There is often discussion about adding aviaries and birds to Planet Zoo. Often this becomes a debate around whether or not it's feasible to make flying birds full habitat animals, or some kind of exhibit animal like the reptiles and invertebrates.
Personally I'm of the opinion that we should expect to see something like the aviary in Jurassic World Evolution - which is something in between a habitat animal and an exhibit animal, but closer to an exhibit animal. That is to say, I think we will get aviaries, but the birds we put into them will exist on an animation loop. I'm okay with this, as I like that model and it would be enough to make my zoos feel realistic without adding too much in terms of management to an already busy in-game schedule, but I digress;
I have been thinking about whether there's a way to get the best of both worlds. What I mean is, aviaries that we can custom-build, but with birds that are neither full habitat animals or just exhibit animals. The only thing I could think of was a mechanic that allows us to create our own flight-paths for birds.
How would this work? In theory, even if the birds were like the pterosaurs in JWE, they would have a flight-path that is in-built and cannot be changed. An elegant yet complicated solution might be to let us 'draw' the flight-path of the birds we place in the aviary in a similar way to the way we 'draw' paths or barriers or ride tracks. So in essence, you build a custom aviary using some new barrier mechanic or building pieces (or again, something in between that is a totally new feature), add scenery, add a 'nest box' or something that would generate the animal when you add it, and then when you add the animal you can create a flight path by selecting safe routes (i.e. routes that do not clash with scenery) and 'perching points' (i.e. places where the birds can land). I think the biggest challenge in creating a feature like this would be stopping birds from colliding, and allowing for shared space, e.g. areas where two flight paths or perching points cross over.
The next challenge would be deciding which birds are viable inclusions. Obviously we would all like to see birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, vultures, or owls, and others such as parrots and toucans, but these are all relatively large and easy to manage. Smaller birds like the Bali mynah (a focus of modern conservation projects) might be harder to include due to their size.There's also the added issue of birds flocking and how to handle that as an in-game mechanic (which is why I personally don't think making them true habitat animals is doable).
Anyway, just wanted to share my musings on the subject. It was largely inspired by the thought of New Zealand's birds making it in one day, as nearly all of our native fauna are birds.
Personally I'm of the opinion that we should expect to see something like the aviary in Jurassic World Evolution - which is something in between a habitat animal and an exhibit animal, but closer to an exhibit animal. That is to say, I think we will get aviaries, but the birds we put into them will exist on an animation loop. I'm okay with this, as I like that model and it would be enough to make my zoos feel realistic without adding too much in terms of management to an already busy in-game schedule, but I digress;
I have been thinking about whether there's a way to get the best of both worlds. What I mean is, aviaries that we can custom-build, but with birds that are neither full habitat animals or just exhibit animals. The only thing I could think of was a mechanic that allows us to create our own flight-paths for birds.
How would this work? In theory, even if the birds were like the pterosaurs in JWE, they would have a flight-path that is in-built and cannot be changed. An elegant yet complicated solution might be to let us 'draw' the flight-path of the birds we place in the aviary in a similar way to the way we 'draw' paths or barriers or ride tracks. So in essence, you build a custom aviary using some new barrier mechanic or building pieces (or again, something in between that is a totally new feature), add scenery, add a 'nest box' or something that would generate the animal when you add it, and then when you add the animal you can create a flight path by selecting safe routes (i.e. routes that do not clash with scenery) and 'perching points' (i.e. places where the birds can land). I think the biggest challenge in creating a feature like this would be stopping birds from colliding, and allowing for shared space, e.g. areas where two flight paths or perching points cross over.
The next challenge would be deciding which birds are viable inclusions. Obviously we would all like to see birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, vultures, or owls, and others such as parrots and toucans, but these are all relatively large and easy to manage. Smaller birds like the Bali mynah (a focus of modern conservation projects) might be harder to include due to their size.There's also the added issue of birds flocking and how to handle that as an in-game mechanic (which is why I personally don't think making them true habitat animals is doable).
Anyway, just wanted to share my musings on the subject. It was largely inspired by the thought of New Zealand's birds making it in one day, as nearly all of our native fauna are birds.