Here we go again. I thought we were over the "Frontier is not capable of creating more animals in a 4 months time frame" but it seems we're not, despite all the evidence we have indicating the whole DLC model is not a matter of time constraints but a decision to allocate a limited amount of resources to said DLCs.
I have never been convinced by the this animal is close enough to the other one to use the rig with such ease(outside of wolves, bears, some deer), and I struggle to find how these rigs would be as simple as claimed.
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I feel a lot of the just make this animal with this rig are not quite as easy as many are thinking. Not to mention they would still have to include that animals natural behaviors, zoopedia information, coat variation, sounds, and more.
Quoting just these parts but it applies to the whole post:
You summed up pretty well all the components that need to be done for each new animal that is created, but I feel that some stuff needs clarification:
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Rig. Probably the most difficult part, I think we can all agree on that. Just so we know what we're talking about when we say "rig", it is basically the skeleton of an animal. Now, as Iben has posted while I'm writing this, the video he linked is self explanatory. Even the most difficult aspect of creating an animal is heavily optimised by Frontier and (as said in the video), making rigs based on existing ones can take as little as a few days. I assume that means just
one person working on that. It's important not to mix facial expression, coat textures and animal size with the rig itself. Facial expression and coat textures can indeed take some time but they're cosmetic/texture changes for the most part - easier to accomplish. The size of an animal, from my little knowledge on graphic design and by observing how some mods are made, can be as easy as changing some figures (if you have the best tools available, which Frontier has).
In general, I think we can reach a consensus that, from a zoological point of view, all the species within the same genus share an almost identical PZ rig. So some animals' rigs would take very few time to make, even close to no time at all (clones).
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Animations/behaviour. Possibly the second most time-consuming component of an animal. But the more animals we get, the more that can be copied from old animals to new ones. Frontier made a great effort in this regard with the last couple of DLCs. Now,
recycling the diving animations for other animals should allow to save some time.
As an example of recycling animations, virtually any antelope that is added in the future should not require new animations other than maybe a very speficic one to use a new enrichment item or for fighting. Same applies to many other animal groups that have been mentioned here.
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Texture. Having in mind we're talking about extremely good proffesionals and artists like Frontier has and with the best tools available, it should take no more time than it takes to the most prolific PZ modder. Indeed, the facial expression is probably what takes more time, but certainly not 3-4 weeks (saying this because we get 5 animal textures every 4 months). Coat variations (in most cases) are just different shades/saturation/tints applied to the same coat/fur.
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Sounds. Same applies. Many animals within the same group, family, genus etc. make similar noises. The more animals we get, the more that can be recycled. I assume at least some of the completely new sounds like the ones from penguins, seals etc. were already recorded when the PZ team visited some zoos like Chester, San Diego, etc. Yes, up until now every animal that was released in DLCs was pre-planned before the game launched. But honestly, even if they ran out of real recorded sounds, there are animal sounds databases from which they can be acquired.
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Zoopedia/requirements. For obvious reasons, it doesn't take much time.
@RabidOkapi very well said. I agree with everyone we all want more animals. It’s obvious. But imo if we get into that whole well this animal is close enough thing then you basically trade quantity for quality. This is one thing I don’t want planet zoo to become. I think there’s a lot of people that simply don’t understand the work and time involved in designing and development. I think some are getting impatient which is understandable as even I wish there was a way to have a monthly dlc pack of 4 animals but realistically this just isn’t likely going to happen. Now as dlc sits we pay about 2$ per animal which is very fair IMO for the quality animals plus scenery pieces makes it a bargain imo. Now I see people wanting to add 2 animals which is fine but yeah that bumps price to 14-15$. Not terrible but will everyone be willing to pay 20-30$ per pack with 8-10 animals and patiently wait longer for each pack and also would frontier take a hit in all actuality with many not able to spend this much possibly?
I agree the price is good for the content, and that not everyone would be willing to pay more than 15-20$ for a DLC. But it wouldn't be the first time that a videogame produces big DLCs (20$) and these DLCs end up being succesfful and profitable. Also, the argument here by most people who request more animals is that we'd like more animals in the same 4 months time frame, not more time. Everything I wrote above, which has been thoroughly discussed before in the forum indicates that it is possible to accomplish that.
I think this may get exaggerated as well. I've seen a lot of people say "it only takes 3 days to make a rig now", and don't equate the other steps needed to complete an animal (which we have absolutely no estimate from Frontier). But I think what gets missed from that video is that the presenter said it can take as little as 3 days to rig an animal, meaning this is the absolute minimum. It says nothing as to the maximum length or time, or even what the average length of time is to rig an animal. And again, we have no idea how long the animation time takes, how long it takes to research behaviours to animate, etc. It seems to be assumed that the only reason they don't include more animals in a DLC is because they actively choose too. It may be more of a time constraint (again, outside of the rigging process, we really don't have any good estimate of the length of time to create a new animal from start to finish).
Well, as you even wrote below, the "it only takes 3 days to make a rig now" was said by Frontier itself, so, even if it's the minimum, I don't see how this is exaggerating. But this being said, I have to disagree. I haven't seen a lot of people claiming that, in fact, I don't recall anyone. What I have seen is people claiming it could take 3 days to make
certain animals like the b&w ruffed lemur, the Malayan tapir, the Grevy's zebra, the leopard, etc.; not every animal.
Indeed, we don't know how long it takes to research behaviours, make animations, etc. But all the information we have now is the video Iben linked and the work done by modders. And, even if some of the the modded animals are nowhere close Frontier's quality, everything indicates that, with the best professionals and tools available, it shouldn't take that much time. Hence why it is assumed that the only reason why more animals are not included is simply a matter of a business strategy or a lack of resources for PZ content.
