I've been seeing a lot of great suggestions on these forums on how to improve these assets. I decided to make a "mega-thread" where people can suggest improvements that they think are the most feasible, and/or would be the best to prioritize for improving the immersion. Sometimes a little goes a long way! I'm not a programmer and I don't know much about the Cobra engine, so I might be inaccurate with the feasibility of some suggestions. (Especially ones that require complex programming, and new animations for all those animal species.) But here's my best shot!
Some other ideas that would help here, are actually more based on improving gameplay. So I'm gonna continue with that thread. Check it out!
Thanks for reading and considering! And thanks for the wonderful game!
- Having animations where animals look at things that pass them by, especially other animals. It would make a WORLD of difference if the animals just occasionally stared off at things that catch their eye... ears perked up, nose sniffing subtly, and blinking softly. Mammals do this all the time in real life; horses, hogs, giraffes, big cats, you name it! Little things like this would make the animals feel less robotic.
If it's not possible to have this triggered by actual events, it could just be programmed to happen randomly. If it IS possible, then.... have the "looking off into distance" animation be activated sometimes when another animal walks by in the distance, or when new visitors approach the habitat. And there could be animations for closer encounters, like when animal pass each other they could sniff at each other a little. Maybe occasionally, one animal gets spooked by another, and trots away for a few seconds. I know there might be some examples like this already in the game, and I just never noticed it. But I think we need some more...
- Make animals cuddle, sleep on top of each other, or lean against each other while sleeping sometimes. Simple but oh so endearing.
- More poses and animations like this is general. Just so it's less common to see animals all laying/sitting/standing together in the exact same pose.
- Animals scratching themselves on trees, and herbivores foraging from bushes and trees.
- Have babies programmed to stay close to their parents, and animals that naturally have close relationships to their mates stay near their mates and interact with them more often. This would breath so much life into things!
- Also just.. any animals that have close relationships to group-mates. Like elephants, lions, primates, wild dogs, etc. Peafowl (and flamingos?) should preen each other. Primates should groom and pick through each others fur a lot. Lions should sunbathe together in groups more often. Hooved animals should graze together in herds instead of apart. Elephants should splash in the water together, touch each other's faces more, just have way more interaction in general.
- Human-animal interaction. I mentioned having animals stare at guests from afar, and this might already be in the game. (There's even animations where guests feed animals unless you put up a "do not feed" sign.) But this could be expanded on even more. Foxydee came up with a cool idea for guest-animal interaction stations, on this thread. But just in terms of their regular habitat behavior?
-Animals could come closer to the guests and sniff at "them" (the barrier) sometimes!
-Have certain species pace excitedly at the fence a couple times, when guests come near it! Have guests and animals lock eyes, if the game can determine they are on the same vertical level!
-Maybe the occasional rowdy guest (usually a kid, if something this specific is possible?) will raise their voice at the animals, and any nearby animals perk their ears and turn their head to look!
- Interspecies interactions, especially between primates and the two elephant subspecies. For most animals, interspecies interaction could be as simple as my first point, where the just sniff at each other or look at each other, or the occasional time where one animal get spooked and trots away. But with primates and elephants, it deserves to be a bit more complex. If it's possible, both elephant species should treat each other the same way, or at least count toward each other's social needs. But I understand this might be impossible. An easier one might be, like... "make zebra herding happen most often next to a giraffe." Savannah animals clustering together next to a giraffe that's foraging from a tree would make savannah habitats feel so much more real!
- Make the animals just... not move around so much. When they aren't doing a specific task like eating, sleeping, playing, interacting with a guest or other animal... just set certain actions as defaults, like grazing while herding, cuddling with the pack, pecking at the ground, and grooming themselves. I can't think of any zoo trip where I walked up to an enclosure and saw all the animals sporadically walking and jogging around in all different directions. You're going to see animals clumped together with their own species, not spread out randomly throughout their habitat. You're not gonna see a baby zebra randomly swimming in deep water while a giraffe runs headlong into a fence, and the elephants completely ignore each other.
- Guest viewpoints. I heard Planet Coaster has a function where you can set viewpoints that tells the game where there's a view Guests should be looking at. We need this so bad! If possible, have them point at stare at things, blocking their eyes from the sun, etc. while observing views.
- Guests eating at tables, sitting at benches, and talking to each other more. Also talking to each other while looking at animals.
- More small habitat animals, with small space requirements. We need more filler for our zoos, that isn't just exhibit boxes. Right now, the Nile monitors, lemurs, and pangolins are a great example. But the Nile monitor could do with smaller space requirement. And we would love some meerkats, fennec foxes... maybe even something as small as a marmoset, kiwi bird, and platypus! The flexibility of habitats allows us to build raised habitats using construction pieces. This allows such animals to be housed at guest eye-level. And smaller habitats like this would make zoos so much more realistic, with better diversity and flow.
Some other ideas that would help here, are actually more based on improving gameplay. So I'm gonna continue with that thread. Check it out!
Thanks for reading and considering! And thanks for the wonderful game!
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