more valuable additions to the roster than more African antelope, another camelid, or another medium-large deer species. If Frontier continues to sprinkle random ungulates into packs, I’d rather they slowly expand upon the lacking domestic roster than continue to build upon groups/regions that are already rich with them. There are some other wild ones that could be decent additions (mostly from South America and Asia), but I wouldn’t go as far to call them essential.

• Yes! Bring on the ducks and other wetlands birds!
• Agree, but they'd be good on the rare occasion I build for arctic sections. That and their popularity makes me call them essential, but I wouldn't miss them nearly as often as other things.
• Agree, I want at least 2 common mixed species first.
• Heresay! Just kidding. I can see why some people might feel that way as badly as I want/need the ABB. Birds are important. Agree that the deer is more of a nice-to-have than a necessity, especially if support is limited.
• I wanted the bear more, but in terms of importance would have wedged it between the two popular Patagonian animals.
• I don't miss scenery packs at this point, but the recent animal packs could have been stronger.
• The mallard and pelican are really popular and should be prioritized. I'd want to see ~3 for Africa, 2 of the pink trio, a rhea, more ducks, something endemic for NA, and ~2 pheasants before I'd think about additional habitat birds for Europe, but they have some decent options afterwards.
• I think those two (mostly the blackbuck) are the only truly essential ones left. There are plenty of great options, though, including deer, more antelope, wild caprids, and some domestics. I like Watusi cattle.

 

[Marvinb]

Maybe? I've thought this about birds in the base game, especially. I think the monkey snubbing is a combination of monkeys being difficult, demand being focused on other 'star' species, and many monkeys not being popular overall. Lemurs, gibbons, great apes, squirrel monkeys, and tamarins are usually liked from what I've seen. The first two have gotten good attention; the last two push the boundaries of animal size limits but are hopefully around the corner. Tiny monkeys are cute! Howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and guerezas are up next in popularity and would also go a long way for many of my projects. Beyond those, there are some regional picks that probably ought to be addressed, and some additional African species would be very nice to have.

Who really knows? I supposed its likely a combination of factors.

Its also a weird history on the primates. Like basegame had an okay roster: The four apes are perfect, might even say the bonobo was kinda overkill. Having two lemurs was great. But only two monkeys is where it started to drop, i think mandrill and the macaque were great picks that worked well but having just one more would have really gone a long way, ideally some kind of tailed monkey just to round things out.

And to be fair i think we started off the dlc lifetime pretty well on the monkey front. Getting the capuchin in the second dlc was really nice and the proboscis in the 5fth also was great, so out of the first 5 dlcs the 2 that reasonably could have had a monkey did. Africa then ofcourse could have had one, hamadryas would have fitted in there perfectly with the north africa theming, but i dont think it was unreasonable to not do one.
Then NA, europe and wetlands all technically could have had one aswell but would all been kind of fringe cases.
Conservation than ofcourse had the gibbon, so good excuse to not do one.
Twilight could have had a night monkey, but idk if many people would have vibed with that.
Grasslands than was our first new pack where a monkey was a real option in for of the olive baboon.
But then the real big two culprits, tropical and arid. While i think the long span of not getting a monkey was excusable till now due to good reasons, i think this was the point where it got really frustrating: Two packs where a monkey was not only a perfect option, but also among the most requested, if not the most requested pick for the theme. And not getting one in either after such a long hiatus, and not having many in the first place, really sucked.
Oceania and barnyard get pardoned ofcourse for literally not having an option for one. Eurasia then was another punch in the gut for not having one even tho you already dappled into the tropical area with the bear.
Which leads us to zookeeper, which ofcourse (finally) had one with the baboon. But after such a long wait, and the state of SA i think the inclusion of a second monkey in form of a nw one was more than warranted.

So TDLR: While the long absence of monkeys in dlcs was somewhat excuseable due to not fitting the packs, them then also getting skipped over in packs where they should have been included really started the frustration about them that many people feel, me included

 

[Iben]

Here are mine.

1. It's absolutely pointless to debate whether or not an animal needs to be in the game. If you want it in the game that should be enough, you shouldn't need to defend that in any way, shape or form. We all have reasons why we want certain animals in the game. You can debate how realistic it is for an animal to be added to the game, which has some objective categories, but your reason for wanting an animal in the game is always going to be based on what you personally value more.
2. Planet Zoo isn't the spiritual successor to Zoo Tycoon 2 as it is a different kind of zoo game. Where ZT2 was more of a mix between a zoo builder, a zoo manager and a zookeeper game; Planet Zoo simply isn't that nor does it have to be. There is no "one" perfect zoo game out there, each zoo game has different takes on the genre and you're free to like or dislike any take on it.
3. It is absolutely fine to dislike something, voice that dislike and then move on. Nobody is holding you hostage here, there are other zoo games out there both old and new that you can play that might fit your wants more. It's okay that not everything fits your taste, and it's okay to just move on from that.

 

[RightWhale]

So habitat iguanas will probably stay a dream, unless we somehow get the rhino iguana in the future which doesnt really climb.

Yeah either the rhinoceros iguana or something like the cayman island blue iguana. Either way one of the ground species would be nice.

 

[RightWhale]

Just because a species is “filler” does not mean it is not essential or important (even if it’s moreso a group that’s essential rather than a particular species), those are not mutually exclusive. I feel like people have been using the term lately to brush off animals as unimportant or uninteresting, but filler species are just as important as star animals, make up the bulk of zoo collections, and are among the most common zoo animals as a whole, it’s very difficult to build a realistic park without a diverse selection of them. Imagine if we only had giraffes and zebra for our African hoofstock sections, but small-medium antelope were left out because they were “boring filler”, or if we had nothing for our reptile houses beyond crocodilians, komodos, and giant tortoises. That's what the game's bird roster feels like.

Yeah this is a good way of putting it, and I was trying to word a hot take about this but couldn’t quite place what I mean. I can 100% get why reading about “birds again” is super annoying, even I am getting annoyed with the constant cycle! I also agree that a lot of bird fans get way too pushy about it, and even I may have been like that from time to time. It’s really hard to explain just how bad it is though, especially to some people who may not care about birds much at all. Like listen, I’m not saying an ocelot, bush dog, eland, or other animals aren’t cool or aren’t needed in game. As Iben said, wanting an animal is justification enough. However, when there are so many dogs, bears, or cats in game every continent has one and we are getting to the point where people are calling more and more obscure Carnivora essential….. it’s a bit of a tough pill to swallow. If you don’t combine the 12 species as one group the bird roster is pathetic, especially compared to some other animal groups in game. I mean, imagine being a dog fan and we still don’t have the maned wolf, fennec fox, or dhole? Imagine being a cat fan, and we still don’t have a caracal, puma, or clouded leopard? That’s what it’s like to use birds in PZ, we are still missing some very basic animals. So it’s a bit hard watching as all the DLCs go by, and almost everyone else is getting their “essential” animals, and we would be lucky to even get a basic duck. It’s also a tough pill to swallow, because the best way to deal with the frustration is to just give up and become apathetic. It won’t get better in one DLC, not even one DLC focused on birds. Though I’m sure if Frontier wants to do that I’m not opposed to it.

ankole-watusi

Now there is a super underrated species! I think the ankole watusi fits this super cool niche like a Muscovy duck or guineafowl. It can still be kept with other wild species, and also serve as a cool domestic animal.

 

[SanRazo]

1. Aquariums should be prioritized before aviaries. They’re easier to implement for smaller species with the literal exhibit tank we already have in game. And they’re way more fun and dynamic to build for and manage for larger animals like Manatees and cetaceans than just a covered habitat that you can already make pretty well in game.

2. Cetaceans would be amazing in this game. Orcas, Dolphins all of them. They would add a considerable challenge to build for and honestly I don’t think would be that controversial all things considered. They exist in irl zoos and it would be a cool animal to build for. Plus it’s a GAME, there’s already huge incentive for puppy mills and the like in franchise. It’s ridiculous everytime someone mentions them in the forum it starts a whole witch hunt and shame fest. (To be fair that is going away now) let people want what they want and voice their opinion

3. More domestics would be awesome. Pony’s, watusi cattle, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, gineafowl, horses bring them all on.

4. The WTE without ever having birds is always going to feel like missed potential. Yes they didn’t promise anything, but I mean…. Look at the thing.

5. If PZ2 doesn’t have more to do in your zoo to make you feel connected and alive then that’s going to be a huge disappointment and I might just go back to ZT2. I know planet zoo was prioritizing building when it was made but, if I wanted to just make models I would’ve played with toys . There’s enough management in the game as is to keep me here for now with trading on franchise, but it’s crazy how zoo tycoon 2’s challenge mode does a better job making my zoo feel like a part of a connected world with its pop up events, than planet zoo’s interconnected online franchise mode. I want to feel more connected to my zoo and have more of a connection to the animals. Slow down time like PC2, add random events, add specific trading between zoos, make it feel more alive!

6. I don’t think we’ve ever had a bad inclusion (species wise) to the game. I’ve come to love every animal added no matter how controversial. I do believe some of them could’ve been executed better like the sifaka climbing and siamang walking, but species wise I think there’s been no real miss. I would’ve just changed some breeds around in barnyard.

7. Joining the iguana train, they should’ve been habitat animals from the start

8. Animals that aren’t in captivity, or are not common in captivity, shouldn’t be banned from the game, and can be really cool additions in their own right

9. Animals don’t have to be “essential” to be good additions. We need filler animals. a zoo with just headliners is boring to build for. We need more birds and more African ungulates and more of the little guys to tell “stories” with our zoo areas. Variety in choices is always good. It’s cool in franchise if I have one zoo that houses Blue Wildebeest while another houses Black Wildebeest or something like that. Masai vs Reticulated, Bengal vs Siberian, African vs Asian Elephant, Chimps vs Bonobos, stuff like that

 

[RightWhale]

1. Aquariums should be prioritized before aviaries. They’re easier to implement for smaller species with the literal exhibit tank we already have in game. And they’re way more fun and dynamic to build for and manage for larger animals like Manatees and cetaceans than just a covered habitat that you can already make pretty well in game.

I also agree, I mean that was my first post on this thread. It’s just sad that all aspects of the game ”exhibits” feels abandoned.

1. No fish in what is essentially a giant fish tank, and we already have fully aquatic animals in it anyways!
2. WTE should have had birds in it, so I agree it will always be missed potential.

 

[Utahraptor Arcanus]

This game doesn't have too many ungulates or carnivores, it have to many antelopes and big cats.

I couldn't care less about a pelican.

Rodents and lagomorphs were the most neglected mammals groups, not primates, with a third place being afrotheria.

I would be way more interested on an African exhibit animal over an habitat one.

I want more crocodiles.

 

[NachoB]

This game doesn't have too many ungulates or carnivores, it have to many antelopes and big cats.

I couldn't care less about a pelican.

Rodents and lagomorphs were the most neglected mammals groups, not primates, with a third place being afrotheria.

I would be way more interested on an African exhibit animal over an habitat one.

I want more crocodiles.

It has quite fair share of goats and cows as well though... And pigs. And pretty much all the really important canids. I do agree about the cats though. Also the problem with the antelopes is also the selection: nile lechwe, black wildebeest, dama gazelle and saiga feel like the stole the spots for the blackbuck and greater kudu/eland, which are arguably more useful and requested than those four*.

I think outside of the mara and an arboreal rodent we've got all the big names: beaver, capybara, porcupine, prairie dog. Could there be more? Sure but i think the group has good representation considering the big rodents that are left. The mara, an arboreal squirrel and a marmot or a giant rat might be the ones really missing but most of them are rather obscure compared to the ones i mentioned.

I would like a naked mole rat for african exhibit animal but i really want an african habitat bird over anything else from that continent.

 

[Mjmannella]

It has quite fair share of goats and cows as well though

Caprines and bovines are also antelope

 

[Birb（｡･ө･｡）]

• The mallard and pelican are really popular and should be prioritized. I'd want to see ~3 for Africa, 2 of the pink trio, a rhea, more ducks, something endemic for NA, and ~2 pheasants before I'd think about additional habitat birds for Europe, but they have some decent options afterwards.

Oh absolutely, they’re far from high priority in the bird roster for me, but it’s more of a case of them still being higher than most mammals and that I think they aren’t brought up quite enough due to the sheer range of them (especially compared to more commonly mentioned, but niche European picks like the capercaillie or more mammals like caprids and mustelids). So many temperate European birds, like the mentioned mallard and pelican, as well as the white stork, or my personal favorite the pied avocet, range super far into Africa and Asia making them cover quite a few bases (and with how few birds we get, that could be a good thing), so as someone who almost never touches the game's European roster, they’d be a nice change of pace.

Completely agree on getting all those birds first, especially getting three for Africa (guineafowl, crowned crane, and ground hornbill please I beg oh my godddd) and two of the pink trio, it’s such a shame that we’d be lucky to get even one out of all of those.

Now there is a super underrated species! I think the ankole watusi fits this super cool niche like a Muscovy duck or guineafowl. It can still be kept with other wild species, and also serve as a cool domestic animal.

Not saying it should have, but if Barnyard was going to zone in on almost one region like it kind of did with Europe, it should have been Africa. There are just too many great picks (that are actually common worldwide, and ironically moreso within Europe than many of the actually European breeds we got) between these guys, the guineafowl, the African goose (although I'd prefer the far more common Chinese goose, they look virtually identical to the point where I'm not really pressed which we'd get), and of course the ever-present dwarf goats.

I want more crocodiles.

Honestly same here, most of them I can’t justify as great additions for the roster as a whole and are only wanted because I just like them (one of the most underrated animal groups to be called “cute” but I genuinely find them adorable) but with the sheer diversity of crocodilians I see in zoos it’s hard for me to call many bad additions either, certainly not nearly as bad as the constant repetition of things like antelope and cats. If we still had tons of time left, I’d certainly still be rooting for at least a few between one of the common African crocs (I’d prefer slender-snouted or west African dwarf but Nile would be great too if just to have a better XL croc model) the American crocodile which I’ve seen loads of times in the Southern US (often as companion exhibits to gators) or some of my personal favorites with the Cuban croc, Chinese alligator, and freshie.

 

[NachoB]

Caprines and bovines are also antelope

Oh. Well then yes, the problem is an overabundance of antelopes- but still some of them are superflous choices.

 

[Utahraptor Arcanus]

It has quite fair share of goats and cows as well though... And pigs.

Caprines and bovines are also antelope

tbf i though on saying "bovids" but then i realize most ungulates that people want are either bovids or cervids anyway, so...

I think outside of the mara and an arboreal rodent we've got all the big names: beaver, capybara, porcupine, prairie dog. Could there be more? Sure but i think the group has good representation considering the big rodents that are left. The mara, an arboreal squirrel and a marmot or a giant rat might be the ones really missing but most of them are rather obscure compared to the ones i mentioned.

The reason why i think it isn't as good is a combination of our first rodents being on NA and down the line, we only received two more with capy and porcupine, while theres still more options (aside from the ones you mention, theres guinea pigs, chinchilas, grounds squirrels, mole rats and other kinds of porcupines), while primates were more present in dlcs and base game with all the apes, four lemurs and the gibbons.

In other words, while primates were neglected, rodents were just ignored.

I would like a naked mole rat for african exhibit animal but i really want an african habitat bird over anything else from that continent.

Tbh a chameleon or agama would hype me way more than an African bird, considering that we at least got three birds comparing to the two african snakes we got.

Not that more birds like guineafowls or african pygmy goose woudn't be good, but a chameleon sounds more interesting currently.

 

[SuzieSky]

1. Aquariums should be prioritized before aviaries. They’re easier to implement for smaller species with the literal exhibit tank we already have in game. And they’re way more fun and dynamic to build for and manage for larger animals like Manatees and cetaceans than just a covered habitat that you can already make pretty well in game.

2. Cetaceans would be amazing in this game. Orcas, Dolphins all of them. They would add a considerable challenge to build for and honestly I don’t think would be that controversial all things considered. They exist in irl zoos and it would be a cool animal to build for. Plus it’s a GAME, there’s already huge incentive for puppy mills and the like in franchise. It’s ridiculous everytime someone mentions them in the forum it starts a whole witch hunt and shame fest. (To be fair that is going away now) let people want what they want and voice their opinion

3. More domestics would be awesome. Pony’s, watusi cattle, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, gineafowl, horses bring them all on.

4. The WTE without ever having birds is always going to feel like missed potential. Yes they didn’t promise anything, but I mean…. Look at the thing.

5. If PZ2 doesn’t have more to do in your zoo to make you feel connected and alive then that’s going to be a huge disappointment and I might just go back to ZT2. I know planet zoo was prioritizing building when it was made but, if I wanted to just make models I would’ve played with toys . There’s enough management in the game as is to keep me here for now with trading on franchise, but it’s crazy how zoo tycoon 2’s challenge mode does a better job making my zoo feel like a part of a connected world with its pop up events, than planet zoo’s interconnected online franchise mode. I want to feel more connected to my zoo and have more of a connection to the animals. Slow down time like PC2, add random events, add specific trading between zoos, make it feel more alive!

6. I don’t think we’ve ever had a bad inclusion (species wise) to the game. I’ve come to love every animal added no matter how controversial. I do believe some of them could’ve been executed better like the sifaka climbing and siamang walking, but species wise I think there’s been no real miss. I would’ve just changed some breeds around in barnyard.

7. Joining the iguana train, they should’ve been habitat animals from the start

8. Animals that aren’t in captivity, or are not common in captivity, shouldn’t be banned from the game, and can be really cool additions in their own right

9. Animals don’t have to be “essential” to be good additions. We need filler animals. a zoo with just headliners is boring to build for. We need more birds and more African ungulates and more of the little guys to tell “stories” with our zoo areas. Variety in choices is always good. It’s cool in franchise if I have one zoo that houses Blue Wildebeest while another houses Black Wildebeest or something like that. Masai vs Reticulated, Bengal vs Siberian, African vs Asian Elephant, Chimps vs Bonobos, stuff like that

1. I see way more birds in zoos than manatees, cetaceans, or even fish. Aquariums seem like a separate game to me. Managing the water, especially for humane spaces for cetaceans, sounds tricky. I would like to see aquariums, but I want aviaries more. WE birds seem easier to me.
2. Their moral reasons (that I thought someone mentioned here) for not adding them are satisfactory, so I won't pressure them to add whales. I rarely see them in classic zoos, so I don't miss them much. That said, I would pay $20-30 for a PZ Marine Mania. I don't personally struggle with distinguishing video games from reality, and cetaceans are cool.
3. I'd be fine with wild ducks, turkeys, rabbits, geese, and guineafowl, the main 'misses' of barnyard. I'm partial to Watusi cows. I love ponies, but I think they are animate without seeming cartoonish or uncanny. There are some other interesting breeds, like pot-bellied pigs, Poitou donkeys, and Valais blacknose sheep, but I'm fine using mods for them right now.
4. Yep
5. Yeah, I want keeper mode and the option for slower time. Hopefully more interactions between other species, guests, and parents with children will also show up.
6. There are 4 clone picks I would happily trade for anything in the top 100 of the metawishlist, five decent picks that I would swap for something similar, eleven that I wouldn't miss much, and nine that don't do much for me personally but had valid reasons for inclusion. Nearly all, except maybe the first four, add enough to the game experience to justify inclusion, but I would have prioritized other things in some cases.
7. Sure, but it doesn't bother me too much
8. Yes, but I want a few basics first to make it seem cohesive. Birds and monkeys still need basics right now, but other clades have room for wackiness.
9. In my head, there are everyday essential animals (varies by taste but mostly region), niche essential animals, solid choices, nice-to-haves, and random stuff. The 'everyday' essential tier for me is currently more than half birds and monkeys, which are often considered 'filler'. I miss them for all of my reconstructions and many other projects.