With the release of the Aquatic Species pack and update, this was something that took my interest:
A tiny note in the bug fixes section mentions how small and tiny pterosaurs will no longer cause panic just by flying near other dinosaurs. Pterosaurs were often very secluded animals, often always being housed in aviaries. While I could understand housing some pterosaurs in the aviary due to how dangerous they could be, others that are particularly tiny like the Dominion Dimorphodon, Dsungaripterus, and Jeholopterus look to be so small that they should pose no immediate threat should they escape.
There was an update a while back where you could air-lift pterosaurs and place them anywhere in the park, so aviaries are not needed to house them. This update made them less intimidating to other dinosaurs, I wanted to experiment and create a safari where pterosaurs could cohabit in an exhibit with other dinosaurs while being far away from guests so that they pose no threat. Utilizing the game's territory system, I want it so all of the pterosaurs needs are confined to a far off section of the safari where all their needs are met (Fish, water, rocks to perch on), making it so they have no interest leaving their established home.
And honestly, this was such a fun discovery to make and house in the park.
I was building Jurassic Park on the San Diego expanded map in custom challenge mode, and there is this section of the park that stretches out and away from the center of the map. This was a perfect spot for me to make the enclosure for the free-roaming pterosaurs. I chose Dsungaripterus for this experiment because it is a cool-looking pterosaur, and I was not sure if Cearadactlus was a safe option as the safari had gallimimus and dracorex.
For the most part, the experiment was a success! The pterosaurs were considered small enough to not be a threat to the other dinosaurs, and the pterosaur section was far from guests so they are not considered a threat to the guests. I had a few strays that did leave the safari section, and that was because the safari had way too many cars that would cause dinosaurs to mass panic a lot. Once the rate of cars has been lowered, this issue resolved itself.
It was honestly magical seeing small pterosaurs flying outside of the aviary with little risk of the flying reptiles harming other dinosaurs or guests. I would occasionally pan over and see a flock of pterosaurs fly together over the safari like prehistoric pigeons. I have yet to reach a point where the pterosaurs are in need of medical assistance, but I could picture having the ACU team tranquilize them first for the MVU team to perform the medical procedures needed should any of them get sick and they are too far away for the MVU to shoot with darts.
I really hope the team can work on this further as I see this as a mechanic housing pterosaurs outside of the aviary as an advanced form of attraction as everything needed is here and would require a few more tweaks to make it possible, such as:
• Have tiny and small pterosaurs be labeled as tiny and small so that it would be easier to identify them from the roster of flying reptiles.
• Update their cohabitation, as they have neutral cohabitation with all dinosaurs and the cohabitation limit could be exceeded much sooner. Have them like large herbivore dinosaurs such as sauropods, hadrosaurs, ceratopsids, ankylosaurids, and stegosarids.
• Let them perch on large dinosaurs like sauropods. It would be cute and a dynamic sight to see pterosaurs perch on large sauropods and armored herbivores. If they could not because of the dinosaur moving, at least have them perch when the dinosaur is Idle such as eating or sleeping, and fly off once the large dinosaur moves again.
• Let invisible fencing work on pterosaurs. With the Biosyn expansion, we have invisible fencing that no dinosaur could cross over, have it functions as a moldable aviary in which pterosaurs could not go across the fence no matter how high they fly. This fence could then serve as Biosyn's Aerial Deterrent System and would have players house the more dangerous pterosaurs like Pteranodon, Tropeognathus, and Quetzalcoatlus.
This has been a fun discovery and one I want to utilize in more parks in the future. I recommend trying it out yourselves provided you could create a safari that is far away from the guest section of the park, and is not prone to dinosaur panic. I am so happy you could do this in the game without needing exploits or bugs, it is very cool to see them fly without the restriction of the aviary, and it adds a lot to this game if you like creating large biodiverse enclosures.
A tiny note in the bug fixes section mentions how small and tiny pterosaurs will no longer cause panic just by flying near other dinosaurs. Pterosaurs were often very secluded animals, often always being housed in aviaries. While I could understand housing some pterosaurs in the aviary due to how dangerous they could be, others that are particularly tiny like the Dominion Dimorphodon, Dsungaripterus, and Jeholopterus look to be so small that they should pose no immediate threat should they escape.
There was an update a while back where you could air-lift pterosaurs and place them anywhere in the park, so aviaries are not needed to house them. This update made them less intimidating to other dinosaurs, I wanted to experiment and create a safari where pterosaurs could cohabit in an exhibit with other dinosaurs while being far away from guests so that they pose no threat. Utilizing the game's territory system, I want it so all of the pterosaurs needs are confined to a far off section of the safari where all their needs are met (Fish, water, rocks to perch on), making it so they have no interest leaving their established home.
And honestly, this was such a fun discovery to make and house in the park.
I was building Jurassic Park on the San Diego expanded map in custom challenge mode, and there is this section of the park that stretches out and away from the center of the map. This was a perfect spot for me to make the enclosure for the free-roaming pterosaurs. I chose Dsungaripterus for this experiment because it is a cool-looking pterosaur, and I was not sure if Cearadactlus was a safe option as the safari had gallimimus and dracorex.
For the most part, the experiment was a success! The pterosaurs were considered small enough to not be a threat to the other dinosaurs, and the pterosaur section was far from guests so they are not considered a threat to the guests. I had a few strays that did leave the safari section, and that was because the safari had way too many cars that would cause dinosaurs to mass panic a lot. Once the rate of cars has been lowered, this issue resolved itself.
It was honestly magical seeing small pterosaurs flying outside of the aviary with little risk of the flying reptiles harming other dinosaurs or guests. I would occasionally pan over and see a flock of pterosaurs fly together over the safari like prehistoric pigeons. I have yet to reach a point where the pterosaurs are in need of medical assistance, but I could picture having the ACU team tranquilize them first for the MVU team to perform the medical procedures needed should any of them get sick and they are too far away for the MVU to shoot with darts.
I really hope the team can work on this further as I see this as a mechanic housing pterosaurs outside of the aviary as an advanced form of attraction as everything needed is here and would require a few more tweaks to make it possible, such as:
• Have tiny and small pterosaurs be labeled as tiny and small so that it would be easier to identify them from the roster of flying reptiles.
• Update their cohabitation, as they have neutral cohabitation with all dinosaurs and the cohabitation limit could be exceeded much sooner. Have them like large herbivore dinosaurs such as sauropods, hadrosaurs, ceratopsids, ankylosaurids, and stegosarids.
• Let them perch on large dinosaurs like sauropods. It would be cute and a dynamic sight to see pterosaurs perch on large sauropods and armored herbivores. If they could not because of the dinosaur moving, at least have them perch when the dinosaur is Idle such as eating or sleeping, and fly off once the large dinosaur moves again.
• Let invisible fencing work on pterosaurs. With the Biosyn expansion, we have invisible fencing that no dinosaur could cross over, have it functions as a moldable aviary in which pterosaurs could not go across the fence no matter how high they fly. This fence could then serve as Biosyn's Aerial Deterrent System and would have players house the more dangerous pterosaurs like Pteranodon, Tropeognathus, and Quetzalcoatlus.
This has been a fun discovery and one I want to utilize in more parks in the future. I recommend trying it out yourselves provided you could create a safari that is far away from the guest section of the park, and is not prone to dinosaur panic. I am so happy you could do this in the game without needing exploits or bugs, it is very cool to see them fly without the restriction of the aviary, and it adds a lot to this game if you like creating large biodiverse enclosures.