I played a lot of the X-COM games and liked the way they unfolded more and more information of the in-game aliens if you researched certain objects you found and collected during your game play. Red Dead Redemption 2 seems to use a similar system as well.
I think it would be really engaging if Planet Zoo could insert this into the game as well, but cooler:
Imagine you have a very restricted animal encyclopedia entry at first of say and elephant. It tells of the name, country of origin, size and weight. By having your staff research things you actually have to find first in the game world by zooming in around your park, the entry gets expanded based on what you find.
So, if for instance you see some elephant poop, have the keeper collect it and have it pop up in a research station. By researching it, you learn more about the food preferences and its digestive system.
If you find some damaged, scratched up tree trunks and research that (point it out to a keeper and he’ll come running photograph it), you’ll learn that the elephant likes scratchy posts and the glossery tells more about the elephant’s skin.
If an elephant dies in your zoo, you could perform an autopsy. Based on the skill of the performing doctor, you learn more about its cause of death, expanding your encyclopedia even more!
This could also be used for random encounters. If you closely follow interactions of animals (for instance a bird sitting on an elephant’s back), you’ll unlock a piece of research learning that some birds help the elephant get rid of pesky insects on their skin and expand the glossery.
All the above would also enrich the teachings the staff can give to the visitors.
You could have the option to give the players hints (toggle on or off) by placing a microscope icon over researchable things, when mousing over them.
This all could give players hundreds of incentives to go out and study the animals and learn along the way.
I think it would be really engaging if Planet Zoo could insert this into the game as well, but cooler:
Imagine you have a very restricted animal encyclopedia entry at first of say and elephant. It tells of the name, country of origin, size and weight. By having your staff research things you actually have to find first in the game world by zooming in around your park, the entry gets expanded based on what you find.
So, if for instance you see some elephant poop, have the keeper collect it and have it pop up in a research station. By researching it, you learn more about the food preferences and its digestive system.
If you find some damaged, scratched up tree trunks and research that (point it out to a keeper and he’ll come running photograph it), you’ll learn that the elephant likes scratchy posts and the glossery tells more about the elephant’s skin.
If an elephant dies in your zoo, you could perform an autopsy. Based on the skill of the performing doctor, you learn more about its cause of death, expanding your encyclopedia even more!
This could also be used for random encounters. If you closely follow interactions of animals (for instance a bird sitting on an elephant’s back), you’ll unlock a piece of research learning that some birds help the elephant get rid of pesky insects on their skin and expand the glossery.
All the above would also enrich the teachings the staff can give to the visitors.
You could have the option to give the players hints (toggle on or off) by placing a microscope icon over researchable things, when mousing over them.
This all could give players hundreds of incentives to go out and study the animals and learn along the way.
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