Wow, I'm making a post that's not specifically complaining about the wolves for once? The world must be ending...
Okay, anyway- let's talk animal behaviors. As many, MAAAANY people have been discussing and complaining about by now, and by this point I'm sure Frontier is aware there are glaring issues, the animal behavior in this game is... well... not accurate, in the least, for many animals. Sure, the animations are nice, the walk cycles and some species-specific behaviors are right, but when it comes to social groups or social behaviors or hell, even individual personality, the game is simply very lacking.
Animals have absolutely zero individual personality. Everything they do seems to be random, except for the occasional "motivator" such as the need to eat and drink pushing them to go eat and drink. Based on hours of sitting here observing animals, reading feedback here, and so on... the animals really do just act like robots. There is no individuality. Every single individual animal of a species acts exactly the same, all the time. There are no relationships between individuals, there is no personality. There are no lions that are naturally lazier or more laid back than others, there are no particularly feisty lionesses, or any kind of unique difference in personality behaviors. This game's biggest advertising point was that animals are supposed to feel like living, breathing individuals with unique looks and behaviors... so why, then, do we have none of that? At all? Whatsoever?
Wolves all look like direct carbon copies of eachother, without a single tiny bit of pattern variation, or color shade differences, or... anything at all. Tigers all even have the same exact stripe pattern, the only difference is between males and females(which is not even accurate, as tigers do not have sexual dimorphism in real life.) The ONLY, and I mean ONLY animal I have noticed so far to have ANY variation at all whatsoever are the cheetahs- some are a lighter cream-ish color, while others are a more golden color, and they do have distinct spot patterns. But that's it. There is nothing else, even for animal species that should have TONS of variation in coat colors etc(such as wolves.)
Now that all that prefacing is out of the way, let's get to groups. The group system in this game is... bad, to say the least. Instead of basing group sizes on any realistic factors such as space in the enclosure, personality of individuals, relationships between individuals, whether the individuals are related, whether or not the animal is meant to live in packs/herds/large groups in general, it is instead based on some hard cap, an arbitrary "max number" of adult animals you can keep together at any one time, which is simply not accurate.
Not only is the system itself inaccurate, especially considering how even solitary animals can be kept in groups just fine in captivity, but the numbers given are also HIGHLY inaccurate. Bison can live in herds of around 200, with MULTIPLE subordinate bulls in a herd- and yet Planet Zoo will only allow a single male and 15 females max, no matter the size of the enclosure or ANY other factors, before they start fighting.
Wolves live in family packs in real life, built up of the main breeding pair, the parents, and their adult offspring who remain in the pack for a few years before eventually leaving to find a mate.(and let me note, some wolves stay in their family pack their entire lives.) Wolves do not have alphas. The alpha system was debunked a LONG time ago by the exact same scientist who came up with it, and based on data from years of observing wild wolf packs, wolves absolutely do not ever actually have fights over dominance, because wolves do not have a "dominance by force" system. There is no "dominance", it's simply a family group. Fights for dominance and the whole alpha thing came from observations of wolves held in captivity with artificial packs full of stranger, unrelated wolves, NOT family groups- and the behavior between a group of strangers and a proper family pack are VERY different.
Lions have been known to have two or even three to five males together in a pride, co-leading. Of course, these are usually brothers or cubs that were raised together and left their pride together- but Planet Zoo would not even allow this in THAT situation. Animals in this game do not know eachother. They do not recognize eachother. They do not distinguish between family or stranger- it's, as soon as a male lion cub grows up, he and his father and brothers are all immediately trying to kill eachother. As soon as a wolf pup grows up, the whole group of wolves tries to kill eachother. There is no individualism, they all work the same, exactly as a hivemind, a bunch of robots.
They do not feel alive at all.
So, to fix these issues, I have a few suggestions that could effectively fix this broken social system and actually add depth to the animals, making them feel more like individuals as they are supposed to, as well as fixing the arbitrary max animals in group limit issue.
--- Personality. Animals need individual personality. Whether it's one animal being generally lazier, or more active, or more hostile and harder to get along with, or friendlier and more calm than others, animals need some kind of individual personality to them. They need individual traits. A lion that is more hostile than others and may snarl and growl and swat at others in the enclosure, or a male lion that is so calm and chilled out that, if paired with another male of similar personality, they will be extremely less likely to fight and may tolerate eachother. Some animals that are lazy and get tired quickly and are generally found lazing around, others that are super energetic and active and always running around and doing things, some that absolutely do not tolerate the presence of other animals and some that are unusually friendly for their species. Some could be skittish and nervous and become stressed more easily, being extremely submissive to other animals, and some could be overly dominant.
--- Social Relationships: Alongside individual personalities, there should be some kind of personal relationship system between individual animals in an enclosure. Think something Sims-style, but one-sided- as in, Animal A can like Animal B, but Animal B can dislike Animal A. For example- when certain values are met between individuals in an enclosure, when first introduced, they may start off their relationship as either neutral or hostile. This would depend on multiple factors- personality of the two individuals, the species and their general social behavior, and the amount of space in the habitat. For example- if you pair two animals together that are typically solitary, and both have hostile personalities, they might start off hostile towards eachother and fight. Of course, there's a chance for them to be "neutral" instead if they are a male and a female and the only two in the enclosure. However if you pair, for instance, two male tigers with super laid back and calm personalities, they would also be neutral. Add in a third with hostile temperament and that third tiger would be aggressive toward the other two.
After awhile, of individuals being housed together, relationships would gradually go up. Animals could go from "neutral" to "friendly" and would be bonded with eachother, able to co-exist completely peacefully with little to no hostility. Animals who are born and raised together would be much more likely to have a friendly relationship and be able to be housed together despite normal species social behavior, such as two tiger brothers being able to get along fine while two strangers may fight. Basically, animals should form realistic bonds and relationships with others, because that is how it works in real life. Not ALL tigers are incompatible with being housed with others. Not ALL male lions are incapable of coexisting with other males, especially ones they were raised with. Anyone who has ever introduced a new cat into a household full of existing cats should understand. Cats HATE strangers in their home, usually. Still, not all- some tolerate a new kitten immediately. But a lot of cats will be extremely hostile to a new cat in the house- lots of hissing and spitting and swatting... but after awhile, they calm down. They accept the new cat. They befriend the new cat and eventually can be found snuggling together in the cat tree. Cats who were raised together as kittens can be deeply bonded for life, but still react with hostility to new strangers(but not eachother.)
Animals in this game should behave similarly, instead of just mindlessly going on a rampage the minute their social group reaches a specific number value.
--- Differences in Herd Behavior: Animals that naturally live in massive, large herds or packs or w/e in the wild should be able to do so here as well so long as enough habitat space is supplied for them. Many species that are currently limited to one single male ingame will actually have multiple subordinate males in a single herd in real life- this needs to be possible ingame as well. Yes, keep an "alpha" system for species that actually have one naturally, but that should be it- occasional butting heads over alpha status, not "fighting due to incorrect gender ratio" or ""overcrowding"". Yes, there could be an alpha bull with a particularly aggressive, territorial personality, but that shouldn't be the norm- it should be an occasional personality trait for an individual.
Now, since the social group stuff is out of the way... colors. Patterns. Variation. Where is it?
I understand SOME animals having little to no color/pattern/etc variation. After all, most lions look identical at first glance. However, most animals should have at the very least SLIGHT color differences- i.e. slightly lighter or darker fur, one lion being a darker golden while another is lighter cream(like the cheetahs), one lion having a particularly visible dorsal stripe, etc. Wolves, especially, need to have color variation- wolves are THE most color diverse wild mammal on the planet, so why do they have 0 variation at all whatsoever, not even an albinism mutation, ingame, when even CHEETAHS, who have way less color morphs than a wolf does, have subtle differences? Wolves need color variation, badly. Wolves do not just come in gray, in the exact same patterns. Wolves come in black, white, cream, brown, tan, red, silver, hell even silvermane(as it's called in rats, idk what it's called in wolves, but it's silver with black and white ticking and darker faces.), with a ton of pattern variation. There are black wolves with brown splotches, white wolves with silver or brown muzzles, white wolves with silver or brown ticking, light silver wolves with no brown at all and white undersides... Wolves are extremely diverse, and yet they are one of the most lacking animals in this game, both in social behavior and variation and individuality.
So, my suggestion- add color variations to animals. Lions that are slightly lighter or darker, even if by a tiny amount. Multiple wolf coat colors and patterns...
We just need a lot more animal individualism. And better social behavior. Please, Frontier, do something about this.
Okay, anyway- let's talk animal behaviors. As many, MAAAANY people have been discussing and complaining about by now, and by this point I'm sure Frontier is aware there are glaring issues, the animal behavior in this game is... well... not accurate, in the least, for many animals. Sure, the animations are nice, the walk cycles and some species-specific behaviors are right, but when it comes to social groups or social behaviors or hell, even individual personality, the game is simply very lacking.
Animals have absolutely zero individual personality. Everything they do seems to be random, except for the occasional "motivator" such as the need to eat and drink pushing them to go eat and drink. Based on hours of sitting here observing animals, reading feedback here, and so on... the animals really do just act like robots. There is no individuality. Every single individual animal of a species acts exactly the same, all the time. There are no relationships between individuals, there is no personality. There are no lions that are naturally lazier or more laid back than others, there are no particularly feisty lionesses, or any kind of unique difference in personality behaviors. This game's biggest advertising point was that animals are supposed to feel like living, breathing individuals with unique looks and behaviors... so why, then, do we have none of that? At all? Whatsoever?
Wolves all look like direct carbon copies of eachother, without a single tiny bit of pattern variation, or color shade differences, or... anything at all. Tigers all even have the same exact stripe pattern, the only difference is between males and females(which is not even accurate, as tigers do not have sexual dimorphism in real life.) The ONLY, and I mean ONLY animal I have noticed so far to have ANY variation at all whatsoever are the cheetahs- some are a lighter cream-ish color, while others are a more golden color, and they do have distinct spot patterns. But that's it. There is nothing else, even for animal species that should have TONS of variation in coat colors etc(such as wolves.)
Now that all that prefacing is out of the way, let's get to groups. The group system in this game is... bad, to say the least. Instead of basing group sizes on any realistic factors such as space in the enclosure, personality of individuals, relationships between individuals, whether the individuals are related, whether or not the animal is meant to live in packs/herds/large groups in general, it is instead based on some hard cap, an arbitrary "max number" of adult animals you can keep together at any one time, which is simply not accurate.
Not only is the system itself inaccurate, especially considering how even solitary animals can be kept in groups just fine in captivity, but the numbers given are also HIGHLY inaccurate. Bison can live in herds of around 200, with MULTIPLE subordinate bulls in a herd- and yet Planet Zoo will only allow a single male and 15 females max, no matter the size of the enclosure or ANY other factors, before they start fighting.
Wolves live in family packs in real life, built up of the main breeding pair, the parents, and their adult offspring who remain in the pack for a few years before eventually leaving to find a mate.(and let me note, some wolves stay in their family pack their entire lives.) Wolves do not have alphas. The alpha system was debunked a LONG time ago by the exact same scientist who came up with it, and based on data from years of observing wild wolf packs, wolves absolutely do not ever actually have fights over dominance, because wolves do not have a "dominance by force" system. There is no "dominance", it's simply a family group. Fights for dominance and the whole alpha thing came from observations of wolves held in captivity with artificial packs full of stranger, unrelated wolves, NOT family groups- and the behavior between a group of strangers and a proper family pack are VERY different.
Lions have been known to have two or even three to five males together in a pride, co-leading. Of course, these are usually brothers or cubs that were raised together and left their pride together- but Planet Zoo would not even allow this in THAT situation. Animals in this game do not know eachother. They do not recognize eachother. They do not distinguish between family or stranger- it's, as soon as a male lion cub grows up, he and his father and brothers are all immediately trying to kill eachother. As soon as a wolf pup grows up, the whole group of wolves tries to kill eachother. There is no individualism, they all work the same, exactly as a hivemind, a bunch of robots.
They do not feel alive at all.
So, to fix these issues, I have a few suggestions that could effectively fix this broken social system and actually add depth to the animals, making them feel more like individuals as they are supposed to, as well as fixing the arbitrary max animals in group limit issue.
--- Personality. Animals need individual personality. Whether it's one animal being generally lazier, or more active, or more hostile and harder to get along with, or friendlier and more calm than others, animals need some kind of individual personality to them. They need individual traits. A lion that is more hostile than others and may snarl and growl and swat at others in the enclosure, or a male lion that is so calm and chilled out that, if paired with another male of similar personality, they will be extremely less likely to fight and may tolerate eachother. Some animals that are lazy and get tired quickly and are generally found lazing around, others that are super energetic and active and always running around and doing things, some that absolutely do not tolerate the presence of other animals and some that are unusually friendly for their species. Some could be skittish and nervous and become stressed more easily, being extremely submissive to other animals, and some could be overly dominant.
--- Social Relationships: Alongside individual personalities, there should be some kind of personal relationship system between individual animals in an enclosure. Think something Sims-style, but one-sided- as in, Animal A can like Animal B, but Animal B can dislike Animal A. For example- when certain values are met between individuals in an enclosure, when first introduced, they may start off their relationship as either neutral or hostile. This would depend on multiple factors- personality of the two individuals, the species and their general social behavior, and the amount of space in the habitat. For example- if you pair two animals together that are typically solitary, and both have hostile personalities, they might start off hostile towards eachother and fight. Of course, there's a chance for them to be "neutral" instead if they are a male and a female and the only two in the enclosure. However if you pair, for instance, two male tigers with super laid back and calm personalities, they would also be neutral. Add in a third with hostile temperament and that third tiger would be aggressive toward the other two.
After awhile, of individuals being housed together, relationships would gradually go up. Animals could go from "neutral" to "friendly" and would be bonded with eachother, able to co-exist completely peacefully with little to no hostility. Animals who are born and raised together would be much more likely to have a friendly relationship and be able to be housed together despite normal species social behavior, such as two tiger brothers being able to get along fine while two strangers may fight. Basically, animals should form realistic bonds and relationships with others, because that is how it works in real life. Not ALL tigers are incompatible with being housed with others. Not ALL male lions are incapable of coexisting with other males, especially ones they were raised with. Anyone who has ever introduced a new cat into a household full of existing cats should understand. Cats HATE strangers in their home, usually. Still, not all- some tolerate a new kitten immediately. But a lot of cats will be extremely hostile to a new cat in the house- lots of hissing and spitting and swatting... but after awhile, they calm down. They accept the new cat. They befriend the new cat and eventually can be found snuggling together in the cat tree. Cats who were raised together as kittens can be deeply bonded for life, but still react with hostility to new strangers(but not eachother.)
Animals in this game should behave similarly, instead of just mindlessly going on a rampage the minute their social group reaches a specific number value.
--- Differences in Herd Behavior: Animals that naturally live in massive, large herds or packs or w/e in the wild should be able to do so here as well so long as enough habitat space is supplied for them. Many species that are currently limited to one single male ingame will actually have multiple subordinate males in a single herd in real life- this needs to be possible ingame as well. Yes, keep an "alpha" system for species that actually have one naturally, but that should be it- occasional butting heads over alpha status, not "fighting due to incorrect gender ratio" or ""overcrowding"". Yes, there could be an alpha bull with a particularly aggressive, territorial personality, but that shouldn't be the norm- it should be an occasional personality trait for an individual.
Now, since the social group stuff is out of the way... colors. Patterns. Variation. Where is it?
I understand SOME animals having little to no color/pattern/etc variation. After all, most lions look identical at first glance. However, most animals should have at the very least SLIGHT color differences- i.e. slightly lighter or darker fur, one lion being a darker golden while another is lighter cream(like the cheetahs), one lion having a particularly visible dorsal stripe, etc. Wolves, especially, need to have color variation- wolves are THE most color diverse wild mammal on the planet, so why do they have 0 variation at all whatsoever, not even an albinism mutation, ingame, when even CHEETAHS, who have way less color morphs than a wolf does, have subtle differences? Wolves need color variation, badly. Wolves do not just come in gray, in the exact same patterns. Wolves come in black, white, cream, brown, tan, red, silver, hell even silvermane(as it's called in rats, idk what it's called in wolves, but it's silver with black and white ticking and darker faces.), with a ton of pattern variation. There are black wolves with brown splotches, white wolves with silver or brown muzzles, white wolves with silver or brown ticking, light silver wolves with no brown at all and white undersides... Wolves are extremely diverse, and yet they are one of the most lacking animals in this game, both in social behavior and variation and individuality.
So, my suggestion- add color variations to animals. Lions that are slightly lighter or darker, even if by a tiny amount. Multiple wolf coat colors and patterns...
We just need a lot more animal individualism. And better social behavior. Please, Frontier, do something about this.
