Feedback on Cohabitation

I really like many of the improvements from JWE1 to 2 but the new cohabitation system is a miss from me. Adding likes/dislikes should make setting up enclosures more complex than “pick any herbivore you want” like in the first game, but the way the system has been implemented isn’t complex and is kind of boring. The problem is that every single species in the same dinosaur family has the exact same likes and dislikes (every sauropod hates every other sauropod, every ceratopsian hates every other ceratopsian and every stegosaur but likes every ankylosaur), so there is no creativity in cohabiting different herbivore species and every enclosure needs to be one of two fixed combinations: 1 sauropod / 1 ceratopsid / 1 ankylosaurid / 1 ornithomimid, hadrosaur, or pachycephalid OR 1 sauropod / 1 stegosaur / 2 ornithomimid, hadrosaur, or pachycephalid. I don’t like that it’s not possible to put dinosaurs that we know lived together in the same ecosystem, like chasmosaurus and styracosaurus, in the same enclosure, without them freaking out. It’s also weird that diverse hadrosaur, pachycephalid, and ornithomimid species all have the exact same cohabitation preferences. Another thing that I don’t like is composgnathus is the only small carnivore that can fit into any herbivore enclosure, and it likes everything, but all of the other small carnivores fall into the other extreme of not being liked by any herbivore and there’s no middle ground. How about making coelophysis a less accepted carnivore that some herbivores but not others can tolerate? And all the species in some families also have similar same food requirements (for example none of the ankylosaurs eat fiber) so it’s also hard to create certain enclosures with certain food types. Instead of every species in the same family having the same likes/dislikes and extremely similar food preferences, I think enclosures could be more interesting if each individual herbivore species had more diverse preferences instead of being the same across the entire family.
 

Jens Erik

Senior Community Manager
Frontier
Hi there!

The way Cohabitation has been set up is partly inspired by whether or not the dinosaurs in question would compete for food or space. This is why some species who (presumably) share a food source don't care for each other.

You can still keep them in the same enclosure, as long as they have a fair bit of space, and you can also change their tolerance and cohabitation limit through by changing their Genetic Mods.
 
The way Cohabitation has been set up is partly inspired by whether or not the dinosaurs in question would compete for food or space. This is why some species who (presumably) share a food source don't care for each other.

Thanks for your response! I realize that is the intent, but the current implementation of that (on a family by family basis / with all member species of the same family having the exact same preferences) doesn’t capture that well and isn’t very interesting compared to doing preferences on a species by species basis / species having somewhat different preferences. I’d like to see more variation like edmontasaurus and archeornithoninus liking each other instead of the whole family being the same. Or like nigersaurus and dreadnougtus feed on different plants but still hate each other because all sauropods hate each other. Please consider adding more variation.
 
Hi there!

The way Cohabitation has been set up is partly inspired by whether or not the dinosaurs in question would compete for food or space. This is why some species who (presumably) share a food source don't care for each other.

You can still keep them in the same enclosure, as long as they have a fair bit of space, and you can also change their tolerance and cohabitation limit through by changing their Genetic Mods.
So with enough space and enough food, 2 carnivores that cohabitate won’t kill each other. Correct?
 
I really like many of the improvements from JWE1 to 2 but the new cohabitation system is a miss from me. Adding likes/dislikes should make setting up enclosures more complex than “pick any herbivore you want” like in the first game, but the way the system has been implemented isn’t complex and is kind of boring. The problem is that every single species in the same dinosaur family has the exact same likes and dislikes (every sauropod hates every other sauropod, every ceratopsian hates every other ceratopsian and every stegosaur but likes every ankylosaur), so there is no creativity in cohabiting different herbivore species and every enclosure needs to be one of two fixed combinations: 1 sauropod / 1 ceratopsid / 1 ankylosaurid / 1 ornithomimid, hadrosaur, or pachycephalid OR 1 sauropod / 1 stegosaur / 2 ornithomimid, hadrosaur, or pachycephalid. I don’t like that it’s not possible to put dinosaurs that we know lived together in the same ecosystem, like chasmosaurus and styracosaurus, in the same enclosure, without them freaking out. It’s also weird that diverse hadrosaur, pachycephalid, and ornithomimid species all have the exact same cohabitation preferences. Another thing that I don’t like is composgnathus is the only small carnivore that can fit into any herbivore enclosure, and it likes everything, but all of the other small carnivores fall into the other extreme of not being liked by any herbivore and there’s no middle ground. How about making coelophysis a less accepted carnivore that some herbivores but not others can tolerate? And all the species in some families also have similar same food requirements (for example none of the ankylosaurs eat fiber) so it’s also hard to create certain enclosures with certain food types. Instead of every species in the same family having the same likes/dislikes and extremely similar food preferences, I think enclosures could be more interesting if each individual herbivore species had more diverse preferences instead of being the same across the entire family.
Would also appreciate if carnivores could cohabitate with herbivores or carnivores with carnivores like in the Cretaceous cruise
 
I think being able to modify their food and cohab settings, either as a mechanic or as a sandbox preload setting, would do wonders to have a more cohesive park. As it stands, there are only certain combos that can be made, with little variation if you're trying to utilize each pen to the max. It's great that different species don't count against food and space requirements within a pen.

For those that want a good source to help preplan enclosures:

But using that source highlights how limiting the dino combos are, with a good chunk of pens can hold 4 dinos but far fewer can hold 5 or more.

On a different note, it is puzzling why cohab restrictions weren't based off actual historic timelines, rather than the current, seemly random, way it is now. The data is there, and people would be far more accepting of those restrictions since that is what happened in reality.
 
Would also appreciate if carnivores could cohabitate with herbivores or carnivores with carnivores like in the Cretaceous cruise
There's no indication that the carnivores in the Cretaceous Cruise weren't separated from another or from the herbivores. I find it difficult to believe that Baryonyx, Metriacanthosaurus, and Parasaurolophus would all coexist peacefully together. In today's world, lions, hyenas, and zebras don't hang around watering holes in perpetuity. Eventually, one party leaves before the lions and hyenas get hungry and / or competitive with the other predators.
 
There's no indication that the carnivores in the Cretaceous Cruise weren't separated from another or from the herbivores. I find it difficult to believe that Baryonyx, Metriacanthosaurus, and Parasaurolophus would all coexist peacefully together. In today's world, lions, hyenas, and zebras don't hang around watering holes in perpetuity. Eventually, one party leaves before the lions and hyenas get hungry and / or competitive with the other predators.
But the game wasn’t suppose to reenact the real world. I’m assuming it was meant to duplicate the Jurassic world where things were differently
 
But the game wasn’t suppose to reenact the real world. I’m assuming it was meant to duplicate the Jurassic world where things were differently
We've pretty much never seen carnivores and herbivores coexist in the way that you're describing in this franchise aside from the watering hole scene in Camp Cretaceous season 2 and the Lockwood mansion gas scene in Fallen Kingdom. Both of those were special temporary circumstances. You could argue for the final scene in the Lost World, but the T. rex family was pretty distant from the Stegosaurus herd. Since the now defunct Isla Nublar site didn't say that the Cretaceous Cruise inhabitants weren't separated, the franchise does mirror real life in that carnivores don't really get along with herbivores or other carnivores except in special temporary situations. To be honest, I'm not even sure if Universal would allow for the peaceful coexistence that you're describing (outside of maybe Sandbox) since they probably want to preserve the image of their carnivores as fierce and dangerous.
 
Hi there!

The way Cohabitation has been set up is partly inspired by whether or not the dinosaurs in question would compete for food or space. This is why some species who (presumably) share a food source don't care for each other.

You can still keep them in the same enclosure, as long as they have a fair bit of space, and you can also change their tolerance and cohabitation limit through by changing their Genetic Mods.
Hey Frontier. For genetic modification in the hatchery, why is there very limited amount (4-7) of changes we can make for a dinosaur. Is this limitation only in chaos theory?
 
I had proposed an improvement to this problem of cohabitation here

 

Jens Erik

Senior Community Manager
Frontier
Hey Frontier. For genetic modification in the hatchery, why is there very limited amount (4-7) of changes we can make for a dinosaur. Is this limitation only in chaos theory?
This is a little off-topic for this particular thread, but to answer your question: There are maximum 8 gene mods you can apply to your dinosaurs to alter the chance of certain traits appearing or not appearing. This number is the same for all modes where you bio-engineer dinosaurs: Chaos Theory, Challenge Mode and Sandbox Mode. Gene Mods are used to influence the chance of a trait appearing, but you can't use them to make an "Ultimate-o-saurus" (if you catch my meaning).
 
This is a little off-topic for this particular thread, but to answer your question: There are maximum 8 gene mods you can apply to your dinosaurs to alter the chance of certain traits appearing or not appearing. This number is the same for all modes where you bio-engineer dinosaurs: Chaos Theory, Challenge Mode and Sandbox Mode. Gene Mods are used to influence the chance of a trait appearing, but you can't use them to make an "Ultimate-o-saurus" (if you catch my meaning).
Oh makes sense by that perspective. Wish we could do that, it would be amazing. Anyways thank you for the feedback. I must say this game has improved by a lot
 

But using that source highlights how limiting the dino combos are, with a good chunk of pens can hold 4 dinos but far fewer can hold 5 or more.

That guide, the cohabitation guide on steam, and reddit was why I was inspired to write this post.



Because of the way families have the same species preferences and similar environmental / food needs, the currently possible enclosure configurations are extremely limited and mixed carnivore/herbivore enclosures without compsognathus are impossible. More variation in the preferences and evironmental needs for more species would improve enclosure diversity immensely.
 
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