Advice for Dad setting up his kids on PZ for Christmas

SPW01

S
Hi,

I have a couple of questions that I’m sure come up a lot. I want to buy Planet Zoo but am 100% new to games. Could you point me in the direction of advice?

first issue, I have a Mac, do any users use the boot camp/reboot method to run Windows and Planet Zoo thereafter?

if I do get the above to work...

what is steam? Do I need it? Is this how I purchase and play PZ?

thanks in advance
 

Antmar97

Antmar97
I can't answer on the bootcamp/reboot method because i don't have a mac, but for the second question Steam is the main platform where you can buy and play games on Pc and yes it's required to play Planet Zoo as well. I suggest you to try Nvidia Geforce Now, a streaming game service where you can buy games (on Steam) and play without virtual machine, and i'm sure it works on Mac, but i don't use it so i know someone more expert than me can explain better how it works :)
 

SPW01

S
So perhaps no Windows partition required? Just buy Planet Zoo on Steam and use it via the GeForce Now software? I’d really like to hear from anyone doing this option to see how good it is as it maybe preferable.
 

Aneyh16

Aneyh16
Hi,

Both Boot Camp and Nvidia GeForce Now should work to play Windows games on a Mac, I don't use these for this purpose myself but know some people that do and it works fine for them. Nvidia GeForce Now is also great for running heavier games if your PC isn't very strong, this is what I use it for. It's worth pointing out however that you can only have 1 hour game sessions on GeForce Now, unless you pay for a subscription in which case you will have endless sessions, otherwise you'll have to restart the game every hour if you want to keep playing. So be sure to save the game beforehand.

Like Antmar said Steam is the main platform for PC games, it should be relatively easy to make an account and purchase Planet Zoo on it. Hope it helps!
 

SPW01

S
Thanks, my kids really want the game but I don’t want to buy a laptop just for this, sounds like there are options thanks
 

SidhwenKhorest

S
Your computer might be able to run planet zoo, from what I can tell its barely hitting the minimum requirements. You'll definitely want to lower the graphics settings and stuff.

Steam has a return policy where if you request a return within 14 days and have less than 2 hours of playtime in a game you will get a refund no matter what.

How To Request A Refund - Refunds and Returns - Knowledge Base - Steam Support

Article "How To Request A Refund"
support.steampowered.com
.

That should give you enough time to see if you can get the game running and its not going to be too laggy. Just go into the tutorial level and make sure its not totally choppy.

Lucky for you, the game is also 50% off on steam for the next 47 hours as well.
 

SPW01

S
SidhwenKhorest said:
Your computer might be able to run planet zoo, from what I can tell its barely hitting the minimum requirements. You'll definitely want to lower the graphics settings and stuff.

Steam has a return policy where if you request a return within 14 days and have less than 2 hours of playtime in a game you will get a refund no matter what.

How To Request A Refund - Refunds and Returns - Knowledge Base - Steam Support

Article "How To Request A Refund"
support.steampowered.com
.

That should give you enough time to see if you can get the game running and its not going to be too laggy. Just go into the tutorial level and make sure its not totally choppy.

Lucky for you, the game is also 50% off on steam for the next 47 hours as well.
Click to expand...
Ah ha! Thank you, the return policy is helpful, and yeah, 50% off is great
 

SPW01

S
SPW01 said:
Ah ha! Thank you, the return policy is helpful, and yeah, 50% off is great
Click to expand...
I have bought
SidhwenKhorest said:
Your computer might be able to run planet zoo, from what I can tell its barely hitting the minimum requirements. You'll definitely want to lower the graphics settings and stuff.

Steam has a return policy where if you request a return within 14 days and have less than 2 hours of playtime in a game you will get a refund no matter what.

How To Request A Refund - Refunds and Returns - Knowledge Base - Steam Support

Article "How To Request A Refund"
support.steampowered.com
.

That should give you enough time to see if you can get the game running and its not going to be too laggy. Just go into the tutorial level and make sure its not totally choppy.

Lucky for you, the game is also 50% off on steam for the next 47 hours as well.
Click to expand...

I have bought the game, thinking about if my Mac is powerful enough... it it circa 2015, but doesn’t playing the game via GeForce Now negate any processor or memory issues? Doesn’t that enable you to play new PC games on old PC’s and Macs? I have a good internet connection? Still figuring this out piece by piece, and I know, people will say buy a PC but this is literally the only game he’ll be playing.
 

Antmar97

Antmar97
I'm looking on the official Nvidia geforce now page and it says that you need a 15 Mbps internet connection for the hd quality (720p, 60 fps) and 25 Mbps for the fhd quality (1080p, 60 fps), other than that it supports 2008 model of macbook so i think you'll not have any problems. You can play any games that are supported by the service, there is the full catalogue on nvidia pages.
 

SPW01

S
It may be that this is not as difficult as I expected, which is great, I don’t know why there wasn’t more info online, the makers basically just say this is a PC game but if this work around using GeForce works why not make more of therm fact it is available to Mac users... kinda
 

SPW01

S
Aneyh16 said:
Hi,

Both Boot Camp and Nvidia GeForce Now should work to play Windows games on a Mac, I don't use these for this purpose myself but know some people that do and it works fine for them. Nvidia GeForce Now is also great for running heavier games if your PC isn't very strong, this is what I use it for. It's worth pointing out however that you can only have 1 hour game sessions on GeForce Now, unless you pay for a subscription in which case you will have endless sessions, otherwise you'll have to restart the game every hour if you want to keep playing. So be sure to save the game beforehand.

Like Antmar said Steam is the main platform for PC games, it should be relatively easy to make an account and purchase Planet Zoo on it. Hope it helps!
Click to expand...
Hi, I’ve bought the game, signed up for the free GeForce NOW app and as I try run it it says ‘waiting for next (something) there are 400 players in the cue’ is this normal? There is an option to avoid the cue if you upgrade to the GeForce NOW founders account which I’m happy to pay but not till I know it’s all working. Does upgrading definitely get rid of this ‘cue’ issue do you know? Do you have this problem?
 

SidhwenKhorest

S
From what I am seeing online their servers have been busy since the launch of cyberpunk 2077. that game was hyped beyond belief so the servers will probably calm down.

I am seeing some complaints from users that even paid users are in the queue, but it might be a shorter wait. You could try "Stadia" which is another game streaming service, their servers might be not blowing up right now from cyberpunk. It seems like they are scaling up their servers better than geforce now.
 

Antmar97

Antmar97
Sadly Planet zoo is not avaiable for Stadia. However in the Geforce Now page the info panel in the premium plan says that there is a priority access..so no queue i think, there was a 90 free day trial but it was removed because people who ended the trial just delete and create new account to reuse it. :cautious:
 

VR StarLightPL

VR StarLightPL
First and foremost: stadia business model is evil, and you would need to buy PZ on Stadia again. GeForce now uses your owned games, which you install on Nvidia cloud.

Nvidia GeForce now works by running the game on Nvidias servers and streaming it to your client. You can play Elite Dangerous on a smartphone, for example. I know I did.

As you can imagine, there are others who want to use the service, hence the queue. Upgrading to founders gives you priority in queue, and also the possibility to turn on Raytracing in supported games. It's a subscription service, so requires monthly payment. You need to decide if you want to go that route. Simply stay in that queue and see for yourself. Please note that the free version will kick you out after I think one hour or so, to give other free users a shot too 😁 Updating to founders gives you I think six hours before you get back in the queue. You need to check the details on GeForce now pages.

If you're an unfortunate Mac owner, streaming services are your best bet for gaming. And if you have good Internet connection there shouldn't be much lag. Planet Zoo doesn't require twitch reflexes so you should be good.

There is also one other option if you're on a Mac (so unusable for gaming), and this is an Oculus Quest 2 - a standalone virtual reality headset from Facebook. It is portable and doesn't require a computer (but you can connect it to a PC) and it's amazeballs. Cons: requires a FB account and doesn't have planet Zoo. But it's nice to have options 😜
 
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Jileha

J
For your kids? Just be warned: You might find yourself hooked on this wonderful game. :)

Since your household does not seem to be set up for gaming in general and you probably are not experienced gamers, you might want to learn the game mechanics yourself first so you can help out your kids as best as possible. It is a complex game and some features can be a bit tricky (like the path system). Going through the first tutorial scenarios can be rather frustrating. There are tutorials on YouTube on the path system, creating habitats and building and all kinds of tips in general. For pathing and constructing buildings you might also filter for Planet Coaster tutorials since these systems are identical in both games.

Some names of YT content creators that have also done very good PZ/PC tutorials that pop in my mind: Deladydesigner, Rudi Rennkamel, Bestinslot.
 

NYCChristoff

N
It’s also worth noting the forums are super friendly and I’m yet to see anyone being shot down.

people may have differing opinions but on the whole it’s 99% helpful. Going forwards with your PZ experience, if you have a question just ask.

Hell I think there are people on here who would talk you through selecting different paths if you asked nicely enough.
YouTube is helpful too, and the admins seem to be able to request help from the game developers too.

You’re in good hand. I hope you and your family have fun playing!

Merry Christmas!
 
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