DLC18 discussion and predictions
- Thread starter Leaf Productions
- Start date
Plans probably have changed numerous times judging by this impression Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/PlanetZoo/comments/1fyz8o3/comment/lqxvvzz/
Wonder what that roadmap originally looked like and how it did or didn't benefit the community with what we got in the end.
I wish anyone could talk some sense into the reddit creatures with such logical points, people there are weirdly delusional and arrogant about more future content.
Okay, I really really want to know what the original roadmap looked like and why they deviated from it! Reading/speculating between the lines it sounds like some of them may have been bigger changes that didn't happen due to technical limitations (which makes me wonder if they wanted to do birds or fish but couldn't do it in the way they thought was ideal so they scrapped).
I don't really expect people to think about all of this stuff, though, TBH. This community has a wide range of ages, occupations, and understanding of the world... Not everybody knows what it's like working within a company with salaries, etc. Or how many people are required to put something like this together.
It's a lot more nuanced than just "people will buy it so they should do it."
It's not surprising that plans changed, having gone through a Covid boom and bust.
I would hazard a guess they were originally anticipating more Chinese players, based on base game.
It's a Petting zoo DLC, which was a controversial, but still fairly suggested concept. It's extremely similar to what they did with JWE2, Hybrids being a controversial, suggested thing, and being the second last DLC. Due to being controversial, it'd be hard to judge if it'd do well or poorly, so saving it for second last does make some sense from an income risk perspective, assuming less people buy DLC over time.
It is nearly the most boring iteration it could possibly be, which is downright criminal, but also kind of tracks with what was done for JWE2, 2/4 species being 2019 models from JWE1.
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Honestly, I don't think the concept of "petting zoo" as a feature is even remotely controversial for Planet Zoo. It was an oft-discussed and frequently requested feature. I just don't think people were thinking about how it would have to be implemented for it to happen... If they added that feature and then only had like one animal in a particular DLC, plus the llamas, that utilized it then people would be clamoring for more farm species.
It's a case of people wanting something and not realizing how they'd have to get it for it to come to fruition.
I mean, yeah, I personally wish that pack had been a Latin American pack, or something that could have snuck the tree 'roo in, but... You can't really say people didn't want it.
If by "Petting Zoo" you mean "meat/dairy farm animals nobody asked for" then... sure... it's a Petting Zoo pack. On the other hand, if you meant "Petting Zoo" as in "popular petting zoo animals like the Nigerian Dwarf Goat, Flemish Giant Rabbit, Shetland Pony, and so on" then... no... not even close...
Honestly the differences between breeds are small enough that I can just pretend the Alpine goats (for instance) are something else. Not even mods needed.
The whole idea of a "an animal as a test" is a community thing really, it's not something that's really done in real world development. That's what POCs and MVPs are for.
The answer is incredibly simple, Frontier doesn't want you to buy DLC A in order to be able to use DLC B, so they include stuff like that in the base game instead. It's a good strategy, the downside of it is that in this case you have something in the base game you don't really have a use for.
Technically it should be possible to say "Only show item A if you have either DLC A, B or C"; but depending on early on decisions in the engine that might be harder to do and would require refactors that cost too much compared to what it would give as a profit.
As someone who works as a software developer, I think that if a company decides to end a product it's because they know they can't make more profit from the product.
No matter what we think, Frontier has the financial data to make these decisions, we simply do not have enough data to know if they could still "easily make money".
I don't even believe the "easily make money" thing at THIS point in development. They are facing an outdated engine now with limitation, and even me as an animal lover have less and less attractive species left I get really excited for. Which probably means for average players it is even less.
I think a sequel makes more sense and I highly doubt that we have to wait as long as the poor Coaster players had to wait. Looking at that reddit statement: If that person really worked at Frontier and really saw a roadmap and it was really longer then what we got now, I choose to think positive that whatever they couldn't implement they can implement in a sequel and we are moving towards a loooong roadmap for the sequel.
I don't particularly need a more than 5 year support next time, but I appreciate one. My nightmare would be just 2 years or something.
I think a sequel makes more sense and I highly doubt that we have to wait as long as the poor Coaster players had to wait. Looking at that reddit statement: If that person really worked at Frontier and really saw a roadmap and it was really longer then what we got now, I choose to think positive that whatever they couldn't implement they can implement in a sequel and we are moving towards a loooong roadmap for the sequel.
I don't particularly need a more than 5 year support next time, but I appreciate one. My nightmare would be just 2 years or something.
Did I miss something? What's this reddit statement?
One of the main reasons I travelled to the Columbus zoo was to see a Pallas cat so... yeah. Focusing on cats is a smart move by frontier to appeal to the casual players but the amount of cats we have compared to other groups is just ridiculous at this stage.
We went to Korkeasaari when on holiday in Helsinki purely to see the Pallas’s kittens!
doesn't necessarily mean that they had more dlc planned but maybe just different dlc, like flying birds which it now seems they are saving for the sequel
24hrs ago
I don't remember the time exactly but it was at like 3:20 pm here... And it's 3.06 pm now so it should be pretty close.
I hope for a new animal and not the baboon or bear again
What plants do you guys think we're getting? For Barnyard it was 2 free & 2 DLC, all broadly fitting into domestic.
The tree in the Spectacled bear habitat seems maybe suspicious (maybe Andean Oak? Maybe some sort of Magnolia without flowers?), but maybe it's from the South America pack, or something I missed.
The tree in the Spectacled bear habitat seems maybe suspicious (maybe Andean Oak? Maybe some sort of Magnolia without flowers?), but maybe it's from the South America pack, or something I missed.
Pretty sure there was an apple tree in one scene