Since Arabia and South-East Asia are the main cultural and natural regions still unexplored, and since the sun bear got leaked, I'm indeed expecting this pack in April. I don't agree with DragonNTiger about packs for all continents, simply because most continents do not fit a single theme (Asia is too big and Antarctica doesn't have enough diversity) or are already covered (African, Classic and New World refer to Africa, Europe and North-America respectively). Also, South East Asia is one of the most popular regions in the game, and the location of some popular projects, including Koali Zoo and (if I'm not mistaken) Sannikovland. With the two biggest gaps in fauna regions (Australia and South America) now filled, a SEA pack would be perfect as it also connects to other in game elements: with four new animals and the ones in game (Bornean orangutan, Komodo dragon, Indian elephant, saltwater crocodile, perhaps even Chinese pangolin and Bengal tiger), it would be easy to make a complete and realistic SEA-themed area in your zoos. In addition, new themed pieces can be connected to the Indian and East Asian themes to allow for a lot more creativity. Also animal-wise, this pack would be a great choice since it gives more diversity to arboreal animals.
My animal choice would be:
- Bornean Clouded Leopard (less preferred by the fandom, but probably sells better than the binturong and is still really iconic).
- Sun Bear (already leaked, so this one is pretty likely)
- Lar Gibbon (more appealing (dimorphism) and common than the siamang, and more common and more spectacular animations than the proboscis monkey)
- Babirusa (more iconic, and while I'd love a Malayan tapir, I don't want it to take the spot of an animal that's more unique to the game).
- Reticulated Python would be my preferred exhibit animal. It's common in zoos and large, so appealing to guests.
This follows the logic of Frontier to focus on some common zoo species, some that add new behaviours and some that are simply iconic.
While the last pack was more focussed on new animations and low on new construction pieces, a SEA pack should have a lot of themed pieces. Some good sources of inspiration would be:
- Ubud Monkey Forest (Bali, Indonesia): Amazing animal statues, overgrown stone buildings, cool temple pieces.
- Angkor Wat (Siem Reap, Cambodia): Most iconic stone temple, very detailed stone pieces, also overgrown buildings.
- Shwedagon Pagoda (Yangon, Myanmar): Most iconic coloured temple, detailed pieces as well.
- Singapore Zoo (Singapore): Less characteristic for the region, but this is one of the nicest zoos in the world and has a very modern style, so for a zoo game it's perfect.
In addition to these themed pieces, I would expect some of the following plants:
- Rafflesia
- Durian Tree
- Sago Palm Tree
- Banyan Tree (basically a strangler fir, but they can do more with that)
- Rambutan Tree
- Basically more tree roots and mosses to create overgrown temples.
Since at least two of the animals in the pack will probably be arboreal, I think there's also a chance of getting new animal behaviours (sun bears, gibbons and clouded leopards would all move differently than other arboreal animals) and maybe some new climbing pieces in the free update. While it's gonna be hard to top the aquatic DLC and accompanying free update, a SEA DLC may be more complete, as it can introduce new iconic and common animals with new behaviours that allow for more creativity and can also be combined with species already in game. While new climbing behaviours may not be as revolutionary as deep diving, SEA can still compete well with the aquatic DLC if enough effort is put in creating construction pieces and new foliage.
