Botanists - Terrain Paints

[The European]

Hey yo,

So I'm thinking a lot of people are asking for the different terrain paints for each biome, so they can paint savanna grass on a tropical map, and so on. I agree I would like to see this too.. but I also understand the 'realism' filter that savanna grass, just doesn't grow on the arctic.

So... wouldn't it be awesome if we had a new employee type - Botanist - who has to research the different biomes and as such we get the plants (all plants) and the biome paints unlocked one by one, and we would have the non-native biome paints cost money. After all, if I own a big fancy Zoo Franchise and I'm a millionaire.. Surely I can afford to buy some desert sand / tropical soil, etc. and ship it to my zoo, so that my animals can feel more homely, and my guests can experience different continents without having to travel there.
Botanists would also unlock more education for the guests, we could have some education boards for special trees and plants (Eucalyptus, Aloe Vera etc.), and they would visit the enclosures with the non-native biome-s and "work" (water the grass, or use a leaf blower to dry out the sand depending on the new biome vs the native biome, trim trees, remove weeds). Push it further (I would love this, but I might be asking for too much) make all the biome paints depend on temperature, like the snow... if its hot the grass gets yellower if its colder the grass gets greener, make the biomes and plants come alive! Now of course in real life how green the plants are depends more on the water than the temperature, so if we get some serious summer showers on a tropical map, everything will go green, but then if we put heaters down (even if ambient is 30deg and we set the heater to 30deg too) it would be as if it dried the ground up, so savanna grass would stay yellow none the less...and in general we could assume our botanists water/dry everything just right. You could also add some 'dual' research, where AFTER the botanist unlocks all the biomes the mechanic can research watering, 'drying' and cooling /snowing systems, finally giving us bigger area heaters and coolers, so we don't have to litter enclosures with the little heaters and coolers, and botanists could research bio fuel and mechanics could then research transformer upgrades, and we could have the option to upgrade our transformers so that they are fully Eco-Bio-Green but they give us a big electricity area, and our guests don't hate it? (or just a new transformer and we can replace the old ones)

I think it would be a great addition to the game play as well.. more things to complete, and manage in finances too...

What do we think?

 

[Aramar]

Botanists would also unlock more education for the guests, we could have some education boards for special trees and plants (Eucalyptus, Aloe Vera etc.),

I like that point. Also we could have a "plantpedia" where we can find information about the plants. Something like the zoopedia for animals.

 

[NL_Mutso]

Personally not a big fan of this idea. I'm not interested in that detail in plants and also not for a zoo game.
I've seen some threads for plants etc., so I know some people are really interested in more detail.
Imho this sounds a bit too much for a zoo game. When I visit a RL zoo, this wouldn't be my interest either

 

[markun]

So I'm thinking a lot of people are asking for the different terrain paints for each biome, so they can paint savanna grass on a tropical map, and so on. I agree I would like to see this too.. but I also understand the 'realism' filter that savanna grass, just doesn't grow on the arctic.

But green grass grows in mountainous areas. And in warm climate grassland areas, which also have brown soil. And zoos have all kinds of colours of soil substrate. But for some reason the game deems all this as unrealistic.

 

[NZFanatic]

But green grass grows in mountainous areas. And in warm climate grassland areas, which also have brown soil. And zoos have all kinds of colours of soil substrate. But for some reason the game deems all this as unrealistic.

Yeah I've come around to the idea of using different soils (still absolutely unconvinced on grasses, though).

I also love the idea of a "plantpedia". It would be nice to know which tropical plants, for example, are able to grow in a temprate environment (for instance, I know that some varieties of swiss cheese plant can be grown in New Zealand without the aid of a greenhouse). At the moment I find myself using my phone to perform Google searches while I play on my laptop, so an in-game feature would be really handy. I also like the idea of plant education boards - a lot of zoos do have that kind of feature included, especially in New Zealand where education about our native fauna and flora is equally important.

 

[The European]

Personally not a big fan of this idea. I'm not interested in that detail in plants and also not for a zoo game.
I've seen some threads for plants etc., so I know some people are really interested in more detail.
Imho this sounds a bit too much for a zoo game. When I visit a RL zoo, this wouldn't be my interest either

A lot of zoos are 'Zoo and Botanical Garden'-s in real life too... At least the ones I have been to... and they have education boards about plants. Its really more about the biome paints for me too, but I decided to share this idea because it adds a gameplay - management element as well, so its one more thing to complete and pay attention to, some people might like the extra 'difficulty' even if they are not really interested in plants as such.

I like that point. Also we could have a "plantpedia" where we can find information about the plants. Something like the zoopedia for animals.

Yeah I've come around to the idea of using different soils (still absolutely unconvinced on grasses, though).

I also love the idea of a "plantpedia". It would be nice to know which tropical plants, for example, are able to grow in a temprate environment (for instance, I know that some varieties of swiss cheese plant can be grown in New Zealand without the aid of a greenhouse). At the moment I find myself using my phone to perform Google searches while I play on my laptop, so an in-game feature would be really handy. I also like the idea of plant education boards - a lot of zoos do have that kind of feature included, especially in New Zealand where education about our native fauna and flora is equally important.

I'm not against Plantpedia, although I was thinking more like a cross between conservation education boards and animal education boards, where the plant must be close enough, but the education board functions like the conservation education board with 5-10 pre-sets and when you set it you can read about it... It would be A LOT of work to do a proper Plantpedia, of all the plants in the game, and it is a Zoo game after all, although I also get that probably there aren't many sim games for people who enjoy learning about plants and nature, it is educational, so yeah I'd be happy with a complete Plantpedia too.

Grass is a(?) plant too... so if I can grow an Aloe Plant in a Temperate biome, then why not African grass? (Both in real life and in the game)

 

[Britches]

I want this, too! I always feel kinda unsatisfied when I build up a tropical indoor habitat in the Tundra map and though it's all tropical with tropical plants and stuff, it has the unfitting Tundra grass and soil. This is why I'm always ending up building in just one biome.

 

[markun]

Yeah I've come around to the idea of using different soils (still absolutely unconvinced on grasses, though).

All I would say is look at Western Plains Zoo. Plenty of paddocks with green grass. In Australia. But if I want to do that in Planet Zoo I have to use a temperate map with an unrealistic background.

 

[GGG2021]

Awesome idea, plantipedia idea is great - I love the landscaping in this game - one of my favorite things. Anything to make the landscaping and botanicals even better - all for it

 

[NZFanatic]

All I would say is look at Western Plains Zoo. Plenty of paddocks with green grass. In Australia. But if I want to do that in Planet Zoo I have to use a temperate map with an unrealistic background.

There are plenty of places in Australia where green grass grows naturally, so I'm not at all sure what you mean. Dubbo, where Western Plains Zoo is situated, is in New South Wales, same as Sydney. Here's a picture overlooking the city:

 

[markun]

There are plenty of places in Australia where green grass grows naturally, so I'm not at all sure what you mean. Dubbo, where Western Plains Zoo is situated, is in New South Wales, same as Sydney. Here's a picture overlooking the city:

View attachment 190463

Exactly. But the game doesn't let you have green grass on the grassland map.

My point is that the game doesn't allow us to select appropriate coloured grass and soil, instead it assigns a specific palate to each biome map regardless of whether it is realistic or not.

 

[NZFanatic]

Exactly. But the game doesn't let you have green grass on the grassland map.

My point is that the game doesn't allow us to select appropriate coloured grass and soil, instead it assigns a specific palate to each biome map regardless of whether it is realistic or not.

I'd say that this qualifies more as an argument for a more accurate biome map than one for being able to select terrain paints, to be honest. If they made eastern Australia temperate as it should be then this wouldn't be a point of contention.

As I've said before, though, the "grassland grass" is based on a stereotypical, fantastical idea of what the African savannah looks like, not reality. It shouldn't be "golden" all the time anyway. Golden grass is literally wheat fields in farms. In Africa, the grass is green during the wet season, and only golden/brown during the dry season because of a lack of moisture. In a zoo, there is no "savannah grass".

 

[markun]

I'd say that this qualifies more as an argument for a more accurate biome map than one for being able to select terrain paints, to be honest. If they made eastern Australia temperate as it should be then this wouldn't be a point of contention.

Surely it would just be more simple to let us choose whichever biome to paint wherever. If it is indeed technically completely impossible then fair enough but I think it is a major flaw of the game which other, less advanced games managed and I don't really understand why you find the idea problematic.

 

[NZFanatic]

Surely it would just be more simple to let us choose whichever biome to paint wherever. If it is indeed technically completely impossible then fair enough but I think it is a major flaw of the game which other, less advanced games managed and I don't really understand why you find the idea problematic.

I don't know whether it's technically impossible - wasn't this a feature in PlanCo? I just don't think it's a priority for Frontier at the moment. I imagine it must take a decent amount of work and considering how high the demand has been for so many features they might have decided this just isn't that important.

I don't know, though.

 

[LN]

Hey yo,

So I'm thinking a lot of people are asking for the different terrain paints for each biome, so they can paint savanna grass on a tropical map, and so on. I agree I would like to see this too.. but I also understand the 'realism' filter that savanna grass, just doesn't grow on the arctic.

So... wouldn't it be awesome if we had a new employee type - Botanist - who has to research the different biomes and as such we get the plants (all plants) and the biome paints unlocked one by one, and we would have the non-native biome paints cost money.

What do we think?

Good idea, but not possible as the amount of biome paints that can be used at the same time is max 10 due to engine limitations.

I don't know whether it's technically impossible - wasn't this a feature in PlanCo? I just don't think it's a priority for Frontier at the moment. I imagine it must take a decent amount of work and considering how high the demand has been for so many features they might have decided this just isn't that important.

I don't know, though.

Yes, Planet Coaster has a scenario editor from which you can change various settings of your game, including backdrop and terrain paints, which I'm still waiting for to be added to Planet Zoo.

 

[Tobs]

If the engine is the problem, fix the engine. Solutions are there to solve problems.

It's just frustrating that terrain paints are not universally available in all biomes.

What about the red sand from the Australia biome? How cool would it be if we could have it in the temperate or tropical biome. Or the savanna grass in a temperate biome. Or the tropical soil. And so on... just very frustrating.

 

[markun]

Yes, Planet Coaster has a scenario editor from which you can change various settings of your game, including backdrop and terrain paints, which I'm still waiting for to be added to Planet Zoo.

Changing the backdrop at least would be amazing. Even better if there was just a neutral flat background.

 

[AndyZoos]

I'm all for flexibility with biome painting.

Since we're talking about "paintbrushes," a paintbrush to 'paint' random foliage (based on biome and location) would be a great quality of life improvement to help fill-in the gaps on the map.

 

[Horser01]

I would like to be able to choose as well. Then I can have greenhouses or botanical gardens that are temperature controlled and therefore feasible to have a non native terrain that would otherwise look strange.

 

[Chante Goodman]

Hayo all! Thank you for posting your suggestions on this topic here.
As some of you will be aware, our voxel terrain is limited to 8 textures - this is due to memory and/or performance, which suffers when more textures are applied.
In Planet Coaster, we do allow you to select your own set of textures for a Custom Biome, however this is not an easy fit into Planet Zoo because the animals require specific terrain paints to be used to conform to their requirements.
We are aware this is an often requested feature but due to its complexity, we don't want to make any promises regarding its inclusion.