Guests constant needs for shops ruins the game

yoav_r

yoav_r
I have spent so many hours in this game, and now my old zoos are unplayable becayse of the guests' need for shopping. Almost every large zoo I've been in managed with only 1 or 2 food areas, and 4-5 bathrooms. When I've been to huge zoos, they had maybe 4 food areas.

The game, however requires you to have a food/drink stand roughly every 50 meters, which really breaks both immersion and zoo planning.

Also, guests apparently prefer the shops to the animals, and they actually don't walk to watch animals a little far from the entrance if they are no longer "lured in" by some food or drink shop.

I really love this game, but currently all my zoos are pretty much unplayable, because guests can't buy a hamburger every 50 meters, and I don't want to start a new one again.

This is "Planet Zoo", but it really feels like "Planet Food Stand".
 

Virgel

V
I dont get the point here.. (actually i do, but we need to understand the game design).
A day is 3 seconds in PZ and a human need to drink min. at day 3 - so guests have to drink every 9 seconds or they will be unhappy (or die .:LOL:).Absolut understandable behavior.
We should not talk about toilets :unsure:
 
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markun

markun
For me one of the weird aspects of the game is that it claims to be all about conservation and education but is clearly rooted in a theme park mentality.

I hope that over time this will be balanced out with less need to cater to visitors’ constant consumer needs and more realistic pieces for actual realistic animal enclosures for those of us who want to build a proper zoo rather than Epcot with animals.
 

NL_Mutso

NL_Mutso
I agree, you need to add too much shops to fulfill your visitors needs. It doesn't look pretty

You need plan out every section of your zoo to have enough shops..
If you make a planning mistake, you need to remove your habitat.. I hope they add food carts option and lower the visitors needs a bit..
 

Kai

Kai
markun said:
For me one of the weird aspects of the game is that it claims to be all about conservation and education but is clearly rooted in a theme park mentality.

I hope that over time this will be balanced out with less need to cater to visitors’ constant consumer needs and more realistic pieces for actual realistic animal enclosures for those of us who want to build a proper zoo rather than Epcot with animals.
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I think it's because they were just ported over from PC (where all that matters is keeping your guests happy). Animal welfare in PZ is completely overshadowed by the needy guests.

I only make tiny zoos in franchise, just because I can't be bothered to give them any shops or food/drinks (don't want to deal with them littering, whining about queues, etc).
 
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Crea_TivELA

Crea_TivELA
NL_Mutso said:
I agree, you need to add too much shops to fulfill your visitors needs. It doesn't look pretty

You need plan out every section of your zoo to have enough shops..
If you make a planning mistake, you need to remove your habitat.. I hope they add food carts option and lower the visitors needs a bit..
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Weird is, we didn't need that much in Planet Coaster it was fine to implement different places/plazas here and there... somehow Planet Zoo has a lot of them when you want your visitors to spread all over the zoo... otherwise they don't use pathes as they should. 😑 It's like they don't recongnize those plazas as soon no animal is on that path.
 
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Merit Selket

Merit Selket
yes thats right, it is very annoying if you check the visitors stats, no matter what you place they need more. not that I realy care for the guests, I just ignore them or else I would build 4 shops for every single habitat in my zoo. funny thing is, they do not need much toilets - why? are they using my foliage?!

how about that: you give us something bigger, like restaurants, they need more space but are more satisfiyng for the guests, so we don´t have to turn the whole zoo into a foodcourt
 

Kiwolf

Kiwolf
I set up shops in different locations depending on what I desire in them. Like i told someone else, earlier, I split my zoo's up into regions.. Because until we have newer animals in the game, it has just become a messy situation.. This way I can also have setups predesignated for each region if I decide to do an all-in-one zoo.. Right now, with the issues we currently have.. i refuse to do an all-in-one.. seems every update breaks something and can turn a well designed zoo into a monstrous mess..

(oh, side note... I have OCD.. this game is seriously not OCD friendly!)
 

Imagin

Imagin
In my first zoo I always had problems with guests being hungry and thirsty. So when I built my second one I started setting up shops in sets of 5 with an info booth in the middle and 2 merch on either side with a drink & food on each end. I built a shell that goes over a set of 5 on a grid. Problem solved. On one of my really busy areas I have doubled that and put them back to back so I have 10. Be sure you have enough staff so there is always a vendor in every shop.
 

yoav_r

yoav_r
Imagin said:
In my first zoo I always had problems with guests being hungry and thirsty. So when I built my second one I started setting up shops in sets of 5 with an info booth in the middle and 2 merch on either side with a drink & food on each end. I built a shell that goes over a set of 5 on a grid. Problem solved. On one of my really busy areas I have doubled that and put them back to back so I have 10. Be sure you have enough staff so there is always a vendor in every shop.
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Yes but this is the problem. This is a ridicylous arrangement. Most zoos only have 2-3 food stands/1 restaurant + carts, and normally only one gift shop.
 

Kiwolf

Kiwolf
Arrakai said:
True, but it is still a zoo game. The animals and habitats should be more important than having shops everywhere. I mean, it's a zoo, they should be there to see the animals!
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That would mean they should actually be willing to spend more time in the zoo looking at animals then they do.. Game had issues with people who leave within 5 to 10 minutes of being at the zoo..
 

Moosegun

Moosegun
Sorry, have any of the people in this thread ever taken a family to a zoo?????

I have, approx 20+ times in my life and I will 100% guarantee you that food and drink is as important to the whole day as the animals. As soon as we get there are demands, we have been travelling for several hours after all, food, drinks, pee breaks......

Dont get me wrong, I think that guest thirst and hunger is a little harsh but any of you that think that catering for your guests needs isnt an important part of running a zoo are missing the point. Zoos are still commercial enterprises.
 

P3NGU1N

P3NGU1N
Moosegun said:
Sorry, have any of the people in this thread ever taken a family to a zoo?????

I have, approx 20+ times in my life and I will 100% guarantee you that food and drink is as important to the whole day as the animals. As soon as we get there are demands, we have been travelling for several hours after all, food, drinks, pee breaks......

Dont get me wrong, I think that guest thirst and hunger is a little harsh but any of you that think that catering for your guests needs isnt an important part of running a zoo are missing the point. Zoos are still commercial enterprises.
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I'd have to pull up a map of my local zoo but I remember there being food and drink stalls at both main entrances, as well as major path intersections and entrance or exit paths from a continent section of the zoo. It's not the biggest of zoos and still has probably somewhere around 8 places to get food and drink, and a dozen bathroom areas.
 

Moosegun

Moosegun
P3NGU1N said:
I'd have to pull up a map of my local zoo but I remember there being food and drink stalls at both main entrances, as well as major path intersections and entrance or exit paths from a continent section of the zoo. It's not the biggest of zoos and still has probably somewhere around 8 places to get food and drink, and a dozen bathroom areas.
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Exactly, all I know is, when I arrive with my family to a zoo, theme park or any other location, the chance of one of them needing food / drink / toilet (and or all the above) is pretty high. That need for refreshment doesnt change that much throughout the day, it is always a consideration....... not sure if the game is being unrealistic or the players are.
 

xesta

xesta
I feel this. I had to learn the hard way too that if you don't give them food + water + giftshops every 5 feet they start breaking your stuff. a+ mechanic. 10/10. fantastic.

(sarcasm)
 

marcnesiumHH

M
the reason why we have all this shop spamming all over the map (in none of the 30 zoos I visited worldwide I saw balloon shops nor every second visitor wearing animal masks) that it was easy to port the shops and its mechanics from Planet Coaster. In my zoo there are 90 vendors and 40 keepers. I really get the emphasis on animals :cautious:
 
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