DLC20 Discussion (maybe, but why not?)

Iconic animal pack - with enrichments showcasing the unique behaviors

Secretary bird - feeder with snakes
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Gerenuk - high feeder
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Spider monkey - special climbing frame
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Rock wallaby - special rock
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Père David’s deer - decoration plants for antlers
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Pelican - feeder for hunting fish
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Topi - observation point
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My theory remains old world but I will happily take Australiasia.
If there was gonna be another africa pack, I would only accept it under certain terms
Animals usability. Looking back at picks and what they gave us, I determined what animals I use in multiple zoos and what I don’t use. Arid gave us too many ungulates that I have only used once. If we are to get a theoretical safari pack then I want it to be diverse.
Safari
1. Secretary bird: gives us a bird
2. Honey badger: high request something different
3. Gerenuk: a more unique ungulate
4. Servral: gives us a feline and likely the last
5. Veveret monkeys: gives us a monkey
6. Impala: frontier likes ungulates
7. Bat eared fox: unique canid
Safari lodge like Scenary or
8. Black mamba
 
Iconic animal pack - with enrichments showcasing the unique behaviors

Secretary bird - feeder with snakes
View attachment 425985

Gerenuk - high feeder
View attachment 425983

Spider monkey - special climbing frame
View attachment 425982

Rock wallaby - special rock
View attachment 425981

Père David’s deer - decoration plants for antlers
View attachment 425980

Pelican - feeder for hunting fish
View attachment 425979

Topi - observation point
View attachment 425984
I’ll take it
 
So I’m at a hard spot thinking as to what can come next, it really is dependent on what this DLC means and what the next one is (obviously, but I’ll get to that).
  1. This DLC had a lot of clones, like a lot. It does make me wonder if either this pack was slapped together last minute, so we can expect the next DLC to be bigger. Or, due to manpower this is the level of DLC we might expect going forward.
  2. Frontier gave us “what we want” just not how we expected it. So I would imagine the next pack is gonna be like that too. We wanted a NWM and got the saki over the Howler, we wanted birds for the Americas and got two clones in the Rhea and Flamingo.
  3. We might not get any of the top 3-5 metawishlist animals much anymore. Which may be a trend going forward, it seems like ZooKeeper and the Americas pack only includes some of the top animals. (Or some of the animals in the Americas pack were meant for ZooKeeper?)
So with that being said, it’s hard to think as to what can come next. Though Frontier is listening to us, it seems like they have limitations as to what they can do. In the Americas pack we got the birds and monkeys we needed for South America, just not necessarily the specific or top species people requested. We got more South American representation, just not the specific mammals we requested (RIP Mara and Coati, may not be over yet though).

Going off all of that, I think we can start to make some guesses. This is assuming bundles sell well, and we still got DLC 20 coming. Frontier is looking at what we are asking for, just expect it in a different way:
  1. Birds are always an ever present conversation, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually do get more. I do think they won’t be what we hope for though. So, I wouldn’t expect a Secretary Bird anytime soon unfortunately. I don’t know if Frontier is in the spot to make new rigs, or at least make new special animations with enrichment items. However, I think the cards are still on the table for people expecting any new cranes, pheasants, and maybe waterfowl. I may not get the ducks I have been wanting for awhile. Perhaps a goose or new swan may be coming.
  2. Monkeys are also another common topic of conversation, and the white faced saki and baboon have also helped with that conversation. Personally, I don’t know if we will get another primate. But if Frontier is listening to us in their own way, it might still be possible.
  3. Exhibits are now being discussed more, as the last exhibit animal we got was all the way back in 2023. I would actually be surprised if we got any. It seems the new standard of DLC sells well, or at least is cost effective enough. Now an absolute pipe dream, but birds in the WTE or fish in the exhibit box may develop some hype. We got flying mammals to work in the WTE, it’s really a mystery why flying birds don’t. Likewise we have got aquatic animals in the exhibit box before, fish should not be far off.
  4. Metawishlist, Biomes, and other Themes all seem to be on the table and not at the same time. Barnyard ignored the meta wishlist, and gave us the petting zoo people have wanted for awhile. Zookeeper gave us “long requested” animals, and to be honest that isn’t too far off from the truth. Now Americas gave us a return to a continent a lot of people have been wishing for. All while kind of ignoring the meta wishlist again. So it’s hard to say what can come next, I wouldn’t expect any of the top 5 animals, but it also feels like anything is on the table.
I’ll admit this is a lengthy write up, and credit to anyone who actually read this far. I really do think anything is possible, we might just have to really lower our expectations. Or who knows, Frontier might revitalize PZ due to PC2.

TLDR: I have no clue what might come next.
 
This is a speculation thread so now you are slowly all getting the many pack concepts I've come up with over the past few years ;D

probably more unlikely since this has one of the few habitat animals that actually would require a completely new rig but:

Coastal Animal Pack
Sea Otter (Headliner)
Great White Pelican
Walrus
Southern Rockhopper Penguin
Coconut Crab
Atlantic Puffin
Pied Avocet
 
Best way to know is probably wait until the next Frontier Unraveled or whatever they're called. The last two times they've confirmed another pack was gonna come after talking about the new one.
I'm looking forward to this moment, holding my breath, even though I think it's very likely to happen.
 
Dude at this point if it's Africa or Asia cats are fine. I'm still holding out for my serval.

I'd love a World Tour though.
  • Serval.
  • Squirrel monkey.
  • Blackbuck.
  • Raccoon dog.
  • Whatever North American animal is most popular and easy to make (muskox, perhaps, maybe sea otter or walrus might make the cut).
  • Whatever Australasian animal is popular and easy to make (probably not the tree kangaroo or echidna).
  • A new zebra or giraffe.
Instead of a whole scenery set we get a few new food/drink stands and counters and a couple decorative pieces like a world map (even better if the world map is flexicolour by continent so it can be used as a marker for animals).
 
Dude at this point if it's Africa or Asia cats are fine. I'm still holding out for my serval.

I'd love a World Tour though.
  • Serval.
  • Squirrel monkey.
  • Blackbuck.
  • Raccoon dog.
  • Whatever North American animal is most popular and easy to make (muskox, perhaps, maybe sea otter or walrus might make the cut).
  • Whatever Australasian animal is popular and easy to make (probably not the tree kangaroo or echidna).
  • A new zebra or giraffe.
Instead of a whole scenery set we get a few new food/drink stands and counters and a couple decorative pieces like a world map (even better if the world map is flexicolour by continent so it can be used as a marker for animals).
I mean i dont really care about cats when they are a sensable addition for an allright pack, as small cats especally tend to all have a distinct look and something that makes them special from the others, serval, fishing cat and european wildcat are all perfectly fine filler picks in my book for a potential final pack

Still when looking at all these wishfullfillment pack i just imagine a final pack ala:
  • 1 cat
  • 2-3 ungulates
  • 1-2 birds if we are lucky (both of them will be similar to one in game, if we are lucky a new crane and pheasent, if not more like penguin)
  • 1 monkey no one asked for that we will desperatly eat up
  • 1 animal completly out of the blue
  • no coati :)
 
I thought some still consider it a subspecies. It's debated from what I can see.
Sources have been split since about 2001 and not much has or will change. The IUCN like in most cases of taxonomic revision wont change anything till its no longer debated but one of the major sources saying its not split hasnt been updated since 2005 and credible mammal taxonomy sources like the ASM have been saying they are different species for decades.
You know what would be hilarious for DLC 20?

Australasia Animal Pack
Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo
Short Beaked Echidna
Victorian Crowned Pigeon
Perentie
Parma Wallaby
Black Swan
Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby
swap the parma wallaby out for the swamp wallaby and that is a perfect pack
 
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Sources have been split since about 2001 and not much has or will change. The IUCN like in most cases of taxonomic revision wont change anything till its no longer debated but one of the major sources saying its not split hasnt been updated since 2005 and credible mammal taxonomy sources like the ASM have been saying its the same species for decades.

swap the parma wallaby out for the swamp wallaby and that is a perfect pack
ASM currently list the Japanese Raccoon Dog as a separate species.
 
How about we get this fine fellow instead? Then we would actually have an incredible pack
View attachment 426037
Honestly im fine with any pelican at this point. While id prefer the great white or dalmatian as those are the two most commonly kept in european zoos and therefore the most usefull to me, any pelican would be a big W and would provide the base for the other species to be modded in.
 
I think the chance of us getting another Australia/Oceania revisit is virtually null (but then again I thought the exact same thing until that fateful night Oceania was teased lol), but if I had to design one based on Frontier's possible new style of easy to make animals I would do it a little something like this:

PLANET%20ZOO%20DOWN%20UNDER%20ANIMAL%20PACK.png


Eastern Quoll - Made with some minor changes to the Tasmanian devil rig, the eastern quoll provides the game with a second dasyurid and the only quoll species currently kept outside Australia. They are especially attractive thanks to coming in two common colour morphs, fawn and black (pictured).

Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby - As well as giving us a wallaby species from more arid climates, the rock-wallaby would also be unique among Australian animals in the game in requiring a caprine-like rocky habitat. Hopefully it would be given a new animation to use the goat climbing mountain.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo - Temperate Australia is part of the continent that is most well-represented in-game, but it'll always feel like its missing something without its own kangaroo. Also provides a more biome-appropriate species to mix with the red-necked wallaby.

Black Swan - Should require no explanation, a second waterfowl species (even if another swan) that is extremely widespread in captivity around the globe.

Black-necked Stork - The game's first stork, the black-necked stork is an impressive and iconic bird of Australia's tropical northern wetlands, where it is commonly referred to as the jabiru (not to be confused with the South American stork of the same name). As a bonus the species also occurs in south and south-east Asia, adding more avian representation to two continents.

Freshwater Crocodile - Gives us a smaller (and better looking) alternative to the giant saltwater crocodile, and would also hopefully come with a new galloping animation when running on land. If we can have 5 North American canids a second Australian crocodile can't hurt.

Perentie - The king of Australian lizards, finally gives the continent a species of monitor lizard and is arguably the most essential missing animal when it comes to fleshing out Australia's desert heart. Plus they just look stunning.

Probably my favourite thing about this pack is how it helps to flesh out most major regions of Australia - the quoll and grey kangaroo represent the temperate regions, the perentie and rock-wallaby the deserts and the stork and crocodile the tropics (especially the great northern savannas, a vast region we have very few species for in-game), whilst the black swan occurs pretty widely.
 
I think the chance of us getting another Australia/Oceania revisit is virtually null (but then again I thought the exact same thing until that fateful night Oceania was teased lol), but if I had to design one based on Frontier's possible new style of easy to make animals I would do it a little something like this:

PLANET%20ZOO%20DOWN%20UNDER%20ANIMAL%20PACK.png


Eastern Quoll - Made with some minor changes to the Tasmanian devil rig, the eastern quoll provides the game with a second dasyurid and the only quoll species currently kept outside Australia. They are especially attractive thanks to coming in two common colour morphs, fawn and black (pictured).

Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby - As well as giving us a wallaby species from more arid climates, the rock-wallaby would also be unique among Australian animals in the game in requiring a caprine-like rocky habitat. Hopefully it would be given a new animation to use the goat climbing mountain.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo - Temperate Australia is part of the continent that is most well-represented in-game, but it'll always feel like its missing something without its own kangaroo. Also provides a more biome-appropriate species to mix with the red-necked wallaby.

Black Swan - Should require no explanation, a second waterfowl species (even if another swan) that is extremely widespread in captivity around the globe.

Black-necked Stork - The game's first stork, the black-necked stork is an impressive and iconic bird of Australia's tropical northern wetlands, where it is commonly referred to as the jabiru (not to be confused with the South American stork of the same name). As a bonus the species also occurs in south and south-east Asia, adding more avian representation to two continents.

Freshwater Crocodile - Gives us a smaller (and better looking) alternative to the giant saltwater crocodile, and would also hopefully come with a new galloping animation when running on land. If we can have 5 North American canids a second Australian crocodile can't hurt.

Perentie - The king of Australian lizards, finally gives the continent a species of monitor lizard and is arguably the most essential missing animal when it comes to fleshing out Australia's desert heart. Plus they just look stunning.

Probably my favourite thing about this pack is how it helps to flesh out most major regions of Australia - the quoll and grey kangaroo represent the temperate regions, the perentie and rock-wallaby the deserts and the stork and crocodile the tropics (especially the great northern savannas, a vast region we have very few species for in-game), whilst the black swan occurs pretty widely.
Me if Frontier gives me a pack with two birds and two habitat reptiles
1744506595055.png
 
I think the chance of us getting another Australia/Oceania revisit is virtually null (but then again I thought the exact same thing until that fateful night Oceania was teased lol), but if I had to design one based on Frontier's possible new style of easy to make animals I would do it a little something like this:

PLANET%20ZOO%20DOWN%20UNDER%20ANIMAL%20PACK.png


Eastern Quoll - Made with some minor changes to the Tasmanian devil rig, the eastern quoll provides the game with a second dasyurid and the only quoll species currently kept outside Australia. They are especially attractive thanks to coming in two common colour morphs, fawn and black (pictured).

Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby - As well as giving us a wallaby species from more arid climates, the rock-wallaby would also be unique among Australian animals in the game in requiring a caprine-like rocky habitat. Hopefully it would be given a new animation to use the goat climbing mountain.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo - Temperate Australia is part of the continent that is most well-represented in-game, but it'll always feel like its missing something without its own kangaroo. Also provides a more biome-appropriate species to mix with the red-necked wallaby.

Black Swan - Should require no explanation, a second waterfowl species (even if another swan) that is extremely widespread in captivity around the globe.

Black-necked Stork - The game's first stork, the black-necked stork is an impressive and iconic bird of Australia's tropical northern wetlands, where it is commonly referred to as the jabiru (not to be confused with the South American stork of the same name). As a bonus the species also occurs in south and south-east Asia, adding more avian representation to two continents.

Freshwater Crocodile - Gives us a smaller (and better looking) alternative to the giant saltwater crocodile, and would also hopefully come with a new galloping animation when running on land. If we can have 5 North American canids a second Australian crocodile can't hurt.

Perentie - The king of Australian lizards, finally gives the continent a species of monitor lizard and is arguably the most essential missing animal when it comes to fleshing out Australia's desert heart. Plus they just look stunning.

Probably my favourite thing about this pack is how it helps to flesh out most major regions of Australia - the quoll and grey kangaroo represent the temperate regions, the perentie and rock-wallaby the deserts and the stork and crocodile the tropics (especially the great northern savannas, a vast region we have very few species for in-game), whilst the black swan occurs pretty widely.
I had no idea that the jabiru was the name of 2 different birds I always just though I was getting the names of the town and south american stork confused when I would call a black necked stork a jabiru. I personally would swamp it with the brolga since I feel its more of a cultural icon for north queensland (plus it would be easier to make).
 
Yes but you have to remember when talking to me that I do not care even slightly whether we get the coati or not. 😅

I was more disappointed by the lack of a mara. Or an agouti. The coati is neither here nor there. I'd be more excited about a clone tiger or lion than the coati.
 
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