Hayo Zookeepers!
Only one more day to go until the Planet Zoo: Aquatic Pack release! Today, we have three developers from the team explaining some of the things you can look forward to when the Aquatic Pack launches tomorrow, and the technical challenges the team embraced and overcame to bring you deep-water swimming!
Please welcome Artist Berni Pardue, Senior Programmer Eoghan O'Neill and Lead Animator Phillip Williams!
Hello everyone! We're looking forward to seeing people playing the Aquatic Pack tomorrow, and we're here to talk a little more about it!
Berni:
There are so many things to look forward to in this new Aquatic Pack! As the name suggests this pack is centred around water, in many forms. We have included four new habitat animals, all equipped with our brand new deep swimming feature! We have also added a new exhibit animal, with a new semi-aquatic based exhibit. The deep swimming feature adds a whole new requirement for habitats, so a little bit of an added consideration!
We have also added a whole new way for guests to interact with your animals thanks to the new, free, Animal Talk feature run by an Educator! These are a really fun way to educate your guests about the animals in your habitats. Make sure you also keep a close eye on some animals that might show off a little!
Eoghan:
For this Pack, the team has implemented a whole new deep swimming system to allow animals to fully take advantage of their surroundings. Weāve created a dynamic swimming system which allows animals to move fluidly underwater and can be tailored to bring out the different swimming behaviours unique to each animal.
For the Animation team, the inspiration comes mainly from the animals themselves. One particular example is the speedy and graceful swimming of King Penguins, which can quickly change direction and almost appear to be flying through the water. We wanted a system that could fully capture these movements and replicate them in-game. Not only that, but we wanted to maintain the character of the animals, so youāll also see some animations unique to particular animals as they swim.
Berni:
As we do with any Pack, we extensively research the animals and their habitats we want to centre the pack around and work from there. With the theme of this pack being Aquatic, we didnāt centre the animals or the Pack around one single climate or region. From this we have created an interesting assortment of foliage for you to incorporate in habitats to make each animal feel at home; from a Giant Otter leaping around a riverbank to a Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman swimming amongst eelgrass deep within a mangrove swamp.
Looking for inspiration from real zoos we found that with these semi-aquatic animals habitats have recreations of natural forms, so we have created a host of recolourable āfakeā rocks and a tree which will open a lot of possibilities for you to make some really exciting habitats.
Phillip:
Since we launched Planet Zoo weāve made a lot of advancements in the locomotion system, we wanted to make it feel a lot more fluid and responsive and we wanted to get as much of that feeling into the deep swimming as we could. The best example of this is on the Giant Otter, as they swim through the water while playing a variety of swimming animations. On top of that, we have a new code system that will adjust the curve and tilt of the body so they'll bend and twist as they change direction, while even adjusting their heads so they're looking in the direction they're swimming.
Eoghan:
Firstly, we needed to create smooth paths that the animals could follow, while at the same time, making sure they donāt bump into surrounding obstacles. Our navigation gives us a series of points to traverse and we perform steps to transform this into a clean smooth path. Our path planning needs to account for each individual animal too, some are slow and take turns more gradually, some are small and fast and can turn quite quickly. We take all this into account when generating our plans to create locomotion that matches the behaviour of the animal in question. We also allow animals to dynamically change travel targets at any time, so our new system allows us to dynamically update the exiting path, all while keeping animals continually in motion, this includes moving from land to water and back again.
Since animals can dart around underwater, making sharp or gradual turns in any direction, we added some new techniques that can alter animations at run-time, including āSpine-Flexā and āTilt-Bodyā. Spine-Flex allows us to modify an animalās pose to have them āturn-inā to corners and bend around for tight turns. This is fully dynamic and responds to whatever motion the animal is doing. Tilt-body takes into account the degree to which an animal is turning as well as the speed of motion to make animals lean into turns. For example, you may see a King Penguin roll left and right as they flit around underwater. By combining these systems with our locomotion plan, we can anticipate when to turn, stop or speed up, allowing animals to more naturally move around in the water.
Berni:
Adding the deep swim feature to Planet Zoo has been a massive technical achievement for the team. It has proved incredibly challenging to implement the feature, but I believe it has certainly paid off!
We started with vast amounts of research, between concentrating on the animal's movement, habits and behaviours, there are a lot of different areas that we have to concentrate on. This is research that we have to do every time we add a new animal to Planet Zoo, however with this feature it adds a whole new axis for the animals to traverse. Defining how these behaviours look and how the animals seamlessly go between these different behaviours is truly a testament to the incredibly talented Code, Rigging and Animation teams we have working on Planet Zoo!
We are looking to continue to work on adding deep swimming behaviours to more animals that already are a part of the Planet Zoo. The first of these is the Saltwater Crocodile, which is part of the base game roster, so I hope you can look forward to designing some new exciting swimmable habitats for these animals!
Phillip:
I think this is the closest Code and Animation have had to work together, there are so many different systems in play that theyāre both very reliant on each other, so the slightest change from one could break the othersā work. Itās been great fun and itās been brilliant to see it come together at the end of each week and have everyone push each other. Once we had the basic deep swimming working we then started to look into trails, which instantly brought them to life in the water! We quickly discovered that the reason King Penguins have the bubble trails behind them is that they fill the gaps in their feathers with air when they go to the surface. I think deep swimming will add a whole new dimension to the game, players will now be able to create large water bodies and have the animals explore it and not just swim on the surface.
Berni:
I really think this feature will truly change the way we all play Planet Zoo, thereās a whole new addition to habitats for us to consider when building them. It affects the welfare of animals if the deep swim feature is a necessary part of their habitat, so itās certainly important!
It brings a new dimension to the habitats, and how guests will want to view the habitats as well. So thereās plenty for you to think about when building a habitat and the park around it!
Eoghan:
Underwater feeding is a great addition where you get to see animals swim through a cloud of fish, picking them off in full motion. Also, seeing a Grey Seal pop its head above water to look around is a delight, and I am a big fan of the Giant Otters. They are very playful and this comes across in how they bound around on land, leap into the water, and playfully turn while swimming.
I canāt wait for players to experience the new habitats they can build, with underwater viewing. I think it looks great and will really allow deep swimming animals to be showcased. Focusing the camera on a swimming animal is also nice, I find it to be really relaxing! Though, to be honest, Iām more looking forward to the awesome zoos the community will build for these new animals, community creations have always been so impressive.
Phillip:
All four of our new habitat animals are amazing and each of the Animators has their own favourite, and itās been brilliant to see the passion they have to bring them to life, but for me, itās the King Penguin. Theyāve been so long in the making and itās the one animal weāve all wanted to make happen and do justice to, so weāve held off until we could get the deep swimming right. Also, itās one of the animals that when you go to the zoo you canāt wait to see.
Berni:
The animal I have been playing around with and enjoying the most is the King Penguin, I really love watching them zooming around the water, and theyāre even huge characters on land too! With their distinctive waddle and slide! How can you not love them!
I canāt wait for the community to see all the new things we have added in the Aquatic Pack, there are so many things that I think will really transform their gameplay. I canāt wait for everyone to see the baby King Penguins, they melt my heart every time I see them!
Phillip:
Iām very excited to see what underwater habitats people build with the new animals, enrichments, and scenery items weāve included in the Aquatic Pack, it's going to be really fun to see! Deep swimming, in particular, adds a new dimension to each of the new animals weāve included, weāve made sure to make all the different animals feel unique in their swimming, so Iām really looking forward to seeing peopleās reactions to it!
Edit: We have edited to change recolourable trees to a singular tree, for clarity.
Only one more day to go until the Planet Zoo: Aquatic Pack release! Today, we have three developers from the team explaining some of the things you can look forward to when the Aquatic Pack launches tomorrow, and the technical challenges the team embraced and overcame to bring you deep-water swimming!
Please welcome Artist Berni Pardue, Senior Programmer Eoghan O'Neill and Lead Animator Phillip Williams!
Hello everyone! We're looking forward to seeing people playing the Aquatic Pack tomorrow, and we're here to talk a little more about it!
Berni:
There are so many things to look forward to in this new Aquatic Pack! As the name suggests this pack is centred around water, in many forms. We have included four new habitat animals, all equipped with our brand new deep swimming feature! We have also added a new exhibit animal, with a new semi-aquatic based exhibit. The deep swimming feature adds a whole new requirement for habitats, so a little bit of an added consideration!
We have also added a whole new way for guests to interact with your animals thanks to the new, free, Animal Talk feature run by an Educator! These are a really fun way to educate your guests about the animals in your habitats. Make sure you also keep a close eye on some animals that might show off a little!
Eoghan:
For this Pack, the team has implemented a whole new deep swimming system to allow animals to fully take advantage of their surroundings. Weāve created a dynamic swimming system which allows animals to move fluidly underwater and can be tailored to bring out the different swimming behaviours unique to each animal.
For the Animation team, the inspiration comes mainly from the animals themselves. One particular example is the speedy and graceful swimming of King Penguins, which can quickly change direction and almost appear to be flying through the water. We wanted a system that could fully capture these movements and replicate them in-game. Not only that, but we wanted to maintain the character of the animals, so youāll also see some animations unique to particular animals as they swim.
Berni:
As we do with any Pack, we extensively research the animals and their habitats we want to centre the pack around and work from there. With the theme of this pack being Aquatic, we didnāt centre the animals or the Pack around one single climate or region. From this we have created an interesting assortment of foliage for you to incorporate in habitats to make each animal feel at home; from a Giant Otter leaping around a riverbank to a Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman swimming amongst eelgrass deep within a mangrove swamp.
Looking for inspiration from real zoos we found that with these semi-aquatic animals habitats have recreations of natural forms, so we have created a host of recolourable āfakeā rocks and a tree which will open a lot of possibilities for you to make some really exciting habitats.
Phillip:
Since we launched Planet Zoo weāve made a lot of advancements in the locomotion system, we wanted to make it feel a lot more fluid and responsive and we wanted to get as much of that feeling into the deep swimming as we could. The best example of this is on the Giant Otter, as they swim through the water while playing a variety of swimming animations. On top of that, we have a new code system that will adjust the curve and tilt of the body so they'll bend and twist as they change direction, while even adjusting their heads so they're looking in the direction they're swimming.
Eoghan:
Firstly, we needed to create smooth paths that the animals could follow, while at the same time, making sure they donāt bump into surrounding obstacles. Our navigation gives us a series of points to traverse and we perform steps to transform this into a clean smooth path. Our path planning needs to account for each individual animal too, some are slow and take turns more gradually, some are small and fast and can turn quite quickly. We take all this into account when generating our plans to create locomotion that matches the behaviour of the animal in question. We also allow animals to dynamically change travel targets at any time, so our new system allows us to dynamically update the exiting path, all while keeping animals continually in motion, this includes moving from land to water and back again.
Since animals can dart around underwater, making sharp or gradual turns in any direction, we added some new techniques that can alter animations at run-time, including āSpine-Flexā and āTilt-Bodyā. Spine-Flex allows us to modify an animalās pose to have them āturn-inā to corners and bend around for tight turns. This is fully dynamic and responds to whatever motion the animal is doing. Tilt-body takes into account the degree to which an animal is turning as well as the speed of motion to make animals lean into turns. For example, you may see a King Penguin roll left and right as they flit around underwater. By combining these systems with our locomotion plan, we can anticipate when to turn, stop or speed up, allowing animals to more naturally move around in the water.
Berni:
Adding the deep swim feature to Planet Zoo has been a massive technical achievement for the team. It has proved incredibly challenging to implement the feature, but I believe it has certainly paid off!
We started with vast amounts of research, between concentrating on the animal's movement, habits and behaviours, there are a lot of different areas that we have to concentrate on. This is research that we have to do every time we add a new animal to Planet Zoo, however with this feature it adds a whole new axis for the animals to traverse. Defining how these behaviours look and how the animals seamlessly go between these different behaviours is truly a testament to the incredibly talented Code, Rigging and Animation teams we have working on Planet Zoo!
We are looking to continue to work on adding deep swimming behaviours to more animals that already are a part of the Planet Zoo. The first of these is the Saltwater Crocodile, which is part of the base game roster, so I hope you can look forward to designing some new exciting swimmable habitats for these animals!
Phillip:
I think this is the closest Code and Animation have had to work together, there are so many different systems in play that theyāre both very reliant on each other, so the slightest change from one could break the othersā work. Itās been great fun and itās been brilliant to see it come together at the end of each week and have everyone push each other. Once we had the basic deep swimming working we then started to look into trails, which instantly brought them to life in the water! We quickly discovered that the reason King Penguins have the bubble trails behind them is that they fill the gaps in their feathers with air when they go to the surface. I think deep swimming will add a whole new dimension to the game, players will now be able to create large water bodies and have the animals explore it and not just swim on the surface.
Berni:
I really think this feature will truly change the way we all play Planet Zoo, thereās a whole new addition to habitats for us to consider when building them. It affects the welfare of animals if the deep swim feature is a necessary part of their habitat, so itās certainly important!
It brings a new dimension to the habitats, and how guests will want to view the habitats as well. So thereās plenty for you to think about when building a habitat and the park around it!
Eoghan:
Underwater feeding is a great addition where you get to see animals swim through a cloud of fish, picking them off in full motion. Also, seeing a Grey Seal pop its head above water to look around is a delight, and I am a big fan of the Giant Otters. They are very playful and this comes across in how they bound around on land, leap into the water, and playfully turn while swimming.
I canāt wait for players to experience the new habitats they can build, with underwater viewing. I think it looks great and will really allow deep swimming animals to be showcased. Focusing the camera on a swimming animal is also nice, I find it to be really relaxing! Though, to be honest, Iām more looking forward to the awesome zoos the community will build for these new animals, community creations have always been so impressive.
Phillip:
All four of our new habitat animals are amazing and each of the Animators has their own favourite, and itās been brilliant to see the passion they have to bring them to life, but for me, itās the King Penguin. Theyāve been so long in the making and itās the one animal weāve all wanted to make happen and do justice to, so weāve held off until we could get the deep swimming right. Also, itās one of the animals that when you go to the zoo you canāt wait to see.
Berni:
The animal I have been playing around with and enjoying the most is the King Penguin, I really love watching them zooming around the water, and theyāre even huge characters on land too! With their distinctive waddle and slide! How can you not love them!
I canāt wait for the community to see all the new things we have added in the Aquatic Pack, there are so many things that I think will really transform their gameplay. I canāt wait for everyone to see the baby King Penguins, they melt my heart every time I see them!
Phillip:
Iām very excited to see what underwater habitats people build with the new animals, enrichments, and scenery items weāve included in the Aquatic Pack, it's going to be really fun to see! Deep swimming, in particular, adds a new dimension to each of the new animals weāve included, weāve made sure to make all the different animals feel unique in their swimming, so Iām really looking forward to seeing peopleās reactions to it!
Edit: We have edited to change recolourable trees to a singular tree, for clarity.
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We're really excited for people to see the deep swimming in action!
Thank you, Frontier!