To preface, let me state that I am not a Planet Coaster player. I was a longtime player of the original Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2, as well as the original Roller Coaster Tycoon. To put it simply, this game was not ready for release and repeats a number of Planet Coaster's mistakes.
Core Issues:
1. UI/Building - The UI is overcomplicated and offers too many choices for the basic user. It is difficult to build anything quickly. If I just want to build a quick rectangular cage, I am fussing with it for far too long.The barrier system is overcomplicated and the game's desire to allow off grid building makes it difficult to lay in anything quickly, even when the grid is on. There are things to be said for having an Advanced Controls checkbox. Focus more on making the basic building experience simple and approachable and give the advanced controls to the people who want them.
2. PATHS - The current implementation of paths is limiting, touchy, and difficult to work with. I want to build plazas on a grid, not lines of pathway interconnecting. Raise and lower path elevation needs a friendly onscreen button. In fact most of the controls need a friendly onscreen button. T His is a game, not ZBrush. I should not be reading the manual to find the specific keybinds I'm looking for. Your UI needs more onscreen buttons.
3. WATER - The current water system is worse than the one in Zoo Tycoon 2, a game decades Planet Zoo's senior. You can't modify the terrain once water is added, and the Remove Water Tool is currently broken. This is game breaking.
4. NO BULLDOZER - Mass delete is important in these kinds of games. I don't want to click on every piece of default foliage in a habitat that an animal doesn't like to remove it, and the game has given me no immediately identifiable way to do this quickly.
5. Species Lineup/Exhibit Animals - As a lover of animals, there are some glaringly obvious missing species. The cynic in me says they didn't make the cut because eventual DLC. No Australian animals? No polar bears? No penguins? No anteaters or jaguars or capuchins? Whether time constraints or monetary decisions, it is noticeable. I'm also disappointed by the exhibit animals - they barely ever move and you can't do much with the exhibits - they're boring. I was looking forward to reptile houses, but they're basically statues. Only one size of exhibit, and your boa constrictor exhibit and my boa constrictor exhibit are basically identical. Exhibits could have been a lot of fun, but right now they're basically pre-assembled display kiosks for animals that barely act like animals - you don't have to put in food or water, they don't need vet care, you don't get to decorate and customize, you barely get to watch them do anything interesting. Just set the temperature and humidity and forget about them.
As of right now, there are things I could do in a decades old zoo building games that I cannot do in Planet Zoo. Planet Zoo doesn't give me the tools to make massive changes quickly and doesn't seem to respect my time as a player. It seems far too much attention was given to detailed building and not nearly enough was given to basic building, except when it comes to exhibits. The game's UI is clunky and temperamental at the best of times, and I feel like I spend most of my time trying to work around the obnoxious controls and placement than I do building things I actually wanted to build. The amount of time I have wasted trying to make paths work in this game is frankly embarrassing for a 21st century game. You have good ideas, but you haven't polished them and you clearly haven't had enough people outside your company playtest them. I really wanted to be impressed by this game, but you haven't done your research and you haven't used past feedback to revise your systems for this game.
Core Issues:
1. UI/Building - The UI is overcomplicated and offers too many choices for the basic user. It is difficult to build anything quickly. If I just want to build a quick rectangular cage, I am fussing with it for far too long.The barrier system is overcomplicated and the game's desire to allow off grid building makes it difficult to lay in anything quickly, even when the grid is on. There are things to be said for having an Advanced Controls checkbox. Focus more on making the basic building experience simple and approachable and give the advanced controls to the people who want them.
2. PATHS - The current implementation of paths is limiting, touchy, and difficult to work with. I want to build plazas on a grid, not lines of pathway interconnecting. Raise and lower path elevation needs a friendly onscreen button. In fact most of the controls need a friendly onscreen button. T His is a game, not ZBrush. I should not be reading the manual to find the specific keybinds I'm looking for. Your UI needs more onscreen buttons.
3. WATER - The current water system is worse than the one in Zoo Tycoon 2, a game decades Planet Zoo's senior. You can't modify the terrain once water is added, and the Remove Water Tool is currently broken. This is game breaking.
4. NO BULLDOZER - Mass delete is important in these kinds of games. I don't want to click on every piece of default foliage in a habitat that an animal doesn't like to remove it, and the game has given me no immediately identifiable way to do this quickly.
5. Species Lineup/Exhibit Animals - As a lover of animals, there are some glaringly obvious missing species. The cynic in me says they didn't make the cut because eventual DLC. No Australian animals? No polar bears? No penguins? No anteaters or jaguars or capuchins? Whether time constraints or monetary decisions, it is noticeable. I'm also disappointed by the exhibit animals - they barely ever move and you can't do much with the exhibits - they're boring. I was looking forward to reptile houses, but they're basically statues. Only one size of exhibit, and your boa constrictor exhibit and my boa constrictor exhibit are basically identical. Exhibits could have been a lot of fun, but right now they're basically pre-assembled display kiosks for animals that barely act like animals - you don't have to put in food or water, they don't need vet care, you don't get to decorate and customize, you barely get to watch them do anything interesting. Just set the temperature and humidity and forget about them.
As of right now, there are things I could do in a decades old zoo building games that I cannot do in Planet Zoo. Planet Zoo doesn't give me the tools to make massive changes quickly and doesn't seem to respect my time as a player. It seems far too much attention was given to detailed building and not nearly enough was given to basic building, except when it comes to exhibits. The game's UI is clunky and temperamental at the best of times, and I feel like I spend most of my time trying to work around the obnoxious controls and placement than I do building things I actually wanted to build. The amount of time I have wasted trying to make paths work in this game is frankly embarrassing for a 21st century game. You have good ideas, but you haven't polished them and you clearly haven't had enough people outside your company playtest them. I really wanted to be impressed by this game, but you haven't done your research and you haven't used past feedback to revise your systems for this game.
