Expansion Pack every Two Years Plus DLC In Between.

[Mjmannella]

I don’t see any sign that most people are dissatisfied with the DLCs so far. Again , I much prefer frequent packs to occasional packs, assuming a similar amount of total content. I would hate the feast or famine yearly release model.

As I mentioned earlier, the quarterly model better accommodates the current socioeconomic climate, so of course it's the one Frontier will prioritize.

I was mostly talking about changes to what gets released (smaller animals, animal packs, fear rocks, mesh etc.), rather than bug fixes and minor changes (as follows releases) but under a yearly release model there’s no reason to think there’s be fewer total bugs, they’d just take longer to fix after each release, since there wiukd be more bugs per release.

I strongly disagree with the idea that DLC with a greater development time would have less problems. The extra time would absolutely be used to polish the package up and do some play-testing (which at times Frontier's games and DLC desperately need). I also think it'd be perfectly reasonable to have small content updates without accompanying DLC. But unfortunately that's not going to happen for reasons previously mentioned.

Any change made in response to feedback is, necessarily, in response to requests for changes. Many of these changes were not in response to the community being irate.. it is totally possible to request/suggest changes without being in any way anti-frontier.

But those ways aren't going to get the same kind of traction. Asking with please won't create the same drive as making a fuss.

 

[ElectricMonk]

As I mentioned earlier, the quarterly model better accommodates the current socioeconomic climate, so of course it's the one Frontier will prioritize.

And as I mentioned before, I think that’s for the better, because I think more frequent DLC is better for Frontier and for us, the customers.

I strongly disagree with the idea that DLC with a greater development time would have less problems.

I didn’t say that - I said the number of issues would be approximately the same. In any case, even if there were proportionally fewer for each expansion (which I don’t agree would be true in any case), it would still take longer after each release for all issues to be resolved, since there would be more more issues per release.

But those ways aren't going to get the same kind of traction. Asking with please won't create the same drive as making a fuss.

Those already get plenty of traction - many changes / additions have been made without the community having to fly off the handle. In any case, whether the feedback / suggestions are ‘supportive’ or not of frontier is irrelevant to the point.

 

[Anthracite_Impreza]

Having read through all this I have to say I can see both sides of "DLC vs expansion", but I actually do prefer the DLC model we have. I would love more in each DLC but it's not realistic to expect that and quality, and I personally would prefer new stuff more often. Having seen the numbers, PZ has actually put out the same or more content as ZT in the same amount of time, just trickled rather than flooded; I think that's a better way for both players (less waiting) and devs (less pressure, not having to fix everything at once). I also agree that the fact non-paying players get the free update is actually quite rare for a modern game company to do; let's not forget that a hell of a lot of work goes into that update too and only those who pay for the simultaneous DLC are actually funding it. And I say this as someone who has so far fully funded those free updates, to hold new mechanics behind a paywall (ie. an expansion pack model) would be a step backwards imo.

At the same time, PZ is not ZT, it has never claimed to be ZT, that's just something we have assigned to it. It is a completely separate game and it doesn't do well to keep comparing the two to this degree. A dog and a wolf are very similar, but there's only one I'd be able to sleep soundly with in my bedroom.

 

[zoomaster1994]

I don't really like the idea of Planet Zoo 2. JWE2 is(In some ways)better than JWE with aquatics and flying reptiles, but it's basically still the same as JWE.
PZ2 would be the same as PZ but just with birds, fishes and marine mammals. IF frontier would ever add birds, fishes and such groundbreaking additions, the game would continue to last for quite a bit longer. I'd rather have that than just a completely new game which is kinda the same as the original only with some extra addition they could easily make a paid expansion pack for.

But that's just my view on it

 

[premierfong]

I don't really like the idea of Planet Zoo 2. JWE2 is(In some ways)better than JWE with aquatics and flying reptiles, but it's basically still the same as JWE.
PZ2 would be the same as PZ but just with birds, fishes and marine mammals. IF frontier would ever add birds, fishes and such groundbreaking additions, the game would continue to last for quite a bit longer. I'd rather have that than just a completely new game which is kinda the same as the original only with some extra addition they could easily make a paid expansion pack for.

But that's just my view on it

PZ2 ONLY if all the roster from the base game + all the DLCs are included.

 

[12344321]

PZ2 ONLY if all the roster from the base game + all the DLCs are included.

Not even then lol


Just like I didn't want Jurassic World Evolution 2 (the game NOBODY asked for)


Did you like our Dinosaur game???
- yes

Here's a second more rushed version with very little added, give me your money.

 

[Antimony96]

At the moment, given the current state of flight for large pterosaurs in JWE2, I'm not confident that aviary birds could be implemented well. At the same time I really want more habitat birds and think we could use a lot more to have a more realistic zoo simulation (as opposed to being so skewed towards mammalian megafauna), so I think the best solution would just be to add more habitat birds in upcoming packs plus a dedicated animal pack for them, e.g. a red-crowned crane in an East Asia Pack, a black swan in an Oceania pack, etc.

The possibility that's been discussed a bit, wouldn't be hard to implement, and would help a lot in enhancing realism is some kind of Children's Zoo expansion pack which includes a selection of domestic animals (donkey, goat, sheep, cow, pig, chicken, with maybe a couple that get two different breeds), an expansion to walk-in habitats that includes feeding and touching for species with the Domesticated tag, and barnyard props, as well as other things common in children-oriented areas of zoos--animatronic dinosaurs, simple rides (a carousel), a couple exhibit animals that are very popular in the exotic pet trade (leopard gecko/ball python), and an expansion of the educator system to include animal shows; maybe even an ambassador animal system (this could be the free update). Might not fulfill dreams but would be a massive step forward that might be more feasible than aquariums or aviaries.

 

[premierfong]

At the moment, given the current state of flight for large pterosaurs in JWE2, I'm not confident that aviary birds could be implemented well. At the same time I really want more habitat birds and think we could use a lot more to have a more realistic zoo simulation (as opposed to being so skewed towards mammalian megafauna), so I think the best solution would just be to add more habitat birds in upcoming packs plus a dedicated animal pack for them, e.g. a red-crowned crane in an East Asia Pack, a black swan in an Oceania pack, etc.

The possibility that's been discussed a bit, wouldn't be hard to implement, and would help a lot in enhancing realism is some kind of Children's Zoo expansion pack which includes a selection of domestic animals (donkey, goat, sheep, cow, pig, chicken, with maybe a couple that get two different breeds), an expansion to walk-in habitats that includes feeding and touching for species with the Domesticated tag, and barnyard props, as well as other things common in children-oriented areas of zoos--animatronic dinosaurs, simple rides (a carousel), a couple exhibit animals that are very popular in the exotic pet trade (leopard gecko/ball python), and an expansion of the educator system to include animal shows; maybe even an ambassador animal system (this could be the free update). Might not fulfill dreams but would be a massive step forward that might be more feasible than aquariums or aviaries.

There are A LOT to add to make PZ more realistic and fun. Like City Skyline, they just keep adding to make a city looks more realistic. PZ can last as long as we purchase and showed interest.

 

[premierfong]

I think I should push this idea up again. I am suggesting we get both expansions and DLC.

 

[avietar]

A question for those who know more about this sort of thing:

How many DLCs and expansions can Planet Zoo's game engine support? What are the limits for supported features?

I think once the limits are reached, but there is still much to incorporate into the game, that is when we're looking at a potential Planet Zoo 2.

 

[Doran]

Support ends when engine cant handle new things that players want. Atleast that was case with JWE (pterosaurs, marine reptiles, dynamic fighting etc..). Frontier said that.
Seems really close, because frontier dont want to release neither birds nor aquariums in first game.

 

[Iben]

Support ends when engine cant handle new things that players want. Atleast that was case with JWE (pterosaurs, marine reptiles, dynamic fighting etc..). Frontier said that.
Seems really close, because frontier dont want to release neither birds nor aquariums in first game.

In general, comparing a game that is their own product (Planet Zoo) vs a game they've made for a different company (JWE/JWE2) in terms of trajectory is a bit futile. We know nothing on the inner workings, the influence/assignment/decisions of Universal. So we can't really look at what happened with JWE and just copy paste that to PZ's lifespan/timeline.

All we can do is do technical comparisons given that they're both on version 19 (or 20) of the Cobra Engine, which means that from a technical perspective birds and aquariums are certainly possible in the current game.

 

[ElectricMonk]

Seems really close, because frontier dont want to release neither birds nor aquariums in first game.

There is absolutely no evidence that this is true.