Certainly. But the presence of the walkthrough exhibit for those without the DLC raises eyebrows as to why. I can’t think of a reason other than the upcoming anniversary and a possible free gift. What could be easier for Frontier than an exhibit animal and the Linneaus’ two-toed sloth would be a very good fit.
Planet Zoo: Twilight Pack arriving 18 Oct 🦇
- Thread starter Lydiah Moon
- Start date
Serious question here: Do german zoos things wrong or is it really common in the zoos you've been to that birds in aviaries fly much? The only time I see birds fly in zoos is in free fly shows (which I love, only time I find birds interesting), but other than super small birds like budgees and lovebirds and such, not in aviaries.
I don't know, maybe other countries have larger / better aviaries, but even in Walsrode, which bird lovers from the northern hemisphere brag about (and I don't get why, some aviaries there are awful) I don't see birds (don't force me to spell the dino names) fly much. I understand that from a building standpoint decorating boxes is not fun, but as @FoxyDee mentioned, it seems like even in JWE2 birds don't fly around much, so... will the looping really be that noticeable? If it even comes to that, that is.
I don't know, maybe other countries have larger / better aviaries, but even in Walsrode, which bird lovers from the northern hemisphere brag about (and I don't get why, some aviaries there are awful) I don't see birds (don't force me to spell the dino names) fly much. I understand that from a building standpoint decorating boxes is not fun, but as @FoxyDee mentioned, it seems like even in JWE2 birds don't fly around much, so... will the looping really be that noticeable? If it even comes to that, that is.
I think a butterfly walkthrough could also be on the cards here now! Wonderful news!!!
This wasn't the pack I expected... But this is going to be fun!
- Raccoons, skunks, and foxes might be fairly "common," but they're also low-key super unique in terms of their traits. The raccoons in the trailer look fantastic, and it's nice to see they'll be getting custom animations. These animals will also be good to help "fill-in" smaller sections of North American zoos. Can also see them inspiring "children's zoo" type areas. And I mean, same vibes with the wombat except Australia.
- The Egyptian fruit bats were a big surprise! It's nice to have them in the game, but I do kinda wish we had an option to house them that wasn't a walkthrough habitat. Yes, walk-through habitats for fruit bats are common... But just as common are habitats built into walls as others have noted. I don't hate the current option; I just wish we had an option that wasn'twalk-through as well.
- I'm also real curious to see what the exterior looks like, what sort of customization options we're going to have, etc.
- Too, this opens up a lot of opportunities for other species we might not see implemented otherwise. Specifically on the mammal tip (sloths, slow loris, various rodents). But also birds.
- I'm split on the scenery. While some of the pieces seem hyper-specific, the majority look fine. I probably won't ever use the spider web bench or the wombat gargoyle but... I can see the more "fanciful" pieces inspiring children's play areas, the new path looks really cool, and I welcome any and all new wood and metal building pieces. The stalagmites and stalactites will probably come in super handy too, particularly if they're flexicolor. I'm also excited to see what sort of "alternative uses" I can come up with for the jack-o-lanterns. And I'm frankly, already feeling inspired for certain habitats and design options (an underwater cave entrance for an island zoo; a cave habitat for crocodiles like the Bronx Zoo has in their Madagascar building).
- The new foliage has me super excited! Including the (what appears to be) dead tree pieces!
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I've been wondering about this as well. I'm curious if it's going to be possible to have the exterior walls made of glass (please), and if it is going to work to use the curbs to prevent guests from walking into the exhibit if you don't want to have a walkthrough exhibit (maybe you could cover up the paths inside with custom foliage too). But what I hope for the most is customizable walls/exteriors for the new exhibits!
This pack looks very fun and I'm excited for the future chiroptera species we'll get as a result. I do have a question though. Are the walkthrough exhibits only limited to the egyptian fruit bats? I've been to plenty of zoos and natural history museums that do walkthrough tropical exhibits for dart frogs and various insects that would be really cool to replicate. Maybe that's something you guys could do in a future update.
I'm in!
- I anticipate using all five of these animals quite often in my zoos. They're precisely the type of smaller animals that many players have requested over and over, and I anticipate that they'll make for great small habitats, as well as potentially have lots of inter-species possibilities (with or without a bonus).
- I love the color morphs for the foxes! As I've written elsewhere, I play in a way that manages these color variants as if they were distinct subspecies or separate populations, so getting these options (along with the nyala, pronghorn and springbok in the update) is surely enough to keep my occupied until December!
- I'm totally on board for the theory that these more specific packs signal a longer official support life for the game. So any animal that was skipped in potentially waiting to headline its own pack later on. Even the choice of twilight leaves open the possibility of a fully nocturnal pack later in the game. Sometimes slow and steady is the way to go!
- I think we have to think of the new exhibit style in conjunction with what was written about exhibits in the update announcement. So I imagine that the new exhibit type will also allow for customizable backdrops, population management, and educators. (I also remind people that it is already possible to to build your own scenery/foliage, and then transfer them into the current exhibits, or simply build using the x key to place things inside the box, so the same will likely be possible with these larger ones as well.)
- I'd also point out that while the new exhibit style opens up the possibility for a new way to potentially work in birds, there's no reason to assume that what we're seeing for bats is the only way that birds might happen, or that a future aviary pack would necessarily be limited to this size and mechanics. It's still totally possible that a future bird pack could have a mix of "habitat" birds and "expanded exhibit" birds. Just because they've opened up something new in a limited way for now doesn't mean that's the only thing they've got in store!
- I'm never able to judge building pieces in the abstract, especially since so much of what excites the building community can be some random edge or upside down application. So I will wait and see what pieces come, and what possible uses people find for them before judging.
Y'know, having the exterior walls made of glass is a really good thought! That might be an option they've worked in that I hadn't even thought of! Hah. I hope that's the case... More customization, more better!
Yes the one that was teased ages ago.
Well, in some old forum threads about birds it was discussed this crazy idea about giving a free bird per DLC released (and purchased). That would do justice to the great diversity of birds, which can't keep pace with the amount of terrestrial mammals the game already has (unless they release 3-4 animal packs with only birds). In that moment, the idea looked like way too optimistic, but now it would make sense with the empty exhibit for non-buyers...
If they are proud of what they have achieved with this system for flying animals, they could release one small not-so-fancy bird per DLC as anniversary gift (e.g. parakeet with Australia pack, magpie with Europe pack...), and that would be a great promo for a dedicated winter DLC full of must-have birds (toucan, macaw, eagle, owl...).
I agree. While I really want and think birds are an absolute must for a zoo simulator, having birds flying more than sitting still on a branch or walking around for food is going to look weird.
Flying takes a lot of energy, most birds only do it when it is needed. It isn't needed a lot in captivity, more than occasionally getting from A to B.
Exactly. As @SalamAnders said, birds in zoos spend much of the time perching/sitting, occasionally hopping from branch to branch and maybe flying a bit at low level from one end of an aviary to another. We just don’t need anything more complex than that.
I don't think anyone who is opposed to exhibit boxes for birds is really talking about free flying as a "they need to fly a lot". It's about being able to fully customize aviaries, without being restricted by predefined spots and shapes of aviaries.
It's perfectly fine to be satisfied with birds in boxes btw, but there are perfectly reasonable arguments why people who are really into customizing their zoos and habitats are opposed to it.
That's way better than what a lot of people expected, which was no flying birds at all.
Of course the biggest amount of customized options is always preferred.
But I would rather have flying birds with some limitations than none at all, as some seem to suggest.
I am aware of why they are opposed to this. I am also opposed. My point is that birds don’t need to be in exhibit boxes because their behaviour is not significantly more complex than any other habitat animals.
But I feel like if they weren't looped, they might fly too much... but yeah, okay, JWE2 proofs me wrong, as it seems. I'm just looking at my very hyper active nile monitors, koalas etc.
Ah, I thought you meant the opposite, my bad!
Yeah tbh, I don't know. Like, if I can't control the aviaries, can't have mixed species, can't make things like tropical houses were birds and mammals/reptiles live together... I'd maybe say I wouldn't want them at all either. Perhaps I'll change my mind, but unless I see some big changes in the limitations of exhibit boxes and it gives me the ability to do more than "here's a box you're confined to" my hype for birds is already destroyed
I also would appreciate more North American theming centering indigenous art, but that would require working with actual indigenous artists on the game, otherwise it just comes across disrespectful and rather fake feeling.