I feel like Planet Zoo needs some birds of prey for example: Eagles, owls, hawks, falcons, or vultures. It doesn’t really matter to me what kind of raptor it is I just think some predatory birds would be nice.
Birds of Prey
- Thread starter Brandon Gill
- Start date
Currently there is no system in place to cater to the needs of birds. If/when Frontier adds birds to the game (it seems likely that they will, eventually, for various reasons) I suspect birds of prey will be on the priority list.
There are dozens of topics on the board about the inclusion of birds in the game. The main take-away is that nobody can agree on the best way to implement them. My personal opinion is that making birds into full habitat animals (i.e. such as the zebras, antelope, lions, and so on) would be a drain on the game's engine and hurt the game's optimisation, thus forcing us to decide between birds and other animals. So I advocate for something akin to Jurassic World Evolution's pterosaur aviary, where you can place a prefabricated design down and populate it with birds that exist on an animation loop. In this way they would essentially be more interactive exhibit animals.
Another poster had a similar idea where the aviary is customisable, but the birds act similarly to special effects that you place down. Another alternative might be to use objects in the habitat that the birds are specifically drawn to, so their flight paths are calculated towards possible entry/exit lines towards specific points in the habitat.
The biggest issues are indeed optimisation and hitboxes, of course, and with flying and diving animals you need a 360 degree axis of navigation and an adaptive hitbox which can change depending on where in space the animal is (as opposed to the current animals, which only require a 180 degree axis of navigation to consider the ground around them, and anything above them).
There are dozens of topics on the board about the inclusion of birds in the game. The main take-away is that nobody can agree on the best way to implement them. My personal opinion is that making birds into full habitat animals (i.e. such as the zebras, antelope, lions, and so on) would be a drain on the game's engine and hurt the game's optimisation, thus forcing us to decide between birds and other animals. So I advocate for something akin to Jurassic World Evolution's pterosaur aviary, where you can place a prefabricated design down and populate it with birds that exist on an animation loop. In this way they would essentially be more interactive exhibit animals.
Another poster had a similar idea where the aviary is customisable, but the birds act similarly to special effects that you place down. Another alternative might be to use objects in the habitat that the birds are specifically drawn to, so their flight paths are calculated towards possible entry/exit lines towards specific points in the habitat.
The biggest issues are indeed optimisation and hitboxes, of course, and with flying and diving animals you need a 360 degree axis of navigation and an adaptive hitbox which can change depending on where in space the animal is (as opposed to the current animals, which only require a 180 degree axis of navigation to consider the ground around them, and anything above them).
As NZFanatic mentioned it is a topic often discussed, but since you mention birds of prey specifically then we can debate that. Everything stated above has been suggested, and while I'm completely against pre fabricated aviaries and exhibits, since it takes away the realism and possibilities that this great offers. A reduced amount radios for that bird to move around can definitely be a solution, since it seems not everyone is keep on the looping animations idea. Some Birds of Prey could have been added already, since they would not behave in very different way as the flamingos, and those are doing just fine in the game. Vultures as an example would be a much needed and exiting addition to our savanna exhibits, they could just hop and flight short distances similar to the Flamingos, most of the time they just rest over tree branches and other enrichment items. The Secretary Bird is an almost terrestrial bird of prey, and it is a crying shame that it was not released in the base game. I think there is no argument, that birds in general are frontier's biggest gap and weakness in the current game.
At this point however, it is my believe that the solution (one or the other) has already being found and they just need time to create all the models needed for a proper DLC. I honestly think nothing we say at this point will change what is to come, since they have been working on birds even before the base game came out, however it will be very interesting to see if they had to find some sort of compromise for these animations or if they will be added as a mixture of habitat animals and exhibit animals, who know really, but we need them. I do not believe that any upcoming DLC will change much from the current format, so we might have to keep on waiting for birds, since they will definitely 100% not be a regular DLC but a full on expansion.
At this point however, it is my believe that the solution (one or the other) has already being found and they just need time to create all the models needed for a proper DLC. I honestly think nothing we say at this point will change what is to come, since they have been working on birds even before the base game came out, however it will be very interesting to see if they had to find some sort of compromise for these animations or if they will be added as a mixture of habitat animals and exhibit animals, who know really, but we need them. I do not believe that any upcoming DLC will change much from the current format, so we might have to keep on waiting for birds, since they will definitely 100% not be a regular DLC but a full on expansion.