For the love of the clones!

[SuzieSky]

At this point, I've accepted that clone species--animals that HEAVILY share animations/rigs with other animals in the game--will be a part of almost every DLC going forward. Which are your favorite options for "clone" picks and why? Which in-game animal would they be based off of? What am I missing?

Mine, roughly in order, are:

1. Bears: The American Black and Spectacled Bear would probably draw from the Formosan Black Bear with some slight adjustments. I think they are essential additions
2. Grey Crowned Crane: I really want this crane, which could draw from the red crowned crane
3. Common Squirrel Monkey: squirrel monkeys are related to capuchins, and could probably reuse all of the animations if the capuchin could be sized down, recolored, and retextured
4. Pallas's Cat: The sand cat could be modified to make this meme animal form the Himalayas and Central Asia
5. Hamadryas Baboon: Maybe from the mandrill? This animal seems essential.
6. Blackbuck: I think it's similar enough to the addax to be an easy addition.
7. Bighorn Sheep: The dall sheep could be reused to make this icon of North America's Southwest Desert
8. American and/or Chilean Flamingo: The greater flamingo could be reused to make at least one flamingo from the Americas
9. Tanuki: Looks like a fox
10. Masai or Rothscild's Giraffe: Many zoos with giraffes have more than one subspecies.
11. Guanaco: Turning the llama into a variety pick for Argentina would be cool
12. Nile Crocodile: Another large crocodile would be nice, and Africa needs one
13. Arabian Oryx: Good for the Middle East
14. Seals: There are a few options (ribbon, harp, and harbor) that could use the grey seal model. Also there is a fur seal that lives in both Africa and Australia. A smaller sea lion for the southern hemisphere could be useful.
15. Wapiti: Sizing up the red deer could help make this elegant giant.
16. Bobcat: A mini-Lynx for North America would be nice.
17. Grey Kangaroo: Another option for a large macropod would be good.
18. Wisent: I'm actually warming up to this bison relative. Great for European rep. and conservation
19. African Leopard: Tropical Africa is missing its apex predator. Some other big cats also exist, such as other leopards and the Sumatran tiger
20. Eurasian or Iberian wolf and/or Eurasian brown bear: Europe could use a large carnivore.

 

[Fallax]

Blackbuck: I think it's similar enough to the addax to be an easy addition.

Blackbucks are gazelles, it would make more sense to be derived from the same base as the springbok, Thomson's or dama gazelle.

 

[SuzieSky]

Blackbucks are gazelles, it would make more sense to be derived from the same base as the springbok, Thomson's or dama gazelle.

Then maybe they aren't a clone. I've never seen one in person. Good to know!

 

[Fallax]

Then maybe they aren't a clone. I've never seen one in person. Good to know!

Depends how you define "clone". If an animal is reusing the rig and animations of another animal, I guess it is a clone. If that is the case then I think the blackbuck would definitely count as a clone.

 

[jcp011c]

Great ideas!

Grevy’s Zebra
Rocky Mountain Goat (the female Dall Sheep practically looks like it as it)
Mountain Gorilla
Hairy nosed Wombat (either species)
Asiatic Lion

 

[NachoB]

Ummm tbh i don't want any straight-up clone like a second flamingo or another brown bear, but i'm ok with "clone" animals that are not that morphologically similar to the animal they are based of. So no eurasian brown bear, wisent, grey kangaroo or american flamingo for me, but yes to spectacled bear, ocelot. grey crowned crane, blackbuck and golden pheasant.

The only exceptions to this are probably the nile crocodile and the greater rhea. I really think they are both very necessary. One is the most common african croc, but is still very similar in appearence to the saltie i guess. The other is a big bird similar to the ostrich but very very important for me for South American representation and very common in SA exhibits.

Grevy's zebra, masai giraffe and sumatran tiger are nice, and would like to have them but don't want them taking the place of other animals in DLCs.

 

[synthetase]

Bat Eared Fox-most wanted animal.

Iberian Wolf-more typical of Eurasia than wolves presently in game

Red Wolf-conservation value and has a bit of coyote ancestry so could add culture; although extinct irl, I'd like the melanistic version

Forest Buffalo-Really cute compared to grasslands African Buffalo

Eurasian Wisent-Looks pretty different to Bison

Singing Dog-from New Guinea

Bighorn Sheep

Sumatran Tiger

Masai Giraffe

Grevy's Zebra

 

[FlameWizard492]

Here's my clone wishlist:

• Bears: ALL OF THEM
• Cattle: Wild or Domestic Yak, Indian Gaur, Banteng, Scottish Highland Cattle, African Forest Buffalo
• Rodents: Agouti of any kind
• Penguins: Chinstrap Penguin, Adélie Penguin, Rockhopper Penguin, Gentoo Penguin, Little Blue Penguin
• Tortoises: African Spurred Tortoise, Sulcata Tortoise, Gopher Tortoise
• Canids: Red Wolf, Coyote, New Guinea Singing Dog
• Foxes: Bat-Eared Fox
• Crocodilians: Nile Crocodile, Cuban Crocodile, Slender-Snouted Crocodile, Orinoco, Yacaré Caiman, Black Caiman
• Cats: Ocelot, Serval, Pallas's Cat, Fishing Cat, Bobcat
• Otters: Southern Sea Otter, North American River Otter
• Monitors/Habitat Lizards: Perentie
• Pigs: Wild Boar, Visayan Warty Pig
• Camelidae: Guanaco, Vicuña, Alpaca
• Deer: Père David's Deer, Roe Deer, White-Tailed Deer, Roosevelt Elk
• Antelopes: Blackbuck, Impala, Southern Eland, Gerenuk, Dorcas Gazelle, Waterbuck, Arabian Oryx
• Lemurs: Corquel's Sifaka, Aye-Aye
• Small Primates: Squirrel Monkey, Geoffroy's Spider Monkey, Black Howler Monkey, Bald Uakari, Rhesus Macaque, Lion-Tailed Macaque
• Large Primates: Drill, Hamadryas Baboon, Olive Baboon
• Pinnipeds: Harbor Seal, Pacific Walrus (if possible), Southern Elephant Seal (if possible)
• Large Flightless Birds: Greater Rhea
• Sheep: American Bighorn Sheep, Aoudad
• Goats: Markhor, Mountain Goat, Bharal
• Flamingos: American/Caribbean Flamingo
• Mongooses (based on meerkats): Banded Mongoose, Indian Mongoose
• Armadillos: Screaming Hairy Armadillo
• Equines: Persian Onager, Grevy's Zebra, Shetland Pony, Clydesdale
• Cranes: Grey Crowned Crane, Sandhill Crane
• Macropods: Western Grey Kangaroo, Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby, Swamp Wallaby, Quokka, White-Striped Dorcopsis
• Giraffes: Masai Giraffe, Rothschild's Giraffe
• Hyenas (and relatives): Brown Hyena, Aardwolf
• Sloths: Linnaeus's Two-Toed Sloth

 

[AndyM_75]

Asiatic Lion please

 

[NZFanatic]

Oh look, another clone thread where nobody can agree on what a clone actually is.

If we're defining "clone" as "any animal made using the rig of an existing animal", then 99% of the animals in the game are clones.

IMO the word "clone" ought to be reserved for animals like additional tigers, giraffes, flamingos, brown bears; animals that already have a functional counterpart in the game. @synthetase has a good list, though I'd hardly call the bat-eared fox a 'clone' unless "any fox is a clone".

 

[NZFanatic]

Asiatic Lion please

That's (technically) already in the game. The Asiatic lion is a subpopulation of the Northern lion, Panthera leo leo, which also includes the West African lion. Of course that's just me being needlessly nitpicky; I actually want the Asiatic lion as well (and the Southern lion, Panthera leo melanochaita).

 

[AndyM_75]

That's (technically) already in the game. The Asiatic lion is a subpopulation of the Northern lion, Panthera leo leo, which also includes the West African lion. Of course that's just me being needlessly nitpicky; I actually want the Asiatic lion as well (and the Southern lion, Panthera leo melanochaita).

Agree mate (could also make the same point about Bengal and Siberian/Amur Tiger). I think they should 're-brand' the current Lion as Southern and put in a Northern Lion that represents western and Asian populations. There are quite a view visual and behavioural differences between the Northern and Southern Lion...

ps I'd happily see the Siberian Tiger re-branded as Mainland Tiger and change the Bengal to Sumatran/Sunda too (although they'd have to lose the white tiger then)

The game is great but the Lion and Tiger aren't scientifically accurate compared to some of the more recent cats

 

[DarthQuell]

Agree mate (could also make the same point about Bengal and Siberian/Amur Tiger). I think they should 're-brand' the current Lion as Southern and put in a Northern Lion that represents western and Asian populations. There are quite a view visual and behavioural differences between the Northern and Southern Lion...

ps I'd happily see the Siberian Tiger re-branded as Mainland Tiger and change the Bengal to Sumatran/Sunda too (although they'd have to lose the white tiger then)

The game is great but the Lion and Tiger aren't scientifically accurate compared to some of the more recent cats

Isn't this is up for debate, though? A lot of people still consider the subpopulations as subspecies, so it likely won't ever be known any time soon

 

[SuzieSky]

Oh look, another clone thread where nobody can agree on what a clone actually is.

If we're defining "clone" as "any animal made using the rig of an existing animal", then 99% of the animals in the game are clones.

For this thread, I'm defining it as anything that could feasibly be made be recoloring, resizing, and/or retexturing an existing animal without needing new animations. Maybe one could make some minor changes to horns/antlers. I might be wrong about some of my picks because I don't know all the details about animal movements or animating. The line is a bit blurry, but for me:

The grey kangaroo does not have any different behaviors from the red as far as I'm aware, so it would be a clone. The devs might add one or two new animations, but they don't really need to. On the other hand, people would expect the rock wallaby to climb up rocks, which would require more work, so I don't see it as a clone.

The American Black, Eurasian Brown, and perhaps even spectacled bears would behave very similarly to other bears within the game, so I might consider them clones, but the sloth bear needs a different walk and behavior, so it would not be a clone.

Basically, what are the best low-effort animals to throw in alongside the new, exciting ones like tree kangaroos? Every pack seems to have a few animals like this, so instead of complaining about getting "boring" or "bad" choices, why not figure out which would be best for this type of addition?

 

[FoxyDee]

I want the king among the clones, the one and only…

American Flamingo. Oh, and also Spectacled Bear and African Spurred Tortoise, although some model changes would be needed for those.

 

[NZFanatic]

For this thread, I'm defining it as anything that could feasibly be made be recoloring, resizing, and/or retexturing an existing animal without needing new animations.

But even the existing clones have new animations. The Arctic wolf was the first DLC 'clone' (if we don't count the polar bear, which also had new animations) and even that had new animations.

 

[AndyM_75]

Isn't this is up for debate, though? A lot of people still consider the subpopulations as subspecies, so it likely won't ever be known any time soon

Without meaning to derail the thread....

There are studies and counter-studies using DNA, as well as some views that observed behaviour is more important than DNA studies - both regarding the Lion and Tiger. There are also strong views that grouping up two only two subspecies for each of the two biggest cats is not a good thing regarding their protection (why protect less than 200 Malayan Tigers if they are 'the same' as the Bengal Tiger etc). The Lion also has some confusion about those that live in Central Africa - who haven't really been studied that well given political instability. I suspect classifications will change again and again in the future to be honest. The ongoing studies are probably part of the reason most Zoos either classify themselves as keeping the Asian Lion or the 'African' Lion (which really represents the Southern in pretty much all cases).

But coming back to the theme of the thread. This is why I would like another Lion. The Asian/Western/Northern populations behave differently (smaller prides, males often living separately to all female prides, many animals remaining solitary, smaller to no manes etc).

 

[YesIndeed]

Oh look, another clone thread where nobody can agree on what a clone actually is.

If we're defining "clone" as "any animal made using the rig of an existing animal", then 99% of the animals in the game are clones.

IMO the word "clone" ought to be reserved for animals like additional tigers, giraffes, flamingos, brown bears; animals that already have a functional counterpart in the game. @synthetase has a good list, though I'd hardly call the bat-eared fox a 'clone' unless "any fox is a clone".

I agree that any fox is a clone unless it adds a new climbing rig for foxes.

 

[NZFanatic]

why protect less than 200 Malayan Tigers if they are 'the same' as the Bengal Tiger etc

Just going to cut in here and say that conservation doesn't work that way. The separate mainland tiger subpopulations are considered 'genetically significant subpopulations', and are therefore counted separately. Additionally, the goal of conservation is to protect a species across its whole range, not to retain an arbitrary amount of individuals within one area.

Why protect a handful of Sumatran tigers if they are still just tigers?

Even with African wild dogs, of which there are no recognised extant subspecies, there are still subpopulations considered more endangered than the species as a whole and protected for that reason.

 

[leehonglocal]

At this point, I've accepted that clone species--animals that HEAVILY share animations/rigs with other animals in the game--will be a part of almost every DLC going forward. Which are your favorite options for "clone" picks and why? Which in-game animal would they be based off of? What am I missing?

Mine, roughly in order, are:

1. Bears: The American Black and Spectacled Bear would probably draw from the Formosan Black Bear with some slight adjustments. I think they are essential additions
2. Grey Crowned Crane: I really want this crane, which could draw from the red crowned crane
3. Common Squirrel Monkey: squirrel monkeys are related to capuchins, and could probably reuse all of the animations if the capuchin could be sized down, recolored, and retextured
4. Pallas's Cat: The sand cat could be modified to make this meme animal form the Himalayas and Central Asia
5. Hamadryas Baboon: Maybe from the mandrill? This animal seems essential.
6. Blackbuck: I think it's similar enough to the addax to be an easy addition.
7. Bighorn Sheep: The dall sheep could be reused to make this icon of North America's Southwest Desert
8. American and/or Chilean Flamingo: The greater flamingo could be reused to make at least one flamingo from the Americas
9. Tanuki: Looks like a fox
10. Masai or Rothscild's Giraffe: Many zoos with giraffes have more than one subspecies.
11. Guanaco: Turning the llama into a variety pick for Argentina would be cool
12. Nile Crocodile: Another large crocodile would be nice, and Africa needs one
13. Arabian Oryx: Good for the Middle East
14. Seals: There are a few options (ribbon, harp, and harbor) that could use the grey seal model. Also there is a fur seal that lives in both Africa and Australia. A smaller sea lion for the southern hemisphere could be useful.
15. Wapiti: Sizing up the red deer could help make this elegant giant.
16. Bobcat: A mini-Lynx for North America would be nice.
17. Grey Kangaroo: Another option for a large macropod would be good.
18. Wisent: I'm actually warming up to this bison relative. Great for European rep. and conservation
19. African Leopard: Tropical Africa is missing its apex predator. Some other big cats also exist, such as other leopards and the Sumatran tiger
20. Eurasian or Iberian wolf and/or Eurasian brown bear: Europe could use a large carnivore.

I agreed about these clones being in Planet Zoo: African leopard, Masai giraffe, flamingo outside Africa, and bighorn sheep.