I have already hear stories of people getting bored of the game that they just sold of their zoo cause they reach all the objective and as said why waste the old maps and animals why not have players keep playing it even when objective get boring?
Thank you wolftrex and NZ i like the idea and hope more see that this a really important issue to consider! If they want to keep enjoying the game once content has stopped! Just look at planet coaster it been played so long that when content stop it just not interesting any more.
And beside this has never been done before constant update of the behaviours and NPC so it could resemble the real thing or make people want to see the real thing!
How this would be done?
Major updates could be paid or DLC for specific groups of animals that people want to experience? So instead of new content could be more quality DLC updates that players pay for but with proper content in it and not like EA as fans have been seriously mad of what they done!
And it is a massive undertaking to mimic a real lion behaviour cause they have personalities so the best way is to have an AI that learns that follow the parameter of a real lion and players can tweak it. You want players to get even more involved and look at the animals as some kind of pet!
Do you get bored of your dog?
Your dog don't just eat and perform a few tricks it does many things and you spend a life time training it so that too can also happen in the game! Where players take time training their animal and have an emotional bond with it. So that is what can happen to with the animals of the zoo that it will do all these different behaviors of curiosity and challenges depending how smart they are. Even lizard can be very interesting as they will use what ever feature is given to it.
Things are limited!
You want to keep playing it again and again always seeing different things!
Maybe we can create a list and update it so people understand?
Like the sims for example but even that get boring but its changing! A developer is developing this sim game where behaviours, etc the things i have asked for to be in the game cause the game will function at a much deeper level where social complexities can form and NPC can do surprising things!
An indie developer has made this happen on a basic level but not sure if can put this up!
There is a game where you live your life as an animal and they try to create the environment and behaviours of the animal.
But with frontier this can be so much more advance and the possibilities!
Guest NPC will have new deep wants so players will specifically want to design their zoo to meet these needs like height of a decoration, wide and massive like a safari, compact and quiet, huge forest like, mostly just rocks, these different types of terrain. Guess will be seeking after! Guess could also not like too many steps or too many tunnels. So players got to be conscious of who they want to attract? So a park with loads of bolder might be attractive to some guess but not everyone!
And with attraction they don't just stand there its interactive so guess will sit on it, play with it, use it, do what is allowed. take pictures, etc and comment on it that they are happy you design a waterfall feature.
NPC can get bored of the design!
This option can be optional but if the npc keeps seeing the same waterfall it will comment and ask for changes to the design after a while!
These setting can be edited like how many things seen in waterfall etc so players got to discover it!
They can be random setting too so player just click one and discover and find out what they like!
Getting just a few of these NPC in your zoo can really shape how your zoo will look! As you will keep on tweaking it to make them happy endless pay through!
They just walk around and have limited behaviour they dont surprise you or wow you or you start to like that specific NPC!
Have it so they have lives on their own and don't happen randomly so player will take more interest in them like in cities skyline as basic model to advance.
Give them a complex AI so they too display behaviours that is unpredictable and with curiosity.
A complex AI personality will make them want to explore and do things in the zoo then just walk around and have basic need.
It means also that a complex economy for your restaurant will need to be in place.
The game still have not got most of all the enrichment in a real zoo cause the AI is too simplistic.
Have NPC use the zoo to its full extent like sitting on the lawn, chair, watch the animals, make use of the space that been created!
Relationship too so see you families and friends socializing together and you can watch them!
NPC socializing together so players are force to design it like a real architect would and not just concentrate on beautification.
Have a lot of plants well have it so the NPC will take interest in looking at it.
develop more complex needs so players can edit them and upload it for people to use so they could be a player that want to see specific plants in the zoo! You won't know what it is until they give feedback and over time you learn about their needs! This will keep players busy with selecting the rights plants!
The animation too are pointless the animals are not really interacting with the item and that just destroy the simulation like simcity npc. Like the ant eater it just doing an animation. It really should be interacting the ant nest and make it more real not just animation that turns on when it at its target. That way it becomes more interesting.
Here is one video that show a pond but since the system is not build for it all its doing is decoration and nothing more. So i hope this gets changed!
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRuI-BGFEp0
Why not include more species of plants that players can buy! They are program that has this! but go one step further and that it grows!!! You can plant things and watch it grow as farming simulator is very popular! And players will see their zoo develop! Areas grow and change!
More jobs too in the zoo the game has not put in all the types of job available!
Buildings break down they need to bring in new parts to replace it!
Every item in the game from plants to walls has been taken from a certain location from the cheapest to more expensive where you want it more green or very polluted where is going green in all this!! Cities skyline has this but it did not go deep enough let Planet zoo show developer what can be done with going green! Players will work hard to gain the reputation and the income to buy these parts and even combine new ones.
Developer can go to a zoo and write down all the things that people will get up too and put that in the game so it be interesting to watch again and again cause every play through is different.
Like all the plants used its not being used by the animals it just there for decoration why not have animals use it for play, hiding, eating, etc?
Tricks taught to the animals to help their enrichment?
Like the bears developer can get inspiration from knowing more on bears and see the things they can get up too
Behavior
myfwc.com
There was a post made like this on social behavior
More enrichment for the standard animals
See these idea are already creating the dream of a very interesting entertaining zoo!
All can be done by paid quality DLC update
5 complex animals can be more entertaining then 50 animals doing almost the same thing!