Yes. I have been waiting for this to be addressed with every passing update. They made the scars very distracting and too prevalent. They have provided a setting in sandbox for just about everything else. Please have this addressed.
Ability for Vets to Remove Scars or Option to turn off Scarring
- Thread starter Tom D
- Start date
I have also been waiting for this as well. Its not a good feeling, when I spend time waiting for a "good genetic" animal from the Animal Market and see that it has scars when I place it in the habitat for the first time. Its also annoying how random it is, some animals have little to no scars, and some animals are covered "head to toe" with graphic scaring.
In fairness it's not as random as you think. Animals that are sourced from breeding programs are not likely to be scarred if ever, whereas rescues are VERY likely to be scarred up. There is an element of rng but where your animal is coming from also matters. You can kinda game your chances this way.
Still, more options is always best. Personally I like coming up with backstories for why an animal might come with scars, but I understand why people wouldn't want them in sandbox mode.
I might as well chime in and say- I guess I really am in the minority here, since I don't want to be able to micromanage my animals stats/appearance even in sandbox. Maybe veering a bit off topic here, and I don't want this to come across like I'm critcizing anyone's playstyle- ultimately, it is just a game- but it kind of rubs me the wrong way when people complain about how hard it is to get animals with perfect stats and nice appearance, since it just feels kind of antithetical to the message of zoos and animal sanctuaries. When you rescue or buy an animal, you get what you get- you can increase the 'stats' by breeding strategically. That's, like, the entire* point.
There is an argument for making the scarring more realistic and not as severe looking, but honestly the amount of pearl-clutching surprises me. Animals get in fights and get scars. If your kid can't handle that you don't have to show it them.
There is an argument for making the scarring more realistic and not as severe looking, but honestly the amount of pearl-clutching surprises me. Animals get in fights and get scars. If your kid can't handle that you don't have to show it them.
That's why the request is for the option. You do you.
Yeah, I know. I'm just pointing out a perspective on why someone might not find it important to even implement that option.
For me the entire point of building in sandbox is not to have to deal with aspects of management that don’t interest me. I just want to build a zoo and put animals in. I only occasionally breed animals, most of the time I have ageing, breeding etc switched off and have never gone into multiple generations or strategic breeding.
I have been to over one hundred zoos on four continents and have never, ever seen an animal that looks like it has been hacked at with a machete like they do in the game. That’s why I’m clutching my pearls because it’s grotesque and unpleasant and most of all, unrealistic.
In a number of ways this game is antithetical to the actual message of zoos and sanctuaries which tend to prioritise, for example, decent building materials and educational signs over giant Egyptian meerkats and animal musician stained glass. Another important difference is that animal release programmes are incredibly complex, usually requiring specially built facilities and husbandry and this isn’t reflected at all in the game.
Where I kinda agree with you that you don't see it that often, there's plenty of rescue animals with big scars in zoos. You don't have to dig deep to find it either, any documentary on zoos will show you. Secrets of The Zoo Tampa shows a cougar missing paw, Drukte in de Dierentuin shows a sea turtle with a massive scars, the manatee in Animal Kingdom shows scars of a boating accident.
Big visible scars aren't unrealistic. They're just not as common as they are in the game atm. If the game would reduce the occurrence of it and add some less visible scars it would fall in much more into the realms of realism; because the animals that come with scars are, as mentioned in this topic already, almost always from rescue centers.
With all due respect, but you can't keep living in the past. Zoos are changing, open any book on zoos or watch any video on new enclosures being build (which, luckily, a lot of zoos have started doing now) and all of them will tell you the same thing. (For reference, both books by Erik van Vliet, videos by the designer of the Beekse Bergen (Rik), etc.) Theming and immersion ( whether in a naturalistic or another fashion) is what zoos now focus on.
Why? Attention spans are not what they used to be. Education signs are already limited in terms of text because people don't read them anymore (Burgers' Zoo's info guide even mentions that they don't try to have more than 30 words on a sign), so zoos find other ways to educate the guests. They create areas with a high immersion value and big "wow" factors, because those stick with guests. And those experiences will, with the right accommodation and staff being present to inform the guests, stick way longer than when someone reads or more realistically skims over a sign. For a kid, seeing a well themed area with a giant meerkat statue, even when in an Egyptian style, is going to create a much more educational experience than a simple meerkat exhibit with just a sign.
Whether you prefer the non themed exhibits over themed exhibits is up to you. Everyone is 100% free to have an opinion about that and I can certainly agree with you that theming should always be accompanied by an educational context and shouldn't be done as a goal but as a means to create an educational experience. But claiming that today zoos prioritize educational signs and "decent building materials" (I don't know what you mean by that, I suppose you just mean generic building materials) is just a false claim. It is still a big factor, but theming is one of the most important tools for education in zoos and is used in any new exhibit/area that's being planned or build.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that generic pieces are important for a zoo game. We've gotten quite a lot already but there is certainly room for more and there are some very specific areas where pieces are missing (zookeeper items, etc.); but themed pieces are an equal part of a modern zoo pallet. They really aren't antithetical to the message of zoos at all.
Last edited:
There is a huge difference between rescue manatees which often appear in captivity in the United States with scars from boats and zebras wandering around a paddock covered in knife scars. I'm sorry but you cannot convince me that the scaring in Planet Zoo is realistic.
With all due respect I think you are being a bit patronising. Zoos come in all shapes and sizes. For every Hannover or Animal Kingdom there is a Dählhözli or a Highland Wildlife Park or more architecturally focussed but not overly themed zoos like Copenhagen, Basel and Antwerp.
And theming in modern zoos takes many shapes and forms. I am absolutely not saying that we should not have themed pieces. I am saying the themed pieces we get are all too often tacky and over the top. Time and time again Planet Zoo shows its theme park roots with over the top fairground pieces rather than zoo building basics. I am not taking about architectural pieces but the large and over the top pieces. The wooden sun bear heads for example are fantastic; versatile, artistically done and realistic. The huge Egyptian meerkat is pure Las Vegas.
We have screens but we don't have just simple signs where you can add your own text and images and whilst you might think they are something of the past they really are not in real zoos.
I am afraid I cannot agree with you that the huge, over the top and incredibly lacking in versatility themed pieces favoured by Planet Zoo and the basic building pieces we lack are equal in a modern zoo pallet. Not at all. The zoo would literally fall apart without those basic pieces.
Absolutely Agree.
Indeed, a simple option to turn it off in sandbox is all we need
That's fair enough. Given how badly people treat animals, I can certainly see scars like that on rescue animals, but then agree to disagree.
But that wasn't your claim and I didn't even say that such zoos do not exist. Your claim was that zoos prioritize basic building elements and educational signs over themed items, which is just factually incorrect. Call me patronising, I really don't care about that, but it doesn't change the attitude modern day zoo designers have and what has the priority today.
You mention Antwerp, which "recent" (I say recent because along with the gorillas it's their most recent major exhibit update even though it's already older) buffalo aviary area is a perfect example of how even classical architecturally focussed zoos go for theming and immersion in their newest exhibits. The entire entrance area hardly has any signs, all of it is incorporated in the theme of the African caves. Where there is text needed, it's not a classic sign but cave writings that are part of a story.
Of course, there's no denying that the game has pieces that some consider tacky or over the top. Even whilst some of them could realistically be found in zoos that are more the exception than the rule (the Thai zoos we researched come to mind), I agree that there are pieces in the game that are more fantastical and that I'm not the audience for, but there is an audience for it and it is only fair that they also get pieces. I just disagree that it these should be removed in future packs in favour of zoo building basics. I think for the game to be successful, both are needed.
In the end it's also hard to really define what is over the top or tacky. For me, the fake bats in the buffalo caverns in Antwerp are tacky. For me the tiger statues in Columbus Zoo's Asia Quest are tacky. Heck I even find the entrance of that area with the giant tiger paws tacky
You consider the stained glass tacky, for me it is a very clever way of integrating classic often animal based fairy tales into a zoo setting, which is both educational about the animals and the culture of the animal in question. It's a matter of opinion.Again, not what I was saying
Nor is it "something I'm thinking". You claimed that educational signs were prioritized over themed items, which is just incorrect, especially in a time where zoos are very actively are looking at new ways to educate people as the majority doesn't read the classic signs any more.It doesn't mean that there won't be signs in zoos any more, it doesn't mean that we don't need the pieces you mentioned, it doesn't mean that "real" zoos don't have signs. It means that in current day zoo design, they are no longer the priority. It no longer being the priority doesn't mean that they will disappear, but other forms of education (with the current trend of immersion and themed areas) are getting a higher priority. Again, Antwerps buffalo caves are a prime example of that. Gone are your typical signs, everything is part of the immersion that the story brings.
Now I can agree with you that huge and non versatile themed pieces are not equally part of the modern zoo pallet. If your original post had said that, I'd probably hadn't said anything. But I do disagree with you that they are the pieces favoured by Planet Zoo, at least not in the past few DLCs. If anything we've gotten plenty more smaller versatile pieces than the big non versatile pieces we had more of in the beginning of the game. I'd certainly argue that those smaller versatile pieces we've been getting are certainly part of the modern day zoo pallet.
However, I'm just going to stop it here because this isn't what this topic is about and I'm sorry for derailing it like that
Feel free to tag me in another topic if you want to keep on discussing, but I don't want to derail this topic any further than I did already.No it is not factually incorrect. You cannot have theming when you don't actually have an actual enclosure to put the animals in. You must build an enclosure that contains the animals, that meets the animals' needs, the keepers' needs and complies with legislation before any theming.
My issue is that in the game we still lack the necessary building parts to make actual enclosures. Take the excellent Antwerp savannah aviary. Or indeed the new-ish ape enclosures. Without the mesh the birds would of course fly away. The apes would escape. Those enclosures are impossible to recreate in Planet Zoo because they prioritise giant Egyptian meerkats and tacky stained glass windows over the most very basic building materials. We got clouded leopards without the means, at that point, to build an appropriate enclosure for them.
I do not dispute that theming to some degree and interpretive materials are essential parts of modern zoos. But without the literal building pieces of the enclosures there would be no zoo.
My issue is precisely this, both are needed but we aren't getting both.
Okay now I finally understand where you're going with "basic building materials", for me those are things like beams, plaster, concrete, wood, etc.. I still stand by my point that factually zoos are prioritizing theming over educational signs, but I get what you mean by pieces to build an enclosure. I was talking about everything outside an enclosure, aka everything for guest areas etc. For that, we mostly have everything we need ( sure some extra (backstage) pieces are still needed, but we already have quite a lot or have pieces we can build it with).
I agree with you on the fact that we need more enclosure based pieces. I can personally work with the mesh pieces we got until we get an aviary building tool, but we are still missing a few basic pieces such more accurate feeders, plastic flaps for guest/animal doors, etc.
If you pin it down to enclosure pieces, I agree. When I look at it broader, I do think we're getting both to a degree, given that we also get a lot of general "common world" non themed pieces. But a bigger focus on really zoo specific items would be welcome for sure.
It's not as easy as "don't show them", when they are so common. And as people have stated, they look bloody and fresh. I never met a child that had trouble with a real scar on an animal in real life. But the scars in PZ aren't visual scars, they are wounds.
As with genetic: I avoid animals below a size of 67%, just because, like animals with scars in game, they look unrealistic. Not small but shrinked down.
I love to breed for the other stats, as they don't break the illusion of real zoo animals.
Last edited:
Hopefully this is addressed soon with a simple option in sandbox. There is clearly agreement among players here that there would be no downside to implementing this option in sandbox, as the scaring in many cases is too distracting and sometimes even "takes away" from the acquisition of an animal (its annoying to repeatedly search in the animal market for a valuable genetic animal, only for to finally get it and see it covered with excessive scaring.
From the perspective of a Franchise player, I would say that scarring itself is not so much an issue as animal fighting. If I have your typical 4 animal habitat (2 kids and 2 parents), you better watch out if the kids are about to mature. The very day the kids turn into adults ZOOM ! a two animals run straight into each other to fight. Sometimes the model for the kids does not even have time to update. Unless you are sitting over your habitat, waiting for this you hardly have time to prevent scarring.
As far as I am concerned, this is just another micro-management aspect of the game that I dislike and I would not mind a tool to remove scarring (such as vets being to do so for a fee).
As far as I am concerned, this is just another micro-management aspect of the game that I dislike and I would not mind a tool to remove scarring (such as vets being to do so for a fee).
I'm still advocating for a Sandbox 'animal designer'.
Instead of the market, we can open a menu with a list of species in the game. You click on the species, and it brings you to a menu where you can select for traits, coat variations, sex, and and 'backstory' (so, rescue, transfer from a different zoo, wild-caught, etc.). Then you click 'complete' and your animal is sent to the trade centre. Of course this would also include a 'randomise' button for those who don't want to play this way, which would generate a random animal like the sandbox market already does.
This way, those of us that want to play with max size genes, or want to have albinos, or want each animal to look different, or don't want scars and such, could do so. Sandbox is already the ultimate creative experience - this would simply be icing on the cake.
Instead of the market, we can open a menu with a list of species in the game. You click on the species, and it brings you to a menu where you can select for traits, coat variations, sex, and and 'backstory' (so, rescue, transfer from a different zoo, wild-caught, etc.). Then you click 'complete' and your animal is sent to the trade centre. Of course this would also include a 'randomise' button for those who don't want to play this way, which would generate a random animal like the sandbox market already does.
This way, those of us that want to play with max size genes, or want to have albinos, or want each animal to look different, or don't want scars and such, could do so. Sandbox is already the ultimate creative experience - this would simply be icing on the cake.
Yes, this. I would like to have the option to completely choose the animals in my zoo in sandbox mode. Rather than having to choose from just 4 animals which may not have the colouring, sizing etc I am looking for. I can't really see what function this limitation serves within Sandbox.
I'm not personally bothered one way or the other about scars, but I see no reason why an option shouldn't be added to Sandbox... the more options the better for total 'freeplay.'