Lydiah Moon
Community Manager
Hayo Zookeepers!
The Planet Zoo: Oceania Pack is coming out tomorrow, we're incredibly excited and hope you are too! This pack offers up over 200 new scenery pieces which have been inspired by the rich traditions of Polynesian culture, so we asked some of our incredibly talented Artists, to share a little more about the inspiration behind these beautiful new additions!
Let's get into another Developer Journal!
Hayo! Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Planet Zoo?
Jack: Hello! Iām Jack Griffin and I work as a concept artist on Planet Zoo, I draw and paint a lot of the designs you see in the base game and DLCs. I also help with establishing the look and feel for the packs. Once Iāve worked out a drawing for how a picnic table would look for example, Iād then hand over the drawings to Jamesā team on scenery who take the drawings and model them for you to play with.
James: Hi! Iām James Wilkins and Iām the lead scenery artist on Planet Zoo. My Team and I work on taking Jackās lovely concepts and turning them from 2D drawings into the 3D models that you see in the game.
There are some stunning new scenery pieces coming in the Planet Zoo: Oceania Pack, can you tell us a bit more about what pieces the community can expect?
James: This was such a fun pack to work on and thereās so many cool Scenery pieces that I feel are quite different from what we have achieved with other packs. Youāve got your standard pieces like your wall and roof pieces, as well as some more decorative pieces like Tiki Heads and a Tribal Canoe which are just so fun. Then you also have more functional pieces like driftwood posts and a netting set which I think players are going to love.
Once the pack theme is presented, what are the next steps in the process?
Jack: Polynesia is a very large area of the world with very different cultures scattered across islands and divided by huge chunks of water. There is so much to work with when it comes to references, itās hard to know what not to include which is a great problem to have. We try to summarise the whole feel we want to go for via references and use that as our guide. We then begin working on what key pieces of scenery decide the look of the pack and for this one, the key pieces are the roof pieces. We found that the ratio of roof to wall across Polynesia was roughly the same. There are very large roofs with very small walls. Once we found this idea, we had our canvas to hang all the other pieces.
It's super interesting to learn about the research you did to find the common architecture of Polynesia! Now that you have your canvas, how to you decide which individual pieces could work for Planet Zoo?
Jack: With so many DLCās, we always want to give the players unique pieces to play with which they canāt find in other packs so, we take a good look at all of the pieces weāve done already and make sure weāre not repeating ourselves. We always have a framework of pieces we try to add to the packs, think bins, benches, paths, sculptures, walls etc. All of these are great starting points for the foundation of the pack, but we put a regional spin on them when appropriate. Each pack has its own combination of materials, shapes and colour palette which ties it all together. If pieces of the pack donāt follow these rules, theyāre more likely to not be included.
James: And of course, this is an ongoing process. We will sit down together fairly early on and try to determine a list of exactly what scenery pieces weāre going to have in each DLC. But this is more of a starting point, and we might realise that as the pack starts to take shape that maybe a certain idea that we had doesnāt actually work particularly well within the context of the overall pack. But it can also go the other way - The grass skirt pieces are a great example of an idea that we didnāt have until development was well underway and now they feel like such an essential part that its hard to imagine the pack without them.
After you have the scenery pieces in mind, how do you start your design process and then bring them to life?
Jack: We gather our references, tie them all together through shapes, materials, colour palette and then run our reference images through our special planet zoo filter to further enhance the scenery. And out comes our scenery! We want the scenery to feel friendly and fun, this is all done through the proportions, treatment and colour.
James: And then once Jack is happy with his concept, he will pass them on to the scenery art team, where we start actually modelling them in 3D. Each scenery piece will undergo several rounds of feedback and iterations until weāve fully captured the essence of the concept and they look suitably Planet Zoo. The real proof is when we start building with them and seeing them side by side with, not just other scenery pieces in the same pack, but also other scenery pieces from any one of the many themes that we now have in Planet Zoo.
Making sure the Polynesian culture was correctly represented is extremely important, what steps did you to take to ensure this was done?
Jack: We are always mindful to be respectful of the cultures we represent, we want to celebrate what makes their culture unique. We gathered a broad range of reference images early in the process and went through a review process for what is and isnāt appropriate via our localisation team.
James: Yeah, it's really important that our scenery pieces have gone through a lot of research on the culture we want to present. We want to be able to highlight what is special about the specific culture in the best way possible. Making sure we are able to capture the fun and the personality that we expect from Planet Zoo is also important during this process. And like Jack said, the localisation team do a fantastic job in making sure that we achieve that.
Amazing to see all the considerations taken when designing these pieces! I also noticed the unique addition of the Faux Lava that glow in the dark, what was the inspiration behind these?
Jack: The short answer is, lava is fun! But the long answer is, lava and volcanos are key to Polynesia, there are many islands rising from the sea which were born out of eruptions and it would be a shame to not have these unique formations included in this pack.
James: And with lava being so integral to Polynesia, we thought it would be a good opportunity to think about how we come up with a different way to highlight paths or to bring attention to certain areas of your Zoo. And youāll be pleased to know that these are faux lava pieces, so none of your guests will be going home with nasty burns.
I also saw there will be a Tribal Canoe! Can you talk a bit more about this piece and what inspired the team to create a Canoe Boat as a decorative piece?
Jack: We have a few boats in the game already but looking at reference for the Polynesian boats, we knew we had to make one. Theyāre incredibly unique in their shape and their culture has a long history of crossing the seas. Far earlier than most around the world.
James: The Canoe is a lot of fun, and itās been designed in a way so that its modular, with the canoe, sail and outrigger each being separate scenery pieces. This way you can build your standard canoe, or come up with your own boat, or maybe you could find another way entirely to use these pieces. Also, it wouldnāt be right to talk about the tribal canoe and not mention the fantastic work that Matt Stevens 3D Artist, achieved in bringing this scenery piece to life. Matt will also be a guest on the launch livestream, so you'll be able to learn even more about his wonderful work on the pack then!
It's incredible to see the attention to detail you put in to create something fun and unique! Last but certainly not least, what Scenery piece did you have the most fun working on?
James: Ooof thatās a tricky one! As scenery lead, I tend to have a more broad input over the scenery pieces. So with that in mind, itās impossible to pick just one piece ā but I will give Tom Lawler a special shout out for the Tiki Heads, theyāve got such a great personality about them and I think the players are going to really enjoy using them all kinds of fun ways. I may be a little biased, but I think all of the scenery pieces are great, the whole team really outdid themselves on this one!
And that wraps up another Developer Journal! Let's give our wonderful Artist team Jack and James a big thanks for taking their time to talk about the wonderful scenery pieces coming in the new pack!
The new Planet Zoo: Oceania Pack will be launching tomorrow, 19 September, and you can wishlist it now on Steam. Remember to also join us at 4pm BST for a special launch livestream where we'll be going over all the amazing new animals and scenery pieces and even more behind the scenes of what we've talked about here! As always, we'll have some special guests come and join us, giveaways, and more. You can tune in at Twitch or Youtube. See you there!
We also want to express our sincerest condolences to the many families and all the wildlife that has been impacted by the Maui wildfires. The inspiration behind many of our pieces also come from the local culture of Hawaii, which have had a large number of influences from ancient Polynesians. If you'd like to support in the recovery of the devastating wildfires in Maui that have ravaged families and their animals. Head on over to the Maui Humane Society to see how you can help those who are tirelessly working to protect and save the lives of Mauiās animals.
Information links: https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/
The Planet Zoo: Oceania Pack is coming out tomorrow, we're incredibly excited and hope you are too! This pack offers up over 200 new scenery pieces which have been inspired by the rich traditions of Polynesian culture, so we asked some of our incredibly talented Artists, to share a little more about the inspiration behind these beautiful new additions!
Let's get into another Developer Journal!
Hayo! Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Planet Zoo?
Jack: Hello! Iām Jack Griffin and I work as a concept artist on Planet Zoo, I draw and paint a lot of the designs you see in the base game and DLCs. I also help with establishing the look and feel for the packs. Once Iāve worked out a drawing for how a picnic table would look for example, Iād then hand over the drawings to Jamesā team on scenery who take the drawings and model them for you to play with.
James: Hi! Iām James Wilkins and Iām the lead scenery artist on Planet Zoo. My Team and I work on taking Jackās lovely concepts and turning them from 2D drawings into the 3D models that you see in the game.
There are some stunning new scenery pieces coming in the Planet Zoo: Oceania Pack, can you tell us a bit more about what pieces the community can expect?
James: This was such a fun pack to work on and thereās so many cool Scenery pieces that I feel are quite different from what we have achieved with other packs. Youāve got your standard pieces like your wall and roof pieces, as well as some more decorative pieces like Tiki Heads and a Tribal Canoe which are just so fun. Then you also have more functional pieces like driftwood posts and a netting set which I think players are going to love.
Once the pack theme is presented, what are the next steps in the process?
Jack: Polynesia is a very large area of the world with very different cultures scattered across islands and divided by huge chunks of water. There is so much to work with when it comes to references, itās hard to know what not to include which is a great problem to have. We try to summarise the whole feel we want to go for via references and use that as our guide. We then begin working on what key pieces of scenery decide the look of the pack and for this one, the key pieces are the roof pieces. We found that the ratio of roof to wall across Polynesia was roughly the same. There are very large roofs with very small walls. Once we found this idea, we had our canvas to hang all the other pieces.
It's super interesting to learn about the research you did to find the common architecture of Polynesia! Now that you have your canvas, how to you decide which individual pieces could work for Planet Zoo?
Jack: With so many DLCās, we always want to give the players unique pieces to play with which they canāt find in other packs so, we take a good look at all of the pieces weāve done already and make sure weāre not repeating ourselves. We always have a framework of pieces we try to add to the packs, think bins, benches, paths, sculptures, walls etc. All of these are great starting points for the foundation of the pack, but we put a regional spin on them when appropriate. Each pack has its own combination of materials, shapes and colour palette which ties it all together. If pieces of the pack donāt follow these rules, theyāre more likely to not be included.
James: And of course, this is an ongoing process. We will sit down together fairly early on and try to determine a list of exactly what scenery pieces weāre going to have in each DLC. But this is more of a starting point, and we might realise that as the pack starts to take shape that maybe a certain idea that we had doesnāt actually work particularly well within the context of the overall pack. But it can also go the other way - The grass skirt pieces are a great example of an idea that we didnāt have until development was well underway and now they feel like such an essential part that its hard to imagine the pack without them.
After you have the scenery pieces in mind, how do you start your design process and then bring them to life?
Jack: We gather our references, tie them all together through shapes, materials, colour palette and then run our reference images through our special planet zoo filter to further enhance the scenery. And out comes our scenery! We want the scenery to feel friendly and fun, this is all done through the proportions, treatment and colour.
James: And then once Jack is happy with his concept, he will pass them on to the scenery art team, where we start actually modelling them in 3D. Each scenery piece will undergo several rounds of feedback and iterations until weāve fully captured the essence of the concept and they look suitably Planet Zoo. The real proof is when we start building with them and seeing them side by side with, not just other scenery pieces in the same pack, but also other scenery pieces from any one of the many themes that we now have in Planet Zoo.
Making sure the Polynesian culture was correctly represented is extremely important, what steps did you to take to ensure this was done?
Jack: We are always mindful to be respectful of the cultures we represent, we want to celebrate what makes their culture unique. We gathered a broad range of reference images early in the process and went through a review process for what is and isnāt appropriate via our localisation team.
James: Yeah, it's really important that our scenery pieces have gone through a lot of research on the culture we want to present. We want to be able to highlight what is special about the specific culture in the best way possible. Making sure we are able to capture the fun and the personality that we expect from Planet Zoo is also important during this process. And like Jack said, the localisation team do a fantastic job in making sure that we achieve that.
Amazing to see all the considerations taken when designing these pieces! I also noticed the unique addition of the Faux Lava that glow in the dark, what was the inspiration behind these?
Jack: The short answer is, lava is fun! But the long answer is, lava and volcanos are key to Polynesia, there are many islands rising from the sea which were born out of eruptions and it would be a shame to not have these unique formations included in this pack.
James: And with lava being so integral to Polynesia, we thought it would be a good opportunity to think about how we come up with a different way to highlight paths or to bring attention to certain areas of your Zoo. And youāll be pleased to know that these are faux lava pieces, so none of your guests will be going home with nasty burns.
I also saw there will be a Tribal Canoe! Can you talk a bit more about this piece and what inspired the team to create a Canoe Boat as a decorative piece?
Jack: We have a few boats in the game already but looking at reference for the Polynesian boats, we knew we had to make one. Theyāre incredibly unique in their shape and their culture has a long history of crossing the seas. Far earlier than most around the world.
James: The Canoe is a lot of fun, and itās been designed in a way so that its modular, with the canoe, sail and outrigger each being separate scenery pieces. This way you can build your standard canoe, or come up with your own boat, or maybe you could find another way entirely to use these pieces. Also, it wouldnāt be right to talk about the tribal canoe and not mention the fantastic work that Matt Stevens 3D Artist, achieved in bringing this scenery piece to life. Matt will also be a guest on the launch livestream, so you'll be able to learn even more about his wonderful work on the pack then!
It's incredible to see the attention to detail you put in to create something fun and unique! Last but certainly not least, what Scenery piece did you have the most fun working on?
James: Ooof thatās a tricky one! As scenery lead, I tend to have a more broad input over the scenery pieces. So with that in mind, itās impossible to pick just one piece ā but I will give Tom Lawler a special shout out for the Tiki Heads, theyāve got such a great personality about them and I think the players are going to really enjoy using them all kinds of fun ways. I may be a little biased, but I think all of the scenery pieces are great, the whole team really outdid themselves on this one!
And that wraps up another Developer Journal! Let's give our wonderful Artist team Jack and James a big thanks for taking their time to talk about the wonderful scenery pieces coming in the new pack!
The new Planet Zoo: Oceania Pack will be launching tomorrow, 19 September, and you can wishlist it now on Steam. Remember to also join us at 4pm BST for a special launch livestream where we'll be going over all the amazing new animals and scenery pieces and even more behind the scenes of what we've talked about here! As always, we'll have some special guests come and join us, giveaways, and more. You can tune in at Twitch or Youtube. See you there!
We also want to express our sincerest condolences to the many families and all the wildlife that has been impacted by the Maui wildfires. The inspiration behind many of our pieces also come from the local culture of Hawaii, which have had a large number of influences from ancient Polynesians. If you'd like to support in the recovery of the devastating wildfires in Maui that have ravaged families and their animals. Head on over to the Maui Humane Society to see how you can help those who are tirelessly working to protect and save the lives of Mauiās animals.
Information links: https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/
