First Planet Zoo Expansion Pack

[deanmo19]

Here's my idea for a first expansion pack for Planet Zoo. It's called African Safari. The animals featured in this pack should include:

Habitat Animals:

1. Southeast African Lion (Panthera leo melanochaita)
2. Masai Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchii)
3. Grevy's Zebra (Equus grevyi)
4. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
5. Giant Eland (Taurotragus derbianus)
6. Eastern Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis bicornis)
7. Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum)
8. Black-Backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)
9. Olive Baboon (Papio Anubis)
10. African Leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)
11. Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus)
12. Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)
13. Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)
14. Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
15. Yellow-Backed Duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor)
16. African Crested Porcupine (Hystrix cristata)
17. Eastern Black-and-White Colobus Monkey (Colobus guereza)
18. Wolf's Guenon (Cercopithecus wolfi)
19. Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas)
20. Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori)
21. Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer)
22. Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri)
23. Stanley Crane (Grus paradise)
24. East African Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum)
25. Lappet-Faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos)
26. White-Backed Vulture (Gyps africanus
27. Pink-Backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens)
28. Black-Throated Monitor (Varanus albigularis microstictus)
29. Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis)
30. Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

Exhibit Animals:

1. Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber)
2. Black-and-Rufous Sengi (Rhynchocyon petersi)
3. Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica)
4. Western Green Mamba (Dendroaspis viridis)
5. Jackson's Chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii)
6. African Rock Python (Python sebae)
7. Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri)
8. African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus)
9. Giant African Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas)
10. Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator)

 

[Indoraptor27]

I like some, but not others. We really don't need another lion, wildebeest, giant snail, giraffe, or zebra. The rest are nice. And also, what do you mean "first". Were the others not expansion packs?

 

[DragonNTiger]

Ugh... in the event they do create a larger expansion pack, I'd hope it would go beyond a single continent of animals... picking a single continent or biome as the theme for a small stuff pack works... but a whole expansion pack? ...that's just way too much... especially for Africa, the continent that has the majority of habitat animals already...

As a side note, I feel like your list is full of redundant selections... it's mostly Ungulates, Monkeys and Big Cats... and birds... lots of birds that would likely need some kind of Aviary Pack to justify their inclusion. Africa has a ton of animals, many of them entirely unrepresented in game, and yet your list sticks very closely to more of the same...

I like some, but not others. We really don't need another lion, wildebeest, giant snail, giraffe, or zebra.

You're gonna get clones... it really can't be helped... the Giant Snail in particular seems an odd thing to complain about; there's only one in game at the moment. That said, I do agree we could do without another lion... I mean, how much different do they get?

Were the others not expansion packs?

What we got so far are more like the "Stuff Packs" from The Sims 3 or the "Dinosaur Packs" from JWE; small, cheap packs with a few new animals... what's being suggested here is a true Expansion Pack, which would be bigger, more expensive, and comes with new game play stuff in addition to new animals...

 

[Indoraptor27]

What we got so far are more like the "Stuff Packs" from The Sims 3 or the "Dinosaur Packs" from JWE; small, cheap packs with a few new animals... what's being suggested here is a true Expansion Pack, which would be bigger, more expensive, and comes with new game play stuff in addition to new animals...

That's what I'd have guessed, but the OP only mentioned animals and not features.

 

[Danny_zoo]

I would pay in advance for this expansion pack, where can i send the check? Pick any major zoo in the world and African wildlife will be the core of their collection. Many often say we are missing animals from other continents, and I do understand and respect their views, however for me, seeing many new African species would at least fill in the gaps on one continent, and allow for realistic African theme exhibits and entire parks. So please do let me know where i can send the check, you have my vote.


I would love to however replace the Southeast African Lion for a Caracal/Bat Eared Fox/African Palm Civet/Ethiopian Wolf. The Masai Giraffe for Ankole Cattle and the Grevy's Zebra for Scimitar Oryx/Waterbuck, the rest of the list I'm more than happy with.

 

[deanmo19]

Well let me put it this way. The reason I want the Southeast African lion on Planet Zoo is that the critically endangered West African lion never breeds in zoos or captivity. Plus, we do need to keep the lion, the Masai giraffe, and the Grevy's zebra in the game.

 

[NZFanatic]

I'd take the Grevy's zebra, but skip the giraffe and the lion. If we get another lion I'd rather it was the Asiatic lion.

Anyway, I don't think it's at all likely that we'll see content of this scale in Planet Zoo. Examining all of Frontier's games shows us that their modus operandi for new content tends to be smaller packs like the ones we've been getting, and the occasional larger pack with some new gameplay features.

 

[NZFanatic]

What we got so far are more like the "Stuff Packs" from The Sims 3 or the "Dinosaur Packs" from JWE; small, cheap packs with a few new animals... what's being suggested here is a true Expansion Pack, which would be bigger, more expensive, and comes with new game play stuff in addition to new animals...

Our current DLC is not at all like the "Dinosaur Packs". Those packs literally only contain animals. The DLC we've had so far is closer to the PlanCo DLC's I would say.

 

[deanmo19]

I'd take the Grevy's zebra, but skip the giraffe and the lion. If we get another lion I'd rather it was the Asiatic lion.

Anyway, I don't think it's at all likely that we'll see content of this scale in Planet Zoo. Examining all of Frontier's games shows us that their modus operandi for new content tends to be smaller packs like the ones we've been getting, and the occasional larger pack with some new gameplay features.

I'd actually keep not only the Grevy's zebra but also the Southeast African Lion, because there aren't any West African lions in zoos or in captivity.

 

[Indoraptor27]

I'd actually keep not only the Grevy's zebra but also the Southeast African Lion, because there aren't any West African lions in zoos or in captivity.

TBH, I'd say the real issue is the fact that ours is a west African in the first place. If it had been a southeast African lion from the beginning that would have been nicer and more realistic, but adding it now would just be adding an alternate version with no meaningful differences. I would rather just change the name of the lion in the game to that than have both.

 

[DragonNTiger]

Our current DLC is not at all like the "Dinosaur Packs". Those packs literally only contain animals. The DLC we've had so far is closer to the PlanCo DLC's I would say.

That's, um... that's really beside the point you know... the point is drawing parallels between the DLC Planet Zoo has been receiving so far and the DLC being suggested... the DLC being added to JWE being close enough...

I'd actually keep the Southeast African Lion, because there aren't any West African lions in zoos or in captivity.

This isn't reality... this is a video game.. lots of things in Planet Zoo aren't realistic... so what if anything isn't how it works in real life? Saying "that lion subspecies isn't real enough" is an extremely poor reason to weasel in a different Lion subspecies...

 

[Indoraptor27]

That's, um... that's really beside the point you know... the point is drawing parallels between the DLC Planet Zoo has been receiving so far and the DLC being suggested... the DLC being added to JWE being close enough...

I think it's not beside the point. I mean it's kind of a small thing, but @NZFanatic is definitely right that our DLCs are more similar to PlanCo's, they add a decent amount. The "beside the point" coupled with all the ellipses, creates a really negative, condescending tone, whether intended or not.

 

[jcp011c]

All these wonderful animal suggestions and no meerkat or honey badger makes me sad and rebellious.

 

[Danny_zoo]

I'd take the Grevy's zebra, but skip the giraffe and the lion. If we get another lion I'd rather it was the Asiatic lion.

Anyway, I don't think it's at all likely that we'll see content of this scale in Planet Zoo. Examining all of Frontier's games shows us that their modus operandi for new content tends to be smaller packs like the ones we've been getting, and the occasional larger pack with some new game-play features.

I agree that it is highly unlikely for anything like this to make the cut any time soon, if ever. I do however think that it would be a fantastic business move by frontier, and one that the players would definitely love. Not necessarily an African Pack expansion, but a significant addition to the game that finally closes the gap in all areas, and places the amount of content of this game on a parallel path with Planet Coaster, but more importantly allows players to create realistic zoos. Hear me out, Planet Zoo is already a top selling le for Frontier, it surpassed the 1 million sales in record time, became the best selling game in steam, YouTube is flooded with user created videos that keep on marketing the game to all corners of the world. Now back at the beginning of the year, it was difficult for me to find many within the zoo world in North America (excluding the San Diego Zoo) that knew anything about this game, now it is the complete opposite, I can not find one colleague that does not know exactly what Planet Zoo is. It short the game has all the potential in the world to grow, the sky is the limit, and it is really up to Frontier, how much do they want to profit of this game.

Now we know that it takes a great amount of time for content, and especially animals to be created, the reason why there is a very small number of them every four months when we do get a DLC. We also know that this is mostly due to the very small number of devs that they still have working on the game, since when the base game was released and it was all hands on deck, we had a substantial amount of content available, as well as over 50 animal models. Now if Frontier was to place a considerable amount of assets towards an add on sequel to Planet Zoo, that not only included another 50 animals but thousands of scenery and construction pieces, how many of their over 1 million customers do you think would jump at the opportunity of having all of this resources available to built their dream zoo? And by expanding their game with all of this content, and potentially new game mechanics, it would solidify its position as the best zoo building game in history, the publicity, marketing opportunities and exposure of such a project would eclipse anything out in the market.

It would be a winning situation for all parties involved, it is the same exact model many movie production companies use, they will rather go with a sequel to an already successful story, than a new project full of risk and uncertainty. In addition, when it comes to Planet Zoo we are talking about a magnificent story, unfortunately one that has too many gaps, holes and missing components, and the current DLC format (I love the quality and short wait) is not remotely enough to fill in the blanks.

 

[Danny_zoo]

All these wonderful animal suggestions and no meerkat or honey badger makes me sad and rebellious.

Another excellent point that shows why Planet Zoo part two is needed, there are just so many animals we need, i can come up with 5 or 6 different lists of this size when it comes to Africa along. There is just too much ground to cover, and to think that this is just Africa.

 

[paul78]

The list up top is great but do people realize how long such a pack would take to complete. Honestly would you be willing to wait I’m guessing 8-12 months maybe longer. Truth is I don’t see much changing in size of general packs we’ve been getting. If we did get a expansion pack I would guess it would be aquatic or aviary and probably feature a couple animals,objects, and new features. I do however see a possibility of like two all animal packs.

 

[Danny_zoo]

The list up top is great but do people realize how long such a pack would take to complete. Honestly would you be willing to wait I’m guessing 8-12 months maybe longer. Truth is I don’t see much changing in size of general packs we’ve been getting. If we did get a expansion pack I would guess it would be aquatic or aviary and probably feature a couple animals,objects, and new features. I do however see a possibility of like two all animal packs.

It is an extensive list, and while I do not think that anything like this might be on the upcoming Frontier radar, it should absolutely be for all the reasons stated above. As far as being willing to wait, I'm not sure what you mean here, but this would of course not negate the current DLC mode of getting content every four months. It would really be a completely separate project, much like any other new game that Frontier decides to make. As we all know, the current game did not take decades to make, per their own admission it took a couple of years, and all the groundwork is already there, so a sequel expansion would possibly take significantly less time if enough resources are diverted to it. It would be an extremely profitable to them (just in case someone wants to bring the old argument of, there is no way that they would spend all of that money and resources in making another zoo game) I have no dough that most players that already own the game will buy a 50/60 euro expansion that has significant content and possibly new game mechanics added to it.

 

[tigris115]

If we were to get this pack with no changes, I'd change the current lion to look like an Asiatic lion. If the roster was flexible, I'd remove the lion, and rename the current lion as the Southern lion

 

[NZFanatic]

That's, um... that's really beside the point you know... the point is drawing parallels between the DLC Planet Zoo has been receiving so far and the DLC being suggested... the DLC being added to JWE being close enough...

It isn't, because there's a recurring theme here of people complaining that the DLC's are "x amount of money for only four animals" which ignores the other huge amounts of content included in each pack. The Dinosaur Packs are literally "x amount of money for only x amount of animals", so an entirely different concept.

Honestly, though, I think "animal only packs" are on the cards for PlanZo.

 

[NZFanatic]

I'd actually keep not only the Grevy's zebra but also the Southeast African Lion, because there aren't any West African lions in zoos or in captivity.

The lion in the game is Panthera leo leo. Under modern taxonimical definitions, it covers the West African lion, Barbary lion, and Asiatic lion. I don't know why they called it the 'West African lion' instead of the more accurate 'Northern lion' (as opposed to Panthera leo melanochaita, the 'Southern lion'), but it was probably for the same reason they called Canis lupus the 'timber wolf' instead of the 'grey wolf'.

I've seen Asiatic lions in zoos before, so technically you are wrong, Panthera leo leo does have a captive population.