I have a huge herbivore habitat. Like 5 large blueprint habitats put together with tons of different African species. Everything is fine until the keeper feeds. I have many enrichment and several food areas and they all get filled. But then it runs out as soon as everyone eats and everyone gets hungry. I eventually have to start quarantining so they get fed and the protesters don't come. I would like a button that forces the keeper to feed or have the keeper feed if any of the animals are hungry and there is no food available.
Feeding animals
- Thread starter Kitty1337
- Start date
If you can afford it, using a higher food grade makes the animals get hungry slower. You can also set to have the keeper visit the enclosure more frequently.
I do agree that a "feed them RIGHT NOW" button would be useful in emergencies though. Even using the tips above my keepers sometimes bumble around until the health gets life threatening.
I do agree that a "feed them RIGHT NOW" button would be useful in emergencies though. Even using the tips above my keepers sometimes bumble around until the health gets life threatening.
Every time I summon the keeper when the animals are starving, he just looks around, goes "all good", and goes back to wandering. But I will try higher food quality and see.
The one and only bug I've ever experienced was starving animals. This was a result of adding too many different species to a single habitat. I know this because it's the exact symptom and outcome for many other players. But only for habitats with more than say 4 or 5 different species. The Keepers seem to get confused. Never had or heard of a problem which has only a couple of species living together.
I think you're right! I decided to split the big herb habitat down the middle and have 3 species each. The problem is starting to die down.
I've never had starvation issues but the most species in a mixed exhibit I've ever had was four (giraffes, zebras, ostriches, and nyala), so perhaps it is a bug to do with having too many species. This is something that needs addressing, however, as there are zoos out there in the world that mix several more species without much issue (I do believe there is a zoo in Israel that even has a huge savannah exhibit with the usual suspects as well as hippos).
Even if you have a lot of animals of 1 species in habitat it could cause some problems with feeding. (not enough for every animal)
If you mix multiple species and the amount of animals are pretty high, i can imagine that would cause some issues.
Could use some tweaking, though.
Your suggestion, "I would like a button that forces the keeper to feed or have the keeper feed if any of the animals are hungry and there is no food available"
Is mentioned multiple times and i think if they should add an extra option in this game - this would be the best one. An extra "forced" fill option for a habitat, will make a lot of people happy.
If you mix multiple species and the amount of animals are pretty high, i can imagine that would cause some issues.
Could use some tweaking, though.
Your suggestion, "I would like a button that forces the keeper to feed or have the keeper feed if any of the animals are hungry and there is no food available"
Is mentioned multiple times and i think if they should add an extra option in this game - this would be the best one. An extra "forced" fill option for a habitat, will make a lot of people happy.
Until the food bills come in! This option would lead many players to demand extra feedings when they are actually not necessary and/or because their work zones are set up in a way that makes the keepers work inefficiently. In the long run, this could lead to many more issues than it might solve.
It's not like they would automatically fill up every time.. I'm not convinced that would cause more issues, than it might solve.
If you spam that button, that would be a user mistake. And I think people realize the food costs will be higher when you use that button more..
I don't have any feeding issues in my zoos, I think a lot of issues happen because people haven't set up workzones properly.
But I understand the need for such a button for large habitats and for people who don't need it - they don't have to use it (maybe in emergency situations).
(Emphasis mine)
Exactly. With an option to request feeding at any time, they might not realize that there is a problem with their work zones that they need to fix before complaining about feeding issues. Plus, this additional feeding option does not solve any underlying real issues.
If there are existing problems with feeding in specific scenarios such as having “tons of different African species” together in a single huge habitat, or too many animals of the same species even when the number does not exceed the Zoopedia numbers, or something else that should work, then report this to Frontier as an issue, if possible with a game file. This would allow them to investigate and hopefully tackle the issue. Adding the option to request feeding would only blur the lines between game issues and user error even more.
Yeah, I mentioned it a lot times.. I really think it's more a player issue than game-issue, except with the extremely large savannah habitats - which IMO can be helped with additional gates and maybe some minor tweaks with AI?
Or the game wasn't never meant to have that many species/animals in 1 habitat? (in that case: they should really point it out)
I think a lot of issues can be solved on the forum if people start posting screenshots or even tell how many species or the amount of animals (even more important) in their habitat.
I even saw people using the wrong food trays and complain.
I understand your POV with "masking the issue" but still I don't see much harm in this. At least we can say: Hey, you got all the tools - if you still have issues please play the tutorial (again) or read the announcements - you can't blame the game anymore.
There will still be a lot of people not using these options and some complain they have to use this option all the time - who can still point out flaws/actual bugs.
But i agree with you, you bring up a valid point: You don't want to mask bugs.