The Orangutan

[Masteradstriker]

Hello, folks.

So, we know a few minutes ago that the orangutan has been confirmed. The Official Social Media accounts gives us insight on a big male strolling about in his territory.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1163405380443082753

Source: https://twitter.com/PlanetZooGame/status/1163405380443082753


Let me give you some facts about this 'man of the jungle':

1. There are three species of orangutans- Sumatran, Bornean (this guy) and the recently identified Tapanuli. The last one lives in remote pockets in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
2. Except the Bornean, Orangutans are completely arboreal; they spend all their lives on trees because their predators prowl the jungle.
3. Orangutans share over 90% of their DNA with us. It's no surprise that because of that, they are very smart and are known to make tools/use man-made tools. They can even spearfish by just observing fishermen.
4. The poop of orangutans sometimes contain seeds of fruit they ate, which helps develop the jungle. In other words, they're gardeners.
5. Orangutans are the most endangered of the big apes, often killed because they are seen as pests by oil plantation farmers. Deforestation to make said plantations also contribute. Some even kill mothers to snatch little babies for the exotic pet trade (which we all know, IS A BAD IDEA!).

That's all from me. I know all of this because I have a big passion for animals and an Indonesian who is proud to share his local wildlife.

Thank you.

 

[Lora Craft69]

It looks great and thanks for the extra information @Masteradstriker

 

[Whats0There]

Just here to note that I am extremely pleased with the Orang's inclusion. Made my week.

 

[Voids Light]

I love just getting new information on animals in general, but this one looks pretty nice. Can't wait to see if we get anything on national Gorilla day.

 

[FoxyDee]

Did not expect them in base game. I am pleasantly surprised just as with wild dogs and tortoises.

 

[Voids Light]

Did not expect them in base game. I am pleasantly surprised just as with wild dogs and tortoises.

At this point I'm assuming that the 50+ animals will include the base roster of Zoo Tycoon 2, and a bit more.

 

[Firestar97]

I really like the Orang Utan but the Fur is way too red

 

[Voids Light]

I really like the Orang Utan but the Fur is way too red

True. While the fur is a bit too red, I have a feeling that these animals are kind of stylized to fit in a little bit into the world.

 

[Lora Craft69]

I really like the Orang Utan but the Fur is way too red

I wonder if we will have colour variation like we have pattern variation with the Zebras etc.
I was looking at some pictures of Bornean Orangutans and some have quite a lot of red in their fur.

 

[Pteronura]

Awesome. Finally another Asiatic animal.

However...
It really want to like it, but the fur is way too short. The long fur is one of the most important characteristics of this species.
This orangutan has more of a gorilla fur though, only reddish.

First animal from this game I'm actually disappointed in. Sorry guys.

 

[Voids Light]

Awesome. Finally another Asiatic animal.

However...
It really want to like it, but the fur is way too short. The long fur is one of the most important characteristics of this species.
This orangutan has more of a gorilla fur though, only reddish.

First animal from this game I'm actually disappointed in. Sorry guys.

The short fur is due to performance. I think its due to the fact that all the animals hair are a shader on the animals, as having multiple animals in game, with individually animated hair would kind of destroy the performance.

 

[Pteronura]

Maybe, that would make sense... but it just doesn't look like a realistic orangutan right now.
Wouldn't there be some happy medium between short fur, and individually animated hair...?

 

[WLeonhart]

Maybe, that would make sense... but it just doesn't look like a realistic orangutan right now.
Wouldn't there be some happy medium between short fur, and individually animated hair...?

They could technically just lengthen the fur with the click of a button, but it would be incredibly demanding, resource-wise, especially if you have multiple orangutans running around. You can see they have the same issue with bushy-tailed animals; they're blocky meshes with a short fur shader attached. Then you have the issue with long fur needing to react to physics, and before long, you have horrible lag when you have more than a few long-furred animals romping around.

There are other ways they can do it, but you'll still run into the issue of how long fur looks when it's not interacting with physics (and the lag issues that happen when it does). The animals would basically only look OK in certain positions if the fur was "static." It makes more sense to me to make a less accurate animal that looks good all the time (even if it doesn't look like the real deal).

It does look much better here, IMO:

 

[Pteronura]

I see.
I might know some things about animals, I'm clueless about video games.
Your explaination makes sense. Thank you.

 

[WLeonhart]

I see.
I might know some things about animals, I'm clueless about video games.
Your explaination makes sense. Thank you.

I get your frustration, I wish we could have a realistic orangutan too. I love their shaggy coats!

 

[Voids Light]

To me thought, I noticed that these animals aren't entirely realistic. They sort of look a bit stylized or looking a bit like cartoon.

 

[HeatherG]

Thanks for posting it. It looks fantastic!

 

[EternalAbyss]

I love it's inclusion in the base game roster! It's awesome. I have the Tapanuli Orangutan on my wishlist as well!

 

[mikek21]

I am not worried about the fur length at all. I think the orang looks great in game, seems to move realistically from what we have seen in the short video clip, and has a really handsome and detailed face. This is a game after all and 100% realism, or maybe even 75% realism is just too high of a demand.I am just over the top excited for this game, and details like fur length will not concern me.