This is Part 3 and today the Divisions will be our primary focus emphasizing the distinction in their identities and the gameplay systems associated with them.
Reinforcing Division Identity
Now that's out of the way, the crux of this topic will focus on strengthening and reinforcing the identity and themes associated with each division. Major gameplay systems and features will be tied to each of the three divisions to incentivize players to experiment with each. The contract system will be greatly improved in the process leading to a more compelling experience. Replayability is what I hope we ultimately get out of these changes as players are challenged to manage a litany of problems in their parks requiring tools possessed by each of the 3 divisions.
Science Division
Science Center
You'll receive the Science Center for completing the Science Mission on Isla Sorna. It naturally attracts guests with a taste for more authenticity from your biological attractions. It has a high prestige rating, 20% reduction in research costs, (does not stack) and 10% Genetic Points cost reduction for all areas of operation on the island.
Limit of 1 per island
Paleobotany
Beginning with the Paleobotany, the current implementation is a good start, but that is about it. Sure we get some extra dino ratings although that really isn't accomplishing much. Just getting it out of the way now, there is no unlock for the Greenhouse, you'll get it by default when you start a new game, only the upgrades and some of the plant options will need reputation unlocks. The reputation unlocks are for both the Science & Entertainment Divisions.
Now let's take the sick Triceratops from the film and try to incorporate that concept into the game. Instead of rewarding you with just some bonus ratings, paleobotany should play an important role in their health. Feed an animal a poor choice of food and you could cause a "Rapid Stress Response" in your herbivores which might want to break out, or you could inadvertently cause them to come down with a foodborne illness.
Right now, we have too much emphasis on the carnivores being a threat. You should have to keep an eye on your herbivores as well for reasons other than its picky because of the population or lack of trees. Obviously there is a good balance here, feeders will have their place even with the addition of "grazing" behavior. Thus, I propose we just need to trash regular herbivore feeders outright. Every herbivore feeder would automatically be a paleofeeder which is also why its a necessity that herbivores graze.
Dinosaurs that graze only will have poor nutrition consuming just enough to keep themselves alive. This poor nutrition would mean herbivores are vastly more susceptible to diseases as a result, thus you are encouraged to invest in healthier paleofeeder options best suited to their needs. The animals already have preferences in foods and susceptibilities, so instead of disease being random let's make you understand why your dinosaurs are falling ill in the first place. Combine this with the addition of new scenery items you get from the Entertainment Division, you would actually have more control over your animals' habitats. Choose looks over health and you may have a problem on your hands. Say, a Torosaurus is getting sick because it keeps grazing on vegetation that it's susceptible to or it is starving since it refuses to eat certain things and is growing weak and agitated.
I also want to note that I propose the addition of a "Scavenger" behavior into the game as well which would also present a disease risk for carnivores, its noteworthy but much less involved than the Paleobotany system. Basically only a risk if you have a lot of dead things lying around or you got something nasty like a Compy which eats feces spreading disease around. Disease is a really fascinating feature that has a lot of potential. I think disease can be a symbiotic feature that plays off of others systems with Paleobotany serving as a great example of this mutually symbiotic system.
It would also be great if you had to have a plot of land to grow the crops for your feeders as well. Keep the crops near the Greenhouse(s), so you always have a stock of food to refill your paleofeeders. Heatwaves and Blizzards would be devastating disaster events as they can kill your crops. Again, I want to reiterate the symbiotic relationship between Science & Entertainment on Paleobotany, the Scenery Items can be a boon to the Paleobotany system or it can be what undermines you. When your animals graze, those Scenery Items will be factored in, it can make them sick. So, please take into account your herbivore's dislikes as those tend to be because those plants are poisonous or harmful to them.
Conversely, Scenery items might be plants/trees that your herbivores would enjoy feeding from while mitigating your reliance on growing foods in crops and greenhouses. It's a balance of give and take, presentation versus quality of life. Besides the scenery items, the Entertainment Division also has some paleofeed unlocks you can grow in your Greenhouses to hammer home the relationship these two divisions share in this space.
Veterinarian Clinic
The absence of a vet has long been a missed opportunity in Jurassic, park builders. This has reduced disease to a simple feature that is little more than an inconvenience than a real threat. By introducing a vet we can rectify that problem, disease no longer as to be simple and overlooked as there is a built-in countermeasure now. All medical treatments would be moved from the Research Center to the Veterinarian Clinic. This would be an early unlock from the Science Division, think first 1-2 unlocks on Isla Matanceros and building one would be part of a mission objective to make sure new players at least have access to the building.
In my prior segments I discussed Genetic Points, this is arguably one of the most crucial areas they play a role. You can't just get away with throwing money at a problem to make it go away. The medical researches have a long research period, and they require a secondary resource. You need to invest money and spend Genetic Points to obtain new medical treatments. This in general means its going to take a while to be able to get all of your treatments, so you want to plan ahead and around the susceptibilities the species you plan to create have, and you'll also need to balance how you use your dig teams to collect enough genetic points. You can queue up 3 researches at a time, so long as you have the genetic points you need on hand.
Additionally, depending on the need for veterinary services these are among your options.
Illnesses
Any medical condition that involves disease, ingestion of poisons, etc. are illnesses. The simple solution is there provided you have the money and genetic points on hand, you can research treatments or cures for illnesses your dinosaurs. You need to follow a couple of steps beginning with deploying a Ranger Team to take samples from sick dinosaurs or corpses. Next, the samples will be taken to the Veterinarian Clinic for analysis which identifies the disease, for you to research. Finally you will need to purchase and stock medicated darts at the Supply Shed for your Rangers to administer the treatments. A number of unique factors can inflict illness on your dinosaurs. (e.g. weather, ingestion, contagious disease)
Injuries are handled differently since these involve physical bodily harm. Dinosaurs needing treatment for injuries will have to be brought to the veterinarian clinic for mending of their wounds. You'll have to tranquilize the injured animal initially, but the transportation is going to be a little different. You cannot use the ACU helicopter to transport an injured dinosaur, (upgrade possibility) as this can further harm the animal. Instead, you will need to send a ground-based transport (destructible) to pick up the animal and escort it to the veterinarian's clinic for treatment.
Vaccinations
A preventative measure for disease, you will be able to administer vaccinations to your dinosaurs after you have researched a particular condition. It will be up to your Rangers for the delivery of the vaccines. A late-game upgrade (Sorna) may allow you to vaccinate dinosaurs while Incubating in the Hammond Creation Lab to reduce the number of tasks you must manage.
Supply Shed
It's also recommended you have at least 1 supply shed near your enclosures, these will store medicated darts and foods for your Paleo feeders. You need to send your rangers to resupply the sheds occasionally, but you can schedule automatic feeder refills or vaccinations from here. This is an old idea I am bringing forward, but unlimited tranquilizers and medicated darts aren't very engaging, so there will be a limit to the number of tranquilizers/medicated darts per shed. You can work around this by having more enclosures near your supply sheds or building more sheds in general.
Rangers will pull ammunition from the closest shed to the Ranger Station they belong to and will continue to pull supplies until the task is complete or they have emptied every supply shed on the island. Reload Speed might actually have some relevance as a byproduct, you don't want to whiff your tranquilizers/darts since they can be expense and in limited quantities. Additionally, manual use of the dart gun is an alternative if you are confident with your aim.
Genetic Modifications
The most basic genetic modifications will be unlocked by default on Matanceros, levels 2.0, 3.0, etc. may be available by default with subsequent island unlocks. Cosmetic modifications will be split between the Science & Entertainment Divisions as reputation rewards. Modifications to the Hammond Creation Lab and other more unique modifications will be tied to the Science Division exclusively. Hybrid Research projects and Mission Objectives will be the exception, but may have prerequisites that are tied to Science reputation unlocks.
The Research Center is also going to be more oriented towards the Science Division, it will still house a few general upgrades though like for the Fossil & Expedition Centers. For the actual modifications themselves to retain their value, Genetic Points will be required to apply them. Part 1 covers Genetic Points, and Part 5 goes into more depth of the Genetics System.
Fossil & Expedition Center Support
The Science division plays an important role in almost all functions of any park. Never is this more apparent than the research required to make full use of the Fossil & Expedition Centers. Your standard upgrades for each building are unlocked through the Science Division and require a Research Center which is now decisively more concentrated on Science.
As was noted in Part 1, a special extraction process is required to purify contaminated fossils. This purified extraction process requires an unlock from the Science Division on Matanceros, so it is readily accessible like the Veterinarian Clinic and Greenhouse; however, the success rate upgrades require a commitment to the Science Division across islands. An un-upgraded extraction process leaves little room for successful purification.
Considering the time and costs associated with this process, it has the byproduct of making both "Research Speed" and especially the much overlooked "Research Cost" upgrades vastly more appealing. Also, similar to the Dig Teams, multiple Research Teams can be used to speed up completion of a research item. In contrast to the dig teams, however, your Research Teams can stack with the Research Speed upgrade, this is thanks to how long some research takes, and is further balanced by Genetic Points being the bigger limiting factor.
Security Division
Security Center
The Security Center is now a building you have by default when starting on Matanceros. It is the Security Division's equivalent of the Research Center thus housing all upgrades and research related to the ACU/Hunters, Rangers, Fencing, Electrical infrastructure, etc. Upon completing the Security Mission on Isla Sorna, you'll unlock some beneficial bonuses. You'll attract more guests that are Thrill Seekers to your park, high prestige rating for having one, 15% reduction in power usage and 10% cost reduction in hiring personnel, repairing & replacing damaged/destroyed vehicles.
Limit 1 per island
ACU & Ranger Teams
The upgrades kind of fall under here already, but an expansion to the ACU is something I have advocated for a long time. They really don't feel like they do or contribute that much, its just the safe and easy way to tranquilize dinosaurs and before that it was the mandatory options to tranquilize dinosaurs. However, if we are talking Compy swarms or functional pterosaurs manually tranquilizing them is out of the question and the Rangers aren't going to be able to do much better. A deployable ACU Ground Team or two would be necessary for clean-up operations for these use case scenarios, for Jurassic Park era you can have InGen Hunters as your equivalent. They'll both use cattle prods and can deploy electrified netting.
Vehicle Maintenance Depot
Inspired partially by a cut building from JPOG, and also the nonsensically cheap and easy ability to replace destroyed Ranger vehicles, this building has quite the role. Pterosaurs, carnivore breakouts, disasters, and dangerous mission objectives; there has never been a time where destructible vehicles are more important than now. Weakening the safety net that is the ACU helicopter, making them destructible, and the myriad of situations your Rangers/Hunters/Ground Teams are faced with comes
at a cost. You can't just leave those destroyed vehicles in enclosures, and your damaged vehicles won't just repair themselves.
For a scaling (based on % damage) monetary fee and a comparable length of time on cooldown, your vehicles will be repaired and made available for your personnel's uses once again. This also applies to tour vehicles, medical transports, helicopters, gyrospheres, etc. that are damaged by storms, reckless driving, or attacked by dinosaurs. The maintenance depot has limited support bays for repairs, so don't be reckless with your vehicles. Moreover, if a vehicle is destroyed, you will pay a handsome fee at the maintenance depot for a replacement coupled with a very long cooldown. Every vehicle in your arsenal is valuable, so it's best not to take them for granted.
Electrical Systems
Similarly, I figured we could at minimum expand the electrical system to at least having backup generators as a fail safe. If we want to take it further, running very expensive underground power cables is also a mitigation option for disasters and inclement weather rather than the powerlines above ground. There are some clear downsides to them: the backup generators are expensive, you'll need to keep them protected so a storm wouldn't damage them, and they only restore power for a limited amount of time requiring you to fix your power stations. The underground cabling is a bit more resilient but is super expensive and you will run into more terrain constraints where you can run it.
Fencing Upgrades
Return to Jurassic Park introduced some changes to the in-game fencing that were honestly missed opportunities. The chain link added to the bottom of all the Cable fencing types and the Anti-Climb added to the Light & Heavy Cable fences specifically. The former was presumably added thanks to the Compsognathus being so small it could reasonably be assumed it could just scurry out from an enclosure and the latter seemingly for the purpose of the Jurassic aesthetic only. Instead of binding these strictly to those cable fences, why not require them to be upgrades that are unlockable through reputation with the Security Division?
Chain Link would be a necessary upgrade if you wanted to confine Compies in an enclosure whereas Anti-Climb would be a useful tool to help you prevent Velociraptors and other Dromaeosaurs from escaping their enclosures. Additionally, I would like to propose a Glass Shielding upgrade, this would be essential for enclosures with Dilophosaurus which can spit venom at a range.
Cyber Security Systems
Moving beyond the electrical system we get into Cybersecurity buildings which house research or apply a radius of coverage to nearby buildings similar to a Storm Defense Station. Basically, the Research Center is too central, some research can only be accessible from other structures like a "Cybersecurity Center" which will have research like firewalls and data encryption. You can also modify existing buildings by attaching add-ons that project a radius around them. Unlike the Storm Defense Station though this would almost always work to prevent the espionage.
Weather Systems
Speaking of the Storm Defense Station (SDS), its biggest problem is that it's role simply isn't clear and it fails to do either of the tasks its supposed to do. It alerts you of storms basically when its too late to respond and it barely does anything to shield your buildings from damage. So, why don't we just give it and the Advanced Storm Defense Station (ASDS) separate roles. The regular Storm Defense Station will give you audible warnings before bad weather strikes and there is a calendar if you click on the building to check the forecast. The Advanced Storm Defense Station will provide protection to buildings while retaining its higher protection threshold. This would grant more utility in having a SDS
Additionally, I am recommending a new upgrade called "Storm Rotors" for the ACU helicopter. This upgrade would allow the ACU helicopter to operate in high winds and storm conditions. Naturally, this also means taking away this ability from the ACU by default. Storms are unfriendly for ACU flights, either grounding them (twister) or causing such an obstacle that you can't really fly through easily (Thunderstorm) similar to how the Jeep responds when its too close to a twister, its movement is impaired and it gets flung around. The storm rotors are a Security Division unlock on Pena and allow your ACU to operate during these weather conditions.
This change is only possible thanks to the shared functionality with the Ranger teams who will primarily be responsible for disaster responses before Storm Rotors are available.
New Buildings, Structures, & Upgrades
Entertainment Division
Innovation Center
You won't receive the Innovation Center until completing the Entertainment mission on Isla Sorna. This building grants the most prestige of any building/decoration in the game. Additionally, ticket sales increase by 20% (does not stack), guest facilities (hotels/restrooms) and attraction operating costs are slashed by 15% (does not stack). Guests with a more ubiquitous interest in dinosaurs are attracted to your park. It takes a long time to reach, but it is a massive boon to your park's operations thereafter often being a permanent fixture. Limit 1 per island
Aviary
This one is expected and everyone has been asking for it for ages. Return to Jurassic Park kind of teased us with a static building and a few Pteranodons that fly around inside it with looped animations. Looks rather gorgeous, but aside from being an impressive set piece, there isn't much to do with it. This likely due to limitations of the Cobra Engine that needs upgrading, but think of the gameplay possibilities. I already touched on this as part of the Security Division, but imagine the unique method of interacting with pterosaurs.
Manually darting these guys will be a pain, so that ACU Ground Team would come in handy since instead of one derpy AI or frustrating yourself trying to manually dart them, you have multiple smaller units doing it for you. They are vulnerable to being attacked by the pterosaurs themselves, but that is just the inherent risk involved and you need to be ready were the Aviary to be broken open. Naturally they could also attack your guests Jurassic World style and that kind of interactivity is much more significant than them just flying into the abyss if the Aviary is busted.
Beyond that, of course, we can have:
Putting the animals themselves aside, being able to customize the look and feel of the Aviary itself would be massive. No two aviaries would look the same, you could also have the Lost World and Jurassic World variants of Pteranodon. Simply being able to place down rock pillars, rivers, perches, covered pathways, etc. for your guests inside the aviary would be more than satisfying.
There are other behavioral additions that would make them even more interesting due to their flight capabilities. Fish feeders are an option, but akin to herbivores' grazing, the rivers in the Aviary could be teeming with fish or what if water sources in general could have aquatic life. So, maybe your flying reptiles don't always want to attack your guests, they could go fishing, attack small herbivores that might fall prey to them, or find themselves on the receiving end of the jaws of a large carnivore.
We might not traditionally think of it this way, but there is potential for some form of pack hunting as well where they will hover above and dive for easy pickings at young, elderly, and ill dinosaurs. Other gameplay interactions could be Pterosaurs perching on guest facilities and buildings intimidating and disorienting guests. The Pteratops Lodge from the novel could make a comeback as a guest attraction, and your Jungle Cruises could cut through an Aviary, this would guarantee more guest interaction with Pterosaurs and the broader flying reptiles.
This is ultimately the experience I am looking for, no matter what you choose to do in the game, there will be some sort of unique behavior and interactions to be had, this is a huge boon for replayability as a whole and for content creators to keep the game relevant and fresh for years to come.
Aquatic Hatchery
The other major feature request is, of course, aquatic reptiles. A much bigger deal than the Aviary, the fundamental way water and terrain is handled in the game would need reworking just for this to actually be a feature. We are talking an entirely distinct set of buildings to support this feature something we kind of skirt around by having a large Aviary with everything contained within it. For starters, terrain tools would need some massive overhauls for these kind of things to even occur. Water is currently shallow in the game and the tools far too imprecise for the kind of control needed for this kind of addition.
Water will need to have options for regulating depth and special buildings built for this deep water. They'll need their own hatchery, flood walls, fencing, feeders, attractions, and scenery items. After that its mostly about the animals themselves and how we address certain situations involving them. Here are some aquatic reptile examples:
The addition of a Flash Flood as a possible disaster is tailored for aquatic reptiles. Dynamically being able to expand the reach of the deep waters could lead to some real chaos that ravages everything you've built along shorelines. Having special attractions like a feeding show similar to the Mosasurus would really make these stand out compared to most exhibits where you can just see your creatures wandering around, these feel more like an event. Above ground exhibits similar to a giant aquarium is one possibility or you could have submarine attractions where you can follow them more closely in their natural habitat. Though with everything I always want to add a little more chaos potential with these additions.
So, this might seem like a chore, but it could lead to some interesting breakouts. Why not introduce something like aquatic cleaners to keep the waters clear? The lack of clear waters can hurt guest visibility but it would also pose risks to your animals. They can get diseases from harmful algae growth or they could become infected with parasites. Here your only option for treatment would be through medicated aquatic feeders or environmental changes. Cleaners would, therefore, be quite important, you might need to deploy filter add-ons in the exhibits to keep them clean and get rid of nasty microorganisms. The aforementioned conditions could also lead to your standard loss of comfort and therefore agitation and desire to breakout. Not only would they be a threat, but maybe they could actually swim out to the ocean if the exhibit is tied to it. Makes more sense for something aquatic to be able to simply get out and disappear from an island than for a pteranodon to actually fly away.
This sort of risk also means replacement of aquatic organisms and much stronger emphasis on location when it comes to building these kinds of enclosures. The aquatic attractions also puts a lot of guests up really close to these animals, so the threat is not neglible. Another idea is the presence of invasive species, not only do you need to keep their exhibits clean and manage social/population needs, but you got to be careful about what kind of aquatic specimens might live in the bodies of water you build your exhibits in. Those species could wind up contaminating your reptiles' food, raising acidity levels of the water/depleting them of nutrients; or, if ignored, they could actually kill your marine reptiles.
It gets more complicated though as I'd also want to introduce different guest entrance types. Right now we have monorails and helipads, but for this purpose I would also like to note the potential of having docks. Now you got a major guest entrance fairly near to where you'd want to have aquatic reptiles. The waters themselves could also be affected by weather, a Heatwave could cause water levels to drop, a lot of rainfall or Thunderstorms could cause the opposite to happen with water levels rising.
Finally, as with the Aviary, your aquatic enclosures would have their own scenery items and decorative pieces tailored to them. It's almost like two different games in one, there is overwhelming potential to grow this system into the future.
Attractions, Decorations, & Scenery Items
I'll keep this more brief, these items are specifically for supporting the Aquatic and Flying Reptiles, there will be a segment later where I will go more into the details of guest behavior, general attractions, etc.
New Buildings & Structures
Okay, this was just a brief guideline, so you get the idea. Some are pretty self-explanatory and others not so much. Some are exactly what the contract asks and some are categories.
Lambert
Lambert's contracts all involve areas directly correlated with his division's unlocks and overall security. So, he will offer contracts to prompt you to research and equip Power Stations with Outage Protection or to build Backup Generators. He'll want you to build a Cyber Security Center, storm defense stations, and guest shelters to keep things in order. When he isn't trying to give you a contract to resolve an immediate problem he will request you to purchase ACU/Ranger teams, research and equip upgrades, to keep a certain stock of tranquilizer darts on hand, or to upgrade your fences. Preparedness is his secondary objective when its not about resolving an impending crisis.
Execution of Lambert's ulterior motives will play out with his missions rather than contract offerings. There is more impact from this shift and your gameplay experience will thematically align better with his role as Head of Security.
Isaac
Isaac is actually the guy you got to watch out for more than the other two. In his pursuit for ever more profits, he tends to get carried away and suggest very bad ideas. Guests love very large carnivores particular the T-Rex, all the super famous and well-known dinosaurs bring in crowds, and he will constantly be asking you to incubate and introduce often very dangerous animals to the park. He'll want them to be a certain rating which heavily implies you will have to genetically modify them which comes with its own host of unintentional risk.
At his worst, Isaac will essentially want you to start up a Dinosaur Battle Royale and have them fight to the death. He will be the guy who is all for a Tyrannosaurus vs. Spinosaurus battle just for the ticket sales it will bring, his last attraction unlock will also be the Pachy Arena to show that progression where spectacle eclipses safety and ethics.
Half the time Isaac is a pretty moderate guy who just wants you to spruce things up and get the park running, but once it gets large enough, he will ask for increasingly more dangerous things to chase profits. He will encourage this reckless behavior as he has very lucrative and over the top unlocks and his cash rewards are much greater than what Lambert or Dua will offer you.
Dua
Dua, in contrast, to her peers is more of a pacifist. Most of the time she wants things very natural and is very conscious about the health and well-being of the animals. It's important for research purposes that they are all kept in good health. So, expect a lot of vaccination contracts and Fossil & Paleobotany requests. Sometimes this behavior of hers will lead to her asking you to modify dinosaurs to test some hypothesis or address a problem and wind up introducing what could be a bigger problem, one that is much more subtle than the bombastic approach of Isaac.
Dua is largely the same character, but her arrogance gradually unfolds with the mission objectives and that will be reflected in some of the contracts she will start to offer. She'll have that classic playing god thing going on after she sees some success. Expect a grown in the number of genetic modifications and a more twisted view of a recreation of nature. Basically, her perfect ecosystem in her Sorna mission, but with more amped up and modified creatures causing a bloodbath.
Muerta
Tacaño
Pena
Sorna
The Entertainment Division is kind of your standard park builder playstyle, so it isn't going to be that different than what you expect. Instead, I just tried to give the unlocks for those sorts of things to the Entertainment Division while the Science and Security divisions play more of a supporting role in what you can do to help make the most successful park. There is also room for deviation f you prefer by courting favor with the Science & Security division. Science could enable you to build more natural park while the Security Division can give you more tools to establish control in your park. If you are up for it, you can also try to balance all 3 for a more optimal experience. There are many challenges to face, different ways to tackle them, and risks involved that will be left up to the player.
In Part 4 I will cover Dinosaur AI & Behavior.
Reinforcing Division Identity
- Sabotage Risk
- Division Features
- Contracts
- Mission Objectives
Now that's out of the way, the crux of this topic will focus on strengthening and reinforcing the identity and themes associated with each division. Major gameplay systems and features will be tied to each of the three divisions to incentivize players to experiment with each. The contract system will be greatly improved in the process leading to a more compelling experience. Replayability is what I hope we ultimately get out of these changes as players are challenged to manage a litany of problems in their parks requiring tools possessed by each of the 3 divisions.
Science | Entertainment | Security |
Veterinarian Clinic | Aviary | Cyber Security Center |
Paleobotany (overhaul) | Aquatic Hatchery | Fencing Upgrades |
Supply Shed | Guest Attractions | Electrical Infrastructure |
Genetic Modifications | Decorations | ACU & Ranger Team Upgrades |
Fossil & Expedition Center Support | Scenery Items | Weather Systems |
Pretty straightforward, never needed to be too complex just thematically relevant to what each is supposed to represent. Science & Security receive new systems for medical treatment and cybersecurity measures while the Entertainment Division would be the recipient of all the usual park and guest management systems as well as providing access to a fully functional Aviary and Aquatic Hatcheries for your park.
Shifting gears a bit, let's just go into each division individually for specifics.
Shifting gears a bit, let's just go into each division individually for specifics.
Science Division
- Science Center (new role)
- Paleobotany (Greenhouse)
- Medical research (Veterinarian)
- Supply Shed (new)
- Genetic Modifications
- Fossil/Expedition Center Support (new)
Science Center
You'll receive the Science Center for completing the Science Mission on Isla Sorna. It naturally attracts guests with a taste for more authenticity from your biological attractions. It has a high prestige rating, 20% reduction in research costs, (does not stack) and 10% Genetic Points cost reduction for all areas of operation on the island.
Limit of 1 per island
Paleobotany
Beginning with the Paleobotany, the current implementation is a good start, but that is about it. Sure we get some extra dino ratings although that really isn't accomplishing much. Just getting it out of the way now, there is no unlock for the Greenhouse, you'll get it by default when you start a new game, only the upgrades and some of the plant options will need reputation unlocks. The reputation unlocks are for both the Science & Entertainment Divisions.
Now let's take the sick Triceratops from the film and try to incorporate that concept into the game. Instead of rewarding you with just some bonus ratings, paleobotany should play an important role in their health. Feed an animal a poor choice of food and you could cause a "Rapid Stress Response" in your herbivores which might want to break out, or you could inadvertently cause them to come down with a foodborne illness.
Right now, we have too much emphasis on the carnivores being a threat. You should have to keep an eye on your herbivores as well for reasons other than its picky because of the population or lack of trees. Obviously there is a good balance here, feeders will have their place even with the addition of "grazing" behavior. Thus, I propose we just need to trash regular herbivore feeders outright. Every herbivore feeder would automatically be a paleofeeder which is also why its a necessity that herbivores graze.
Dinosaurs that graze only will have poor nutrition consuming just enough to keep themselves alive. This poor nutrition would mean herbivores are vastly more susceptible to diseases as a result, thus you are encouraged to invest in healthier paleofeeder options best suited to their needs. The animals already have preferences in foods and susceptibilities, so instead of disease being random let's make you understand why your dinosaurs are falling ill in the first place. Combine this with the addition of new scenery items you get from the Entertainment Division, you would actually have more control over your animals' habitats. Choose looks over health and you may have a problem on your hands. Say, a Torosaurus is getting sick because it keeps grazing on vegetation that it's susceptible to or it is starving since it refuses to eat certain things and is growing weak and agitated.
I also want to note that I propose the addition of a "Scavenger" behavior into the game as well which would also present a disease risk for carnivores, its noteworthy but much less involved than the Paleobotany system. Basically only a risk if you have a lot of dead things lying around or you got something nasty like a Compy which eats feces spreading disease around. Disease is a really fascinating feature that has a lot of potential. I think disease can be a symbiotic feature that plays off of others systems with Paleobotany serving as a great example of this mutually symbiotic system.
It would also be great if you had to have a plot of land to grow the crops for your feeders as well. Keep the crops near the Greenhouse(s), so you always have a stock of food to refill your paleofeeders. Heatwaves and Blizzards would be devastating disaster events as they can kill your crops. Again, I want to reiterate the symbiotic relationship between Science & Entertainment on Paleobotany, the Scenery Items can be a boon to the Paleobotany system or it can be what undermines you. When your animals graze, those Scenery Items will be factored in, it can make them sick. So, please take into account your herbivore's dislikes as those tend to be because those plants are poisonous or harmful to them.
Conversely, Scenery items might be plants/trees that your herbivores would enjoy feeding from while mitigating your reliance on growing foods in crops and greenhouses. It's a balance of give and take, presentation versus quality of life. Besides the scenery items, the Entertainment Division also has some paleofeed unlocks you can grow in your Greenhouses to hammer home the relationship these two divisions share in this space.
Veterinarian Clinic
The absence of a vet has long been a missed opportunity in Jurassic, park builders. This has reduced disease to a simple feature that is little more than an inconvenience than a real threat. By introducing a vet we can rectify that problem, disease no longer as to be simple and overlooked as there is a built-in countermeasure now. All medical treatments would be moved from the Research Center to the Veterinarian Clinic. This would be an early unlock from the Science Division, think first 1-2 unlocks on Isla Matanceros and building one would be part of a mission objective to make sure new players at least have access to the building.
In my prior segments I discussed Genetic Points, this is arguably one of the most crucial areas they play a role. You can't just get away with throwing money at a problem to make it go away. The medical researches have a long research period, and they require a secondary resource. You need to invest money and spend Genetic Points to obtain new medical treatments. This in general means its going to take a while to be able to get all of your treatments, so you want to plan ahead and around the susceptibilities the species you plan to create have, and you'll also need to balance how you use your dig teams to collect enough genetic points. You can queue up 3 researches at a time, so long as you have the genetic points you need on hand.
Additionally, depending on the need for veterinary services these are among your options.
Illnesses
Any medical condition that involves disease, ingestion of poisons, etc. are illnesses. The simple solution is there provided you have the money and genetic points on hand, you can research treatments or cures for illnesses your dinosaurs. You need to follow a couple of steps beginning with deploying a Ranger Team to take samples from sick dinosaurs or corpses. Next, the samples will be taken to the Veterinarian Clinic for analysis which identifies the disease, for you to research. Finally you will need to purchase and stock medicated darts at the Supply Shed for your Rangers to administer the treatments. A number of unique factors can inflict illness on your dinosaurs. (e.g. weather, ingestion, contagious disease)
- Rangers take samples of sick/dead animals (requires tranquilization)
- Analysis will be on a timer occurring at the Veterinarian Clinic
- Research the treatment or cure
- Rangers use medicated darts stocked in the Supply Shed(s)
Injuries are handled differently since these involve physical bodily harm. Dinosaurs needing treatment for injuries will have to be brought to the veterinarian clinic for mending of their wounds. You'll have to tranquilize the injured animal initially, but the transportation is going to be a little different. You cannot use the ACU helicopter to transport an injured dinosaur, (upgrade possibility) as this can further harm the animal. Instead, you will need to send a ground-based transport (destructible) to pick up the animal and escort it to the veterinarian's clinic for treatment.
Vaccinations
A preventative measure for disease, you will be able to administer vaccinations to your dinosaurs after you have researched a particular condition. It will be up to your Rangers for the delivery of the vaccines. A late-game upgrade (Sorna) may allow you to vaccinate dinosaurs while Incubating in the Hammond Creation Lab to reduce the number of tasks you must manage.
Supply Shed
It's also recommended you have at least 1 supply shed near your enclosures, these will store medicated darts and foods for your Paleo feeders. You need to send your rangers to resupply the sheds occasionally, but you can schedule automatic feeder refills or vaccinations from here. This is an old idea I am bringing forward, but unlimited tranquilizers and medicated darts aren't very engaging, so there will be a limit to the number of tranquilizers/medicated darts per shed. You can work around this by having more enclosures near your supply sheds or building more sheds in general.
Rangers will pull ammunition from the closest shed to the Ranger Station they belong to and will continue to pull supplies until the task is complete or they have emptied every supply shed on the island. Reload Speed might actually have some relevance as a byproduct, you don't want to whiff your tranquilizers/darts since they can be expense and in limited quantities. Additionally, manual use of the dart gun is an alternative if you are confident with your aim.
- Automated Feeder Resupply Scheduler
- Automated Vaccination Scheduler
- Rangers must periodically resupply shed(s)
- Tranquilizers/Medicated Darts are in limited purchasable quantities
Genetic Modifications
The most basic genetic modifications will be unlocked by default on Matanceros, levels 2.0, 3.0, etc. may be available by default with subsequent island unlocks. Cosmetic modifications will be split between the Science & Entertainment Divisions as reputation rewards. Modifications to the Hammond Creation Lab and other more unique modifications will be tied to the Science Division exclusively. Hybrid Research projects and Mission Objectives will be the exception, but may have prerequisites that are tied to Science reputation unlocks.
The Research Center is also going to be more oriented towards the Science Division, it will still house a few general upgrades though like for the Fossil & Expedition Centers. For the actual modifications themselves to retain their value, Genetic Points will be required to apply them. Part 1 covers Genetic Points, and Part 5 goes into more depth of the Genetics System.
Fossil & Expedition Center Support
The Science division plays an important role in almost all functions of any park. Never is this more apparent than the research required to make full use of the Fossil & Expedition Centers. Your standard upgrades for each building are unlocked through the Science Division and require a Research Center which is now decisively more concentrated on Science.
As was noted in Part 1, a special extraction process is required to purify contaminated fossils. This purified extraction process requires an unlock from the Science Division on Matanceros, so it is readily accessible like the Veterinarian Clinic and Greenhouse; however, the success rate upgrades require a commitment to the Science Division across islands. An un-upgraded extraction process leaves little room for successful purification.
Considering the time and costs associated with this process, it has the byproduct of making both "Research Speed" and especially the much overlooked "Research Cost" upgrades vastly more appealing. Also, similar to the Dig Teams, multiple Research Teams can be used to speed up completion of a research item. In contrast to the dig teams, however, your Research Teams can stack with the Research Speed upgrade, this is thanks to how long some research takes, and is further balanced by Genetic Points being the bigger limiting factor.
Security Division
- Security Center (new role)
- ACU/Hunter teams
- Vehicle Maintenance Depot
- Electrical Infrastructure
- Fencing Upgrades
- Cybersecurity Structures
- Weather Systems
Security Center
The Security Center is now a building you have by default when starting on Matanceros. It is the Security Division's equivalent of the Research Center thus housing all upgrades and research related to the ACU/Hunters, Rangers, Fencing, Electrical infrastructure, etc. Upon completing the Security Mission on Isla Sorna, you'll unlock some beneficial bonuses. You'll attract more guests that are Thrill Seekers to your park, high prestige rating for having one, 15% reduction in power usage and 10% cost reduction in hiring personnel, repairing & replacing damaged/destroyed vehicles.
Limit 1 per island
ACU & Ranger Teams
The upgrades kind of fall under here already, but an expansion to the ACU is something I have advocated for a long time. They really don't feel like they do or contribute that much, its just the safe and easy way to tranquilize dinosaurs and before that it was the mandatory options to tranquilize dinosaurs. However, if we are talking Compy swarms or functional pterosaurs manually tranquilizing them is out of the question and the Rangers aren't going to be able to do much better. A deployable ACU Ground Team or two would be necessary for clean-up operations for these use case scenarios, for Jurassic Park era you can have InGen Hunters as your equivalent. They'll both use cattle prods and can deploy electrified netting.
Vehicle Maintenance Depot
Inspired partially by a cut building from JPOG, and also the nonsensically cheap and easy ability to replace destroyed Ranger vehicles, this building has quite the role. Pterosaurs, carnivore breakouts, disasters, and dangerous mission objectives; there has never been a time where destructible vehicles are more important than now. Weakening the safety net that is the ACU helicopter, making them destructible, and the myriad of situations your Rangers/Hunters/Ground Teams are faced with comes
at a cost. You can't just leave those destroyed vehicles in enclosures, and your damaged vehicles won't just repair themselves.
For a scaling (based on % damage) monetary fee and a comparable length of time on cooldown, your vehicles will be repaired and made available for your personnel's uses once again. This also applies to tour vehicles, medical transports, helicopters, gyrospheres, etc. that are damaged by storms, reckless driving, or attacked by dinosaurs. The maintenance depot has limited support bays for repairs, so don't be reckless with your vehicles. Moreover, if a vehicle is destroyed, you will pay a handsome fee at the maintenance depot for a replacement coupled with a very long cooldown. Every vehicle in your arsenal is valuable, so it's best not to take them for granted.
Electrical Systems
Similarly, I figured we could at minimum expand the electrical system to at least having backup generators as a fail safe. If we want to take it further, running very expensive underground power cables is also a mitigation option for disasters and inclement weather rather than the powerlines above ground. There are some clear downsides to them: the backup generators are expensive, you'll need to keep them protected so a storm wouldn't damage them, and they only restore power for a limited amount of time requiring you to fix your power stations. The underground cabling is a bit more resilient but is super expensive and you will run into more terrain constraints where you can run it.
Fencing Upgrades
Return to Jurassic Park introduced some changes to the in-game fencing that were honestly missed opportunities. The chain link added to the bottom of all the Cable fencing types and the Anti-Climb added to the Light & Heavy Cable fences specifically. The former was presumably added thanks to the Compsognathus being so small it could reasonably be assumed it could just scurry out from an enclosure and the latter seemingly for the purpose of the Jurassic aesthetic only. Instead of binding these strictly to those cable fences, why not require them to be upgrades that are unlockable through reputation with the Security Division?
Chain Link would be a necessary upgrade if you wanted to confine Compies in an enclosure whereas Anti-Climb would be a useful tool to help you prevent Velociraptors and other Dromaeosaurs from escaping their enclosures. Additionally, I would like to propose a Glass Shielding upgrade, this would be essential for enclosures with Dilophosaurus which can spit venom at a range.
Cyber Security Systems
Moving beyond the electrical system we get into Cybersecurity buildings which house research or apply a radius of coverage to nearby buildings similar to a Storm Defense Station. Basically, the Research Center is too central, some research can only be accessible from other structures like a "Cybersecurity Center" which will have research like firewalls and data encryption. You can also modify existing buildings by attaching add-ons that project a radius around them. Unlike the Storm Defense Station though this would almost always work to prevent the espionage.
Weather Systems
Speaking of the Storm Defense Station (SDS), its biggest problem is that it's role simply isn't clear and it fails to do either of the tasks its supposed to do. It alerts you of storms basically when its too late to respond and it barely does anything to shield your buildings from damage. So, why don't we just give it and the Advanced Storm Defense Station (ASDS) separate roles. The regular Storm Defense Station will give you audible warnings before bad weather strikes and there is a calendar if you click on the building to check the forecast. The Advanced Storm Defense Station will provide protection to buildings while retaining its higher protection threshold. This would grant more utility in having a SDS
Additionally, I am recommending a new upgrade called "Storm Rotors" for the ACU helicopter. This upgrade would allow the ACU helicopter to operate in high winds and storm conditions. Naturally, this also means taking away this ability from the ACU by default. Storms are unfriendly for ACU flights, either grounding them (twister) or causing such an obstacle that you can't really fly through easily (Thunderstorm) similar to how the Jeep responds when its too close to a twister, its movement is impaired and it gets flung around. The storm rotors are a Security Division unlock on Pena and allow your ACU to operate during these weather conditions.
This change is only possible thanks to the shared functionality with the Ranger teams who will primarily be responsible for disaster responses before Storm Rotors are available.
New Buildings, Structures, & Upgrades
- Vehicle Maintenance Depot
- ACU Personnel Barracks/Hunters' Camp
- Backup Generator
- Underground Cabling
- Anti-Climb Fence Upgrade
- Chain Link Fence Upgrade
- Glass Shielding Fence Upgrade
- Cyber Security Center
- IDF Networking Closet (add-on)
- Storm Rotors Upgrade
- Security Center (Security Research)
- Storm Defense Station (Weather Forecast)
- Advanced Storm Defense Station (Weather Shielding)
Entertainment Division
- Innovation Center (new role)
- Flying Reptiles (Aviary)
- Aquatic Reptiles (Aquatic Hatchery)
- Guest Attractions
- Decorations
- Scenery items
Innovation Center
You won't receive the Innovation Center until completing the Entertainment mission on Isla Sorna. This building grants the most prestige of any building/decoration in the game. Additionally, ticket sales increase by 20% (does not stack), guest facilities (hotels/restrooms) and attraction operating costs are slashed by 15% (does not stack). Guests with a more ubiquitous interest in dinosaurs are attracted to your park. It takes a long time to reach, but it is a massive boon to your park's operations thereafter often being a permanent fixture. Limit 1 per island
Aviary
This one is expected and everyone has been asking for it for ages. Return to Jurassic Park kind of teased us with a static building and a few Pteranodons that fly around inside it with looped animations. Looks rather gorgeous, but aside from being an impressive set piece, there isn't much to do with it. This likely due to limitations of the Cobra Engine that needs upgrading, but think of the gameplay possibilities. I already touched on this as part of the Security Division, but imagine the unique method of interacting with pterosaurs.
Manually darting these guys will be a pain, so that ACU Ground Team would come in handy since instead of one derpy AI or frustrating yourself trying to manually dart them, you have multiple smaller units doing it for you. They are vulnerable to being attacked by the pterosaurs themselves, but that is just the inherent risk involved and you need to be ready were the Aviary to be broken open. Naturally they could also attack your guests Jurassic World style and that kind of interactivity is much more significant than them just flying into the abyss if the Aviary is busted.
Beyond that, of course, we can have:
- Dimorphodons
- Quetzalcoatlus
- Geosternbergia
- Cearadactylus
Putting the animals themselves aside, being able to customize the look and feel of the Aviary itself would be massive. No two aviaries would look the same, you could also have the Lost World and Jurassic World variants of Pteranodon. Simply being able to place down rock pillars, rivers, perches, covered pathways, etc. for your guests inside the aviary would be more than satisfying.
There are other behavioral additions that would make them even more interesting due to their flight capabilities. Fish feeders are an option, but akin to herbivores' grazing, the rivers in the Aviary could be teeming with fish or what if water sources in general could have aquatic life. So, maybe your flying reptiles don't always want to attack your guests, they could go fishing, attack small herbivores that might fall prey to them, or find themselves on the receiving end of the jaws of a large carnivore.
We might not traditionally think of it this way, but there is potential for some form of pack hunting as well where they will hover above and dive for easy pickings at young, elderly, and ill dinosaurs. Other gameplay interactions could be Pterosaurs perching on guest facilities and buildings intimidating and disorienting guests. The Pteratops Lodge from the novel could make a comeback as a guest attraction, and your Jungle Cruises could cut through an Aviary, this would guarantee more guest interaction with Pterosaurs and the broader flying reptiles.
This is ultimately the experience I am looking for, no matter what you choose to do in the game, there will be some sort of unique behavior and interactions to be had, this is a huge boon for replayability as a whole and for content creators to keep the game relevant and fresh for years to come.
Aquatic Hatchery
The other major feature request is, of course, aquatic reptiles. A much bigger deal than the Aviary, the fundamental way water and terrain is handled in the game would need reworking just for this to actually be a feature. We are talking an entirely distinct set of buildings to support this feature something we kind of skirt around by having a large Aviary with everything contained within it. For starters, terrain tools would need some massive overhauls for these kind of things to even occur. Water is currently shallow in the game and the tools far too imprecise for the kind of control needed for this kind of addition.
Water will need to have options for regulating depth and special buildings built for this deep water. They'll need their own hatchery, flood walls, fencing, feeders, attractions, and scenery items. After that its mostly about the animals themselves and how we address certain situations involving them. Here are some aquatic reptile examples:
- Mosasaurus
- Tylosaurus
- Plesiosaurus
The addition of a Flash Flood as a possible disaster is tailored for aquatic reptiles. Dynamically being able to expand the reach of the deep waters could lead to some real chaos that ravages everything you've built along shorelines. Having special attractions like a feeding show similar to the Mosasurus would really make these stand out compared to most exhibits where you can just see your creatures wandering around, these feel more like an event. Above ground exhibits similar to a giant aquarium is one possibility or you could have submarine attractions where you can follow them more closely in their natural habitat. Though with everything I always want to add a little more chaos potential with these additions.
So, this might seem like a chore, but it could lead to some interesting breakouts. Why not introduce something like aquatic cleaners to keep the waters clear? The lack of clear waters can hurt guest visibility but it would also pose risks to your animals. They can get diseases from harmful algae growth or they could become infected with parasites. Here your only option for treatment would be through medicated aquatic feeders or environmental changes. Cleaners would, therefore, be quite important, you might need to deploy filter add-ons in the exhibits to keep them clean and get rid of nasty microorganisms. The aforementioned conditions could also lead to your standard loss of comfort and therefore agitation and desire to breakout. Not only would they be a threat, but maybe they could actually swim out to the ocean if the exhibit is tied to it. Makes more sense for something aquatic to be able to simply get out and disappear from an island than for a pteranodon to actually fly away.
This sort of risk also means replacement of aquatic organisms and much stronger emphasis on location when it comes to building these kinds of enclosures. The aquatic attractions also puts a lot of guests up really close to these animals, so the threat is not neglible. Another idea is the presence of invasive species, not only do you need to keep their exhibits clean and manage social/population needs, but you got to be careful about what kind of aquatic specimens might live in the bodies of water you build your exhibits in. Those species could wind up contaminating your reptiles' food, raising acidity levels of the water/depleting them of nutrients; or, if ignored, they could actually kill your marine reptiles.
It gets more complicated though as I'd also want to introduce different guest entrance types. Right now we have monorails and helipads, but for this purpose I would also like to note the potential of having docks. Now you got a major guest entrance fairly near to where you'd want to have aquatic reptiles. The waters themselves could also be affected by weather, a Heatwave could cause water levels to drop, a lot of rainfall or Thunderstorms could cause the opposite to happen with water levels rising.
Finally, as with the Aviary, your aquatic enclosures would have their own scenery items and decorative pieces tailored to them. It's almost like two different games in one, there is overwhelming potential to grow this system into the future.
Attractions, Decorations, & Scenery Items
I'll keep this more brief, these items are specifically for supporting the Aquatic and Flying Reptiles, there will be a segment later where I will go more into the details of guest behavior, general attractions, etc.
- Aquatic Feeding Show
- Submarine Excursion Attraction
- Above ground Aquatic Tanks
- Corals & Seaweeds
- Sediment levels & flora
- Aerial Feeding Show
- Covered Guest Paths
- Rock Pillar formations
- High Cliff Walls
- Nests & Perches
- Binocular Viewing Stations
New Buildings & Structures
- Aquatic Hatchery
- Aquatic Feeder
- Aquatic Fencing
- Aquatic Cleaner
- Flood Walls
- Aviary
- Customizable Interior
- Scheduler for Feeding Show
- New bait types
- New species
- New reptile skins
- JW Aviary skin
Contracts
Truthfully, some of the most common complaints about Jurassic World Evolution appear to be directly tied to the Divisions whether it be the sabotage, their nonsensical and contrary goals, and especially their contracts which are either absurdly difficult for little pay off and reinforces that identity crisis they seem to have.
It is almost a meme at this point that Isaac or Lambert will come out and offer you a contract asking you to have some small dinosaur or herbivore kill some really expensive and overpowered dinosaur. Were that not bad enough, often the cost of breeding and babysitting these animals to fulfill the contract is so time consuming for little pay off. You would be lucky to break even with the monetary reward from many of these contracts with some outright being a loss.
The variety and types of contracts each Division head should offer you should thematically fit the goals of their division. For story purposes, this would actually help as well. A character behaving bizarrely or asking for something out of the ordinary could be an effective plot device if executed correctly.
For starters, let's use another table to get illustrate how this should be:
Truthfully, some of the most common complaints about Jurassic World Evolution appear to be directly tied to the Divisions whether it be the sabotage, their nonsensical and contrary goals, and especially their contracts which are either absurdly difficult for little pay off and reinforces that identity crisis they seem to have.
It is almost a meme at this point that Isaac or Lambert will come out and offer you a contract asking you to have some small dinosaur or herbivore kill some really expensive and overpowered dinosaur. Were that not bad enough, often the cost of breeding and babysitting these animals to fulfill the contract is so time consuming for little pay off. You would be lucky to break even with the monetary reward from many of these contracts with some outright being a loss.
The variety and types of contracts each Division head should offer you should thematically fit the goals of their division. For story purposes, this would actually help as well. A character behaving bizarrely or asking for something out of the ordinary could be an effective plot device if executed correctly.
For starters, let's use another table to get illustrate how this should be:
Dua | Isaac | Lambert |
Fossils | Guest Attraction [Insert Random Attraction] | ACU/Ranger Readiness |
Pure Dinosaur (100% Genome) | Guest Facility [Insert Random Facility] | Storm Defense |
Habitat Needs | Dinosaur Rating | Power Grid |
Dinosaur Health | Famous Dinosaur | Safety |
Genetic Modifications | Dinosaur Combat | Cybersecurity |
Okay, this was just a brief guideline, so you get the idea. Some are pretty self-explanatory and others not so much. Some are exactly what the contract asks and some are categories.
Lambert
Lambert's contracts all involve areas directly correlated with his division's unlocks and overall security. So, he will offer contracts to prompt you to research and equip Power Stations with Outage Protection or to build Backup Generators. He'll want you to build a Cyber Security Center, storm defense stations, and guest shelters to keep things in order. When he isn't trying to give you a contract to resolve an immediate problem he will request you to purchase ACU/Ranger teams, research and equip upgrades, to keep a certain stock of tranquilizer darts on hand, or to upgrade your fences. Preparedness is his secondary objective when its not about resolving an impending crisis.
Execution of Lambert's ulterior motives will play out with his missions rather than contract offerings. There is more impact from this shift and your gameplay experience will thematically align better with his role as Head of Security.
Isaac
Isaac is actually the guy you got to watch out for more than the other two. In his pursuit for ever more profits, he tends to get carried away and suggest very bad ideas. Guests love very large carnivores particular the T-Rex, all the super famous and well-known dinosaurs bring in crowds, and he will constantly be asking you to incubate and introduce often very dangerous animals to the park. He'll want them to be a certain rating which heavily implies you will have to genetically modify them which comes with its own host of unintentional risk.
At his worst, Isaac will essentially want you to start up a Dinosaur Battle Royale and have them fight to the death. He will be the guy who is all for a Tyrannosaurus vs. Spinosaurus battle just for the ticket sales it will bring, his last attraction unlock will also be the Pachy Arena to show that progression where spectacle eclipses safety and ethics.
Half the time Isaac is a pretty moderate guy who just wants you to spruce things up and get the park running, but once it gets large enough, he will ask for increasingly more dangerous things to chase profits. He will encourage this reckless behavior as he has very lucrative and over the top unlocks and his cash rewards are much greater than what Lambert or Dua will offer you.
Dua
Dua, in contrast, to her peers is more of a pacifist. Most of the time she wants things very natural and is very conscious about the health and well-being of the animals. It's important for research purposes that they are all kept in good health. So, expect a lot of vaccination contracts and Fossil & Paleobotany requests. Sometimes this behavior of hers will lead to her asking you to modify dinosaurs to test some hypothesis or address a problem and wind up introducing what could be a bigger problem, one that is much more subtle than the bombastic approach of Isaac.
Dua is largely the same character, but her arrogance gradually unfolds with the mission objectives and that will be reflected in some of the contracts she will start to offer. She'll have that classic playing god thing going on after she sees some success. Expect a grown in the number of genetic modifications and a more twisted view of a recreation of nature. Basically, her perfect ecosystem in her Sorna mission, but with more amped up and modified creatures causing a bloodbath.
Mission Objectives
Mission objectives are what the contracts culminate in and are also some of the most interesting aspects of the Campaign and wider game. This is where things are unique and don't have to fit with all the other established game systems that must function in other modes. The story of the game is primarily advanced through these and its how we will learn more about the division heads, their story arcs, and overall entertaining goals. Under the expansion of the various systems in the game, I feel we now have the tools for interesting mission designs for each of the divisions on the five islands.
New tutorials will guide you through some of the more basic mechanics preceding the missions.
MatancerosMission objectives are what the contracts culminate in and are also some of the most interesting aspects of the Campaign and wider game. This is where things are unique and don't have to fit with all the other established game systems that must function in other modes. The story of the game is primarily advanced through these and its how we will learn more about the division heads, their story arcs, and overall entertaining goals. Under the expansion of the various systems in the game, I feel we now have the tools for interesting mission designs for each of the divisions on the five islands.
New tutorials will guide you through some of the more basic mechanics preceding the missions.
Science | Entertainment | Security |
Prehistoric Life Breed and nurture a functional ecosystem of 3 herbivorous species.
and are tasked with solving issues with the crops you feed to your herbivore species to ensure they are content. | A Commercial Park Establish the foundations of a functional park complete with guest amenities.
established along with the appeal brought from a carnivore hunting. | Security Protocols Shore up the island's security measures.
ready your precautions, experience an inclement weather event, and cope with your first breakout event. |
Mission Reward Tall Paleofeeder Euoplocephalus | Mission Reward Iguanodon | Mission Reward Proceratosaurus |
Time of Day Day/Night Cycle | Weather Sunny / Starry / Cloudy / Drizzle / Misty | Disasters Thunderstorm |
Muerta
Science | Entertainment | Security |
The Cure In the aftermath of a storm that has left the dilapidated remains of Site C in catastrophe, there are surviving inhabitants injured and left wholly vulnerable. In wake of this compromised state, a virulent disease has come to afflict the island's denizens, research a cure.
The idea is that Site C has failed and is overrun by InGen's own creations. You are there to salvage what you can from the island by developing a small facility and to survive. In the midst of one disaster, another unfolds, you witness a deadly disease gripping a gravely wounded Diplodocus, despite the quarantine you observe the disease has spread among the feral herbivores and threatens to overtake the whole island. | Hazardous Holdings With operations recovering, Isaac believes capturing some of the feral animals and using them as attractions would solve two problems at once, but he gets a little carried away and introduces new species into the unstable ecosystem.
High-risk, high-reward; try to exploit a crisis and you'll have to take responsibility for containing dangerous animals. In an unfamiliar and hostile environment they might not take a liking to their captivity and the natural predators/prey held nearby. However, you can't lose your investment, none of the species may be allowed to lapse back into extinction. Salvage the situation and you'll recover the research that'll enable you to complete their genomes. | Survival of the Fittest Site C is a place steeped in mystery, forgotten by InGen and left to fade into obscurity. It's original purpose lost with Jurassic Park's founder, it's home to dangerous creatures long since accustomed to the harsh wilderness.
developing countermeasures. The skeleton hints at the existence of Velociraptors on the island at one time. You are tasked with testing precautions to limit aggression and pacify naturally hostile animals. We are examining which animals are best suited for survival. This mission teaches you about the unique threat of Dromaeosaurs, and foreshadows the ulterior motives of Lambert. |
Mission Reward Metriacanthosaurus Diplodocus | Mission Reward The Bone Shaker Ouranosaurus | Mission Reward Baryonyx IDF Networking Closet (add-on) |
Time of Day Dusk | Weather Sunny / Cloudy / Drizzle / Misty | Disasters Thunderstorm / Heat Wave / Corporate Espionage |
Tacaño
Science | Entertainment | Security |
Confinement Studies Having explored general care for your park's animals and constrained by tight operating costs, environmental factors and habitat studies come to the fore though there remains a final contingency.
under different environmental conditions and explores the effects of an old safeguard and how it alters the animal's behavior. You must create a dependence on Lysine among the animals, then deprive them of that need to test its usefulness. Learn how the Lysine Contingency failed with Jurassic Park, and ensure the success of Jurassic World. | Cosmetic Enhancements The park has failed to even get off the ground. One of the leading failures of Jurassic World Tacaño was its money mismanagement inspired by its relatively muted and uninteresting attractions.
doomed the original park on Isla Tacaño, and it might yet claim another. You want your animals to be vibrant and for your guests to get up and close with a variety of impressive specimens. However, your best intentions and quest to save the new park from bankruptcy might just guarantee it. While Heat Waves are rare on Muerta, they are not uncommon on Tacaño. You'll need experience or to be a fast learner if you hope to ensure success, your animals grow restless under oppressive heat. | Aggressive Engineering Even before the calamity of Isaac's first misguided scheme is fully cleaned up he plans something even more dangerous, introducing marine reptiles to the islands! It's your responsibility to evaluate safety measures for these animals before they wind up causing a tragedy to occur. Prerequisite: Complete Entertainment Mission Tacaño
during this lengthy mission, experiment with various tools to manage them, and overcome a new disaster. |
Mission Reward Lysine Contingency Gene Cloning (Fossil Center Upgrade) | Mission Reward Muerta East Unlocked Gyrospheres | Mission Reward Aquatic Hatchery Marine Reptiles |
Time of Day Day/Night Cycle | Weather Sunny / Starry / Cloudy / Drizzle / Misty | Disasters Thunderstorm / Flash Flood / Heat Wave / Corporate Espionage |
Pena
Science | Entertainment | Security |
Needs Management All our efforts to date have led us to one final study before a natural living breathing ecosystem can come to fruition. It will not be pleasant, but in order to know our boundaries we must test the limits of our understanding. Prerequisite: Complete Security Mission Muerta East
This is the next level of the Troodon Taming Mission, but vastly more elaborate. It emphasizes their intelligence and the threat they pose as you push the boundaries of an ecosystem with such deadly creatures. Your Ranger Team is ironically what winds up letting the Troodons out of their enclosure as the gate jams, this also circumvents the clear line of thinking of making some crazy outer wall like Electrified Concrete to offset the lightly electrified inner wall. You are lulled into taking the bait as the outer wall's strength is irrelevant for the second half of the mission. You also need to treat everything poisoned by the Troodons making it a doubly hard mission as researching the Anti-Venom takes a while to complete. If you don't have the genetic points to spend, this will be a very punishing mission, but that is what Isla Pena does, it really pushes you to your limits. | The Star Attraction Isla Pena being such a small island really tests Isaac's patience, money is tight without adequate space to house many attractions. The time has come to show the world what the Entertainment Division has to offer. People want to see something large with lots of teeth, they want to be entertained, and you're going to give it to them.
This one is pretty straight to the point, build a prestigious battle arena, line up some combatants, and introduce the star attraction, Acrocanthosaurus,and have it fight the other dinosaurs to the death. You need money, have limited space, atrocious weather, and high operating costs particularly power. Calling in a few favors, Isaac was able to get an Acrocanthosaurus transported to Pena for this shining event. | Field Testing Hidden away on the remote shores of Isla Pena, the facilities here are perhaps the most dangerous in the Muertes Archipelago. It is battered by heavy storms and with little landmass it is remote enough for small field test of one of Jurassic Park's most fearsome animals.
nightmare, for years they have tried fruitlessly for years they have tried fruitlessly to tame the Velociraptor to no avail. This time, they test not to claim dominion over the animals, but for a darker more nefarious purpose. The Velociraptor is versatile and always threatening unlike Deinonychus, your lesson in using Anti-Climb alone won't be enough to stop them nor Electrified Fencing, you will truly face a challenge to end their rampage. This mission is like a recreation of the original film, a sabotage and thunderstorm both align align and prove how ineffectual your best efforts are to contain them. You must take a Ranger Team to restore power to the backup generators as all Power Stations will be down and cannot be rebooted the duration of the mission. The ACU helicopter requires Storm Rotors to operate and raptors are extremely aggressive towards ACU ground teams and Park Rangers. |
Mission Reward Carcharodontosaurus Tylosaurus | Mission Reward Acrocanthosaurus Pachy Arena | Mission Reward Giganotosaurus Cyber Security Center |
Time of Day Night | Weather Starry / Cloudy / Drizzle | Disasters Thunderstorm / Twister / Corporate Espionage |
Sorna
Science | Entertainment | Security |
The Scientific Community The return to Site B will not be an exercise taken lightly, Isla Sorna is the wild and untamed lands reminiscent of an age in history long since passed. However, it is also the place in which a controlled and natural ecosystem can best take shape, make it so.
What was to be the culmination of all of Dua's work, her shining achievement and all the ruthlessness along with it; brought her world crumbling down. Her hubris put to the test, and though triumphant, it was a pyrrhic victory. Nature saw it fit to deny her this honor. The wild and overlooked Compy was the source of her doomed ambition, and carried with it a deadly prion disease that had she not taken decisive action on would have cleansed all dinosaurs upon Isla Sorna. This is brazenly a reference to the end of Michael Crichton's The Lost World and the deadly prion disease DX (my namesake) that drove the animals back into extinction. Isla Sorna has a theme, you do not automatically gain the ability to incubate dinosaurs, you must achieve this yourself by reclaiming the abandoned hatcheries or capturing the natives. Once you have regained your ability to breed your animals, you are for the first time confronted directly by a human threat. Tranquilizers and fencing aren't useful tools here, instead you must get creative and harness the power of nature against the the misbegotten poachers. Here you will have to fully make use of the Ranger vehicle's functions, using flares, the horn, and music to attract the tension of the tyrannosaurs and to guide them to the poachers' encampment to allow nature to rectify things for itself. The last part of the mission is the most challenging, you are going to have to track down the feral Compies on the island (including any you incubate) and wipe them out. They are the carriers of DX and you have to hunt them down and get rid of them before the entire island is infected with the prion disease Since its a mission requirement, all Compies by default will start with the disease and their lifespans are infinite for the duration of this mission, so don't count on natural causes as a solution. Utilizing the Lysine Contingency awarded on Tacaño is a reasonable solution, if the Compies are bred with the contingency, it will naturally kill them off, granted they are still likely to wreck your park to hell if this alone is your solution. The Lysine Contingency takes a long time to kick in, but when it does, suddenly you could be dealing with mass deaths if you aren't keep up with your paleofeeders. | A Jurassic World Back to where it all started, Isla Sorna, the untamed island, the beginning of Jurassic Park. It is here, on the bones of the past, that a new chapter will be written. Jurassic World will succeed where its predecessor failed and achieve John Hammond's dream of a living breathing world of prehistoric life!
Now he will learn the lesson for his folly. On an island wherein you do not have the means or resources to capture, enclose, and incubate freely, to assert dominance over it spells only disaster. He didn't heed the island's warnings of dense foliage and overgrowth, its thick fogs, nor did he respect the territory of its residents and the island's proclivity for disasters. Endangering the lives of the park's guests and staff, through great sacrifice Jurassic World: Isla Sorna remains, steeped in the in the blood of the noble Rangers that saved it from falling into ruin. Probably the most modest of the three missions, you start out making a park with the limitation that the majority of the animals must be left free to their own devices. You are only allowed to capture and display dinosaurs in the third of the island designated as your park's boundaries. Violate this restriction and you'll fail the mission and have to restart it, so be careful about where you try to capture and display your animals. Next, you must make the Treetop Grazers as this is the first island where Dense Fog is a big issue for facilities, it really hits your income hard affecting guest facilities and attractions due to low visibility and this happens a lot on Sorna. The grazers allows you to partially circumvent the fogs by letting guests get up close to sauropods. The following major milestone is the introduction of the Aviary and flying reptiles a bigger push to work around the fogs and make a premier park experience. You will be interrupted by a deadly twister that will rip its way through your park and bust open the Aviary. While you try to cope with the reptiles on the loose, things go from bad to worse as your park is built in the Spinosaurus' territory. It will appear on the map and make a mad dash for your facilities, specifically your park entrance, if it destroys the main entrance, you fail the mission and essentially get a Game Over due to how harsh this penalty is, same thing if you lose too many guests in the process which will cause a Park Closure event to trigger. | Hybrid Research Dr. Wu's research is reaching its final stages, only a few steps remain. Recovering the research from the abandoned genetics lab(s) on Site B and putting it all together for the next evolution is at hand.
tantamount to a search mission, you are tasked with manually uncovering the hybrid research on one of the island's abandoned genetics labs; randomized for replayability. Immediately afterwards, you must establish a new base of operations here, but this is complicated by the fiercely territorial raptor pack that will try to tear down your facilities and reclaim it. It'll be tricky though, there are hidden fast travel points which the raptors will use to pop up all over the region, they will be disguised as burrows, caves, in cliff faces, obscured by foliage, rocks, or rocks, or man-made debris such as abandoned trucks, vehicles, or structures. You can solve this problem in numerous ways: block or build fencing around the entrances, weather out the attacks, or ambush and capture the raptors using these travel points, etc. There is a bit of a search and destroy component to this as you have to find the entrances which isn't so apparent thanks to the obstructions. Furthermore, there is a special restriction on Isla Sorna, due to dense fogs and thick foliage, you cannot use the ACU helicopter. This limitation takes away a layer of security players tend to rely on, you will have to do it with a destructible ranger vehicle. More tension, more danger, and you are also more engaged. Picture either exploring blind or trying to swap back and forth between the mini-map and your regular view to try and figure out the location of the raptors, their icons will disappear when using a fast travel point, so it can be a useful hint to point you in the right direction. Secondly, you are going to have to settle a territorial dispute that erupts between the island's rival raptor packs. You will have previously scouted this information out, but now the packs will be actively fighting and you need to put a stop to it. It will be a tug of war, one side will gain an advantage and push the other's territory back. When they do this though they increase the odds of your facilities being caught in the crossfire or attracting unwanted attention from other organisms on the island like luring the tyrannosaurs or the Spinosaurus to you, so it can't be ignored. Finally, you must engineer Indominus Rex, this will take a lot of time to achieve if you weren't preparing already, and it will be an even bigger Hellraiser than it already is as covered in Part 5. Once you inevitably lose control and Indominus is indiscriminately killing everything, you will have to find some way to kill it. |
Mission Reward Tyrannosaurus Rex Science Center | Mission Reward Mosasaurus Innovation Center | Mission Reward Security Center Bonus (added benefits) Hybrid Research | Indominus Rex (New Genetics System Functionality) |
Time of Day Day/Night Cycle | Weather Sunny / Starry / Cloudy / Drizzle / Misty | Disasters Thunderstorm / Twister / Dense Fog / Corporate Espionage |
The Entertainment Division is kind of your standard park builder playstyle, so it isn't going to be that different than what you expect. Instead, I just tried to give the unlocks for those sorts of things to the Entertainment Division while the Science and Security divisions play more of a supporting role in what you can do to help make the most successful park. There is also room for deviation f you prefer by courting favor with the Science & Security division. Science could enable you to build more natural park while the Security Division can give you more tools to establish control in your park. If you are up for it, you can also try to balance all 3 for a more optimal experience. There are many challenges to face, different ways to tackle them, and risks involved that will be left up to the player.
In Part 4 I will cover Dinosaur AI & Behavior.
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