Two DLCs later, how would you rank all the packs?
- Thread starter AlexSea
- Start date
I must say I have never Seen a Puma in a Zoo but with a look to zootierliste I really was surprised how common it is in European Zoos. And the beaver really can be used as "European Beaver" in an European area if someone wants to.
Never seen a sea lion, moose, or arctic fox in zoos, but I've never been to a cold climate zoo. Also cougars are relatively rare in europe compared to other cats.
It's true that moose and Arctic foxes aren't so common outside cold climate zoos, but sea lions are very common in hot climate zoos, at least in European Mediterranean countries. I think almost every single zoo in Spain has them.
Checked zootierliste, and you are right. By sheer luck I never happened to go to a zoo with a sea lion enclosure.
With 114 holdins puma is 7th most common cat species in europe. Only 10 feline species have over 100 holdings and cougar is one of them
It was fun making this list. In my mind, I tend to appreciate the later packs more, but when making the ranking I realised I'm using so many pieces from the older packs.
10. Wetlands - I know it's a popular pack and I love some of the animals (especially the crane, capybara and ASCO, while the caiman also grew on me), but for some reason it's not the best to me. I guess I prefer a pack that feels more connected, with animals being from the same region, as this allows you to build a section based on one DLC. I also prefer the packs with scenery, especially since I'm unlikely to use a good number of the animals from this pack. Like I said, there are some amazing animals which complement previous DLCs, but others feel less useful to me.
9. Arctic - I think this one is not the best, but still underrated. The polar bear and reindeer are needed animals. The wolf and sheep aren't. The scenery pack wasn't necessary, but still contains many items which remain useful till this day, especially considering the fact that we still haven't gotten a better wood construction set after over two years. Even the decoration wooden items are surprisingly versatile and sometimes help fill the gap of a missing Southeast Asian DLC.
8. Australia - There are some nice themed items, but in general the theme doesn't make too much sense. Add to that the fact that they added the dingo, and it's easily one of my less favourite packs. Still, it contains some of my favourite scenery pieces including the fences, planks and the rusty metal items as well as much needed representation for Aboriginal culture.
7. Southeast Asia - I used to rate this pack higher, as I love Southeast Asian species. It's also the pack that fits together best, as most species somehow share a natural habitat. Hence, it's perhaps the only pack that really allows you to build a full, coherent zoo section just using animals from that pack. However, choices were made regarding this DLC which were not great. As happy as I am that Southeast Asia is now the best represented region animal-wise, I still miss a good theme to represent it. Some very characteristic species were left out (granted, we got a gibbon and the ASCO eventually), which gave place to less demanded but nevertheless very useful animals. Looking back, I am not sad now that we got a dhole and binturong instead of a gibbon and ASCO, but still it's arguably one of the least diverse packs (7 mammals, 4 carnivorans) that should have not been the first animal DLC.
6. North America - I actually like this DLC a lot, but haven't gotten to use it yet as most of the animals are from colder regions. Purely objectively speaking, however, this is probably the best animal pack so far. It has some of the missing large animals, high species diversity (3 carnivorans incl. one pinniped, one ungulate, our first 2 rodents and one reptile), most species are highly wanted and also have unique behaviours or are unique in other ways: we got three diving species, two that dig, and one that builds dams with those that aren't part of these categories being the very much wanted moose and cougar.
5. Africa - An amazing DLC in many ways, but one that seems to be scrapped together from different ideas. There's three South African animals and then the fennec fox and a North African theme. All animals are amazing and the theme is great, especially the mosaic tiles. What's lacking is a new construction set, 4x4m mosaic pieces and coherence between the whole thing. While it's one of the best packs by content, it would've worked better to get an African animal pack with the rhino, penguin, meerkat and other species and a Middle East/Arabian scenery pack with the fennec and some other animals.
4. Europe - I think the animals are fine, though I'm unlikely to use anything but the fallow deer, which is probably the best model the developers have ever made. The objects are generally too themed, but there are some very versatile ones as well. I'm especially really grateful for the rustic stone set and the decal pieces, both of which feel like a game changer.
3. South America - I used to rate this pack lower, for the absolutely ugly grid pieces (I believe this is the only thing Frontier has ever made for this game which I am so vocally disappointed about), but looking at the whole set, I am actually grateful for this pack. All animals are great to have in game (but why the Central American frog?) and it has many amazing non-grid pieces. It's probably the pack from which I use most scenery since a while, since I started preferring the ruin pieces over the faux rocks.
2. Conservation - In every way an amazing DLC. The animals are nice, though for me the siamang stands out by miles for its branchiation behaviour. The scenery is also good, as there are no useless pieces at all (except the statues perhaps), but then there are fewer pieces in general. While not as versatile as the Europe or African DLC, this pack definitely comes with some of the best scenery items and more foliage than any of the previous packs.
1. Aquatic - Obviously, this pack was a game changer, as it gave us diving animals. It also contains a lot of useful objects, including the faux rocks and wall papers and a flexicolour variant of the vertical plank set which I ended up barely using. It's not the pack with the most useful scenery - by that criterium I would rank it behind numbers 2-5 on this list - but the selection of animals definitely compensates for it and puts the aquatic pack higher than others.
10. Wetlands - I know it's a popular pack and I love some of the animals (especially the crane, capybara and ASCO, while the caiman also grew on me), but for some reason it's not the best to me. I guess I prefer a pack that feels more connected, with animals being from the same region, as this allows you to build a section based on one DLC. I also prefer the packs with scenery, especially since I'm unlikely to use a good number of the animals from this pack. Like I said, there are some amazing animals which complement previous DLCs, but others feel less useful to me.
9. Arctic - I think this one is not the best, but still underrated. The polar bear and reindeer are needed animals. The wolf and sheep aren't. The scenery pack wasn't necessary, but still contains many items which remain useful till this day, especially considering the fact that we still haven't gotten a better wood construction set after over two years. Even the decoration wooden items are surprisingly versatile and sometimes help fill the gap of a missing Southeast Asian DLC.
8. Australia - There are some nice themed items, but in general the theme doesn't make too much sense. Add to that the fact that they added the dingo, and it's easily one of my less favourite packs. Still, it contains some of my favourite scenery pieces including the fences, planks and the rusty metal items as well as much needed representation for Aboriginal culture.
7. Southeast Asia - I used to rate this pack higher, as I love Southeast Asian species. It's also the pack that fits together best, as most species somehow share a natural habitat. Hence, it's perhaps the only pack that really allows you to build a full, coherent zoo section just using animals from that pack. However, choices were made regarding this DLC which were not great. As happy as I am that Southeast Asia is now the best represented region animal-wise, I still miss a good theme to represent it. Some very characteristic species were left out (granted, we got a gibbon and the ASCO eventually), which gave place to less demanded but nevertheless very useful animals. Looking back, I am not sad now that we got a dhole and binturong instead of a gibbon and ASCO, but still it's arguably one of the least diverse packs (7 mammals, 4 carnivorans) that should have not been the first animal DLC.
6. North America - I actually like this DLC a lot, but haven't gotten to use it yet as most of the animals are from colder regions. Purely objectively speaking, however, this is probably the best animal pack so far. It has some of the missing large animals, high species diversity (3 carnivorans incl. one pinniped, one ungulate, our first 2 rodents and one reptile), most species are highly wanted and also have unique behaviours or are unique in other ways: we got three diving species, two that dig, and one that builds dams with those that aren't part of these categories being the very much wanted moose and cougar.
5. Africa - An amazing DLC in many ways, but one that seems to be scrapped together from different ideas. There's three South African animals and then the fennec fox and a North African theme. All animals are amazing and the theme is great, especially the mosaic tiles. What's lacking is a new construction set, 4x4m mosaic pieces and coherence between the whole thing. While it's one of the best packs by content, it would've worked better to get an African animal pack with the rhino, penguin, meerkat and other species and a Middle East/Arabian scenery pack with the fennec and some other animals.
4. Europe - I think the animals are fine, though I'm unlikely to use anything but the fallow deer, which is probably the best model the developers have ever made. The objects are generally too themed, but there are some very versatile ones as well. I'm especially really grateful for the rustic stone set and the decal pieces, both of which feel like a game changer.
3. South America - I used to rate this pack lower, for the absolutely ugly grid pieces (I believe this is the only thing Frontier has ever made for this game which I am so vocally disappointed about), but looking at the whole set, I am actually grateful for this pack. All animals are great to have in game (but why the Central American frog?) and it has many amazing non-grid pieces. It's probably the pack from which I use most scenery since a while, since I started preferring the ruin pieces over the faux rocks.
2. Conservation - In every way an amazing DLC. The animals are nice, though for me the siamang stands out by miles for its branchiation behaviour. The scenery is also good, as there are no useless pieces at all (except the statues perhaps), but then there are fewer pieces in general. While not as versatile as the Europe or African DLC, this pack definitely comes with some of the best scenery items and more foliage than any of the previous packs.
1. Aquatic - Obviously, this pack was a game changer, as it gave us diving animals. It also contains a lot of useful objects, including the faux rocks and wall papers and a flexicolour variant of the vertical plank set which I ended up barely using. It's not the pack with the most useful scenery - by that criterium I would rank it behind numbers 2-5 on this list - but the selection of animals definitely compensates for it and puts the aquatic pack higher than others.
Well, the Conservation pack featured really endangered ones and there's only 4 new species due to starting from Southeast Asia pack having 8 new species, next pack have 5, then next have 8.
Before I plan to show my ranking, which rank number shoul be best and which should be worst? Rank 1 or 10?
10. Arctic Pack - As much as I like the polar bear (although let's not talk about requests for habitat size) like it's nice but it sucks we did not get an exhibit animal and I too so far I have not used any of the animals in the arctic pack and the pieces are fine I did not use half of them
9. Southeast Asia Animal Pack - I love the sun bear and the Binturong but we also did not get new scenery / foliage and all the other animals are not to my taste so much
8. South America pack - I really like the Jaguar and the Capuchin even though I think it's a really good dlc and I highly recommend it but I think all the last dlcs we got just wow that makes me put south america here, also the scenery in this dlc is very good like the bamboo and temple pieces
7. Australia Pack - It was really hard for me because we got animals that is one of the newest animals in terms of animations and new rig we got in dlcs ever and I talk about kangaroo and koala and scenery dlc also wow I so love the wood pieces we got and all the metal beam in my opinion it is really dlc good
6. North America animal pack - It is also one of the hardest I have had because I love the beaver and the cougar so much and obviously the sea lion is just amazing dlc and I recommend it so much
5. Wetlands Animal Pack - The capybara is my favorite animal right now in the game and also the platypus and otter are totally in the top 10 for me it's so good dlc even though there were special picks i would call it that way it's still so good dlc
4. Aquatic Pack - Slowly it's getting harder I'm just in love with gray seal and king penguin I think it's the dlc that changed the game so far because we got deep dive mechanic which is just amazing and also the scenery in this dlc like wood wall Or of course the aquatic rocks which is one of my favorite pieces in the game
3. Europe Pack- I'm just in love with badger and ibex and in terms of scenery in my opinion it's almost in the first place it's just wow
2. Conservation Pack - Yes yes this dlc is one of my favorites i so love the siamang and the amur leopard which is the most controversial animal in the pack but have to remember it is a computer game and you can not expect it to look 100% like what it looks like in real life and the axolotl is my fav exhibit animal in game and scenery too Just wow europe pack and conservation stand for almost the same place this is the best scenery for me but in my opinion it is the best dlc with foliage
1. Africa Pack - There is nothing to do meerkat and southern white rhino just make it come first I think in terms of animal selection it is the winning dlc it has to do with listening to community and also foliage just wow like the grass is so amazing and the scenery is so useful with the flexi color of the logs and all the plaster pieces so yes It's just my favorite dlc
9. Southeast Asia Animal Pack - I love the sun bear and the Binturong but we also did not get new scenery / foliage and all the other animals are not to my taste so much
8. South America pack - I really like the Jaguar and the Capuchin even though I think it's a really good dlc and I highly recommend it but I think all the last dlcs we got just wow that makes me put south america here, also the scenery in this dlc is very good like the bamboo and temple pieces
7. Australia Pack - It was really hard for me because we got animals that is one of the newest animals in terms of animations and new rig we got in dlcs ever and I talk about kangaroo and koala and scenery dlc also wow I so love the wood pieces we got and all the metal beam in my opinion it is really dlc good
6. North America animal pack - It is also one of the hardest I have had because I love the beaver and the cougar so much and obviously the sea lion is just amazing dlc and I recommend it so much
5. Wetlands Animal Pack - The capybara is my favorite animal right now in the game and also the platypus and otter are totally in the top 10 for me it's so good dlc even though there were special picks i would call it that way it's still so good dlc
4. Aquatic Pack - Slowly it's getting harder I'm just in love with gray seal and king penguin I think it's the dlc that changed the game so far because we got deep dive mechanic which is just amazing and also the scenery in this dlc like wood wall Or of course the aquatic rocks which is one of my favorite pieces in the game
3. Europe Pack- I'm just in love with badger and ibex and in terms of scenery in my opinion it's almost in the first place it's just wow
2. Conservation Pack - Yes yes this dlc is one of my favorites i so love the siamang and the amur leopard which is the most controversial animal in the pack but have to remember it is a computer game and you can not expect it to look 100% like what it looks like in real life and the axolotl is my fav exhibit animal in game and scenery too Just wow europe pack and conservation stand for almost the same place this is the best scenery for me but in my opinion it is the best dlc with foliage
1. Africa Pack - There is nothing to do meerkat and southern white rhino just make it come first I think in terms of animal selection it is the winning dlc it has to do with listening to community and also foliage just wow like the grass is so amazing and the scenery is so useful with the flexi color of the logs and all the plaster pieces so yes It's just my favorite dlc
It's funny how perspectives are so different, even within Europe. To me, California sea lions and prairiedogs feel like very common zoo species and I've seen moose and beavers in at least one zoo in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, I have yet to see my first arctic fox, cougar and American alligator.
10: Arctic.
No question at all - the animals are good and the polar bear’s space requirements are now reasonable but the build set is much too themed - about 3/4 of it is stuff I never use. The arctic wolf, though a good model, is too similar to the base game wolf to add much. Also hurts because Of the lack of an exhibit animal.
9: Aquatic
Really good scenery but the animal choices have all been bettered by similar animals in subsequent packs. (Giant otter vs. ASCO, Grey seal vs. Sea lion, King penguin vs. African, Dwarf caiman vs. spectacled). If I were to look at buying the DLC right now and was basing my choice only on the animals, this would be the one I’d skip.
8: South America.
Some really good build pieces (bamboo) but again, much of the content is much too heavily themed. The llama is (IMO) a completely wasted slot (worst choice for a slot yet) - almost any alternative I can think of would have been better. Whilst I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically wrong with combining SA and tropical Central America (I actually support this) it was disappointing that, even after this pack (and even now), we don’t have enough Amazonian species or SA grassland species. This would have been MUCH better as an animal pack (and I like standard animal/scenery packs!) Somewhat mitigated because we’ve had lots of SA animals added in other packs but there’re still a lot that needs adding.
7: Europe
Some really good scenery although the themes themselves are waaaaay too much and are weirdly inappropriate for zoos (Amsterdam and Venice are generally not associated with natural settings. The animal choices are as good as they could be but none were on my most wanted list.
6: North America
Good animal choices but didn’t really need to be an animal pack - the animals were well done but none were really necessary (for me). Good but certainly not at the top of the list.
5: SEA
Some very good animal choices but the tapir remains a big disappointment and the proboscis monkey is just waaay too niche. Could have been a really good balanced 4+1 pack without missing anything great. Binturong is one of my favourite animals though!
4: Australia
the scenery is great - one or two bits are a little too themed but the rusted metal stuff, the corrugated metal and the plants are all fantastic. In addition this was the first (and almost last) addition to the very, very, very limited Oceanian starting roster - the biggest disappointment was that one of the slots was taken by what is one of Australia’s least unique animals - the dingo. Also sufferers because, more than any other region, Oceania was (and remains) the least well represented region (and has received almost nothing in other DLC) so an animal pack would have been much preferred, even though it would have meant missing out on the great construction stuff. On the other hand, most of that isn’t particularly’Australian’ so could easily have been in an alternative pack.
3: Wetlands
Some really important animal additions done really well. Gains for (finally) introducing another Australian animal, but loses the gain because of its utterly absurd space requirements.
2: Conservation
Great scenery without overly themed stuff. The animals are mostly great (though I’d have prefererred another species rather than the leopard, or even another leopard rather than the Amur). Looses a bit because the Tassie devil would have been so much better but gains for the Siamamg (a much needed primate) and for badly needed back of house stuff.
1: Africa
100% perfect animal choices as well as some of the best scenery so far. Sure there’s some stuff that’s too highly themed but it’s a theme that (at least historically) lots of real zoos actually used in the early 20th century. Best combination of great animal choices and super flexible scenery.
No question at all - the animals are good and the polar bear’s space requirements are now reasonable but the build set is much too themed - about 3/4 of it is stuff I never use. The arctic wolf, though a good model, is too similar to the base game wolf to add much. Also hurts because Of the lack of an exhibit animal.
9: Aquatic
Really good scenery but the animal choices have all been bettered by similar animals in subsequent packs. (Giant otter vs. ASCO, Grey seal vs. Sea lion, King penguin vs. African, Dwarf caiman vs. spectacled). If I were to look at buying the DLC right now and was basing my choice only on the animals, this would be the one I’d skip.
8: South America.
Some really good build pieces (bamboo) but again, much of the content is much too heavily themed. The llama is (IMO) a completely wasted slot (worst choice for a slot yet) - almost any alternative I can think of would have been better. Whilst I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically wrong with combining SA and tropical Central America (I actually support this) it was disappointing that, even after this pack (and even now), we don’t have enough Amazonian species or SA grassland species. This would have been MUCH better as an animal pack (and I like standard animal/scenery packs!) Somewhat mitigated because we’ve had lots of SA animals added in other packs but there’re still a lot that needs adding.
7: Europe
Some really good scenery although the themes themselves are waaaaay too much and are weirdly inappropriate for zoos (Amsterdam and Venice are generally not associated with natural settings. The animal choices are as good as they could be but none were on my most wanted list.
6: North America
Good animal choices but didn’t really need to be an animal pack - the animals were well done but none were really necessary (for me). Good but certainly not at the top of the list.
5: SEA
Some very good animal choices but the tapir remains a big disappointment and the proboscis monkey is just waaay too niche. Could have been a really good balanced 4+1 pack without missing anything great. Binturong is one of my favourite animals though!
4: Australia
the scenery is great - one or two bits are a little too themed but the rusted metal stuff, the corrugated metal and the plants are all fantastic. In addition this was the first (and almost last) addition to the very, very, very limited Oceanian starting roster - the biggest disappointment was that one of the slots was taken by what is one of Australia’s least unique animals - the dingo. Also sufferers because, more than any other region, Oceania was (and remains) the least well represented region (and has received almost nothing in other DLC) so an animal pack would have been much preferred, even though it would have meant missing out on the great construction stuff. On the other hand, most of that isn’t particularly’Australian’ so could easily have been in an alternative pack.
3: Wetlands
Some really important animal additions done really well. Gains for (finally) introducing another Australian animal, but loses the gain because of its utterly absurd space requirements.
2: Conservation
Great scenery without overly themed stuff. The animals are mostly great (though I’d have prefererred another species rather than the leopard, or even another leopard rather than the Amur). Looses a bit because the Tassie devil would have been so much better but gains for the Siamamg (a much needed primate) and for badly needed back of house stuff.
1: Africa
100% perfect animal choices as well as some of the best scenery so far. Sure there’s some stuff that’s too highly themed but it’s a theme that (at least historically) lots of real zoos actually used in the early 20th century. Best combination of great animal choices and super flexible scenery.
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I also made a ranking 2 DLCs ago. Here it is with the 2 new DLCs added:
10. Arctic DLC - Polar Bears require so much space they are almost unusable. The rest of the roster is mediocre.
9. Aquatic DLC - The Otter is only animal I use from this pack...I know this was very popular with players, but it doesn't do much for me. Also where are the underwater plants? Now that I think about it, most of the roster has been replaced by similar species that are arguably better. In hindsight, the only reason I would buy this pack would be for the faux rock set(which badly needs additional rock types added).
8. SE Asia Animal DLC - Simply the fact this was an animal pack automatically puts it near the top half, and the best choices are the Clouded Leopard and Babirusa, but there were some misses here.
7. Africa DLC -Love the Rhino and the plaster build set, which has been my go-to since the DLC released. The foliage was ok. The rest of the build pieces and the other animals really don't do much for me.
6. Australia DLC - A decent roster and a good build/scenery set.
5. South America DLC - Easily the best option for a potential early-game animal pack due to such a severe lack of representation. Still, solid hits on 3 of the 4 animals(not a fan of the Capuchin), a decent building set and solid foliage.
4. Europe DLC - The Ibex by itself puts this one up near the top, and I'm shocked that the Fallow Deer has actually turned into one of my favorite animals to use in game.
3. Wetlands DLC - The lack of scenery is the only downside to this pack. The animals range from great to outstanding, with the exception of the Caiman, which is the only animal I haven't used yet. I would have loved for Frontier to have included a diving bird in place of the caiman. Still, a very solid pack.
2. Conservation DLC - I seem to be one of the few that loves the Oryx. It's been a favorite animal of mine for a long time, and the other animals are also very solid. The foliage additions are terrific and badly needed, and I also like some of the building pieces as well.
1. North America Animal DLC - the only "miss" in this pack was the Arctic Fox - don't get me wrong, I love the animal, but it should have been in the Arctic DLC, with the Wolverine or Porcupine taking its place in this pack. Outside that, the only gripe I have is that this didn't come as a 4+1 with foliage(including grasses!) and an Old Western style build set, which would have been perfect IMO. With the above changes, this would be the only pack deserving of a 10/10.
10. Arctic DLC - Polar Bears require so much space they are almost unusable. The rest of the roster is mediocre.
9. Aquatic DLC - The Otter is only animal I use from this pack...I know this was very popular with players, but it doesn't do much for me. Also where are the underwater plants? Now that I think about it, most of the roster has been replaced by similar species that are arguably better. In hindsight, the only reason I would buy this pack would be for the faux rock set(which badly needs additional rock types added).
8. SE Asia Animal DLC - Simply the fact this was an animal pack automatically puts it near the top half, and the best choices are the Clouded Leopard and Babirusa, but there were some misses here.
7. Africa DLC -Love the Rhino and the plaster build set, which has been my go-to since the DLC released. The foliage was ok. The rest of the build pieces and the other animals really don't do much for me.
6. Australia DLC - A decent roster and a good build/scenery set.
5. South America DLC - Easily the best option for a potential early-game animal pack due to such a severe lack of representation. Still, solid hits on 3 of the 4 animals(not a fan of the Capuchin), a decent building set and solid foliage.
4. Europe DLC - The Ibex by itself puts this one up near the top, and I'm shocked that the Fallow Deer has actually turned into one of my favorite animals to use in game.
3. Wetlands DLC - The lack of scenery is the only downside to this pack. The animals range from great to outstanding, with the exception of the Caiman, which is the only animal I haven't used yet. I would have loved for Frontier to have included a diving bird in place of the caiman. Still, a very solid pack.
2. Conservation DLC - I seem to be one of the few that loves the Oryx. It's been a favorite animal of mine for a long time, and the other animals are also very solid. The foliage additions are terrific and badly needed, and I also like some of the building pieces as well.
1. North America Animal DLC - the only "miss" in this pack was the Arctic Fox - don't get me wrong, I love the animal, but it should have been in the Arctic DLC, with the Wolverine or Porcupine taking its place in this pack. Outside that, the only gripe I have is that this didn't come as a 4+1 with foliage(including grasses!) and an Old Western style build set, which would have been perfect IMO. With the above changes, this would be the only pack deserving of a 10/10.
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We used to have California sea lions in Auckland Zoo here in NZ, but after they died they were replaced with our native kekeno, the New Zealand fur seal (rescues only). Other than that I've seen California sea lions in a lot of zoos, thinking about it (and grey seals at St Andrew's Aquarium in Scotland).
Moose, calufornian sea lion and arctic fox are quite common and the beaver can be easily reinterpret as the europe version.
The only actually rare one is the cougar
From bottom to the top (because is easier to select the worst first):
10. Arctic Pack: is one animal short (no exhibit animal) even for a standard DLC, the inclusion of a clone wolf instead of the arctic fox, the bad design of the caribou antlers, and the abscense of either the musk ox or the walrus (also maybe one of the less popular building sets, even though is pretty original and pretty) make this pack the "worst" out of all of them. Honestly the only reason to get this pack at all is the polar bear and that's it. It just feels like a missed oportunity and a weird choice for a first DLC.
9. SEA animal pack: I LOVE all the animal choices (yes, even the dholes) but is sad that it didn't came with more enrichment items and SEA foliage in the free update. We are still missing a SEA building theme, but yeah, i think even though the animals are all iconic of SEA, the NA animal pack is more balanced in their animal choices. Also the malayan tapir just being a reskined Baird's tapir (although i'm not as mad about it as most people lol)
Ok the rest of the packs are all really great in different aspects, so my next pick for n°8 might be controversial but... the Aquatic Pack: what elevates this pack over the rest is the scenery and the new mechanics, but the animal choices are, again, weird... i love the seal and the giant otter and the penguins BUT it was the perfect pack for the sea lion, the ASCO and waterfowl.
7. Conservation pack: yeah... i'm sorry... i love all the animal choices, the new enrichment and animation for the gibbons, their vocalizations, the horse animations and the inclusion of the axolotl and the leopard (even though i still think it needs a face lift), and the building pieces are nice... but nothing special for me tbh so sorry but is my number 7 over all.
6. Wetlands animal pack: this pack gave me a lot of my most requested and favorite animals (i'm not even mad about the caiman). The capybara, the platypus, ASCO and the crane (or at least a crane) had been in my wishlists for a long time and so they delivered. The buffalo has to be one of the best looking animals in the game, even if it wasn't a priority for me. And some of the enrichment are really cool. Even so... is a wetlands pack that included the lechwe (as beautiful as it is) instead of a waterfowl for instance and missed the oportunity of getting a turtle, green anaconda or monitor instead of another croc. And even if they wanted a croc (because let's be honest, it fits the theme very well anyway) the choice was clrearly the nile crocodile. And overall even though it features a lot of my favorite animals, as an animal pack, the NA animal pack has a better selection of critters, all very iconic of it's theme.
5. NA animal pack: like i said before in this post... the selection is almost perfect. The only "negative" thing i can say is that they tried to fix the omission of the fox from the Arctic pack and they used a slot for it in this when maybe something like the american black bear, wapiti, mountain goat, alligator snapping turtle, coyote, big horn sheep, wild turkey, or even the west indian manatee or (if we dream enough) the freaking bald eagle could've been added in its place. But i adore the fox non the less and i'm happy it was included.
4. Africa pack: Ok. So, is high in the list mostly because of the building pieces and foliage and because meerkats and rhinos, but honestly... it should've been an animal pack... and imo the penguin doesn't fit the theme of desert animals (and it also wasn't really a priority if you consider what other african animals are still missing).
3. South America pack: The building set is cool, even though maybe not the most versatile. The animal selections is pretty neat, specially considering they only had four slots to fill from a region is that has one of the greatest biodiversities in the world. I think the jaguar should've been included in the base game along with the lama and that way we could've gotten a bit more unique animals in the pack, but they were also the selling points. As one of the first packs, i think it remains one of the best even though for today standards it could have been better.
2. Australia pack: one of my all time favorite. Again with the limited number of animals they had to go with their selection is one of the best. I think is weird they chose the cassowary over the emu, but it is such a cool animal and if it was the emu instead of the cassowary now we would be asking for it lol Maybe the dingo is not as interesting, and they could've chosen the tassie devil over it (or even the perentie). Of course there are lots of australian animals still missing but i think the roster of this pack is very good still. And the building set, scenery items and foliage have to be among the best we have in game.
1. Europe pack: well... for me is weird that this ended up being the number one on MY list, because is not the animal selection that i found more interesting nor the building set is something that matches my style much, BUT if i'm being OBJECTIVE this is hands down the best pack. The animal selection is just perfect (even the exhibit animal), and the amount of props and building pieces we got with this one is just amazing. They really, really worked hard as hell to create this pack and make Europe, the continent most people really didn't care about much in terms of wildlife, one of the best content pack the game has to offer. Also the lynx is probably the best looking cat in the game, period.
10. Arctic Pack: is one animal short (no exhibit animal) even for a standard DLC, the inclusion of a clone wolf instead of the arctic fox, the bad design of the caribou antlers, and the abscense of either the musk ox or the walrus (also maybe one of the less popular building sets, even though is pretty original and pretty) make this pack the "worst" out of all of them. Honestly the only reason to get this pack at all is the polar bear and that's it. It just feels like a missed oportunity and a weird choice for a first DLC.
9. SEA animal pack: I LOVE all the animal choices (yes, even the dholes) but is sad that it didn't came with more enrichment items and SEA foliage in the free update. We are still missing a SEA building theme, but yeah, i think even though the animals are all iconic of SEA, the NA animal pack is more balanced in their animal choices. Also the malayan tapir just being a reskined Baird's tapir (although i'm not as mad about it as most people lol)
Ok the rest of the packs are all really great in different aspects, so my next pick for n°8 might be controversial but... the Aquatic Pack: what elevates this pack over the rest is the scenery and the new mechanics, but the animal choices are, again, weird... i love the seal and the giant otter and the penguins BUT it was the perfect pack for the sea lion, the ASCO and waterfowl.
7. Conservation pack: yeah... i'm sorry... i love all the animal choices, the new enrichment and animation for the gibbons, their vocalizations, the horse animations and the inclusion of the axolotl and the leopard (even though i still think it needs a face lift), and the building pieces are nice... but nothing special for me tbh so sorry but is my number 7 over all.
6. Wetlands animal pack: this pack gave me a lot of my most requested and favorite animals (i'm not even mad about the caiman). The capybara, the platypus, ASCO and the crane (or at least a crane) had been in my wishlists for a long time and so they delivered. The buffalo has to be one of the best looking animals in the game, even if it wasn't a priority for me. And some of the enrichment are really cool. Even so... is a wetlands pack that included the lechwe (as beautiful as it is) instead of a waterfowl for instance and missed the oportunity of getting a turtle, green anaconda or monitor instead of another croc. And even if they wanted a croc (because let's be honest, it fits the theme very well anyway) the choice was clrearly the nile crocodile. And overall even though it features a lot of my favorite animals, as an animal pack, the NA animal pack has a better selection of critters, all very iconic of it's theme.
5. NA animal pack: like i said before in this post... the selection is almost perfect. The only "negative" thing i can say is that they tried to fix the omission of the fox from the Arctic pack and they used a slot for it in this when maybe something like the american black bear, wapiti, mountain goat, alligator snapping turtle, coyote, big horn sheep, wild turkey, or even the west indian manatee or (if we dream enough) the freaking bald eagle could've been added in its place. But i adore the fox non the less and i'm happy it was included.
4. Africa pack: Ok. So, is high in the list mostly because of the building pieces and foliage and because meerkats and rhinos, but honestly... it should've been an animal pack... and imo the penguin doesn't fit the theme of desert animals (and it also wasn't really a priority if you consider what other african animals are still missing).
3. South America pack: The building set is cool, even though maybe not the most versatile. The animal selections is pretty neat, specially considering they only had four slots to fill from a region is that has one of the greatest biodiversities in the world. I think the jaguar should've been included in the base game along with the lama and that way we could've gotten a bit more unique animals in the pack, but they were also the selling points. As one of the first packs, i think it remains one of the best even though for today standards it could have been better.
2. Australia pack: one of my all time favorite. Again with the limited number of animals they had to go with their selection is one of the best. I think is weird they chose the cassowary over the emu, but it is such a cool animal and if it was the emu instead of the cassowary now we would be asking for it lol Maybe the dingo is not as interesting, and they could've chosen the tassie devil over it (or even the perentie). Of course there are lots of australian animals still missing but i think the roster of this pack is very good still. And the building set, scenery items and foliage have to be among the best we have in game.
1. Europe pack: well... for me is weird that this ended up being the number one on MY list, because is not the animal selection that i found more interesting nor the building set is something that matches my style much, BUT if i'm being OBJECTIVE this is hands down the best pack. The animal selection is just perfect (even the exhibit animal), and the amount of props and building pieces we got with this one is just amazing. They really, really worked hard as hell to create this pack and make Europe, the continent most people really didn't care about much in terms of wildlife, one of the best content pack the game has to offer. Also the lynx is probably the best looking cat in the game, period.
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Only if you literally ignore everything about it except the word 'beaver'. I don't really understand the logic of pretending something is a stand-in.
Not that I'm clamouring for a European beaver - I'm not - but the in-game beaver is, clearly, a North American beaver and nothing else.
You have some great thoughts in your list, but I feel like taking points way for lacking a walrus isn't exactly fair - there were no aquatic animals in the game when the Arctic Pack was created and we weren't even sure if there ever would be. Even in hindsight the earliest we could realistically have expected a walrus was the Aquatic Pack.
Snakes are exhibit animals in the game, so not really a missed opportunity (and before anyone says it, the in-game exhibit is perfectly suitable for a green anaconda should Frontier choose to add one).
Lets agree to disagree but
I dont see the difference. Beaver is a Beaver and thats good enough for me
That's not really my point - even if you put up signs in your zoo saying "European beaver" the animal list is still going to say "North American beaver", and there's nothing that can change that (well, beyond a mod). It pretty much breaks immersion.
In any case, it doesn't really matter. Whether it's American or European the beaver isn't an animal I was especially wanting for the game. If for some reason a zoo in New Zealand decided it needed beavers then that would probably change for me, but for now it's not that important.