Do you think is acceptable that zoo visitor /guest don't like the staff areas???

[Willyphua]

Hi everyone as above topics ...

Do you think is acceptable for zoo guest /visitor for the visitor to dislike seeing staff area ???

Well in real life , most people will be more than happy to see the behind the scenes /animals off exhibits area and keeper areas . Some even willing to pay for the behind the scenes tours to experience and understanding how zoo keeper works are like ..and where does the animal sleep at night when zoo is closed

 

[KevinBevin]

I find it incredibly odd, and have never understood it. Reckon it should almost be positive instead of negative

 

[Willyphua]

I find it incredibly odd, and have never understood it. Reckon it should almost be positive instead of negative

Me too , can't understand how the game works...

Maybe the one designing and coding the zoo guest/visitor he himself do not like to see the zoo staff areas that why he code it this way

 

[nightcat]

Well, I always thought of it as an interesting managing aspect. And that was even before the scenery-impact on the radius.

And yes, I think it's not totally unrealistic. Staff areas often don't look quite as beautiyful as the rest of the zoo, sometimes it's smelly or loud or even dangerous.
Not everyone want's to see in detail how a rabbit looks in the inside or how the vet euthanize an injured/sick animal.

 

[paul78]

Agreed kind of strange I mean at my local zoo they do a decent job of hiding most but some are fairly obvious and for me at least they’re interesting and never viewed as a negative. In game it’s nothing I can’t live with but a bit puzzling for sure I guess it adds a little bit of management to the game and a little challenge.

 

[ShadowLilly]

If you just add some bushes or buildingpiecea, the negative radius almost dissapears

 

[jcp011c]

I think it's kind of not realistic as well. The trade center and quarantine maybe and I can definitely understand the water and power buildings, but I don't think it's a concern in real about real life keeper hut and staff lounge areas.

 

[NL_Mutso]

Do you think is acceptable for zoo guest /visitor for the visitor to dislike seeing staff area ???

Well in real life , most people will be more than happy to see the behind the scenes /animals off exhibits area and keeper areas . Some even willing to pay for the behind the scenes tours to experience and understanding how zoo keeper works are like ..and where does the animal sleep at night when zoo is closed

Don't think you can compare those 2 situations (staff area/RL behind the scenes)?

I agree with Nightcat on this one.
Some people are interested and some aren't.
I don't think someone who loves to see this, can fully relate to someone who doesn't want to see this in zoos. (and ofc. vice versa)

Going with realistic - you can easily add a negative circle to solar panels as well. A lot of people don't like seeing them on roofs or don't like the glare from some panels.
If I went to the zoo and saw that many solar panels on the ground in a zoo - I wouldn't like seeing that.

 

[onk]

I think in a coaster /entertainment park this game mechanic could be a very good addition to the game. In this kind of parks, it’s key to keep people within the immersion of the attractions, instead of doing education. I really like this feature in p*rk*t*ct, where it’s done with a line of sight calculatio.

For planet zoo...I hated it in the beginning...and with the changes they made...it's acceptable. But considering that this game lacks a proper energy and water management (grid system), and it's working with a simple sphere....this "feature" still feels a bit thrown in.

 

[LN]

Something like a vet clinic, or a zoo keeper room I wouldn't mind seeing, I'm sure I would find that interesting as a guest.

Workshop, etc. not so.

But I wouldn't like it if I smell a sewer or hear loud noises, which water and electricity facilities might be able to cause
(If I recall correctly solar panels don't have that negative effect area, or do they?).

It's not only seeing facilities. It's also the fact they can cause noise and bad smells, although that is something we can not "see" in the game.
But I guess that is the thought behind it as well.

So, I think, this is a good added thing in the game to make sure people think about the placement of their buildings a bit more.

 

[Skawt]

I don't really understand it either, but something I've come to live with in regards to planet zoo. In real life, I do find those areas to be the exact opposite as well. I'm fascinated with how a zoo runs and it's day-to-day operations. Prior to the covid crisis, my Wife and I were considering taking part in the "zookeeper for a day" program at the Toronto Zoo for our anniversary. That program does cost a sum of money though, shadowing and working along a keeper - being fully immersed in all the staff areas, meetings, keeper lifestyle, etc.

I've also binged watched the "Secrets of the Zoo" hosted by the Columbus Zoo, on Disney+. That's pretty much ALL staff area stuff and a pretty decent insight in the behind the scenes aspect of a zoo - albeit, a bit dramatized.

The Toronto Zoo has a walk-though section of it's main medical facility with observation windows of the operating and examination rooms, it's quite fascinating. Ripley's Aquarium (also in Toronto) has a portion of their self-guided tour taking you through the main water purification facility and has an observation window into the control room.

Anyhow, my point is, guests are genuinely excited on how these types of places are run.

 

[Cocolori]

I've raised this point before in similar threads but I think of it as a simplified game mechanic to make us seperate backstage areas (guest happiness is just an easy consequence to do that). Mostly because having worked in an animal collection (falconry centre not zoo) I can tell you that a) the staff most definitely want some areas they can get away from the public - I loe talking to people but during your break or for jobs that require sustained concentration it is not helpful being gawked at and b) there will always be jobs that it would be inappropriate for the public (or at least a sizeable proportion of it) to witness. Food prep when gutting rats is not something I would do with guests even those who had paid for a falconry experience, some health care where the animals get stressed or where there was some risk to staff also not a time when you wanted an audience, acclimitising animals to new people and environments, hand-rearing when necessary, wildlife rehabilitiation, and frankly just the mess which is inevitable with stored kit etc. because we never had time to keep everything organised. Just my take on it! Obviously when visiting other places I always wanted to see so I could silently judge their choices

 

[NZFanatic]

This was discussed in the past and the result was the ability to lower the radius with scenery.

In any case it depends on the facility. Staff rooms aren't usually hidden, but they're also not often visible so you wouldn't tend to notice them anyway. Workshops would typically be somewhere behind the scenes where you can't see them, research labs would be folded into vet clinics, and vet clinics are often on display to visitors. I advocated for the vet clinic actually have a positive effect on education rather than a negative impact, as some zoos actually give public access to their vet clinics to that end. The Nest at Wellington Zoo is a good example - I've seen tigers and cheetahs both being given treatment there through the big windows.

I think the diminishing negative radius is a good compromise, however. It certainly makes things easier.

 

[DragonNTiger]

It is a bit odd in some cases... my local zoo has the kitchen out in the open so guests can see where the animal food is made... it's interesting stuff. I can understand some things being unappealing like the staff room or the workshop, but things like the kitchen, clinic or lab? You'd think seeing those would benefit education, not upset people...

 

[Jileha]

A while ago, I asked a zoo keeper about this aspect in the game. She just laughed out loud and pointed out to me the many things they do to keep animal management stuff out of the visitors‘ views. We were standing at the orangutan habitat at that time and she said that the animals‘ housing and staff areas were right underneath our feet and that the soft, bouncy material we were standing on - which I had always thought was a feature for the guests and playing/jumping children - was actually to provide some soundproofing for the animals resting under our feet. Looking at the habitat, you would never even think that there were special buildings attached to the habitat. Other habitats are framed in the back or along the sides by artificial rock walls that hide away these buildings far away from the public. They do everything they can to make these buildings “melt into” the surrounding nature.

Sure, some zoos have guided tours of or provide glimpses into a few more exposed buildings such as the vet (and this will always only be a specific section of the clinic as guests should never see the gory part of suffering or dying animals) or the animal nursery, but every habitat has additional buildings attached to it. If you were to see them everywhere for every single habitat, this would take away from the immersive experience most modern zoos try to achieve.

The guest experience definitely depends a lot of the individual zoo‘s circumstances. Older city zoos in cooler climates with lots of architecturally amazing and sometimes even protected buildings housing animals and staff facilities provide a very different experience than zoos in warmer climates where most animals can be outside during any time of the year. It can also depend on space restrictions - the more space a zoo has, the better they can hide away all the staff buildings.

However, the general trend of modern zoos is to present animals in an as natural environment as possible. Just look at the more theme-park styled zoos that try to create the illusion of a real jungle cruise or safari - even inside huge buildings, if they have to. Seeing animal management buildings everywhere would be absolutely counterproductive and would indeed annoy most people. Instead, they often put up otherwise useless buildings just to increase the illusion such as the polar expedition headquarters with some research equipment and maps lying around, traditional buildings of the region, etc.

 

[Jileha]

It is a bit odd in some cases... my local zoo has the kitchen out in the open so guests can see where the animal food is made... it's interesting stuff. I can understand some things being unappealing like the staff room or the workshop, but things like the kitchen, clinic or lab? You'd think seeing those would benefit education, not upset people...

You will only be able to see part of everything that has been especially prepared as a guest “attraction”. Working people generally don’t like being constantly observed by the maybe overly critical eyes of outsiders. Most parts of the clinic or lab will be closed off to the public. Most mondane things such as delivery areas etc. are closed off and behind the scenes.

Remember the global outrage when a Danish zoo killed a giraffe in public for educational purposes? Most people only want to see the nice bits and pieces, and zoos want to keep their positive image alive. Culling animals happens more often in zoos than we want to think about. That’s one reason why zoos want to show the public how much research and conservation work is done at the zoo. Zoos battle enough criticism about keeping wild animals in confined spaces.

List of animals culled in zoos - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Willyphua]

What about off exhibits area? Off dens off show exhibits/habitats?

 

[Sclurp]

I'd happily accept a much more expensive version of the building that's acquired at the end of a research tree, which functions as a staff facility and guest education center

 

[Indoraptor27]

I don't really understand it. I can see how some guests might find surgery upsetting, I believe at some zoos there are areas where guests can watch it happen, but tucked away a bit so someone who doesn't want to see it won't. If I was a guest, I wouldn't really care either about most of the buildings. I might get annoyed by the loud electrical and water stations. The keeper hut would be really interesting, I'd love to see it.

Edit: Also if I was a staff member I might be annoyed if guests were checking out the staff room.

 

[onk]

I might get annoyed by the loud electrical and water stations.

Sure, but as far as I know "noise and smell" is mostly a forum-argument, to excuse why frontier went with a bubble vs line of sight solution.

Which modern zoo in the world would went with old junky loud diesel generators, that also need to be placed right next to buildings, cause they have short cables ;-)

Frontier never said anything about their "choice", they simple use a method that the game engine supports.