A few days ago, I was checking out how the two eras work on Sandbox mode after unlocked the era change mechanic I got several days earlier. And the first thing I discovered was this below:
What do you notice in these four pictures? They are all alligned with their respective eras. Answer: Same location. Different Maps
The Matanceros location above in the Jurassic World era setting has the loading screen which you are all probably familiar with already, with the entry way being a monorail track and station. BUT, below it is the Jurassic Park era setting, and what makes it different from the images above is the loading screen image and there is no entry way of any kind at all, because in that setting, you are forced to use the helipad entrance as your entrance to your park.
I did some examinations with the Isla Nublar North location from Claire's Sanctuary, and THIS is what I found to validate my point above. As such, I made this collage below:
There are 5 maps per location in-game from one Campaign map, two Challenge maps (each with a respective era) and two Sandbox maps (each with a respective era). The JP era maps don't have a prebuilt entry like the JW era maps because, as I said above, you are forced to use the helipad as the entry way to those parks.
If that wasn't enough, I've explored more about the different eras and discovered some more stuff.
3. The UI for the JP setting has an additional "sign" tab, while the JW setting doesn't have it.
4. The UI for the research screen for the JP setting has an animated Mr. DNA in it, while the JW setting doesn't have it.
5. While the announcer voicelines remain the same, their speaker effects have a different pitch to them (the JW setting has a modern sounding effect, while the JP setting has a more "retro" sounding effect).
6. The Dinosaur species that receive legacy skins have something unique to them per setting. In the JW setting, the base game null/basic JW skins are default to your dinosaurs, and your dinosaur pictures on the hatching bay menu will show that base game model. All legacy skins in a JW setting become like the other alternate skins by giving your dinos a boost rating increase and viability decrease. In a JP setting, the first legacy skin for your dinosaurs becomes the default, and your dinosaur pictures on the hatching bay menu will show that defualt legacy model. All base game skins (including the null/basic skins which would be the default skins on the JW setting) will be like the other alternate skins for your dinos by giving them a boost rating increase and a viability decrease.
Point is, the era system in-game is waaaaaaaay more complex than you probably thought of. So, a simple "Mixed Era" setting seems very unlikely because, how can a "mixed" setting be a fair enough change when you have all of these circumstances I listed and showed above?
However, I do think a way to "mix" stuff is still possible. But, instead of a simple "Mixed" option, how about a "Custom" option for Sandbox?
When you go to Sandbox mode, you have three options: Jurassic World, Jurassic Park, and Custom.
When Custom is chosen, you can customize the settings more for your liking like enabling or disabling prebult entry ways (although I;m not sure how that would work if you don't have the JP structures enabled, unless the helipad is given to you regardless), choosing or mixing era structures, default dino skin settings, contract choice settings, etc.
Now, I don't know whether or not Frontier Developments are currently working on this or something similar, and though I do have good reason to believe they are, I still wanted to post this here and now regardless so that everybody understands something.
What do you notice in these four pictures? They are all alligned with their respective eras. Answer: Same location. Different Maps
I did some examinations with the Isla Nublar North location from Claire's Sanctuary, and THIS is what I found to validate my point above. As such, I made this collage below:
If that wasn't enough, I've explored more about the different eras and discovered some more stuff.
1.
From left to right: The left is the management screen for Sandbox Matanceros in the JW era setting with the JW era contracts. The right is the management screen for Sandbox Matenceros in the JP era setting with different contracts replacing the three JW ones as well two additional contracts.
2. When you are on Challenge mode you have a unique set of contracts and reputations for each respective era.From left to right: The left is the management screen for Sandbox Matanceros in the JW era setting with the JW era contracts. The right is the management screen for Sandbox Matenceros in the JP era setting with different contracts replacing the three JW ones as well two additional contracts.
3. The UI for the JP setting has an additional "sign" tab, while the JW setting doesn't have it.
4. The UI for the research screen for the JP setting has an animated Mr. DNA in it, while the JW setting doesn't have it.
5. While the announcer voicelines remain the same, their speaker effects have a different pitch to them (the JW setting has a modern sounding effect, while the JP setting has a more "retro" sounding effect).
6. The Dinosaur species that receive legacy skins have something unique to them per setting. In the JW setting, the base game null/basic JW skins are default to your dinosaurs, and your dinosaur pictures on the hatching bay menu will show that base game model. All legacy skins in a JW setting become like the other alternate skins by giving your dinos a boost rating increase and viability decrease. In a JP setting, the first legacy skin for your dinosaurs becomes the default, and your dinosaur pictures on the hatching bay menu will show that defualt legacy model. All base game skins (including the null/basic skins which would be the default skins on the JW setting) will be like the other alternate skins for your dinos by giving them a boost rating increase and a viability decrease.
Point is, the era system in-game is waaaaaaaay more complex than you probably thought of. So, a simple "Mixed Era" setting seems very unlikely because, how can a "mixed" setting be a fair enough change when you have all of these circumstances I listed and showed above?
However, I do think a way to "mix" stuff is still possible. But, instead of a simple "Mixed" option, how about a "Custom" option for Sandbox?
When you go to Sandbox mode, you have three options: Jurassic World, Jurassic Park, and Custom.
When Custom is chosen, you can customize the settings more for your liking like enabling or disabling prebult entry ways (although I;m not sure how that would work if you don't have the JP structures enabled, unless the helipad is given to you regardless), choosing or mixing era structures, default dino skin settings, contract choice settings, etc.
Now, I don't know whether or not Frontier Developments are currently working on this or something similar, and though I do have good reason to believe they are, I still wanted to post this here and now regardless so that everybody understands something.
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