Do naked mole rats have even a remote possibility?

[biggest_dreamer]

It seems like they’re such a staple zoo animal, yet they very uniquely fall into the category where habitats won’t work, exhibits won’t work based on prior dev statements, and we can’t even really hypothesize on future enclosure types as we could with aviaries or aquariums. I think the only way we could feasibly see them would be for Frontier to make a single exception to the “no habitat mammals” guideline, and honestly it’s also the one exception to this design philosophy that I’d be 100% okay with. They’re just too iconic to completely neglect.

Thoughts?

 

[avietar]

I could do without molerats, but everyone wants what they want.

I don't see how molerats couldn't work in our current exhibits. It would be a tank willed with earth, and the sides would show tunnels where we can see the molerats. It would actually look way more attractive than the nakes molerat exhibits I've seen in real life, which look like a miniature plastic sewer system. The kind of stuff you'd have for a hamster. And I get it, the molerats don't care, they are blind. But it just looks really cheap

 

[ElectricMonk]

As far as I can remember, the only dev comment regarding bird/mammal exhibits was that they weren’t planned at launch…. Nothing definitive (although I think it’s probably unlikely). They would require a new breeding mechanic…

 

[Firestar97]

I think it could be done with a big Formicarium (and if we get those, some Species of Ant would also be nice if it should somehow be possible to have them properly in the Game). For each Naked Mole Rat, a Group of 5 could maybe be shown in the Formicarium and the Queen would automatically be added in her own Section of the Burrow when the first one is added (similar to how the Biome Selection for the Exhibits works). Instead of individual Animals getting pregnant, there would be something like a Queen Status in the Exhibit Informations, which shows if the Queen is pregnant or not at the Moment.

 

[sockeyejo]

I really hope not! They've filled a niche and are successful and I'm happy for them but that's as far as it goes.

 

[Antimony96]

Frontier's current position is that they won't do small mammals--by "small" I mean if the lower limit is the prairie dog/meerkat, in either exhibit or habitat form. The only animal I'd like that would fall into this category is some kind of bushbaby.

 

[ElectricMonk]

Frontier's current position is that they won't do small mammals--by "small" I mean if the lower limit is the prairie dog/meerkat, in either exhibit or habitat form. The only animal I'd like that would fall into this category is some kind of bushbaby.

Source? The last comment I’ve seen was pre-launch and only said no exhibit mammals were planned then.

 

[Anthracite_Impreza]

They're far too active to be in an exhibit with looped animations; it would be really obvious and they'd just look tacky and mechanical. Same reason I'd rather have no flying birds at all than have them in an exhibit style enclosure.

 

[Spiderhawk]

The only way I would say yes would be if the theoretical bigger exhibits were to come true. Bigger then the current exhibits, more customizable, able to move around. I’d say other small mammals such as sugar gliders and slow loris could be used as well.

 

[Firestar97]

I’d say other small mammals such as sugar gliders and slow loris could be used as well.

I'd like to see a Lemming, a Tenrec and the Pygmy Marmoset. Maybe also the European Hamster.
Some Birds could also work. Some Zoos do have Exhibits where Chicks in different Development Stages are shown and Hummingbirds would also be great in Exhibits

 

[yoav_r]

The only way I would say yes would be if the theoretical bigger exhibits were to come true. Bigger then the current exhibits, more customizable, able to move around. I’d say other small mammals such as sugar gliders and slow loris could be used as well.

The current exhibits are huge, much larger than what molersts get in zoos, but they would need looped animations.

 

[ElectricMonk]

The only way I would say yes would be if the theoretical bigger exhibits were to come true. Bigger then the current exhibits, more customizable, able to move around. I’d say other small mammals such as sugar gliders and slow loris could be used as well.

Most very small mammals (including mole rats) would be fine in 16^2 enclosures… those that climb get vertical space as well.

 

[premierfong]

I think it is a better exhibit animal. Maybe we can build tunnels as a mini game.

 

[DragonNTiger]

I'd say no... probably... the biggest problem I see is their exhibits are always two-dimensional due to their burrowing nature. For a 4x4 exhibit, we'd have be a big box of opaque dirt where the animals are only viewable while on the side you're looking in... never the other sides and certainly not in the dirt-filled center. Maybe if they added thinner exhibits, like 4x2 or 4x1 tanks, it could work.

 

[premierfong]

Actually, customizable exhibit sizes are always in my mind. More thinking for small bird, fishes and mammal in the future.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

I think this is worth revisiting now that we’ve got our first exhibit mammal. I still think naked mole rats are worth putting a bit of extra dev effort into.

 

[Firestar97]

I think this is worth revisiting now that we’ve got our first exhibit mammal. I still think naked mole rats are worth putting a bit of extra dev effort into.

Definitely. I'd love to see them. I wonder though how Frontier would do that whole Queen and Workers Thing. I think I've already mentioned that but my Idea how the Queen might work, is that it spawns in as Part of the Exhibit Design when you place the first Animals. The normal females would probably still be the ones that would give Birth then though. Might be complicated to get it completely right

 

[NachoB]

I would love naked mole rats in the game. They would need a new type of exhibit though.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

The only way I would say yes would be if the theoretical bigger exhibits were to come true. Bigger then the current exhibits, more customizable, able to move around. I’d say other small mammals such as sugar gliders and slow loris could be used as well.

I said it before and i will say it again:
If i lived 2 years in a one room appartment SMALLER then the current exhibits (4x4x4=64m^3 vs 8x3x2=48m^3) then they dont need it even larger.
So yeah, the need for larger exhibits is utter nonesense, they allready are twice as tall as a human being when in reality something around 1x1x1=1m^3 is allready super large for most exhibit species including naked mole rats.
Idk where this thinking spawned, but our exhibits are completly massive and the animals allready get lost in them, why even larger?

 

[SalamAnders]

They're far too active to be in an exhibit with looped animations; it would be really obvious and they'd just look tacky and mechanical. Same reason I'd rather have no flying birds at all than have them in an exhibit style enclosure.

Usually, naked mole rats are housed in a tube system connecting small nesting areas, toilet chambers, and so on. This means they basically always move straight forward when getting from A to B. Their navigation in real-life zoos is basically looped. Just add a variety of different loops to the sections they are in and it should look alright.