Planet Zoo | Asia Animal Pack | Announcement
- Thread starter Phil W
- Start date
Awesome pack overall! Love the animal selection except for the big grey nosey dudes... completly superflous and for the looks of it not that much of an improvement on the base game indian elephant to grant a spot in a DLC when it's place should very clearly be taken by a bird, more a specifically a pheasant... you are making an ASIA pack and you are not including one single bird... honestly... i don't know anymore. You guys just hate birds, there isn't any other explanation.
Other than that thanks for the rest of the animals, they look absolutly amazing so far. The blackbuck has been a very favorite of mine for a very long time and i was really afraid it was going to be skip over just like what happened with the coati. But is going to be here with this pack and that is awesome! I will finally be able to make the mix indian hoofstock exhibits with primates that i wanted to make. Plus blackbuck are just gorgeous antelopes.
Nilgai is fine... not a personal favorite but they are very unique looking and very iconic of India so that's great. It adds option and variety in our antelope selection for the continent after so many years without any.
Raccoon dog... yeah not for me, always found them more creepy than cute, but i know they have a strong following and people in general like them. Plus they are very unique canids, so their inclusion makes sense as well as being worth it tbh. it also adds something else for Japan and i think choosing the Japanese species was the right call there. You know what also lives in Japan? The green pheasant.
Pere David Deer... i like this one very much. It wasn't a personal wish of mine but i like them. Their conservation story is important and still on going and they are very unique deers with different lifestyle from the ones we already have. Great getting another animal from China... another country that also has a lot of pheasants. Just saying.
Honey badger is a star and it looks fantastic. The way it moves is just perfect. They trully just don't care.
Lion-tailed macaque... perfect pick. Very unique looking. India neede a primate. A double with a hanuman langur would've been heaven but one is good enough for now. They were a species i always felt interested in getting for the game.
And the free butterfly is perfect! So good to finally have another one but also that something will fill that WTE carcass for base game... though this might be yet another sign of the end coming soon.
But yeah. I'll give it an... 7.5/10 based on the animal selection alone.
Other than that thanks for the rest of the animals, they look absolutly amazing so far. The blackbuck has been a very favorite of mine for a very long time and i was really afraid it was going to be skip over just like what happened with the coati. But is going to be here with this pack and that is awesome! I will finally be able to make the mix indian hoofstock exhibits with primates that i wanted to make. Plus blackbuck are just gorgeous antelopes.
Nilgai is fine... not a personal favorite but they are very unique looking and very iconic of India so that's great. It adds option and variety in our antelope selection for the continent after so many years without any.
Raccoon dog... yeah not for me, always found them more creepy than cute, but i know they have a strong following and people in general like them. Plus they are very unique canids, so their inclusion makes sense as well as being worth it tbh. it also adds something else for Japan and i think choosing the Japanese species was the right call there. You know what also lives in Japan? The green pheasant.
Pere David Deer... i like this one very much. It wasn't a personal wish of mine but i like them. Their conservation story is important and still on going and they are very unique deers with different lifestyle from the ones we already have. Great getting another animal from China... another country that also has a lot of pheasants. Just saying.
Honey badger is a star and it looks fantastic. The way it moves is just perfect. They trully just don't care.
Lion-tailed macaque... perfect pick. Very unique looking. India neede a primate. A double with a hanuman langur would've been heaven but one is good enough for now. They were a species i always felt interested in getting for the game.
And the free butterfly is perfect! So good to finally have another one but also that something will fill that WTE carcass for base game... though this might be yet another sign of the end coming soon.
But yeah. I'll give it an... 7.5/10 based on the animal selection alone.
I forgot to mention earlier, but they seriously did nail the honey badger’s movement. It looks incredible.
Make me wonder is this trot the walk or the run animation? Because no other animal really has a speed between walking and full on running (which is something id really love to see honestly)
They call the elephant the smallest subspecies of elephant in the world... isn't the difference between the mainland and Bornean elephant like 2-3 feet? Also, isn't the African Forest Elephant smaller?
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Most people i've read and heard so far say is not even a valid subspecies. So we just got a (duller) skin/model variant. How fun.
Yeah, some suspect they're feral elephants brought to the island by some royalty types in the past... also, calling them pygmy elephants is nonsensical when they're still as big as you'd expect an elephant to be...
Alright, so some expanded thoughts now that I'm at the computer. There's nothing that's like..a top 10 want for me here, but I think it's an overall great pack, that really fills in India and gives us some additional Asian Antelopes. Rankings are based on how I feel about them at the games present state, even if I hadn't wanted them that much in the past.
Honey Badger - 10/10. I associate this MUCH more with Africa but I'm thrilled we're getting them. And finally a mustelid as the headliner (even though I know that doesn't really mean that much). This was pretty close to my top 10 and the highest ranked animal for me in this pack.
Blackbuck 10/10 - This may go down upon seeing it but super excited to get this animal, it really fills a necessary spot in our Indian roster. This would have been the animal that if it had been missed many here would have been raising eyebrows at Frontier a la the Coati debacle.
Lion Tailed Macaque - 9/10 - Not one I was super hoping to get but I'm glad we now have an Indian primate. I'm so thankful they didn't go with the Celebes Crested Macaque that is too eerily human for me. I love the look of the LTM and it definitely adds in a distinct looking animal.
Japanese Raccoon Dog - 8/10 - I'm totally good with this addition even though I would have replaced it with the Golden Jackal. It is actually more distinct looking than the jackal. And gives us another solidly Japanese animal.
Pere David's Deer - 8/10 - was never big on getting this animal included but there's no denying its powerful conservation story. So it's definitely a good pick for the pack.
Nilgai - 7/10 - Not a terrible choice and it's the game's third Asian Antelope so there's that. Would have definitely preferred the beautiful Himalayan Tahr but that's just me. I'm not sour the Nilgai's included.
Bornean Pygmy Elephant - 1/10 - I'm sorry.There was no need for a third elephant. I will never again feel bad for asking for a second Giraffe, Zebra or Lion now that we have 3 rhinos, 2 hippos, 2 tigers and 3 elephants. I would have MUCH preferred we got an Asiatic Lion instead here, and I can't imagine the work would been that much more to ask for. Or heck, I would have preferred an exhibit King/Indian Cobra to this. There's so many reasons to include a Cobra but oh no, we must have our third elephant. Even where we are with more reskins for less work, a third elephant is a bit extreme.
I think though, even though I'd still glady take the Himalayan Tahr and the Golden Jackal, I can solidly say that we are covered as for as Asian mammal representation. I would have absolutely loved to have gotten a bird here, Mandarin duck being my pick and my point still stands about the Cobra.
Overall though, with this and the free butterfly coming, that's 210!! animals in the game. And over 5.5 years in....they are still capable of making decent packs. It just feels like this is the best pack since Eurasia for me since there were some weird choices in the last two packs, and there's only one really questionable choice here.
Honey Badger - 10/10. I associate this MUCH more with Africa but I'm thrilled we're getting them. And finally a mustelid as the headliner (even though I know that doesn't really mean that much). This was pretty close to my top 10 and the highest ranked animal for me in this pack.
Blackbuck 10/10 - This may go down upon seeing it but super excited to get this animal, it really fills a necessary spot in our Indian roster. This would have been the animal that if it had been missed many here would have been raising eyebrows at Frontier a la the Coati debacle.
Lion Tailed Macaque - 9/10 - Not one I was super hoping to get but I'm glad we now have an Indian primate. I'm so thankful they didn't go with the Celebes Crested Macaque that is too eerily human for me. I love the look of the LTM and it definitely adds in a distinct looking animal.
Japanese Raccoon Dog - 8/10 - I'm totally good with this addition even though I would have replaced it with the Golden Jackal. It is actually more distinct looking than the jackal. And gives us another solidly Japanese animal.
Pere David's Deer - 8/10 - was never big on getting this animal included but there's no denying its powerful conservation story. So it's definitely a good pick for the pack.
Nilgai - 7/10 - Not a terrible choice and it's the game's third Asian Antelope so there's that. Would have definitely preferred the beautiful Himalayan Tahr but that's just me. I'm not sour the Nilgai's included.
Bornean Pygmy Elephant - 1/10 - I'm sorry.There was no need for a third elephant. I will never again feel bad for asking for a second Giraffe, Zebra or Lion now that we have 3 rhinos, 2 hippos, 2 tigers and 3 elephants. I would have MUCH preferred we got an Asiatic Lion instead here, and I can't imagine the work would been that much more to ask for. Or heck, I would have preferred an exhibit King/Indian Cobra to this. There's so many reasons to include a Cobra but oh no, we must have our third elephant. Even where we are with more reskins for less work, a third elephant is a bit extreme.
I think though, even though I'd still glady take the Himalayan Tahr and the Golden Jackal, I can solidly say that we are covered as for as Asian mammal representation. I would have absolutely loved to have gotten a bird here, Mandarin duck being my pick and my point still stands about the Cobra.
Overall though, with this and the free butterfly coming, that's 210!! animals in the game. And over 5.5 years in....they are still capable of making decent packs. It just feels like this is the best pack since Eurasia for me since there were some weird choices in the last two packs, and there's only one really questionable choice here.
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Decided to make some predictions for interspecies enrichment:
Nilgai:
Nilgai:
- Blackbuck
- Indian Rhinoceros
- Indian Peafowl
- Indian Elephant
- Malayan Tapir
- Wild Water Buffalo
- Wild Boar
- Nilgai
- Indian Rhinoceros
- Indian Peafowl
- Bornean Orangutan
- Proboscis Monkey
- Malayan Tapir
- Moose
- Indian Rhinoceros
- Wild Water Buffalo
- Asian Small-Clawed Otter
- None
That's not impossible, but I don't think the two species interact much since the macaques live in highland forests as opposed to river banks like the otters
I'm trying not to think about the elephant because it actually makes me kind of angry. And a video game shouldn't really cause an emotional reaction like that, but seriously.
Asia.
There were at least three "elephant-level" clones that have been consistently requested for many years - Sumatran tiger, Asiatic lion, and green peafowl. I'm expriencing the same kind of irritation over it that I get when someone cuts in front of me out of a side street - despite there being no cars behind me - and slows down 10kph below the limit. Like, it's just...dense. Oblivious. Kind of infuriating. I just can't actually understand what went through their heads.
Fortunately I love the rest of this pack. Really the ratel is the only animal in it I couldn't give two hoots about but at least it's unique, and it's one of those animals that I'll probably find myself squeezing in somewhere.
Asia.
There were at least three "elephant-level" clones that have been consistently requested for many years - Sumatran tiger, Asiatic lion, and green peafowl. I'm expriencing the same kind of irritation over it that I get when someone cuts in front of me out of a side street - despite there being no cars behind me - and slows down 10kph below the limit. Like, it's just...dense. Oblivious. Kind of infuriating. I just can't actually understand what went through their heads.
Fortunately I love the rest of this pack. Really the ratel is the only animal in it I couldn't give two hoots about but at least it's unique, and it's one of those animals that I'll probably find myself squeezing in somewhere.
They just don't care. Like the honey badger.
Like. With the Honey Badger, it was a PERFECT opportunity to add the Asiatic Lion. Honey Badgers are known to fight lions. It would’ve been great to get them together.
The Sumatran Tiger too. An extremely easy clone and would have updated a model that ACTUALLY NEEDED UPDATING.
I’m just baffled how they managed to make the model the same quality as the base game elephants. I mean, the base game elephants are good anyway, so they didn’t NNED improving. But this just looks the same?
I’m honestly so baffled. I really can’t believe they missed an opportunity to give us at least ONE useable big cat model besides the leopard (which is barely even kept in captivity anyway).
Cmon Frontier… Asiatic Lion / Sumatran Tiger for Anniversary.
Thank you Frontier! Gorgeous pack!!!! Maybe my favourite ever?? I LOVE the elephant! 
The raccoon dog was too good of a surprise, I still can hardly believe it!!!! You rock and I love you 
The raccoon dog was too good of a surprise, I still can hardly believe it!!!! You rock and I love you You mean 2026 right? This year is for the black bear…
Hard pass.
I’m imagining that the Black Bear will come in a Northern DLC of some kind with Muskox, Walrus, Sea Otter etc.
In any case, we have MANY good bear models. All except Brown. So for me a big cat is priority anyway.
Honestly I think American black bears are an ideal Anniversary animal. Shows of colourmorphs super well, great advertising as "the final bear", and less complains due to it being another bear.
Moose and Indian rhino sound weird to me... Do their territorial extent even overlap?
I think wild boar would make more sense, especially since it already has enrichments with European cervids and also lives in Asia. People have suggested red panda as well, which would be interesting considering it doesn't have any enrichments so far.
Also, maybe the Japanese raccoon dog could have enrichment with the red-crowned crane?