We got the Baboon in ZKWhat if we all change our wishlist to put animals we don't care about in the top 10 so that they ignore those ones and give us the ones we actually want?
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I know it's risky, we could end up with a final pack full of species we don't care about
DLC20 Discussion (maybe, but why not?)
- Thread starter DarthQuell
- Start date
No unless it's in the sequel. I'd rather get new animals. Better looking models could be saved for the sequel instead of taking up space in the current game from new species. Also I never understood why this game has subspecies in the first place. Every other zoo game just kept things at species level. Leopard could come with 2 variants to choose from, one with fluffty coat and one with a short coat and have all biomes, instead of having to have both African Leopard and Amur Leopard, same with the tigers, one with fluffy coat and one with short coat and all biomes instead of a Bengal and Siberian Tigers separate. Timber Wolves name could be changed to Gray Wolf and have black, grey, and white fur variant, a fluffy variant and short-haired variant instead of having the Arctic Wolf. Grizzly and Himalayan Brown Bear could just be changed to Brown Bear and Formosan Black Bear should just be the entire Asiatic Black-bear subspecies. Indian Elephant and Borneo Elephant should just be combined as the Asian Elephant species. The only subspecies exception should be the domestic animals and maybe the dingo since they look extremely different from other wolves. Then we would have had room for more new species instead of subspecies species clones.
No we wouldnt. There is reason for these to exist - cheap way for Frontier to bloat roster. Remove them and there is simply less ,,animals,, rather than new spots for something else.
You've worded this really nicely. I only mention that because I've tried to articulate this thought multiple times recently and it never came out correctly so I never said it... I do disagree that it's "bloat" but it's certainly a way to fill the roster up.
This is how I'm feeling about the elephant in the current pack. It's not the greatest pick, but I don't really think we're getting it in place of something else. It's more what they could do with the present budget considering the other animals in the pack (balancing out animal types as well as time it takes to create).
The assumption that Frontier doesn't do certain things that would clearly make packs more popular is odd to me. Like, don't you think that if they had the resources to do something a little different then we might get something other than the elephant this time around? I certainly think so.
I think given the amount of low effort ‘clones’ they could have chosen - an onager for example, or a kiang that would be little more than wild ass reskins - make the elephant still an extremely puzzling choice as it is so much like the Indian elephant we already have.
This is one where I’m not really willing to give them the benefit of the doubt I’m afraid.
Sorry but can we stop with the budget excuse already? Honey badger clearly has new animations. The textures and model work on both the honey badger and the lion tailed macaque is fantastic. So was the work on the flamingo and rhea feathers and the bush dog animations. The animals they are leaving out (coati, pheasants) are delibarate choices but they are not because of budget limitations since they are using said resources in other animals. I suspect there isn't any other excuse for the elephant other than someone there likes elephants. And yes, it is taking the place of something else. Anything else that would've been better because even the chital or the gaur or the sarus crane (not taking pheasants here because they are more complex) wouldn't have need more effort than that elephant and would have done much more for the roster than what we got. Why they pick these animals in particular? Idk, but is not because budget stuff, because there are other equally cheap options that are better.
I guess as I see more and more people (not on these forums) who are enthusiastic about the elephant above anything else (still a minority to be sure, but also not a negligible one), the more I'm starting to see the logic behind it. There hasn't been anything remotely elephantlike since the base game - how could there be? There isn't anything else that's remotely elephantlike out there! Their closest relative looks more like a potato than an elephant! Plus there are a lot of people out there who are just really enthusiastic about elephants. I've always got the impression that elephant people are often just way more intensely passionate about their animal of choice than are superfans of other species. And I'm also getting the sense that there are more than a few people out there who would rather see an iteration upon one of the top 10 or so most iconic zoo animals than something that "we" would consider more novel whereas to them it's just another boring monkey or deer/antelope (I get the impression that this sort of person often sees those as interchangeable).
That's still not to say that I like the new elephant, or that I think it was even the best option out of any number of similarly similar species (Asiatic lion, for instance), but... I get it. To some extent. I think.
That's still not to say that I like the new elephant, or that I think it was even the best option out of any number of similarly similar species (Asiatic lion, for instance), but... I get it. To some extent. I think.
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I get what you're saying... but do you really believe another elephant was the only viable choice for extra cheap clone?
I'm definitely not going to bat for the elephant here. But just assuming if the elephant were nixed we'd get something that's any less repetitive is odd to me (and, TBH, if we were to get either of your two examples -- people would be just as upset and arguably more broadly I think).
I mean, if the elephant is there because somebody likes elephants? The point still stands for a very different reason. We weren't going to get anything else.
When I'm talking about "budget" I'm talking about the full amount of time it takes to create a 7 animal DLC roster. All of the animals look great so far but I'd imagine some of the time for Animal A and Animal B means there's less time for another animal. I'm not implying they are corner-cutting on quality with any of the animals. But that the roster choices likely have practical considerations we aren't fully taking into account (nor would we be able to unless they explicitly explained them to us).
The two also don't need to be mutually exclusive either... In the end, it's a moot point because we'll never really know anyway. I just find it super hard to imagine Frontier going: "Here's an animal people won't really like. We could easily do another one, but nah, here's something else just because!"
Agree to disagree, I guess? Haha.
As a fan of the new elephant (it's my favourite thing in the new pack), I won't try to defend its inclusion, because what people think about a certain thing is not my concern.
However, I'm going to say this: I definitely feel like the elephant wasn't thrown into the pack for budget reasons.
As many people (as well as myself) have pointed out already, there are DOZENS of equally "lazy" or "cheap" clones they could have picked, ranging from a wild ass to a crane to the Asiatic lion. Heck, even Chinese red panda or domestic water buffalo were right there...
But they specifically added the elephant of all things. It's definitely some kind of creative decision... and a rather puzzling one at that. Someone at Frontier wanted to add the elephant, despite probably knowing that not many people would have been happy about it.
I'm pretty happy it's here. As I've said before, I don't like the base game Indian elephant, its colours are a bit too vivid and the skin looks somewhat smooth and glossy. This new one gives me an excuse to finally use the elephants after five years
However, I'm going to say this: I definitely feel like the elephant wasn't thrown into the pack for budget reasons.
As many people (as well as myself) have pointed out already, there are DOZENS of equally "lazy" or "cheap" clones they could have picked, ranging from a wild ass to a crane to the Asiatic lion. Heck, even Chinese red panda or domestic water buffalo were right there...
But they specifically added the elephant of all things. It's definitely some kind of creative decision... and a rather puzzling one at that. Someone at Frontier wanted to add the elephant, despite probably knowing that not many people would have been happy about it.
I'm pretty happy it's here. As I've said before, I don't like the base game Indian elephant, its colours are a bit too vivid and the skin looks somewhat smooth and glossy. This new one gives me an excuse to finally use the elephants after five years
My point is that the elephant is significantly more repetitive than almost any other Asian clone-like candidate. I’m not saying we should have got a pelican or yak instead. I’m saying we could have got a relatively lower effort ‘clone’ that is less repetitive.
People who don’t like species that aren’t ‘new’ have made themselves very clear both here and elsewhere so those kind of complaints are inevitable.
Say we had an onager, sure some people would say we don’t need another equid but I don’t think it would be met by the sheer level of bafflement the elephant has provoked. And I would argue that yes, it is significantly less repetitive than another Asian elephant subspecies.
The PZ Red panda is weird.
I've always assumed it to be the Himalayan since it has the scientific name Ailurus fulgens and it has a lighter face (characteristic of the Himalayan species/subspecies), but at the same time it's not a perfect match and it shares a few traits with the Chinese as well. It's almost like a hybrid of the two
thats because it is at the time of the games release the consensus was still on one species so like other animals they made a subspecies hybrid.
Are there subspecies of red pandas as well? The horror, don’t give frontier ideas....
I think they didn’t go for the Asiatic Lion as the manes are still too complex, same with pheasant tails and pelican sacks,very hard to create, modders can work wonders with most animals, but their pheasants are mostly meh
I think they didn’t go for the Asiatic Lion as the manes are still too complex, same with pheasant tails and pelican sacks,very hard to create, modders can work wonders with most animals, but their pheasants are mostly meh
Kinda... It depends.
The Red Panda has always traditionally been considered a single species, Ailurus fulgens, with two subspecies:
• Himalayan Red Panda (A. fulgens fulgens), the one you see in most zoos, with a paler face
• Chinese Red Panda (A. fulgens styani), which has generally more vibrant colours
However, a few years ago it was proposed to elevate both to species status (Ailurus fulgens and Ailurus styani). Still, this classification is not widely accepted and most sources still use the subspecies notation
Wow. Looks awesome! The cow antelope