Do most people focus too much on the building aspect?

[Indoraptor27]

The game was made as a zoo game, and as such, animals will always be the "main" thing. However, being a sister game to PlanCo, it also has a very in-depth building system. I think that the building system deserves to be updated and worked on, but animals should be the first priority, no matter what. I feel that while there might be building pieces that would be beneficial additions, the animals deserve more attention, and we already have many pieces to build with.

 

[Skawt]

In my personal opinion, building and creativity is an equal component to the animals themselves. The building is what sets this game - and Frontier as a company - apart from others. The animals are the stars of this show, but the building and outlet for creativity is the lens which you present your stars.

I think of it as a restaurant. Sure, you go for the food; however, if the restaurant is situated in a scenic location, in a nice building, with great decor, and great service, the dining experience is enhanced (and most people are willing to pay MUCH more). Take for example, the Keg Steakhouse on the Canadian Side of Niagara Falls. The food is fantastic, but the complete experience is that the restaurant is well designed, granting a 5 star view of a wonder of the natural world.

 

[Jeminyne]

I honestly do not see anything offensive with the thread, in any case, you have brought up a very good observation of what is mostly being built with the current tools the game provides. There is a great deal of focus on unrealistic architecture and parks, because there is not much available to really fill in all the gaps needed to create realistic builds. The ability for the players to insert their own designs and signs would be a major step on adding to that realism element, as well as overall feel of a zoo. Without this, all parks not only look completely bare and sterile, but they all seem to resemble one another, another element that takes away from any realism that can be captured.

The key when creating anything signs/banners/posters/etc related and inserting those creations successfully within the game, is to make sure the images and style you are using blends in with the game's own (a bit cartoonish sadly) I have created all of the media for my future built using drawings/illustrations/concept art/ etc, as real life animal pictures would stand out, and would not blend in well, with what is already available.
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These two are just a small example of displays I have created specifically for my future built. I have created over 400 different media elements for that future zoo, from menus and banners to complete thematic panel sets that will tell a particular story when walking thru an exhibit. Of course all of this was created with the hopes, that when this feature does make into the game, we will receive the same treatment as Planet Coaster, and receive many different sizes of billboards, etc. Maybe Frontier brings something new in, that is not genetic and actually resembles panels and signs found in zoos. The screens from Planet Coaster that fit the 4M walls are a must, since it would enhance creativity and the use of this feature.
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The sign in the far left I created just as a point of reference, since it really does not fit the theme of what I will be building. The images of the Red Panda are of course Frontier's property and the exact image of the animal model found in the game, as it can be observed there is no real visible difference between these images and the drawings/illustrations/sketches I have been using to create custom displays, they all fit together since none are real life animal pictures. While I have followed on that cartoonish style of the game, I also added to that element of realism that makes it such an amazing game.
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As you know, this game has some exceptional features, one of them is the way light hits objects, unfortunately this works both ways, from this angle as with the pictures first posted by me in this thread, the lighting hits the billboards making them stand out, and the picture also has special effects as did the others, and that might be what our German friend noticed when making the comment that custom designs would not blend well in the game. Now take a look at the picture below.
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This is a different angle where the light does not reflect adversely against the billboard, and the picture has no special effects, in my opinion it not only blends perfectly within the game style, but it complements it in a way that all of its beauty is enhanced. In addition it adds an element of realism and uniqueness that otherwise would be lost without this feature. I have said it from the beginning even before the game came out, that this would be a game changer if handled in a similar way to Planet Coaster.
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Still on the subject of realism when creating a Zoo, this is just a genetic zoo exhibit I created, sort of a testing ground for any new items/features/animals that are added into the game. Even though it is by no means an example of anything remotely close to being realistic as a zoo exhibit, it is however highly detailed in every aspect of what you would find in a real life exhibit. During this testing built i just wanted to incorporate different elements of barriers and game components while conducting an in depth study of the traversable area element. It does help tremendously to lay down a foundation for any project, without any props or landscaping components being added, as you can gauge that element of realism much better this way. As you can see in the picture above, this is the genetic exhibit with empty moats and lagoons, as well as no vegetation or props.
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Even thought this exhibit is bare, every single inch of it has already being planned out, from the water levels, to the location of every tree and plant. I sketch everything out on paper first, just to give me an overall look of what I'm going after. The second step is to lay down the foundation, much like it is done in real life, I then built the architectural structures and work on the rock-work (A major element of all zoos, and currently not properly used by most players, the ones that do use them tend to create unrealistic rock formations that would not necessarily fit in well in a zoo or animal park) Lastly comes the landscape and props (This is another area that needs an immense amount of work by frontier) Someone point it out in a thread a while back, that with the construction pieces currently found within the game, almost any building can be created. I completely agree with that statement, Frontier has done a fantastic job with walls, roofs, columns, etc, however one critical aspect of all zoos is its landscape. Modern Zoos are in many cases accredited botanical gardens, and there is a great variety of species that represent the animals habitats. One of Frontier's favorite zoos, The World Famous San Diego Zoo had a saying over the years, "people come for the animals they stay for the plants" That is because their botanical collections are superb, and a real treat to visitors. I say all this, because there needs to be a substantial increase of the plants species found within the game. I do know that when the TMT is released this current problem will be somewhat relieved. The official content in this area is however fantastic in this game, so I would like to see the Planet Zoo team focused on this a bit more.
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The exhibit fully planted, and with all of the assets in place. Since this was not an actual zoo built, I completely went overboard with the landscape design, in hindsight when building an actual zoo, and to capture a maximum level of realism, the animal areas would not be so heavily planted (depending on the species of course) When we build zoo exhibits in real life, what we are asked to do as landscape architects is not only to envision the areas being constructed with fully matured landscape, but to take into account how this landscape will interact with the animals and the visitor's experience. I have always favored zoo's that invest heavily on landscape since this will always pay off when the exhibit reaches a maturity level.
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If and when Planet Zoo has reached its own level of maturity and user generated images can be uploaded via billboards, TMT support has been enabled, the foliage collection has been increased significantly and of course last but by no means least, there is a substantial animal roster with no visible gaps in its collection, then highly detailed and realistic zoos will not only become fashionable but they will cement this game as the best building simulation of its kind ever created.

please tell me this habitat is available in the steam workshop-- you did an INCREDIBLE job here.

 

[Danny_zoo]

please tell me this habitat is available in the steam workshop-- you did an INCREDIBLE job here.

Hi there, I have not uploaded to the workshop, but I do have plans to upload many individual realistic habitats once they are completed, it is all part of a natural design very similar to some of the Bioparcs found in Spain and other countries, as well as some zoos here in the US, like the San Diego Wild Animal Park as an example. All of my designs are 99% based on pieces as I use the terrain edit feature only for areas that hold water, as there is no way around that. So I think that uploading the habitats in sections and then having someone else connect them would not be hard at all. Keep in mind I play with a close zoo, but the frontier path system is still fully functioning underneath the skin I place. Thank you for complementing the habitat, as I mention in the post It is more of an experimental design. As the park I will be building would be a lot more intricate and detailed, but the general design concept would be the same. Unfortunately a key component of my design and vision for the park is the ability for players to upload custom signs/billboards/banners/info-graphics etc via a system similar to Planet Coasters billboards, since the level of realism and interpretive design I'm going after is impossible without this feature. Based on Frontier's Planet Coaster timeline, and the fact that there is already a mod that allows you to upload images in a somewhat limited capacity, I was almost certain that we would get it with the summer update, but as you see, we did not. This is somewhat troubling because this was a feature that Frontier admitted to just have ran out time implementing when the base game was release, yet after so many updates/patches/DLCs it is still not available, and what is even more confusing, they have address an immense amount of players requests and questions about a number of features, but whenever this is brought up, there is only been silence. In any case I'm so emotionally invested in this game, that I have no problem paying a company or individual programmer to work this feature in, I just wish their position on this feature ever been included was more clear.