❄ Planet Zoo: Arctic Pack coming 17 December ❄

[KaoRu]

I think one of the most controversal Sims DLC packs was "My First Pet". It costs £10 which is $13 USD and €11.80 according to the currency converter.

In the pack you get to own a Hamster, Rat, Pygmy Hedgehog and Miniature Bubalus. All very small animals that live in tanks. Animals that you forget are even there and just become some weird decoration. You also get some clothes for your Cats & Dogs and some pet decor. All that...For £10. I waited until it was on sale for £3 before buying it and it was a pointless pack IMHO. Don't think Origin give refunds but it was only £3 luckily. This pack is only worth around £5. Stupidly overpriced.

SO. Considering you get 4 HABITAT animals and 200 assets AND a huge free update £8/$10 is honestly quite cheap. Honestly I wish we got something else other than a sheep and a white wolf that can live in the arctic. Such as the Arctic Fox and Penguins.

 

[Imagin]

Alright have some more info now! Are you using the "infinite energy" setting? Because in that case, it would mean your staff don't rest and therefore don't train. Staff always need to go to a Staff Room to receive training, so by disabling this setting they wouldn't receive training in Sandbox Mode.
We'll look into this further and see how we can sort that out for you

omg - I had no idea! I think I am using infinite energy, I'll check that later for sure and report back. If changing that fixes the problem it's not a bug and I'll update the Issue Report too. Thanks Bo!

 

[NZFanatic]

I think one of the most controversal Sims DLC packs was "My First Pet". It costs £10 which is $13 USD and €11.80 according to the currency converter.

In the pack you get to own a Hamster, Rat, Pygmy Hedgehog and Miniature Bubalus. All very small animals that live in tanks. Animals that you forget are even there and just become some weird decoration. You also get some clothes for your Cats & Dogs and some pet decor. All that...For £10. I waited until it was on sale for £3 before buying it and it was a pointless pack IMHO. Don't think Origin give refunds but it was only £3 luckily. This pack is only worth around £5. Stupidly overpriced.

SO. Considering you get 4 HABITAT animals and 200 assets AND a huge free update £8/$10 is honestly quite cheap. Honestly I wish we got something else other than a sheep and a white wolf that can live in the arctic. Such as the Arctic Fox and Penguins.

I agree that the price isn't bad. Curious to know what it will cost in NZ dollars, but I quit smoking recently so I have a little bit of extra income. I knew we wouldn't get a penguin here - they don't live in the Arctic, after all - but I agree that the Arctic fox would have been a much, much better choice than the Arctic wolf. The community has been clamouring for some kind of fox since before even the Beta launched, so you'd think it would have been pretty high on the priority list.

I don't want a penguin until we have proper diving and swimming animations. Currently only the hippos go underwater, and that's only because they don't dive or swim, they walk along the riverbed.

 

[NZFanatic]

omg - I had no idea! I think I am using infinite energy, I'll check that later for sure and report back. If changing that fixes the problem it's not a bug and I'll update the Issue Report too. Thanks Bo!

Indeed, that is a relief to know it might be fixable now. Still, that system obviously isn't perfect - turning on infinite energy shouldn't have caused training to stop, as going to the staff room for training is not the same function as going for a break. I'd still call it a bug, or at least count it as something that needs tweaking. In addition, even with infinite energy you still get staff complaining about a lack of staff rooms and getting overworked, which also doesn't seem right (a bit like how turning off animal welfare still doesn't stop animals from getting needlessly stressed).

 

[Winter Jasra]

As Bo said before, there are different teams that work on different things. So the content designers / scenario design work wouldn't have needed much support on the game for launch as this parts were done already. Bug fixing would be done by different people, unless the bug was related to those areas.

OMG, I only asked a question on DLC quantity for PlanZoo, too many experts here on useless information.

 

[Imagin]

Indeed, that is a relief to know it might be fixable now. Still, that system obviously isn't perfect - turning on infinite energy shouldn't have caused training to stop, as going to the staff room for training is not the same function as going for a break. I'd still call it a bug, or at least count it as something that needs tweaking. In addition, even with infinite energy you still get staff complaining about a lack of staff rooms and getting overworked, which also doesn't seem right (a bit like how turning off animal welfare still doesn't stop animals from getting needlessly stressed).

Meh, I wouldn't call it a bug. I think the confusion could be taken out if there was a popup on the checkbox for infinite energy that warned you about the training issue. That would be enough to help me make the decision. I'm going to be turning it off because I very much want to train my staff.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

I'm starting to believe Frontier didn't add penguin to motivate children to do their geography lessons. Education is one of the key factors in Planet Zoo.

Spoiler: Shhh

It's an ARCTIC DLC. Not Antarctic. And not "the dlc with the snow and cold temperature."

 

[WingardiumLevicoaster]

OMG, I only asked a question on DLC quantity for PlanZoo, too many experts here on useless information.

merely answering the reason why dev would take longer than 6 weeks. I do not work for Frontier, but I am a dev, therefore an expert

 

[Sclurp]

Has there been information about what’s in the free update? I read patch notes focussed on addressing some of the issues players have been talking about since the beta.

I don’t think the timing of this content is appropriate - but I guess with Christmas here, what can you do?
All the same, the launch of this game left some players frustrated and burdened with having post report after report on the issue tracker. To dress up a patch as a “free update” and sell more content before the game feels finished...not a good look.

That’s my two cents...I thought Frontier were going to apologise for releasing untested patches that broke the game. But we got this announcement instead.

 

[Magenpie]

I agree that the price isn't bad. Curious to know what it will cost in NZ dollars, but I quit smoking recently so I have a little bit of extra income. I knew we wouldn't get a penguin here - they don't live in the Arctic, after all - but I agree that the Arctic fox would have been a much, much better choice than the Arctic wolf. The community has been clamouring for some kind of fox since before even the Beta launched, so you'd think it would have been pretty high on the priority list.

I don't want a penguin until we have proper diving and swimming animations. Currently only the hippos go underwater, and that's only because they don't dive or swim, they walk along the riverbed.

I sort of agree about the Arctic Wolf, but my sneaking suspicion is there will be a second Arctic/Antarctic/Cold Biome pack, with things like musk ox, walrus and other seal species, arctic fox and probably penguins. Agree about the diving/swimming too.

But I'm pretty happy with dlc contents, and nice to have something before Christmas, I reckon.

 

[JamieCA]

I am conflicted about this. One the one hand I'm excited for new animals and scenery. I have most of the DLC for Planet Coaster and happily paid for it. On the other hand PZ's base game still needs so much work. Improvements are being made but I think it's in somewhat poor taste to be putting out a new, paid product for the game when we are still waiting for the base game to just reach the level it was advertized at. This is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I do get that this was probably planned in advance to launch during winter and it makes the most sense to put it out during this time of year. I'll probably buy it at some point and hope that the profit Frontier makes encourages them to keep paying devs to keep improving the base game.

At the end of the day I want to feel good about purchasing the DLC, not conflicted and wondering if these animals will have appropriate socializations.

 

[Imagin]

omg - I had no idea! I think I am using infinite energy, I'll check that later for sure and report back. If changing that fixes the problem it's not a bug and I'll update the Issue Report too. Thanks Bo!

Ok, I couldn't resist, I had to open the game and try. It worked! I turned off the staff never get tired thing and played the game on super fast for a bit to see. I can train them again! Thank you so much, Bo!

I deleted the Issue Report as it isn't one. It would be good to have some popups on these settings so people know the ramifications though. This was really bugging me since the last update. I'll bet I'm not the only one.

 

[Jileha]

seriously you don't have even fixed all the problems in de basic game and you are already bringing out a DLC pack!!!
What load of .......
First start fixing your game before you start with any DLC!!!!!!!!!

Keep in mind that there are many different teams working at PZ with different tasks. So keeping developing new content such as new animal skins and animations does not take away any time from fixing bugs.

 

[Imagin]

Keep in mind that there are many different teams working at PZ with different tasks. So keeping developing new content such as new animal skins and animations does not take away any time from fixing bugs.

Agreed. For the most part, programmers and level designers work on bugs. Modellers, texturers and animaters work on new content. That is a gross over-simplification, of course, but it is certainly possible for a company the size of Frontier to do both and neither suffer on productivity.

 

[Hesemori]

Disappointed, don't get me wrong, what's inside is cool, but that seems a bit overpriced. I remember when PC came out you guys made several free big updayes with new items, kinda sad you're already charging a DLC, but, well, business is business i guess. What make me sad overall is that mean that when this is going to be released i'll start to download items in workshop that looks gorgeous but i can't use because i don't own the DLC.

 

[Klinn]

For those concerned about the cost vs. amount of content, does Frontier typically put their DLC on sale eventually, or perhaps create a DLC bundle like some companies do? I haven't followed Planco or Elite so don't know what they've done before.

I don't mind waiting a while if it means pricing reaches a level I'm more happy about.

 

[marcnesiumHH]

Agreed. For the most part, programmers and level designers work on bugs. Modellers, texturers and animaters work on new content. That is a gross over-simplification, of course, but it is certainly possible for a company the size of Frontier to do both and neither suffer on productivity.

I can show them enough animations, which need work. E.g. my buffaloes doing MJ like moonwalks and all ape species glitching through trees while climbing.

 

[AlexVonHumbug]

the stupidity about the euro in this forum and and blaming the eu for everything is just stunning. 4 animals of wich 3 are boring is also stunning and the artitificial excitement even more.

 

[Sclurp]

Disappointed, don't get me wrong, what's inside is cool, but that seems a bit overpriced. I remember when PC came out you guys made several free big updayes with new items, kinda sad you're already charging a DLC, but, well, business is business i guess. What make me sad overall is that mean that when this is going to be released i'll start to download items in workshop that looks gorgeous but i can't use because i don't own the DLC.

You won’t be alone. I’m not buying DLC for a game that’s not finished.

 

[WingardiumLevicoaster]

For those concerned about the cost vs. amount of content, does Frontier typically put their DLC on sale eventually, or perhaps create a DLC bundle like some companies do? I haven't followed Planco or Elite so don't know what they've done before.

I don't mind waiting a while if it means pricing reaches a level I'm more happy about.

They do go on sale, yes.