Opinion: Bats are the most worryingly disappointing content added to the game.

[Sclurp]

Frontier know there's a certain portion of the player base who are dying for flying animals to be added to the game and I just gave the walkthrough exhibit a go and got some bats in there and waited for something to happen and I thought: Well, they're not moving...Oh, I wonder if they've actually programmed the bats to be active at night time!
(Spoilers, they did not).
So I waited for a while longer while the bats did nothing and then it dawned on me, that like other exhibit animals they have their set places that change if you add other animals in the same exhibit. So I threw some more bats in there and was really disappointed to see that Frontier's usual standards for animal behaviours and quality of animations were nowhere to be found here. The short loop of animations is a worrying problem/sign of things to come as they are, but also the way these bats fly looks (and I'm gonna be blunt here for the sake of future attempts on Frontier's part, if you're reading this) just awful.

Seems dramatic but I've just asked Steam for a refund. That's where I'm at.
Disregarding any pondering on what Frontier's intentions were here, including these animals absolutely would be a main draw for people who have been shouting with megaphones to include aviaries and would have sparked their imaginations. I'm just really surprised that even if these animals are confined to exhibits, that they can't go from one set placement on a perch say, fly down to the water tray or over to their food, and that even if they do have looping flying animations, that they are so low quality - at odds with the amount of effort shown to other animals in the game. This is a premium inclusion, you're charging people for this animal.
I'm also very surprised walkthrough exhibits have been added to the game when they don't support functionality with any other animal. If they weren't ready Frontier shouldn't have pulled the trigger on them.

I know this comparison is brought up a lot when talking about flying animals making it into PZ, but this is even worse than JWE1's aviary and I did not think that'd ever be the standard Frontier would be happy with were they to put flying animals in PZ.

 

[Captain Callum]

I agree probably 50/50 , of course if I bought the pack solely for the bats I would be greatly disappointed aswell but thankfully I was more excited for the wombat and red fox more than the actual bats themselves. The limitations of the walkthrough exhibits were foreseen by some but sadly free flying or dynamic loops like jwe never made the cut.

I'm not entirely disappointed by the bats themselves with typically 6/8 bats hanging upside which after watching irl zoo videos seems realistic. The other 2 - one is doing a repetitive flying loop and the other is eating fruit.i just wish there is an expansion to these walkthrough exhibits soon enough. Too much effort made on the lackluster biome skirts possibly took away interesting mechanics

 

[FoxyDee]

I think in case of the bats specificaly the flight is alright. They are not the most elegant fliers irl. Their animations are pretty on point imo. I understand how this could be viewed as not enough for birds, but hating on the bats just because Frontier might use the system for birds is not fair. For now, we should take the new exhibit system for what it is - an enclosure to hold bats, nothing more, nothing less.

When I had a big colony of bats, the enclosure looked very convincing, some bats flying around, some feeding on the fruits, some sleeping around - it looked awesome as a whole, the looped animations didnt bother me at all. I am not really sure how free flying would be any better tbh, I doubt people would spend ages just to watch animals fly around in random directions. I mean, sure it can be fun for a while, but more likely we would be seeing the exhibit as a whole, with just moving animals most of the time, which in case of the bats immersed me enough.

 

[Britches]

Every zoo I've been had Fruit Bats in a tropical house or even dome and they never flew around. They were just hanging around the ceiling and if I wouldn't have looked up, I wouldn't even have noticed they were there. So, yeah... Fruit Bats hanging around are pretty realistic for zoos imho.

 

[Sclurp]

Hey Captain and Foxy,
I didn't buy the DLC just for the bats. I actually have been getting each DLC regardless of how I feel about them because I stream Planet Zoo on Twitch, usually more so when new DLC comes out...But it's actually the lack of effort and care in this case that made me think: Ya know what? No.
So to clarify, the expectations I had were that the standards that Frontier had set as a precedent in terms of the animals at least, would be consistent but I think the bats are shockingly low quality. Which is where Foxy and I are going to disagree
I have been around bats a lot too and I have to say they are very elegant and precise fliers. I've stood under a whole bunch of them as they zipped past my head and they are pretty beautiful animals - they'll never clumsily bump into you or anything like that, like a bird would.
I think what makes the animations for the bats in this DLC look especially bad is that when you have the models flying on the spot in a tiny looping circle, the model has to repeat very unnatural wing movements over and over again to make that short circuit look feasible. So you're staring at a very awkward looking couple of animations over and over and over.

If they had programmed the bats to go from one path, down to another - as I mentioned, going to their food and then up to a perch after etc. I think this would have solved that to some extent.

I also want to stress that I am 100% not hating on anything. This is an opinion and I guess a review of something I don't see as being to Frontier's usual standard and I don't want that to become the norm for them. If you don't say anything, they won't know.

 

[jcp011c]

I'd love to get a look-see at the bats myself...to judge with my own eyes..if they would ever show up on the market..(yes, I have the DLC, filter is set to only the bats and I am using the exhibit market.)

Never mind...duh. I can go to sandbox and get them lol

 

[Sclurp]

Every zoo I've been had Fruit Bats in a tropical house or even dome and they never flew around. They were just hanging around the ceiling and if I wouldn't have looked up, I wouldn't even have noticed they were there. So, yeah... Fruit Bats hanging around are pretty realistic for zoos imho.

That's the opposite of my experience. So I respectfully disagree

 

[Cocolori]

I have been hit by bats many times when walking through nocturnal houses (the one at chester zoo mostly) and whilst I agree that many bats are very elegant fliers I don't think the larger fruit bats fall in that category - after all they aren't having to hunt insects so it is a bit like the difference between a falcon designed to take prey on the wing and an eagle which really aren't elegant fliers except when they find a decent thermal and can soar.

All this is caveated with me not having seen the bats in game yet.

 

[FoxyDee]

Hey Captain and Foxy,
I didn't buy the DLC just for the bats. I actually have been getting each DLC regardless of how I feel about them because I stream Planet Zoo on Twitch, usually more so when new DLC comes out...But it's actually the lack of effort and care in this case that made me think: Ya know what? No.
So to clarify, the expectations I had were that the standards that Frontier had set as a precedent in terms of the animals at least, would be consistent but I think the bats are shockingly low quality. Which is where Foxy and I are going to disagree
I have been around bats a lot too and I have to say they are very elegant and precise fliers. I've stood under a whole bunch of them as they zipped past my head and they are pretty beautiful animals - they'll never clumsily bump into you or anything like that, like a bird would.
I think what makes the animations for the bats in this DLC look especially bad is that when you have the models flying on the spot in a tiny looping circle, the model has to repeat very unnatural wing movements over and over again to make that short circuit look feasible. So you're staring at a very awkward looking couple of animations over and over and over.

If they had programmed the bats to go from one path, down to another - as I mentioned, going to their food and then up to a perch after etc. I think this would have solved that to some extent.

I also want to stress that I am 100% not hating on anything. This is an opinion and I guess a review of something I don't see as being to Frontier's usual standard and I don't want that to become the norm for them. If you don't say anything, they won't know.

Oh, I didnt mean specifically you when I used the term "hating", actually that may be a poorly chosen word, but I am used to use it as a slang, my apologies. I only wanted to point to the specific cases where people are unhappy with the bats, not because of the bats themselves, but because Frontier might use the same system for birds.

My local zoo actually has a walk-through bat exhibit (zoo Olomouc), I always love to go there. I didnt really mean they bump into things or anything like that, but their flying is very quick and chaotic in my experience, I would not describe that as elegant, but I guess elegance is also really in the eye of the the beholder.

Of course, you have a right to critique anything regarding the game! I am just offering the counter-point of view and for me, the exhibit system and the looped animations didnt bother me at all. If anything, I expected even less customization options, so I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, in ideal world, the fliers would fly freerly, but if we consider all the already not so great game performance, this is as good as it can be for me.

I hope you will be still able to find something you like in the pack and at least enjoy the rest of the content. And if not, hopefully Frontier will consider your poit of view for the next time.

 

[SalamAnders]

I have played around with the bats for more than an hour now. I really have a hard time seeing how they would have been much better as habitat animals.
Small animals that live in big colonies are just better threaded as groups than individuals and that is kind of what the boxes do.

They are looped yes, and it might look awkward if you stare at it long enough. But I don't find the animations themselves awkward, bats do fly quite weirdly in real life.
I feel like hitboxes would just have been another type of awkward that might have ended up looking worse.

Also, I enjoy the fact that I don't have to wait for my caretakers to bring 30 boxes with bats and can just have them appear immediately.

 

[MarkedTurf]

I've been mulling birds over a lot recently in the lead up to the bats. Personally, I'm satisfied with the execution of the fruit bats. Aside from some turning animations, which I can look past quite easily considering how active and numerous they can be. Equally, this is more than made up for in some of the landing and eating animations for me at least. It's certainly no worse than some of the movements I've seen our climbing AI buddies do, even if this is for 'looped' animals.

As exhibit animals, they exceed the bar set for them by all previous animals in this category. They get just close enough to straining the limitations of this new design when applied to peoples approach to design that it'll take some creative ideas to use them in unique ways. However, in truth this could be said for every way I've seen bats been displayed in zoos and many habitats I see from more casual players, so I feel the majority will be fine with this too. This will be less of a concern if we do get more species that can use the exhibit in due course too as they will diversify amongst themselves further too.The new approach to exhibits makes me excited for what else can be done with them, even for non-flying species, and makes some questionable habitat species now possibly more simply achievable, such as the sloth, if they take an innovative approach to their exhibit too.

I want more birds. I want more aviaries (both walkrthrough and not). I don't necessarily see the requirement for free-flying birds/animals for either of these to be achieved. The habitat birds and the bat are combined evidence that we could get many more species that don't need flying navigation akin to deep diving to be portrayed realistically, and many other species once thought to be too unique or small for habitats or needing too much space for exhibits. This goes for smaller birds too. Bring on the lorikeets!!!!

I'd be fine with free flying birds, and I can see why their execution would be a concern with this as a basis... but the exhibits never made me worried for the habitat animals, so why start here? Apples and oranges. With so many species yet to be included and uncertainty about how many we could get, even if we have years more support, it's hard to see why we should be desperate for birds that couldn't be done justice without free-flying this late in the game if we have this level of concern, when we could just get other equally unique species and mechanics for our roster whilst still having plenty more feathers around our zoos with the limitations we already have.

Just my opinion though, I can still see why people are holding out hope and wouldn't be mad in the slightest.

 

[Antonin]

I've not read all the content here (maybe what I'm going to say had already be said) cuz I'm french and it's hard to me to read a lot of english, but, if I can be reassuring, I would say that we need to keep in mind they still exhibit animals, nothing more.

What I mean is, if there is one day a Birds DLC, maybe we'll have some exhibit birds with the same mecanic than the bats (Rainbow Lorikeet, Hummingbirds, etc), but we'll also have "habitat" animals, like all DLC (Parrots, Vultures, Eagles, etc). So surely not the same game mechanics.

Hope I've been understable !

 

[Firestar97]

especially bad is that when you have the models flying on the spot in a tiny looping circle

Don't agree really but I agree with this Point. It was a weird Decission to have them flying in such small Circles. Would be nice if we could get some additional Animations for them in a Update. For Example Bats flying from one End of the Exhibit to the other. Even better if they could somehow implement some Way for them to switch between Animations without it being weird.

I only wanted to point to the specific cases where people are unhappy with the bats, not because of the bats themselves, but because Frontier might use the same system for birds.

I think Birds might work relatively fine in there. The weird flying in small Circles seems to be the Main Problem

 

[Sclurp]

Just want to add (as sometimes a rebuttal comes that makes a counter argument to something I never said,) that I've not mentioned once wanting bats to be a habitat animal. To reiterate, I do not think Frontier did a good job creating these animals as exhibit animals. I don't think the work they put into this portion of the DLC is to the standard they usually produce (animals that have animations), and I don't think this should've been how they made them work (i.e. not being able to switch between various points they're fixed to within the exhibit).

 

[Sclurp]

I've not read all the content here (maybe what I'm going to say had already be said) cuz I'm french and it's hard to me to read a lot of english, but, if I can be reassuring, I would say that we need to keep in mind they still exhibit animals, nothing more.

What I mean is, if there is one day a Birds DLC, maybe we'll have some exhibit birds with the same mecanic than the bats (Rainbow Lorikeet, Hummingbirds, etc), but we'll also have "habitat" animals, like all DLC (Parrots, Vultures, Eagles, etc). So surely not the same game mechanics.

Hope I've been understable !

Hi Antonin,

Yes we can understand your post

I think you have a good idea about having both exhibit birds and habitat birds one day. I hope that if they do create this type of DLC, that the exhibit animals are not confined to little spinning loops on the spot, like the bats are in the Twilight Pack

 

[SalamAnders]

I don't think the work they put into this portion of the DLC is to the standard they usually produce (animals that have animations)

But they put much more work into the bats than they have done with any other exhibit animal

 

[Sclurp]

But they put much more work into the bats than they have done with any other exhibit animal

Oh I think the exhibit animals need a total overhaul too, don't worry. But this is a post about the bats

 

[NZFanatic]

but we'll also have "habitat" animals, like all DLC (Parrots, Vultures, Eagles, etc). So surely not the same game mechanics.

There is literally no reason to think that.

All signs point to aviaries being exhibits (and that is if aviary birds are even coming; while it seems likely, it is by no means guaranteed). Honestly I'm fine with it, it's probably better for me anyway, but I really don't understand why we as a community have to always raise our expectations so incredibly high. Realistically, what would be gained from having these birds as habitat animals? Have you ever seen an eagle in a zoo? What was it doing? If your answer is "soaring around in the sky" then I wouldn't believe you, because that isn't what they do; they sit around doing very little. Perfect for an exhibit loop. What do macaws do? Fly around? Nope; they climb, using their claws and beak, and they play with toys. Occasionally they'll fly from point to point, but always with a purpose, never for the sheer sake of it.

Have you seen the way flying reptiles behave in Jurassic World Evolution 2? It's rubbish, quite frankly. It's a lot more boring than the bats, that's for sure; and that's free flight.

 

[SalamAnders]

Oh I think the exhibit animals need a total overhaul too, don't worry. But this is a post about the bats

But you said it was not up to their standard. The standard for exhibit boxes have until now been the 4x4 boxes, so it only makes sense to compare the bats to those.

 

[Sclurp]

But you said it was not up to their standard. The standard for exhibit boxes have until now been the 4x4 boxes, so it only makes sense to compare the bats to those.

The exception for me being that these are animals that have far more animations. Their "character" models are much closer to habitat animals instead of the less detailed exhibit animals and they are the first animal species that can fly (granted I have seen flamingos fly point-to-point which is essentially a jump but that's a little different).

Exhibit animals have mostly been static and more prop like and there's nothing I can critique in terms of their animations because there're hardly any at all.

Bats, along with habitat animals, are animated and do feature more detailed models and the execution was very poor IMO.