Aquarium Expansion pack (Intro and part 1 repost)

The only way to implement (functional) aquariums, is to make a big and I mean HUGE expansion pack now you just might be asking yourselves

”How big exactly?”

ABOUT 5 PARTS LONG

That’s right, my recommendation is just to accept faith (And phishe) is to replace the next 5 dlc with 5 segments of Expansion pack

The mechanics and the first segment will be enlisted here



Mechanics

”How do you implement fish?”

This is a big question, and I have got a big answer for it

Enclosure: very simple, add a new type of barrier!

The aquarium barrier! This barrier will accommodate the many species of this expansion pack (and a few inspired dlcs after) and will come in about 5 variations: Glass, Acrylic, Iron-Glass alloy, breeding, and Null.

Glass (security level 1-3) this glass will be able to support many small-medium aquariums.

Acrylic (security level 4) this barrier can support bigger aquariums, but will need frequent maintenance.

Iron-Glass (security level 6) this is similar to the thick glass wall, but can hold the Biggest amounts of water, and can be home to one of the biggest fish.

Breeding: (security level 5) too ugly to show in front of guests, this is where you can breed new fish (added in the final part) or to hold eggs and fry.

Null-security level 1-6) invisible, and you can put it around any water area to turn it into a natural pond-like aquarium. While habitat animals can swim right through it, the fish cannot escape! (Even fish with the jumper or escapist perk)

Can’t forget about a staff gate! There will be a ladder covered by a glass tunnel, accessible via codelocked door. (For staff who don’t wanna get wet via rain)

Maintainance: Fish (and other aquatics) will need a specific new quarantine to get healthy, acclimated, and shoaled (more on that).

Introducing the Aquatic quarantine! This staff building will house fish, and also medicate them if needed. Still, you will have to get them from the trade center, and a good ‘ol zookeeper or vet can take care of them in there, before the fish are ready for exhibit. A zookeeper can feed, clean, and do water changes (can be scheduled) to keep your fish’s welfare green. A vet can medicate the fish, do checkups, and even take fish into quarantine. A mechanic can take care of the aquarium itself, as well as the new pump system (more on that later). Educators can still do zoo talks, and will also throw food in the aquarium.

Pump system:

This system will be in place only for aquariums, and will keep the aquarium fish happy

Heater (For tropical fish): Will heat the chosen aquarium, and can be adjusted via slide in Celsius or Faranheit.

Filter: Keeps the water clean and the Ammonia at bay. Always add filters first before anything.

Protein skimmer (for saltwater and/or brackish): will help the water of your reef, or maybe even your estuary, keep even cleaner.

UV sterilizer: If the water turnes green, or if the pathogens become unbearable, then this will help.

Reverse Osmosis (for freshwater): Utilises the power of reverse osmosis to keep your freshwater tanks even cleaner.

Ph, Gh, Kh, and density regulators:

All have their own mechanics and can change the water chemistry to better suit the fish, as different species like different chemistry (via slides)

  • Ph will change the water’s acidity/alkalinity (works for all waters)
  • Gh will determine whether the water is soft or hard, depending on the mineral density (works for all waters, but will slightly decrease if a reverse osmosis machine is present)
  • Kh will be the carbonate hardness and will determine the stability (works for all waters)
  • Density will be the amount of marine salt that is in the aquarium (works for saltwater and brackish water)
Chiller (for COLD coldwater fish): advanced equipment to give your cold-loving fish the time of their lives

And of course, the...

Aquarium pump: Combines all this machinery and connects it with the aquarium. Let all the conditions settle the way you want them, and then establish your ecosystem.

Which leads us to...

Other mechanics:

This will explain the fish, their habitats, the plants, the care, and the substrate.

The waters

Freshwater: This water is very easy to care for, and houses a variety of fish, such as the small Bolivian Ram, or the mighty Arapaima. This water has both tropical and coldwater variations, along with the following biomes.

  • River: for those fish that inhabit rivers, and recive the many nutrients from the mountains up above. (Exp: Arapaima, Black Diamond ray, Discus, Oscar Cichlid, Rainbow trout and others)
  • Lake: mostly for secluded communities, such as Lake Malawi, or the Great Lakes (Exp: Kampango, Blue Dolphin Cichlid, Largemouth Bass, Sunflower seed, Leilupi, Convict Cichlids, Midas Cichlids and others)
  • Swamp: this is where fish have a shallow, but vast area of murky and rich water (Exp: Peter’s elephant nose fish, Bettas, Upside Down Catfishes, Channel catfish, and others)
Brackish: This water is a mix of freshwater and saltwater! It only has a tropical variant and only one biome, but a unique variety of fish to choose from.

  • Estuary: a unique ecosystem with plentiful mangroves, and a bustling amount of fishlife, and even some of the fish are originally from freshwater! (Exp: Green Spotted puffer, Knight gobies, Orange chromidae, A few species of archerfish, guppies, mollies, Leopard morays, and others)
Saltwater (Marine): From the vast oceans to the coral reefs, this water offers both coldwater and Tropical variants, and plenty of biomes, being even the home of the largest fish, the whale shark!

  • Reef: abundant in coral and in colors, this is home to unusual fish, and unusual creatures. (Exp: Pericula clownfish, Zebra moray, Cleaner shrimp, Napoleon wrasse, Yellow tang, Arabian Dottyback, Emperor butterflyfish, French angelfish, Black tip reef sharks and others)
  • Lagoon: the saltwater version of the estuary, filled with greens and open water.(Exp: Blue surgeonfish, Azure demoselle, Cownose ray, Harlequin tusk, Lookdown fish and others)
  • Costal: a swiss army tool of habitats mixed into one, this place is home to massive kelp forests (Exp: Leopard shark, common octopus, Cuttlefish, Mackerel, oo wrasse, Goliath Grouper and others)
  • Pelagic: Home to some of the biggest fish, this is open Ocean (Sardines, Whale shark, Giant Manta, Blue shark, Atlantic Salmon, and others)
Substrates: these flooring will impact your fish’s welfare

Sand (Live or fine, Live is for saltwater): Basic and cheap, and fish of all waters like it.

Gravel (coarse or fine): perfect for fish that call streams home

Soil: Great for fish that love mudlands and swamps

Default: Plain old glass, but a better substrate is needed.

Leaf litter: Offers plenty of hiding space, food, and even medicine.

Fish Mechanics:

It’s gonna work, trust me

  • They don’t need to swim individually, they can have 3d models and small animations, but to move them, it will be up to the player to decide, as they can control the loop swimming animations, so that the fish move in every way the players want them and by that I mean you can plan a looping route for the fish to swim, so that the devs don’t need to implement ai to the fish (they might lose their minds trying to code every neon tetra in a shoal) . The fish can loop individually or in a shoal.
  • There will be a variety of foods for the fish and the player can choose what the zookeepers feed the fish (assuming that you looked in the Zoopedia first).
Flakes: Dry foods for easy fish, mostly omnivorous in composure

Live worms: Squirmy, wiggly, snacks filled with protein

Live plankton: Sea chips that move, it’s great baby food as well.

Small meats: For fish that eat smaller fish

Veggies: Nutrients and vitamins for vegetarian fish.

Mussels and shellfish: For fish who have a sweet tooth for hard candy.

Krill: Rich snack for all sorts of fish.

Coral bits: Made from coral and it’s crunchy, perfect fit for coral eaters.

  • Fish will have preferences for shelter, foliage density, social group, nutrition and space, as well as special perks that make management a bit more challenging and fun.
Example:

Peter’s elephant nose fish-Tropical-swamp

Space: 55 gallons min.

Parameters: 72-83 d.f., 23-28 d.c., ph: 6.0-7.0, Gh: soft, Kh: 0-10

Diet: Flakes, Live worms, Live plankton.

Perks:

Jumper-requires lidded aquariums

Shoaler- 1,5+ individuals

Nocturnal- requires more shelter space

Size (Based on inches): 9

Foliage density: 100%

Biotope bonus (If you put fish from the same biotope, guests will get a higher education bonus): Upside-Down catfish, Congo tetra, Kirbiensis cichlid, African Butterflyfish, Bichir.

  • When fish die, they just disappear, and the notifications pop up about death, so try not to make that happen.
  • Fish will be bought from a specific fish market, like exhibit animals, but the difference is that you can buy fish in a bunch, and with different species
Example:

Source: Fish shop

Fish: x6 Schooling Bannerfish, x1 Queen Angelfish, x2 Zebra Moray.

Cost: 290 cc (The rarer/more beautiful fish cost more cc)



I hope y’all have a good one and I will explain more on part 2

To be continued...
 
I’m sorry but replace the next 5 dlc’s with 5 segments of expansion packs? No thanks not trying to be rude but there’s too many popular zoo animals missing as the game sits right now. I too wouldn’t mind a couple species of fish in game but I was thinking more along the line of ambients. That way it’s just a simplified way to squeeze them in the game.
 
Im sorry but that is just crazy and will never happen. First replacing 5 individual DLCs for only fish? Thats ridiculus and would mean we will loose 5 dlcs with unique animals. Second all of this sounds strangly similar to Megaquarium and Frontier wouldnt copy exisiting game mechanics from a different gamestudio. Also if we get fish, i think it be more like the exhibits atm, prebuild enclosures with looped animations, but not such a crazy 5-part Expansion for just fish.
 
Im sorry but that is just crazy and will never happen. First replacing 5 individual DLCs for only fish? Thats ridiculus and would mean we will loose 5 dlcs with unique animals. Second all of this sounds strangly similar to Megaquarium and Frontier wouldnt copy exisiting game mechanics from a different gamestudio. Also if we get fish, i think it be more like the exhibits atm, prebuild enclosures with looped animations, but not such a crazy 5-part Expansion for just fish.
We won’t lose em, there is another time,
Because the devs can’t do all the things I will post in one go, but maybe they can if we wait
 
We won’t lose em, there is another time,
Because the devs can’t do all the things I will post in one go, but maybe they can if we wait
This will never happen i can tell you 100% :D its just too crazy and doesnt fit in the game at all. It makes no sense😄
 
I would hope for a lot more packs for terrestrial and semi-aquatic animals before adding much in the way of aquatic animals (certainly not 5 whole DLCs! (though I would like a couple of aquarium exhibits and maybe fish spawners - low priority for me though)). I can very easily think of more than 100 terrestrial and semi-aquatic species that I'd like to see first... This game is a zoo simulation and, whilst some zoos do have aquarium sections, they're not really necessary (Aviaries are needed much, much more).
 
I would hope for a lot more packs for terrestrial and semi-aquatic animals before adding much in the way of aquatic animals (certainly not 5 whole DLCs! (though I would like a couple of aquarium exhibits and maybe fish spawners - low priority for me though)). I can very easily think of more than 100 terrestrial and semi-aquatic species that I'd like to see first... This game is a zoo simulation and, whilst some zoos do have aquarium sections, they're not really necessary (Aviaries are needed much, much more).
We will get all the small dlcs before thebig Expansion packs
 
Well there are many zoos worldwide which have aquariums, Pittsburgh Zoo, National Zoo and Aquarium Canberra, Australia, Sydney Zoo, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Cincinnati Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, the list goes on, I believe aquariums are acceptable for this game, we just can't expect anything crazy like cetaceans or sharks like Great Whites, Tiger Sharks, Great Hammerheads or Whale Sharks, those are a bit over the top, but Bull Shark can be the limit for shark sizes along with others such as Bowmouth Guitar Sharks or Zebra Sharks. Any other fish species can be accepted, but it can fit better with freshwater species with a good variety available to players and with a good variety of saltwater species as well, I don't believe it is not possible, I just think it is a bit out of left field in the current state of the game, but anyway, I would like to know what else you come up with for this.
 
We will get all the small dlcs before the big Expansion packs
[my emphases]

OK... so, at least 100 habitat animals (you were responding to my comment that I could think of at least 100 terrestrial or semi-aquatic animals I'd like to see before fully aquatic stuff) at 4/pack (assuming current model) = at least 25 packs to be released before the five 'Aquarium expansion packs' are released?

At (very generously) 5 packs / year, you're looking at a minimum of 5 years in the future (more likely 6-7 years). I would love the game to still be releasing content in five years time, but I very much doubt it.

Well there are many zoos worldwide which have aquariums, Pittsburgh Zoo, National Zoo and Aquarium Canberra, Australia, Sydney Zoo, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Cincinnati Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, the list goes on, I believe aquariums are acceptable for this game, .....

I specifically said that some zoos have aquariums, but they're not even close to universal... Aviaries, however, are. You've listed 6 that do have aquariums (and could certainly list many, many more) but can you list any zoos that don't have any aviaries?
 
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The only way to implement (functional) aquariums, is to make a big and I mean HUGE expansion pack now you just might be asking yourselves

”How big exactly?”

ABOUT 5 PARTS LONG

That’s right, my recommendation is just to accept faith (And phishe) is to replace the next 5 dlc with 5 segments of Expansion pack


Not interested in this at all, it accomplishes absolutely nothing for either a zoo or aquarium. At best it leaves the zoo game completely unfinished, and only manages to superficially represent aquariums, leaving the potential for a dedicated game dead in the water.

I would not be opposed to once the zoo game is completely finished, Frontier bringing us a Planet Aquarium game that can be played as either a separate game or even an expansion/merger with Planet Zoo, that would be ideal. However based on the amount of content we will need to properly do the world of Aquariums justice, many of the players here do not see that happening. If that amount of content is impossible to merge with Planet Zoo then a separate game would be perfectly acceptable.

What is completely unacceptable is to leave the zoo game unfinished and jump into something completely different. There are thousands of zoo related construction scenery, foliage, props and features needed to truly unlock the full potential of this game. The animal collection being the biggest focus of the game, is seriously lacking an immense amount of common zoo species, never mind all of those that are not common. For god's sake, birds are the most represented species in zoos worldwide, and the game in its current form has basically nothing to offer in this category yet.

No disrespect, we all have our fantasies, but this is not something Frontier should ever consider, until this game is properly finished.
 
[my emphases]

OK... so, at least 100 habitat animals (you were responding to my comment that I could think of at least 100 terrestrial or semi-aquatic animals I'd like to see before fully aquatic stuff) at 4/pack (assuming current model) = at least 25 packs to be released before the five 'Aquarium expansion packs' are released?

At (very generously) 5 packs / year, you're looking at a minimum of 5 years in the future (more likely 6-7 years). I would love the game to still be releasing content in five years time, but I very much doubt it.



I specifically said that some zoos have aquariums, but they're not even close to universal... Aviaries, however, are. You've listed 6 that do have aquariums (and could certainly list many, many more) but can you list any zoos that don't have any aviaries?
The Sydney Zoo in Western Sydney has no aviaries, neither does Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, these two are in Australia
 
Not interested in this at all, it accomplishes absolutely nothing for either a zoo or aquarium. At best it leaves the zoo game completely unfinished, and only manages to superficially represent aquariums, leaving the potential for a dedicated game dead in the water.

I would not be opposed to once the zoo game is completely finished, Frontier bringing us a Planet Aquarium game that can be played as either a separate game or even an expansion/merger with Planet Zoo, that would be ideal. However based on the amount of content we will need to properly do the world of Aquariums justice, many of the players here do not see that happening. If that amount of content is impossible to merge with Planet Zoo then a separate game would be perfectly acceptable.

What is completely unacceptable is to leave the zoo game unfinished and jump into something completely different. There are thousands of zoo related construction scenery, foliage, props and features needed to truly unlock the full potential of this game. The animal collection being the biggest focus of the game, is seriously lacking an immense amount of common zoo species, never mind all of those that are not common. For god's sake, birds are the most represented species in zoos worldwide, and the game in its current form has basically nothing to offer in this category yet.

No disrespect, we all have our fantasies, but this is not something Frontier should ever consider, until this game is properly finished.
It only might happen once the “Zoo” part is finished
 
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