Discussion of major personal wants - not a wishlist

[jcp011c]

Rather than add to the many wishlists, this is more just discussion of what you really hope Frontier will focus on. It can be areas, group of animals, specific animals, themes...whatever. All I ask for this thread is not for it to become just a list of a bunch of animals as a post. In fact, if you don't want to even discuss specific animals, having a general group you refer to is fine.

Major missing types of animals - the big two types here, Primates, specifically New World Primates, and Habitat (ground or water oriented) Birds. Honestly I was pushing for Exhibit birds as well, but with the issues I'm having obtaining a Sloth (still only have for two different zoos and I've been trying a lot this week), I'm a bit worried how that would go under the current Exhibit market. New World Primates are a group that I'm not even all that invested in, but totally agree with the need for the overall community. Getting two at minimum is necessary and I'd rather we actually got four. Habitat birds I'd love to get at least a half dozen.

Areas of the world - South America, both the Amazon and non-Amazon, need to big additions as does North Africa/Middle East. Even animals I'm not personally all that interested in would be considered good additions by me just for the point of filling in the roster for the area.

One offs -
I'm desperate for a Wolverine at this point. If we look at Europe/upper Asia and North America, it's the only animal that I am truly missing. And I am really missing it. Essentially anything colder or mountainous, this is the one animal that I really feel needs to make it into the game.
Old World Porcupine - another animal that pretty much defines a biome for me at this point. If I had to pick one animal for the more dry environments that my zoos are missing, it comes down to our spiky friends.
Tasmanian Devil - Definitely want them in as well for me, but also the community has been hungering for this animal for a long long time. For just my purposes it would come behind the Wolverine and Porcupine, but that in no way translates to me not wanting to see it in the game.
Spectacled Bear - my biggest South American want now, we've not gotten a bear in two years, and this gives us a very unqiue bear in terms of distribution.

If I gathered all of these together, and in that last group those were the only other non-primate mammals we get for the game, I could at least feel like all my regions and wants are pretty well covered. So if Frontier were to hit all of these points, get us more primates, birds and these other four mammals, I'd be really happy even if that were all they were to bring to the game.

 

[becks474]

Mainly Dik Dik, Old World Porcupine and Dromedary. These are my personal top 3 animals and two of them would bring us animals which are not really comparable to animals we already have within the Game. The third one would deliver a good looking Camel and Zoo Basic animal.
More Monkeys and habitat birds would be cool, too.

 

[Fossa]

I would really like to see sloths being released from those private building-cages, I want to combine them.

I think only two goat/sheep like creatures (one good and one boring one) is really sad, markhor, takin, bighorn, chamois, and mountain goat should all join the club.

I don’t give three cents about apes and monkeys mostly but gelada are a must for me.

Wolverine, Tasmanian Devil and Honey Badger are all very different but the same aggressive smaller carnivores, I want all three of these creatures in this game. Zoo Tycoon 2 had most of them.

Yes, more birds, I don’t care too much about bird cages (would not hate it), I need my secretary bird, shoebill, roadrunner, kiwi, pelican, red ibis and swans, pheasants, fowls

I think the frilled lizard is big enough for outside cage, and the big monitor lizard from australia could be fun, same with marine iguana

While there are more than enough cats, serval is still a must

Spectacled Bears are my favorite ursine creatures, they need to add them.

If they add the african leopard in any upcoming expansion I will boycot the game.

Antelopes, while already big in number could still use a few, saiga, gerenuk, dik-dik and great eland are the most bizarre ones still missing

Aquariums of course, would not mind something like aquariums-exibits

I hope they skip future 4-animal packs and focus on bigger animal packs

Walrus, elephant and leopard seals

One last deer, musk deer, or muntjac if it has those visable big fangs

Give black rhino, and dromedary for free please, they make marvelous gifts

African Crested Porcupine needs to enter the game at all cost, one of the only animals modders really can’t create

Keep dinosaurs and extinct creatures in jurrasic park builders, I hated the zoo tycoon dinosaur inclusions

 

[SuzieSky]

In general, there are three big standouts absences for me: small monkeys, birds (of course), and small cats. I tend to see way more of those groups in real-life habitats than are available in the game. 2 of my big three personal wishes (Golden Lion Tamarin, American Black Bear, and Serval) fall into these categories. The golden lion tamarin is my first zoo memory and my first time learning about an ongoing conservation effort. They are beautiful, iconic, endangered, and bring SA rep. The American black bear is my favorite local animal, and a bear with a bunch of color morphs would probably find its way into almost all of my zoos. They just make waiting for things much more fun. Also, you could put a white one in a more tundra-themed habitat and have a "polar bear" that fits into a smaller space! So many possibilities for this ZT1 favorite... The serval is a cool small cat with high jumps, big ears, and long legs. They have an iconic, distinct appearance, are present in many zoos, and are crossed with domestics to make savannah cats. This could be a chance to educate people about domestic hybids. I think they would be a fantastic choice.

Regional Rep: South America is so far behind it's ridiculous. The next tier would include Africa, which has MANY "good" options but few essential and Asia which has a few open niches of animals (birds, monkeys, and hoofstock) and regions (mainly Middle East and Himalayas). The next three continents are neck and neck. I tend to put NA first, because I lump the arctic stuff with it. All of the decently requested arctic species have an undisputed range here even if they are also found on other continents. Next is Australia/Oceania because it has a few very critical missing species and is lacking in general. After the favorites though, I personally don't see much for habitat animals that aren't very small, a clone, or a really random bird (Kiwi, black swan, and blue penguin are good though) when other continents need birds too. Some of that would still be nice, but too many tiny things or macropods would not be. Europe is last but not quite done yet. I'm not super invested in its remaining animals except for the swan and some domestics, but even I can see that a 1-3 ungulates, 1-2 small mammals, and 1-2 other birds would round it out and give choices for people wanting to build local sections. I don't need or want anything from Antarctica. Domestics would be cool, but there are about 40-50 wild habitat animals I think are needed more.

Aside from the hole of SA, I mainly think of the taxonomic groups that are lacking and would add roughly the same number of habitat animals from each of these 5 groups every 25 animals until around 90-110. Then, monkeys and birds (as habitat animals) start to drop back while the many ok and easy-to-make ungulates start to pull ahead.

Monkeys:
Arboreal habitats are my favorite to design, and monkeys have many social and playing behaviors that make them interesting. When they are awake, I see people viewing them more than almost anything else. They can be cute and playful. If we aren't counting hypothetical WE birds, I'd say monkeys are a worse problem than birds in terms of representation in the roster. Howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and squirrel monkeys are the most popular from South America, and the most essential. Tamarins are also very popular, but they might go into an exhibit. A couple of smaller ones and a baboon/gelada from Africa; something from India; and probably a golden snub-nosed monkey all strike me as essential. I view this as a conservative list, and it already includes 9. I think 12 are needed to make monkeys realistic, and 18 would make them seem pretty complete.

Birds:
I don't think I need to explain the lack of birds to anyone. I don't even like them that much as habitat animals, but I can still see the hole here. Mostly, I want aviary birds (toucans, macaws, lorikeets, owls, eagles, etc.) in the walkthrough exhibits or some mid-sized exhibit for raptors. These are some of the most obvious choices that I see in almost every zoo. Even pheasants and ibises, which could work as habitat animals in a video game, could easily get variety as a WE animal. Even if these WE's were added, there is not enough variety in the selection of habitat birds. At least one wader for Africa and maybe guineafowl/hornbills/secretary would be needed. At least 2 for SA, something colorful from the tropics and probably a rhea, seem essential. NA and Europe also need at least one, a wild turkey and a swan would be good for me. Kiwi are iconic for New Zealand, and even Asia could probably use another. Pelicans and waterfowl are big holes in the roster. Another penguin or two would not hurt. It goes on and on... I think about 10 are needed to make the selection seem reasonable, but more would be better. This might be low for some players, but I am not the biggest fan of birds. I also don't usually see too many birds per zoo in habitats (though I've seen decent variety overall), and the heaviest hitters (peafowl, ratites, penguins, and flamingos) already have some representation. The biggest thing missing is something funky with long legs from Africa, and I would pick the grey crowned crane first to fill this role. There should probably be more than one for that niche, though.

Carnivorans:
You've got me; I'm a carnivorans fan. These tend to be some of the most iconic zoo animals, big or small. Most of them are critical for local zoo rep, and this group can be subdivided into many interesting categories that are recognizable even to children and require vastly different habitat designs. Small-sized small cats are hurting the most for me. I usually see a few of these per zoo, but I don't think too many are needed to correct this. The top 3, ocelot, serval, and Pallas's, would go a long way towards fixing this gap, and the fishing, sand, and bob-cat would be nice, too. I see them all of the time, and they would be fun to build for. Musteloids aren't as common for me, but some of their most iconic members (wolverine, coati, honey badger, and sea otter) are missing, and the first two are highly requested. Martens would be pretty cool as well. I want to see all of the bear species (which often form centerpieces of local rep) and maybe the Eurasian Brown, too. I'm kind of done with big cats, but eventually, I might not mind a new model of some of them. Dogs aren't really hurting right now, but there are still a few decent choices among them, mainly the jackal for me. While I'm pretty good with pinnipeds, the walrus has a decent chance of making it, and possibly something else. Civets is the last group, and both the African and something from Asia might be good. They aren't as high-priority for me.

Ungulates:
We have a lot of them, and most of the categories seem pretty good. Goats have the most missing right now. The musk ox, markhor, and takin are standout favorites, and I think at least one desert, something better-known from NA (I live here and I didn't know the Dall Sheep existed. I would really like the Bighorn.), and a variety pick for Europe (chamois or mouflon) would be very nice as well. Antelope and other bovids aren't hurting in general, but at least 2, maybe even 4, from Asia are essential, especially the blackbuck. The addax is also really cool, and some variety picks (something small from Africa, a kudu or eland, and maybe a hartebeest) would be nice for the African savannah. Most think a peccary and wild boar are close to, if not, essential. A small deer with fangs from Asia, and a deer from SA are critical. A lot of zoos will have one of Asia's vampire deer, and there are a bunch of choices from SA. A normal non-Moose/Reindeer from NA, wapiti or white-tailed, would be nice, too. I'm happy enough with the other groups, with one glaring exception. A dromedary camel is needed. It represents the Middle East, is iconic, and common in zoos.

Other:
Rodents and similar small mammals have one main player missing, the Crested Porcupine. A mara and a new world porcupine also seem essential, but even they do not compare. Springhare are cool, and rock hyraxes, marmots, and rabbits don't seem like bad choices. I'm not sure rabbits are worth the effort though. Tamanduas ought to be in the game, especially after sloths were put into a habitat. The Tasmanian Devil and Tree Kangaroo are the most important missing marsupials, and I would say echidnas are essential as well. A rock wallaby would have different behaviors, colors, and habitat. There are some cool smaller picks (Bilby, spotted cuscus, possum, etc.) as well, but I'm not sure what would work best. Non-croc reptiles have kind of low representation, but I usually see them in exhibits or really small enclosures anyway. A tegu and an Australian monitor would be good. Africa could probably use a croc, and I have a soft spot for the cute, little Chinese Alligator. I kind of want a spurred tortoise, but it isn't quite essential. A sea turtle is my favorite, mostly from ZT2 nostalgia. The "giant" tortoises are so small that a mid-sized one would make them look even more weird, but I'm open to them if the "bigger" ones are scaled up. I see a lot of pond turtles in zoos. While I don't anticipate their inclusion, especially as habitat animals, a few prop turtles would be good to place on submerged logs. I would buy and probably be excited for an exhibit expansion with mostly reptiles. I was looking at lizard taxonomically recently, and it has opened my eyes to many great options. My favorites include the Thorny Devil, Emerald Tree Boa, Cobra, Chameleon, Egyptian tortoise, leaf-tailed gecko and Philippine Sailfin Dragon. The orchid mantis, hermit crab, and the emerald swallowtail would be good for invertebrates.

 

[NZFanatic]

If we're ignoring likelihood, then there's a few things I'd like to see:

• A dedicated 7+1 animal pack for primates only. I'm talking a full DLC of monkeys, basically. The exhibit animal could be a slow loris or something for the WE, I don't know, but at this point it feels completely necessary.
• Something with a strong focus on New Zealand. I don't need a dedicated themed set, but I want the North Island brown kiwi, the tuatara, the little blue penguin, and the kea in the walkthrough exhibit, and some NZ foliage. I also desperately want them to change NZ's biome on the front-end globe to be completely temperate so I can actually use it.
• A fully-gridded building set, either in chain-link or square mesh (or ideally both) that includes roof pieces and everything. This would massively simplify building enclosed habitats for those of us who simply do not have the willpower necessary to mess around with the non-gridded prop fences.
• A complete exhibit animal DLC with perhaps twenty species in it. I don't even care if none of them are WE animals, there are just so many exhibit species I feel are missing that I'd like to see, including some real basic ones (leopard gecko, bearded dragon, day gecko, hissing cockroach, giant mantis, etc.).
• And at the very bottom end of realism:
  • Overhaul some (maybe even most) of the base game animals.
  • Rebuild the orangutan from scratch with its own unique rig and animations separate from the other great apes.
  • Put the koala on the exhibit market and give me the option to make it a WE animal.

 

[Fossa]

Also re-work some animal models like lion and tapir, resize gemsbok and other animals, ibex aren’t bigger than gemsbok at all, and that okapi is too small

 

[peafowl]

Birds. Particularily habitat birds. I dont actually care if we never get flying birds. I just want some real volume of birds. I miss their colors and sounds in my zoos. Theyre my favorite part of the animal kingdom.

Then i'd like an update on the lion, zebra, nile monitor, cheetah, base game bears and orangutan models. In that order.

 

[YesIndeed]

Austrlian habitat lizard -
this is all I really need to make a realistic zoo in austrlia. Though an echidna and tassie devil are also really big wants of mine this one feels the most in important for the area.

More old world monkeys -
While new world monkeys are more needed at the moment I could get 2 more, like a howler and spider, and be satisfied with that. On the other hand I love old world monkeys. I would say a baboon, 2nd macaque and colobus monkey are essential. But I want snub nosed and De brazzas moneky as well. I just want lots more monkeys.

Just the peccary -
I'm saying this as its the only North American animal I want. The continent has had 3 pack focused on it! I really just want peccary in desert/drylands pack and be done with it. Actually I do also want tge Wolverine but that's not exclusively North American.