PK aviaries
- Thread starter Markiz
- Start date
Yes and No
Yes, I like the animations part, and different interactions when you add the items. Also being able to plant normal foilage in that exhibit.
No, it slightly better than the exhibit animals.
I expect PZ to do similar like JWE/PK.
My ideal situation would be the same freedom as creating a habitat.
In the end, will it be enough? Yes, i never expected PZ to add aviaries so every addition is welcome.
Yes, I like the animations part, and different interactions when you add the items. Also being able to plant normal foilage in that exhibit.
No, it slightly better than the exhibit animals.
I expect PZ to do similar like JWE/PK.
My ideal situation would be the same freedom as creating a habitat.
In the end, will it be enough? Yes, i never expected PZ to add aviaries so every addition is welcome.
PK aviary would be welcome for flying foxes sugar gliders or small medium flying birds/bats. I’d want larger birds to have something bigger and more customizable.
Have they announced if there will be any larger flyers? I’d like to see what they will do to incorporate Ptertadons or any other flyers.
Have they announced if there will be any larger flyers? I’d like to see what they will do to incorporate Ptertadons or any other flyers.
No, nothing. It's just Alpha.
Don't expect any attention to that before official release (not talking about the EA release)
If you look at their Kickstarter page and look at the stretch goals - that will be their focus.
They are somewhat obligated to do so, because people pledged their money for that. I was told they would be breaking kickstarter rules with consequences.
I'm not sold on the limited customisability of the PK aviaries (based on what we've seen so far). The interior is one thing but in zoos aviaries come in all shapes and sizes. If there was a way to piece something together I'd be fine with that, but I think one of the biggest draws of aviaries is changing the landscape of the zoo, which is more difficult if every aviary looks the same.
One thing I noticed in one of the videos on PK was the ability to have a null barrier (with no actual mesh around the exhibit) so it appears as if the animals are not contained. If that was an option in a hypothetical bird pack in Planet Zoo together with options for custom-built mesh roofs it could make things much more variable in building options - walkthroughs and aviaries with multiple species would then be possible.
I think a few Years ago I saw on their Animal List that they want to include Pteranodons or other big Pterosaurs at some Point
I do agree, and IMHO Frontiers could take note of this and find a way for us to create aviaries as freely as we do for habitats. Perhaps that's where the resizable controls would come in handy like changing shapes and sizes of the nettings as in PK. Even if we cannot have the same mechanics for the scenery or construction materials as in PK, they could at least introduce the same idea to aviary which would open so much possibilities.
In any event, something is better than nothing as far as I'm concerned, but even if they were like the PK aviaries I would hope that a few different variations wouldn't be too much to ask for.
I'd rather have full customizable habitats for birds that function like animals than some pre-built exhibit reducing birds to animated props... and looking at how they handled swimming, I find it hard to believe they couldn't do the same for flying.
Well, I actually viewed them kinda like the vivariums, where there's a preset enclosure depending on the species, then you can add new objects that behave like enrichment. But maybe that won't be the best way to go?
It's been discussed ad nauseum in the past. There are a few of us who wouldn't mind if the aviaries were slightly more advanced exhibits (that is to say, birds on set flight paths in pre-fabricated enclosures), but majority opinion seems to be in favour of fully-customisable aviaries and birds that are the same as habitat animals in their needs and AI.
I sometimes question whether the latter is possible but since they nailed swimming/diving it seems more possible than it once did. My biggest concern has always been about the game's performance, though; I worry that if they add in free-flying birds and big custom aviaries then we'll end up having to sacrifice big key species for birds or vice versa. Like, I shouldn't have to choose whether I put in an elephant or a macaw, as an example, because the game can't handle both. It's already touchy right now as it is.
Game performance definately is something I consider with suggestions. With all the updates, the games looks more stable and performing better. But still could use improvement.
I really like the example with the Elephant and Macaw, that sums it up pretty good.
I think it's nice to suggest the ideal situation. But in the end: you have to settle somewhere. I think a lot of people would settle with a JWE or PK version of aviaries and be happy about it.
The only thing that comes to mind is that this looks like a only paid DLC thing. I wouldn't say expansion pack but a DLC+.
And it easily could be. It's a very distinct feature compared to other provided features in free DLC.
Like diving for only DLC would've been a poor move because other base /DLC game animals could also use it. That's not something to consider when you add aviaries.
In this regard, I think they'll market 'aviaries' as 'covered habitats' which can be used for primates, cats, or really any animal, and introduce those via free update. The clouded leopard being added generated some discussion about it so it's clearly on the Frontier radar (by that I mean, they must know that people want it and not just for birds). Then whatever DLC follows would actually add the birds.
The scenario makes sense to me. You can't do a Bird Pack with only four animals, because, well, how do you pick four birds? There's no way it would have enough representation. The 7-8 model comes closer, though, to a fleshed-out group of birds (still not ideal, but definitely better than 4-5). So if they include the habitat function in a free update (as they have with other features, diving as you say, colour variation in the past, and so on) then that frees up 'room' in a DLC for just the birds. I suppose it would have to include a couple of enrichment items and other objects exclusive to birds, but that's where the 'extra' would come in.
Alternatively, and this is another theory, they've decided to do 7-8 animal DLC's this year to try and bust out as many habitat animals as possible, so they can drop a handful of bird-specific DLC's next year.
(Or, of course, birds might just remain a pipe-dream
, and all this conjecture is pointless).
Yeap, being playing around with it for the past few days, and not a whole lot going on. For a fantasy game that focuses on Dinos and extinct animals it probably works, just not for zoos. I agree 100 percent with what you said, besides the beautiful birds, and having an entire new layer to the game, the addition of aviaries to PZ would completely change the landscape of the game. Aviaries do come in all shapes, sizes and a variety of materials and this is what will make them an absolute most have feature in PZ.
The biggest worry I have always had with the inclusion of aviaries in this game has been the very simplistic approach of a large number of players to the game. Many still do prefer the single style pre fabricated buildings of Zoo Tycoon, mainly because they do not want to put the effort and time into putting together something of their own. For that segment of players a standard box like PK's would probably be sufficient, they might prefer a variety of sizes, but the pre fabricated box will be better welcomed than maximum customization.
It is my sincere hope however that when birds finally join this game, they will be given the level of attention and flexibility that other game assets currently have. The long awaited birds/aviary dlc has been a very long time in the making. You would think that for something that has been cooked in the oven for this long, the devs would come up with a much more complex system that what PK already has.
I'm torn when it comes to this, because in one hand Frontier has shown that when they put their brains and talent into a project, the sky is the limit. However with the recent release of Southeast Asia without gibbons and brachiation, it does show that even their talented team is no stranger to inability/failure/setbacks. At best, the gibbons and brachiation would not have been possible in this time frame, and it something that could possibly be added in the future (this still shows a lack of ability in Frontier's part as Southeast Asia would have been the premiere opportunity for these set of animations alongside gibbons to join the game) At worst, Frontier gave it their best, either during the base game's conception or very recently and came up short (this would be even worse, because it shows failure, and the possibility of them giving up on something regardless of how basic and elemental it might be to zoos in real life) Apply all of this to birds/aviaries and it is a coin toss, however unlike gibbons/brachiation they really would not get a pass from the players if the virtual zoo remained flightless, so a compromise would follow suit.
No
Yes.
PK has vastly more options for customizability in terms on disabling the barrier to null, in order to make your own. There's also multiple preset biomes to use, or you can just build your own. Animals have a very large cycle of preset animations to use from, and it varies depending on what enrichment objects you use. And keep in mind that this is like, pre-alpha stuff. I'd expect full release to be even better.
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the JWE aviary was shoehorned in last minute because of how many people complained there weren't any in the first place. I mean, they never even bothered to add more pterosaurs after the Pteranodon. Honestly, the animations for JWE's aviary are pretty lazy and limited as well.
I would be totally ok if PZ copied PK's system exactly.
After they already managed to work out diving mechanics i assume that birds (and bats) in a potential bird (and bat) DLC will navigate freely around in normal habitats. Those would likely need to be covered with nets which might either come as simple construction pieces or maybe even in a new tool. Preset aviaries will probably be reserved for the smallest of birds (and bats) and will probably work the same as terrariums.
I wouldn't count my chickens for bats, really. I think birds will be priority number one for a good while. I'd love some kind of flying fox (most of them are crepuscular) but I think if/when aviaries finally hit the PZ scene it'll be just birds. There are so many birds to choose from, after all.
Doesn't look last addition to me. It was a main feature for the DLC. But same applies to me, correct me if i'm wrong
But in case of a shoehorned feature. Sometimes when you complain and the dev never had any intention of doing this: They want to please their audience and they add a "less passionate" or "basic" feature in the game.
I'm not expecting much difference in the end.
Maybe a few more species in the long run and a few more animations.
My main concern with PK is that it will take years to "finish" the game.
It took them years to get to this stage.
Btw, it's funny to see how PK's community reacts to people already talking about DLC.
But it's only alpha, so who knows ? We'll see what happens.