Difficulty

[Codename_Ater]

I do not own the game but I have held off on purchasing it because of multiple reviews suggesting the game is quite easy.

If the experience is even slightly more challenging than Planet Coaster than the game is probably too easy. This was my chief complaint behind Planet Coaster. Unfortunately, I do not have a creative bone in my body, so even my best designs always sucked compared to many of the other designs people built online that I could easily access. Instead, I liked to focus on the management side of things, but I found once you figured out the game mechanics, which did not take long to do, the game became monotonous. I could easily rake in cash with rides and rollercoasters would be there for fun, but not for money-making purposes.

I was hoping with Planet Zoo they would change this by giving users the options of drastically increasing the difficulty, even making it so that would constantly have to adjust their strategies. In Planet Coaster, it would have been nice if different rides were more or less successful on different maps, and guests were more finicky about what they preferred. For example, I could still make a park filled with rides geared to families, yet make a giant terrifying roller coaster highly profitable.

Unfortunately, multiple reviews for Planet Zoo have come back suggesting the game is not very difficult and this was disappointing. I will likely end up buying the game in a year or so from now when it is heavily discounted, but until I hear there will be major improvements to make the game more difficult, I likely won't purchase it any sooner.

 

[Dr4gon]

This game is not easy. Many zoos go bankrupt every day. The problem is that many just blame it on bugs and not on their own management qualities

 

[BasiliskOnline]

my first zoo tanked, im not certain if it was due to bugs or not, but i took everything that i learned with that zoo, built my next one incredibly slowly and applied what i'd learned in the first. I also saw my first zoo was doomed and just have kept it frozen, i can go in and grab animals i need from there when i need them now. but yeah, it is not easy and requires patience.

 

[avietar]

It's as easy or as difficult as you want it to be.
Various scenarios are quite challenging, as there are so many aspects of zoo management you need to keep track of. You really need to stay on top of everything.
It's not just about animal welfare, it's also about finances, guest happiness, staff happiness and functioning, planning your park layout, passing inspections, meeting goals, planning a breeding program. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff.

Animal welfare always comes first, but you have to make money to take good care of your animals and to expand your zoo, and you won't earn money if your guests aren't happy, and their happiness is tied to animal welfare. It's a cycle and everything's connected. It's a puzzle that keeps changing, so you need to think of new solutions to your problems as you go along.

You won't get bored, that's for sure

 

[avietar]

Double

 

[Dr4gon]

I just made my first Orangutan habitat. It was not easy, I can tell you. Put two of them in a habitat, and you need a whole lot of climbing, shelter, space and care. At least they love plants, so you can go wild on tropical plants

This first one was definitely not easy. And I am happy the protesters didn't come. The social was a long time (me me) in the red. Pause saves me all the time.

 

[Arletario]

Yes, for me that's the biggest minus in Franchise or Challenge mode too - if you're used to PlanCo or other management games, Planet Zoo is too easy. Yes, I know the game should be suitable for all ages, beginners and advanced players. And the scenarios can be quite challenging. However, the developers said in one of their official beta video streams, "The game is huge, the beta just scratched the surface, we added so much management to the game because we know people want it."

So much management? Eh, no honestly not. The only real management "challenge" is to handle all the animals that are born every 10 seconds, or to replace the animals that have died, at least when your zoo has reached a decent size . Apart from that, the management is limited to the following:

- start a Franchise or Challenge Mode Zoo

- build a path and 2-3 habitats

- build only the necessary staff facilities and 1 food stall / 1 drink stall / 1 toilet

- buy 2-3 animal species for cash - preferably some "easy-to-care" herbivores (easy breeding, low cost, high sale value)

- place the correct feeder / water stations and enrichments

- check the terrain and plant requirements of the animals

- hire 2-3 staff members and organize them in a work zone

- built some education stuff and donation bins around the habitats

- build an ATM

- you're done - your zoo will be a money maker because you can build such an habitat with 100% animal welfare for $ 2.000-10.000

So the Conservation credits are so much more important because you need them to buy high appealing animals with better genetics. Some species can only be purchased with CCs, too. Okay, once you've figured out how breeding of high-quality animals is working, and you are checking the market regularly for high-demand animals, you can get a lot of CCs in just no-time. From there, repeat from step 2 onward, building a new habitat, new species, etc.

Where is the real difficulty? I thought the quarantine thing, for example, could be one - when a disease spreads throughout the whole zoo. Or if you bought a sick animal on the franchise market and put it directly into the new habitat - the developers pointed that out. Um, no - again. I've bought over 100 animals on the player based market - not once was sick and I don't even build a quarantine center anymore because it's kind of pointless. Maybe one or two animals will get sick if your keepers do not clean up the habitats quickly enough, but then the disease is in one habitat and your vets will take care of it very quickly.

The difficulty begins when you are focusing on building the most beautiful zoo possible. But this is more based on your own creativity and your own goals, because it is more difficult to combine beauty and functionality. The management basis of the game, however, is simple and straightforward, because there is nothing unpredictable that could happen in your zoo or something like that.

 

[Codename_Ater]

The difficulty begins when you are focusing on building the most beautiful zoo possible. But this is more based on your own creativity and your own goals, because it is more difficult to combine beauty and functionality. The management basis of the game, however, is simple and straightforward, because there is nothing unpredictable that could happen in your zoo or something like that.

The same can be said of Planet Coaster, where trying to build the most visually impressive coasters or parks could be extremely challenging and rewarding. Unfortunately, for the creatively challenged individuals like myself, I find my most creative ideas are still subpar and therefore, the experience is not very rewarding. Again, it sounds like Planet Zoo is a game where it takes 10-20 hours to figure out the mechanics and then the game becomes monotonous.

As I said before, I haven't played this game, but in Planet Coaster, I wish they did the following to make the game more challenging (and perhaps I should also cross-post this in the Planet Coaster forum):

For parks/rides to be profitable:

• Similar rides must be grouped together. If you have thrill rides mixed in with family rides, this drastically reduces profitability
• Ideal ride sequences change depending on factors above, as well as, customer preferences which change from map to map (currently, once you figure out the ideal sequence, you can just copy that from map to map).
• Rides take a long time to pay themselves back, must be constantly maintained, and some lose prestige very quickly, others do not as much, and again it varies map to map
• Impact of scenery requires significant variation but must be within the theme used, and based on surrounding themes, but there is a saturation point (i.e. grouping Pirate themes is good, but if you use too much Pirate theme stuff, or you have pirate stuff spread out all over the place, this makes it less effective).
• Saturation of rides without coasters and vice versa has a tremendous impact on profitability
• Advertising is more diverse and has a huge impact on profitability (not just a fun little bonus)... There are virtually no theme parks in America that do not advertise at some degree and marketing plays a huge role in their success

I could go into more detail, but I think I've said enough. I am not sure how all of this would apply to Planet Zoo, but in future games or updates, I would hope they take into account some of these ideas.

I think the critical aspect is the idea of saturation and variation. In the real world, customers are fickle and picky, and the customers in these games feel like robots (which obviously they kind of are) who you can easily take advantage by understanding the basic mechanics of the game, and abusing the crap out of those mechanics. So, if I want to have fun, I have to basically handicap myself It's like saying I got so good at basketball, I play hopping on one foot, which I would never be that good at basketball).

 

[armedandfriendly]

I want to say this before I say anything else. I have just shy of 120 hours, and I plan on easily putting another few hundred in so dont take this is "dont buy this game".

That said, I do think its difficult but not in the ways it should be. Yes there are a number of bugs that can hurt you but in my own experience its inexperience that will do you in. During the beta I want to say I had about 2, maybe 3 zoos that ended in the red. Post release I have been able to keep a solid $300,000 buffer, but it does take a good bit of management of staff numbers/ pay and entrance pay income. Its okay to have a really crappy looking zoo with only 3 animals, don't be ashamed of it, focus on income at that point, you can always box the animals and rebuild their habitat later; I have done this multiple times.

With that I will say the difficulty is poorly aimed from the devs. My generators and water treatment regularly break down EVEN WITH setting them for mechanics to check them ones a month and keeping the mechanics out of the red for work load. I PERSONALLY feel they should have focused the difficulty one breeding and breeding quality animals more than worrying about whether or not a worker has been at his station long enough or if a generator is failing. People might disagree with me, and I am not saying they are wrong, just that its not what I expected.

Overall, if you keep it simple at start and create enough of a rainy day fund; you should be able to run your zoo just fine financially even with the bugs. There is no pay to win function and if you fail in a zoo, its okay in this game.

 

[Dr4gon]

The only difficulty I have is in taking time to see what gender is born and maturing so you can beat them to the punch. You have 1 sec exactly before some animal goes berserk on on the other alpha.

 

[TheGaijin87]

this is basically just a planet coaster reskin. best is to not buy it. tons of broken promises, gamebreaking issues and bugs that has you delete your zoo and start over and in franchise every "franchise" zoo is exactly the same at the start. nothing special. nothing unique. there is so much potential but i guess the devs just wanted quick money and then abandon it.

 

[Codename_Ater]

armedandfriendly I hear what you are saying, and I have heard about bugs causing Zoos to sink, but I have also heard the opposite. It also sounds like they tried to increase the difficulty, but perhaps, not in the best way.

I guess my issue with Planet Coaster is even in the scenarios, I felt like the value from the game was:
90-95% sandbox designer (i.e. building really aesthetic and cool looking attractions and parks)
5-10% management game (i.e. difficulty of managing a theme park)

Obviously, in the sandbox mode, the management piece was absent (as it should be). I wish you used the sandbox mode to design rides and attractions, then in the scenarios, took those designs because designing and constructing in the sandbox mode was way too costly.

In comparison, RCT 1 and 2 felt closer to a 50/50 split. Furthermore, you could create scenarios that were extremely challenging but still felt realistic and fun.

I fear Planet Zoo scenarios will be at best, 10-20% management and the rest being a sandbox designer

I would also like to note, I realize my suggestions could be extremely challenging to implement, as I know nothing about making video games, and therefore, my complaint may be unwarranted based on what others want from the game. Perhaps, it was always Frontiers' intention to build a game focused on designing amazing attractions and the management aspect was less of a focus, and this was also true for Planet Zoo. Ultimately, they will get my money, but I will likely buy the game when it is on sale for $20 bucks, whereas if they could expand the management side, I would easily pay top dollar for it.

 

[Kazehira]

If you are only interested by the management part of the game,clearly do ot buy it.

I really enjoy the game, because I like trying to design things. But I remember also some rather "hard" management games from back in the days, such as "Caesar 3" when I was young, and clearly, in Planet Zoo, the management part is only there to bring some kind of realism to the game, but definitely not to bring any challenge.

As soon as your zoo starts to earn money (basically right after you understood that you need donation boxes), you just need to let the game play by itself, and the money comes easily.

This game is really good, but it doesn't shine by its management system/challenges.

 

[Codename_Ater]

If you are only interested by the management part of the game,clearly do ot buy it.

Ya, I don't mind designing things, but I much prefer games that are more challenging from a management perspective. I'd pay $20 for the game, like I did for Planet Coaster, but without a solid management aspect to the game, I'd never pay full price.

 

[Bluefriend]

this is basically just a planet coaster reskin. best is to not buy it. tons of broken promises, gamebreaking issues and bugs that has you delete your zoo and start over and in franchise every "franchise" zoo is exactly the same at the start. nothing special. nothing unique. there is so much potential but i guess the devs just wanted quick money and then abandon it.

Frontier has never abandoned its games (11 DLC for PC and a lot of free contents, same for JWE). I don't know why you think that, I'm sure will be same with Planet Zoo. Honestly, I like this game, I think there isn't another modern zoo game better of this.

 

[znôrt]

Frontier has never abandoned its games (11 DLC for PC and a lot of free contents, same for JWE)

well, elite dangerous (their flagship game) hasn't had a dlc in 5 years. it had one expansion, though, which they have stretched and delivered in little bits over 3 years. most of the time the game has been stalled because they were busy with coasters and dinosaurs. players who paid for lifetime pass (3 years ago) have gotten nothing so far. so ... don't complain, guys!

there was a small dlc planned for this december but it has been recently delayed 6 months because the game has been increasingly riddled with bugs. in the words of their ceo they need to 'rationalize the codebase'. which i consider a good decision all considered, whatever that pr speak should mean.

this happens when a company bites more than it can chew. now you know. be patient or move on.

 

[Aiste]

Completely agree. The game is way too easy moneywise. Year 67, franchise mode, sitting on 2,5 million and growing.

Dear Devs, could you please give me an idea, where to spend money? Staff fully trained, food 3 grade.