Animal personalities

[JBQ]

I played back during the beta and this issue was actually raised and had an office response where it was acknowledged that this was something they needed to fully implement. I can’t access my old account or any of the forum posts from the beta but I did have a CM respond to one of my threads about it (I know I was a bit persistent about it as this was the issue that bothered me the most besides the mother and baby bonds) and thought they would actually follow through and work on the personalities eventually.

I have seen no evidence of any change in animal personalities being implemented. Someone else raised the issue here recently but then chose to shut down comments on the thread. I am not expecting anything super complicated but my favorite part of visiting zoos is spending time watching the animals as individuals. I know this isn’t the focus of everyone but it would add so much to the game for me to be able to recognize some differences between individuals and that was what the game advertised. Basic things like shy animals hiding more, outgoing animals being more willing that others of their species to come near guests, aggressive animals being more likely to fight, curious animals engaging more with enrichment items, lazy animals napping more, all of those relatively small things would make the animals seem more real and less like pretty props.

At this point, I would really just like to hear from Frontier if this is something that is still being worked on or if it’s been shelved and we are not getting more diversity in animal behavior. I would love it if you invested in this feature, much as you went back and added in some coat variations for people who found that to be very important.

 

[NZFanatic]

This has been long-discussed around here and I don't think we've ever had an official response on the subject (or if we did, it was a long time ago). Even some basic "traits" like in The Sims would be nice, which might prompt different behaviours.

 

[JBQ]

This has been long-discussed around here and I don't think we've ever had an official response on the subject (or if we did, it was a long time ago). Even some basic "traits" like in The Sims would be nice, which might prompt different behaviours.

There was an official response way back in the beta but I’ve seen nothing official since then. I would be happy with a pretty basic system and obviously not expecting it with the exhibit animals at all. But more complex animals like elephants and primates would be so much better with some individuality!

 

[jcp011c]

Yes, as much as I absolutely love this game, one of the more interesting things prior to roll out was the idea that animals would have more variation of personality, within species I mean. Unfortunately that doesn't really seem to be the case and while that's not a deal breaker, it's disappointing. Hopefully one day, even if it's just very basic differences.

To add - I definitely wasn't expecting it with exhibit animals either, I mean they're pretty much like robots as it is, and given their limitations, I don't think we can expect too much more from the animals themselves, even if they overhaul the entire exhibit creation system.

 

[paul78]

I think it’s still possible we get animal personalities at possibly the end of the game maybe. Not sure on what level this feature would be implemented but waiting to tackle it at the end makes sense since you’d constantly be coding the newer animals. Even if some animals got this feature it would be better then none but it would be a ton of work tho.

 

[SimoneV]

Yeah i too would like to know. They advertised that the habitat animals would all differ from each-other personality wise. Now i know we have colour and pattern variation but that is not the same as different personalities, even if those are really amazing too.

I just hope we get animals that are a bit more shy or more outgoing than another. Or more food or play motivated, that that one animal likes some enrichments better than its mate for instance. Or likes climbing more. It really could be little things like that. Really hope that it is possible and that we get an official response.

 

[SanRazo618]

I really hope this is still in their plans

 

[JBQ]

Yeah i too would like to know. They advertised that the habitat animals would all differ from each-other personality wise. Now i know we have colour and pattern variation but that is not the same as different personalities, even if those are really amazing too.

I just hope we get animals that are a bit more shy or more outgoing than another. Or more food or play motivated, that that one animal likes some enrichments better than its mate for instance. Or likes climbing more. It really could be little things like that. Really hope that it is possible and that we get an official response.

Yes the little variations in personality could make such a difference in immersion!

 

[JBQ]

I think it’s still possible we get animal personalities at possibly the end of the game maybe. Not sure on what level this feature would be implemented but waiting to tackle it at the end makes sense since you’d constantly be coding the newer animals. Even if some animals got this feature it would be better then none but it would be a ton of work tho.

If we had confirmation this was for sure coming before the game has finished, I would patiently wait and look forward to it.

 

[NZFanatic]

We can always ask @Tim Smith or the other CM's if there's been any conversation around it behind the scenes.

 

[JBQ]

We can always ask @Tim Smith or the other CM's if there's been any conversation around it behind the scenes.

I am a little out of the loop on the official forums and who the CMs are now, thanks! Hopefully Tim will chime in

 

[Swjosdotschka]

I was here during beta times as well. They actually said individual personalities and mother baby bonding would be implemented at full release. It has not to this date.

I made a thread a loooong time ago, called "Why animals aren't the stars of the game and what needs to be done about it". I remember Bo saying they will look into it.

Just today YouTuber PoisonBlade made a video on how to improve the animals in Planet Zoo and personalities were numbre one on the list. (If any Devs read this, I strongly recommend watching it).

The truth after 1.5 year is: I love Planet Zoo and it's my favourite game. I hope it will have a long life span, hopefully longer than expected. At the same time the lack of promised animal personalities has forever damaged my trust in Frontiers advertisment and them as a company.

And while I slightly hope that we.might still get personalities down the line, I am also very afraid actually that they might be implemented as half baked as genetics and color differences.

I'm closely following JWE2 advertisement now, so lets see how they do there. All in all the lack of personalities is a desaster, especially for a company that is not even willing to give the vaguest of roadmap because they want to make extra sure something comes out at day X.

Personalities didn't came with the release and all the critique from players about it has yet to be addressed . I think all we can do as players is keep bringing attention to it.

 

[JBQ]

I was here during beta times as well. They actually said individual personalities and mother baby bonding would be implemented at full release. It has not to this date.

I made a thread a loooong time ago, called "Why animals aren't the stars of the game and what needs to be done about it". I remember Bo saying they will look into it.

Just today YouTuber PoisonBlade made a video on how to improve the animals in Planet Zoo and personalities were numbre one on the list. (If any Devs read this, I strongly recommend watching it).

The truth after 1.5 year is: I love Planet Zoo and it's my favourite game. I hope it will have a long life span, hopefully longer than expected. At the same time the lack of promised animal personalities has forever damaged my trust in Frontiers advertisment and them as a company.

And while I slightly hope that we.might still get personalities down the line, I am also very afraid actually that they might be implemented as half baked as genetics and color differences.

I'm closely following JWE2 advertisement now, so lets see how they do there. All in all the lack of personalities is a desaster, especially for a company that is not even willing to give the vaguest of roadmap because they want to make extra sure something comes out at day X.

Personalities didn't came with the release and all the critique from players about it has yet to be addressed . I think all we can do as players is keep bringing attention to it.

Okay I kind of wondered if I was remembering right but thanks for confirming is was addressed in the Beta. Perhaps if we make it clear it’s still an important feature of the game we will eventually see some progress.

 

[ShadowLilly]

I really hope this is still in their plans

to be honest, they advertised with this before release... so it should have been in the game AT release

 

[JBQ]

to be honest, they advertised with this before release... so it should have been in the game AT release

I’ve kind of given up on what should have happened and just hoping certain things do happen. I like the game but I also waited so long to have a new zoo game after loving zoo tycoon 1 and being very meh with ZT2. I’m hoping the final product of PZ is something we can enjoy playing for many years and actual personality variation would really help with that.