Coldwater Falls Zoo

[Veah]

Any of those two maps are very good, considering they are homemade, I've been in plenty of real zoos with much worse maps, so congrats!
Very solid overall animal selection, and the Inca trail is looking superb. But you really chose to go the difficult way, about half of the zoo planned species are not in the game, that's an achievement itself

PS: Don't forget your real zoo recreations, BTW!

 

[Captain Callum]

Inca Trail - Cloud Forest

I think I'm a few days behind since my youtube build of the cloud forest but I have since remade all the custom animal signs finally departing from real animal pictures to image graphics giving me the ability to create higher standard custom signs while having the liberty of having images of animals not in game. This is important as it is a clear distinction from the real zoo signs I make for the recreation zoos (which will make an appearance next month).

The cloud forest section of the Inca trail looks at the high altitude tropical forests which are often covered in clouds, or simply the cloud forest. The cloud forest makes up the majority of Inca trail however the trail at the zoo features just 2 habitats in order to cover as much themes as possible without being a generic south american tropical trail. The cloud forest at the zoo features a south american coati habitat and a cloud forest aviary.

Starting off with the new zoo map back at the Inca trail entrance, I have finalised the zoo map (yes it took 5 tries) and made a realistic zoo map with clear symbols and directions for the zoo, along with a map marker and themed sign. Each map at the zoo will be color coded and have a unique animal sign on top around the zoo, for example we have the andean bear on this sign and the color matches the Inca trail on the map.

Back to the cloud forest, heres an overview of the area. Not too big but still plenty of dense foliage to bring us into the tropical forest, 2 aviary habitats are present, the actual aviary on the left, coati on the right along with a keep building behind.

As we saw in the last update, the Inca sun gate serves as the transition to the cloud forest. The path winds around the gate and ascends to the cloud forest.

Once at the top, we reach the cloud forest habitats. First is the South American Coati, but today we are dealing with some raccoons who broke into the habitat. The first examples of my new modern signage, inspired by various zoos such as edinburgh zoo, smithsonian national zoo and chester zoo. Each habitat will have this simple introduction sign along with a more detailed information sign.

Just by chance, the informative sign about coatis tells us about how raccoons and coati are similar. Using these graphics, I can make a visually appealing sign that actually fits in the game unlike real animal pictures. For the habitat itself, we have a nice glass viewing window clear of mesh.

A selection of tropical trees, vines, tropical groundcover and a pool makes a nice tropical habitat for the raccoon/coati. Vines were also added to the outside of the aviary structure making the structure feel a bit more natural.

Moving on, next up is the cloud forest aviary which we can tell thanks to the next sign around the corner.

Another glass viewing window gives a view into the aviary with a much more dense forest. We can see a wide variety of andean birds such as andean guan, tanagers, inca jay, the iconic andean c*ck of the rock, and giant hummingbird.

Small but informative signs tell us about each of the 8 birds featured in this aviary.

Looking inside this aviary, we get a view of a andean guan and a masked trogon on the branch behind.

 

[Mr-Hyrax 2]

Inca Trail - Cloud Forest

I think I'm a few days behind since my youtube build of the cloud forest but I have since remade all the custom animal signs finally departing from real animal pictures to image graphics giving me the ability to create higher standard custom signs while having the liberty of having images of animals not in game. This is important as it is a clear distinction from the real zoo signs I make for the recreation zoos (which will make an appearance next month).

The cloud forest section of the Inca trail looks at the high altitude tropical forests which are often covered in clouds, or simply the cloud forest. The cloud forest makes up the majority of Inca trail however the trail at the zoo features just 2 habitats in order to cover as much themes as possible without being a generic south american tropical trail. The cloud forest at the zoo features a south american coati habitat and a cloud forest aviary.

Starting off with the new zoo map back at the Inca trail entrance, I have finalised the zoo map (yes it took 5 tries) and made a realistic zoo map with clear symbols and directions for the zoo, along with a map marker and themed sign. Each map at the zoo will be color coded and have a unique animal sign on top around the zoo, for example we have the andean bear on this sign and the color matches the Inca trail on the map.
View attachment 413305

Back to the cloud forest, heres an overview of the area. Not too big but still plenty of dense foliage to bring us into the tropical forest, 2 aviary habitats are present, the actual aviary on the left, coati on the right along with a keep building behind.
View attachment 413306

As we saw in the last update, the Inca sun gate serves as the transition to the cloud forest. The path winds around the gate and ascends to the cloud forest.
View attachment 413307

Once at the top, we reach the cloud forest habitats. First is the South American Coati, but today we are dealing with some raccoons who broke into the habitat. The first examples of my new modern signage, inspired by various zoos such as edinburgh zoo, smithsonian national zoo and chester zoo. Each habitat will have this simple introduction sign along with a more detailed information sign.
View attachment 413308

Just by chance, the informative sign about coatis tells us about how raccoons and coati are similar. Using these graphics, I can make a visually appealing sign that actually fits in the game unlike real animal pictures. For the habitat itself, we have a nice glass viewing window clear of mesh.
View attachment 413310

A selection of tropical trees, vines, tropical groundcover and a pool makes a nice tropical habitat for the raccoon/coati. Vines were also added to the outside of the aviary structure making the structure feel a bit more natural.
View attachment 413312

Moving on, next up is the cloud forest aviary which we can tell thanks to the next sign around the corner.
View attachment 413313

Another glass viewing window gives a view into the aviary with a much more dense forest. We can see a wide variety of andean birds such as andean guan, tanagers, inca jay, the iconic andean c*ck of the rock, and giant hummingbird.
View attachment 413314

Small but informative signs tell us about each of the 8 birds featured in this aviary.
View attachment 413315

Looking inside this aviary, we get a view of a andean guan and a masked trogon on the branch behind.
View attachment 413316

All that looks great, love the signs

 

[Veah]

Any of those two maps are very good, considering they are homemade, I've been in plenty of real zoos with much worse maps, so congrats!

Starting off with the new zoo map back at the Inca trail entrance, I have finalised the zoo map (yes it took 5 tries) and made a realistic zoo map with clear symbols and directions for the zoo, along with a map marker and themed sign. Each map at the zoo will be color coded and have a unique animal sign on top around the zoo, for example we have the andean bear on this sign and the color matches the Inca trail on the map.

Me: Praises the map design
CC: Proceeds to make an even better map

That signage is very cool, too. What's the source? AI or some nice open source artist (maybe you?) that other people (me) could use?

 

[Captain Callum]

Me: Praises the map design
CC: Proceeds to make an even better map

That signage is very cool, too. What's the source? AI or some nice open source artist (maybe you?) that other people (me) could use?

Oh I wouldn't dare use AI for custom signage, I'll admit some of my zoo planning was done with some help with AI for theming ideas but all custom signage is of my own creation. The idea came to me after visiting the Edinburgh zoo with some of the modern signs having animals as image graphics, large and simple, easy to read text. It made me rethink how I approached zoo signage and have a vastly different style compared to my recreations.

For those who simply want the design, here's a link to the canva page which hopefully works:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGbLPjqq-4/3JirjgyZ9oWJgkBve1Ligg/edit?utm_content=DAGbLPjqq-4&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

The main difference on the signage is the animal graphics rather than a real life picture of the animal. Since I've joined this forum, I have seen many people say that it looks weird ingame and I did agree somewhat. My solution was not AI (auto generated results means no consistant style and possible obvious errors) but simply just going on google images and searching "[animal] graphics" like my next upcoming build is for spectacled bears so I searched "spectacled bear graphics" and found this nice picture:

A little cropping and use of some image upscaling (yes I believe this is AI but whatever lol), and then I can insert it into my sign template. A lot of the animal graphics are from free share websites such as freepik or shutterstock which are copyright free if anyone has problems with that for personal projects.

The background is also another simple graphic, a search of "machu picchu graphic" and a 5 minute search for a similar style worked pretty good. Signage is then completed with a image of the IUCN status logo, and a range map made in mapchart - https://www.mapchart.net/

 

[Marvinb]

Stuff like this always elevates the project to the next level

 

[Mr-Hyrax 2]

The less AI the better, can't wait to see more

 

[Captain Callum]

Inca Trail - Andean Bears & Inca Ruins

We now enter the central part of the Inca trail where an expansive habitat for Andean (or spectacled) bears can be found amongst a inca ruins theme, the main appeal of building a inca trail themed zone in the first place. This isn't a simple andean bear habitat however, I wanted this part of the trail to be one of the highlights of the zoo.

Fairly complicated, the andean bear habitat contains:

• An Incan temple with Incan artifacts displays and viewing into the bear habitat
• A Incan ruins themed habitat with obvious large ruined buildings as scenery
• An overhead walkway for the bears connecting the 2 habitats
• A second habitat with more natural scenery, most notably, a cascading waterfall
• Inca stone terrace scenery

Following the both list in a clockwise direction starting from the large building on the left, we can understand the layout of the andean bear area.

Just after leaving the cloud forest aviary, on the left of the path there is the Inca temple. The indoor building where we can see some inca artifacts and get some bear habitat views.

Inside we can find educational signage about machu picchu, the incan artifact displays behind the glass panels on the left and see bears on the right through the windows. Orange lighting, a gold temple wall theme creates a distinct south american temple atmosphere.

Through the windows, we can get some nice views of the first bear habitat and if lucky, a bear will appear right in front of us. There are only 2 bears to explore the 2 habitats so a sighting in one area is not guaranteed, just like how difficult it can be to spot andean bears on the Inca trail.

Leaving the temple, we can find another ruined building but this functions as a shelter for the bears and the entrance to the overhead walkway.

A path goes between the 2 habitats and we get some great views of the overhead walkway where the bears easily travel from one habitat to the other.

The first habitat also has some views of the walkway beside the viewing shelter.

Heading to the second habitat now, this is a longer and sloping habitat following a cascading waterfall down to a pool. The pool serves as the bears water source which provides a reason for the bears to explore both habitats. In between their travels, they do explore the faux log climbing frames.

At the bottom of the Inca trail (the right path if we look back at the map on the cloud forest post), the bears can be seen travelling from the pool back up to the rocky cave where the overhead walkway connects.

 

[RightWhale]

Inca Trail - Andean Bears & Inca Ruins

We now enter the central part of the Inca trail where an expansive habitat for Andean (or spectacled) bears can be found amongst a inca ruins theme, the main appeal of building a inca trail themed zone in the first place. This isn't a simple andean bear habitat however, I wanted this part of the trail to be one of the highlights of the zoo.

Fairly complicated, the andean bear habitat contains:

• An Incan temple with Incan artifacts displays and viewing into the bear habitat
• A Incan ruins themed habitat with obvious large ruined buildings as scenery
• An overhead walkway for the bears connecting the 2 habitats
• A second habitat with more natural scenery, most notably, a cascading waterfall
• Inca stone terrace scenery

Following the both list in a clockwise direction starting from the large building on the left, we can understand the layout of the andean bear area.
View attachment 413944

Just after leaving the cloud forest aviary, on the left of the path there is the Inca temple. The indoor building where we can see some inca artifacts and get some bear habitat views.
View attachment 413945

Inside we can find educational signage about machu picchu, the incan artifact displays behind the glass panels on the left and see bears on the right through the windows. Orange lighting, a gold temple wall theme creates a distinct south american temple atmosphere.
View attachment 413946

Through the windows, we can get some nice views of the first bear habitat and if lucky, a bear will appear right in front of us. There are only 2 bears to explore the 2 habitats so a sighting in one area is not guaranteed, just like how difficult it can be to spot andean bears on the Inca trail.
View attachment 413947

Leaving the temple, we can find another ruined building but this functions as a shelter for the bears and the entrance to the overhead walkway.
View attachment 413948

A path goes between the 2 habitats and we get some great views of the overhead walkway where the bears easily travel from one habitat to the other.
View attachment 413949

The first habitat also has some views of the walkway beside the viewing shelter.
View attachment 413950

Heading to the second habitat now, this is a longer and sloping habitat following a cascading waterfall down to a pool. The pool serves as the bears water source which provides a reason for the bears to explore both habitats. In between their travels, they do explore the faux log climbing frames.
View attachment 413951

At the bottom of the Inca trail (the right path if we look back at the map on the cloud forest post), the bears can be seen travelling from the pool back up to the rocky cave where the overhead walkway connects.
View attachment 413952

I know I haven’t updated the education in zoos thread in awhile, but all the custom signs and info boards you do always amaze me! It also reminds me I haven’t played in awhile and need to finally post some of the stuff I have done.

Great work as always!

 

[Captain Callum]

Zoo Overview & Inspiration - Alaskan Wilderness - Glacier Coast

I know the Inca Trail zone is not done but the next part features a condor aviary built and the modder (greatcake) is working on an andean condor mod in the next few weeks so the Inca Trail will be paused until that releases. In the meantime, let's travel to the far north, the alaskan wilderness. Since I last mentioned the alaskan wilderness, the map and entire scope of the area has changed. It now contains a wilderness trail through 3 national parks found in alaska, and also a large pacific ocean themed aquarium. The aquarium is not going to be discussed just yet however.

The alaskan wilderness on the zoo map

What is going to be discussed is the Glacier Coast area, based on the kenai fjords national park in southern alaska. A wild coastline with melting glaciers, rugged sea stack formations, and lots of interesting marine life. Here's a look at the plan of the glacier coast:

The glacier coast features:

• Seabird aviary
  • Horned Puffin, Spectacled Eider, Double-crested Cormorant (all mods)
• Sea Otter Habitat (modded again)
• A glacier ice cave between the 2 habitats for underwater views of both
• Another underwater view for the sea otters in the kelp forest area which includes a seperate alaskan kelp forest aquarium (all static props)
  • Purple sea urchin, red sea urchin, northern kelp crab, dungeness crab, kelp greenling, black rockfish, yelloweye rockfish

Inspiration for the glacier coast largely comes from northern north america zoos/aquariums and the kenai fjords national park.

Kenai Fjords Scenery

Minnesota zoo sea otter habitat

Alaska sealife center seabird aviary

Omaha zoo sea lion habitat - kelp forest views

Oregon Coast Aquarium sea otter habitat

 

[Mr-Hyrax 2]

Zoo Overview & Inspiration - Alaskan Wilderness - Glacier Coast

I know the Inca Trail zone is not done but the next part features a condor aviary built and the modder (greatcake) is working on an andean condor mod in the next few weeks so the Inca Trail will be paused until that releases. In the meantime, let's travel to the far north, the alaskan wilderness. Since I last mentioned the alaskan wilderness, the map and entire scope of the entire has changed. It now contains a wilderness trail through 3 national parks found in alaska, and also a large pacific ocean themed aquarium. The aquarium is not going to be discussed just yet however.

The alaskan wilderness on the zoo map
View attachment 414231

What is going to be discussed is the Glacier Coast area, based on the kenai fjords national park in southern alaska. A wild coastline with melting glaciers, rugged sea stack formations, and lots of interesting marine life. Here's a look at the plan of the glacier coast:
View attachment 414222

The glacier coast features:

• Seabird aviary
  • Horned Puffin, Spectacled Eider, Double-crested Cormorant (all mods)
• Sea Otter Habitat (modded again)
• A glacier ice cave between the 2 habitats for underwater views of both
• Another underwater view for the sea otters in the kelp forest area which includes a seperate alaskan kelp forest aquarium (all static props)
  • Purple sea urchin, red sea urchin, northern kelp crab, dungeness crab, kelp greenling, black rockfish, yelloweye rockfish

Inspiration for the glacier coast largely comes from northern north america zoos/aquariums and the kenai fjords national park.

Kenai Fjords Scenery
View attachment 414223
View attachment 414224
View attachment 414225

Minnesota zoo sea otter habitat
View attachment 414226

Alaska sealife center seabird aviary
View attachment 414228

Omaha zoo sea lion habitat - kelp forest views
View attachment 414229

Oregon Coast Aquarium sea otter habitat
View attachment 414230

Man that's going to look great