Habitat builder app

Boompiee

B
Hi there!

I've been hard at work at a web app to let you dynamically put together multi-animal habitats. Please take a look and let me know what you think.
It's probably too much to hope for that it's bug-free on the first try, so do let me know if you find any problems :)

If you have any questions or suggestions for new features, those are welcome too.

Without further ado:

https://planetzooplanner.azurewebsites.net/


Current features include:
  • Filter by:
    • Content Packs
    • Biome
    • Continent
  • Automatically generate list of compatible animals
  • Choose animals and get a list of habitat requirements
  • Warns you if the animals you choose have conflicting requirements
  • Helps you find animals that enrich each other
  • NEW: Highlights animals that support guests walking through their habitat

Possible planned features:
  • Adding info/warnings about herbivores and carnivores that don't mix
  • Images/Icons for animals
  • Tool tips on animals with additional information
 
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sockeyejo

sockeyejo
It's really nice: well done! Definitely one to add to my list of ones to use as it doesn't scream at you about putting African Wild Dogs in with Nyala, for example! It would be great if you could add text hover boxes (sorry, cannot remember what they're called) to the images, and text as well as the visual slider for the habitat requirements.
 

AlexVonHumbug

AlexVonHumbug
nice job. But i have the indian elefant, the malayan tapir and the proboscis monkey in one habitat (they enrich each other) and they perfectly do have same requirements on terrain and foliage, also, they dont have to use the tropical biome, temperate also works and basically every animal in game can be held aroud 20° C. Maybe there is some differnce in zoopedia-Data and real requirements in game.
 

Boompiee

B
AlexVonHumbug said:
nice job. But i have the indian elefant, the malayan tapir and the proboscis monkey in one habitat (they enrich each other) and they perfectly do have same requirements on terrain and foliage, also, they dont have to use the tropical biome, temperate also works and basically every animal in game can be held aroud 20° C. Maybe there is some differnce in zoopedia-Data and real requirements in game.
Click to expand...
I think the problem there is that my data sources didn't have the correct terrain settings for the south asia expansion pack yet. I still need to do that one manually (but I haven't bought the expansion pack myself yet either :) )

Edit:
Yeah there were definitely some gaps in the info for the southeast asian animals. I amended the database, the website will reflect the changes later today.
 
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Boompiee

B
sockeyejo said:
It's really nice: well done! Definitely one to add to my list of ones to use as it doesn't scream at you about putting African Wild Dogs in with Nyala, for example! It would be great if you could add text hover boxes (sorry, cannot remember what they're called) to the images, and text as well as the visual slider for the habitat requirements.
Click to expand...
Yes, those are features I'd like to add at some point!

Edit:
Added the hover boxes/tooltips. Not sure yet what I'll do about the sliders..
 
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Jaggid Edje

Jaggid Edje
I posted this to your Steam forum thread as well, but cross-posting here for visibility.

I've used this tool for the past day of playing and I really like it.

For the pros, when planning a new habitat animal addition to my zoo and selecting it in the planner, it does a really good job of suggesting other animals that would be compatible. I actually have done a several new combinations I had never thought of on my own because of the tool, which is very cool. Guests just love those multi-animal habitats and this planner tool is absolutely fantastic at suggesting combinations.

For the con, and this is just when comparing it to the planetzoopedia planner, it doesn't tell you the minimum size of the habitat you need for what animals you plan to put in it. It's a small thing, but I find that essential for planning a habitat.
I ended up using your tool for planning what animals, terrain and vegetation my habitat would have, but then also used the planetzoopedia web tool to determine how big to make the habitat.
It would be cool if I could just do it all in yours, as I find yours better for all of the other aspects of planning, in large part because it has a cleaner, more attractive interface.

Overall though, gotta say, you did a really nice job.
 

Boompiee

B
Jaggid Edje said:
I posted this to your Steam forum thread as well, but cross-posting here for visibility.

I've used this tool for the past day of playing and I really like it.

For the pros, when planning a new habitat animal addition to my zoo and selecting it in the planner, it does a really good job of suggesting other animals that would be compatible. I actually have done a several new combinations I had never thought of on my own because of the tool, which is very cool. Guests just love those multi-animal habitats and this planner tool is absolutely fantastic at suggesting combinations.

For the con, and this is just when comparing it to the planetzoopedia planner, it doesn't tell you the minimum size of the habitat you need for what animals you plan to put in it. It's a small thing, but I find that essential for planning a habitat.
I ended up using your tool for planning what animals, terrain and vegetation my habitat would have, but then also used the planetzoopedia web tool to determine how big to make the habitat.
It would be cool if I could just do it all in yours, as I find yours better for all of the other aspects of planning, in large part because it has a cleaner, more attractive interface.

Overall though, gotta say, you did a really nice job.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that! :)
Fortunately, I already had all of the statistics in my backend to make that happen. I just uploaded a new version that includes minimum land area etc. I'd like to also include deep water requirements, but I don't have those statistics yet.

I also added a photo tooltip, which I'm quite happy about. Anyway, thanks again for the feedback, do let me know what you think of the new improvements.
 

Jaggid Edje

Jaggid Edje
I'm not sure if you're still monitoring this thread, but if you are I found an error in the planner.
The Bornean Orangutan is incorrectly showing a temperature range of 0 degrees. Nothing higher, nothing lower. It's true range doesn't even go down to 0.
 
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Boompiee

B
Jaggid Edje said:
I'm not sure if you're still monitoring this thread, but if you are I found an error in the planner.
The Bornean Orangutan is incorrectly showing a temperature range of 0 degrees. Nothing higher, nothing lower. It's true range doesn't even go down to 0.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'll fix the orangutan stats later today. I see from your edit you've already found the filter toggle options :)
 

Jaggid Edje

Jaggid Edje
Boompiee said:
Thanks! I'll fix the orangutan stats later today. I see from your edit you've already found the filter toggle options :)
Click to expand...

Hahah, yah, right after posting I was using it (I use it a LOT), and I saw the checkboxes over on the right and was like.."Duh me."

I really love this tool you made. I have made so many interesting combinations I had never before dreamed of. Trying a half dozen more today now that I found that continent checkbox.
 

Boompiee

B
Jaggid Edje said:
Hahah, yah, right after posting I was using it (I use it a LOT), and I saw the checkboxes over on the right and was like.."Duh me."

I really love this tool you made. I have made so many interesting combinations I had never before dreamed of. Trying a half dozen more today now that I found that continent checkbox.
Click to expand...
It's really cool to hear the website has been of help! :)
Also, I just put the update online, orang utans will now finally show up in people's suggestions ;)
 

iloveyourzoos

I
Great app and I'm using it a lot.

A note that when I select both Baird's tapirs and Malayan Tapirs, the app suggests that there is no cross over in their short grass terrain. But when I placed them in my zoo anyway (because I figured they could live with it), it turns out that there is a spectrum which pleases both of them. So one or the other may have changed.

Again, great app and I use it a lot!
 

Boompiee

B
iloveyourzoos said:
Great app and I'm using it a lot.

A note that when I select both Baird's tapirs and Malayan Tapirs, the app suggests that there is no cross over in their short grass terrain. But when I placed them in my zoo anyway (because I figured they could live with it), it turns out that there is a spectrum which pleases both of them. So one or the other may have changed.

Again, great app and I use it a lot!
Click to expand...
Thank you, that's awesome!

I'll take a look at the stats for the animals you mentioned. Unfortunately there's no easy way to get the source data directly, other than going into the game and putting the animal into a habitat to check the stats. I've gotten most of my data by scraping other planet zoo websites. So unfortunately there are probably some inaccuracies here and there.

Also, the animals do have a bit of a grace range where if you go a little bit out of line with the terrain composition, they're still cool with it. I could look into adding a margin like that to the website, but I'm not sure what that should look like. Maybe I could add a slider that lets users set the margin of error. Does that sound like something you would use?
 

Jaggid Edje

Jaggid Edje
Boompiee said:
I could look into adding a margin like that to the website, but I'm not sure what that should look like. Maybe I could add a slider that lets users set the margin of error. Does that sound like something you would use?
Click to expand...
I can't speak for anyone else, but I would use that in a heart beat. I already do it...by looking through what your app shows for other animals that I'm aware should be "close", but that's time consuming. Or maybe let us adjust each individual slider for each terrain type, so we can choose which type(s) to extend the range for, and which to leave alone. That'd be really cool.

I like to try to make every non-carnivore habitat a multi-species (at least 3 types in each) where I can, because visitors just love them so much. Plus it makes the keeper's so much more efficient, so every additional tool to help find cool combinations is awesome in my book.
 
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iloveyourzoos

I
oh yes. I love doing habitats for more than one species, because the total land mass needed ends up being so much less and I can get more animals in a smaller zoo. (Or, more honestly, I end up building the zoos even larger by adding even more animals, and gives me multiple places to do more breeding, without having just the same animal over and over). Usually it's the ones with in-game bonuses, which are easy enough but I have experimented beyond that too.

For the app, I'd say that keeping it where their lines are green would be most helpful, and then the user can know that they're also okay if they go a little beyond that. But if their green extends further (as in the case of the malayan v baird), then I'd say to try to show all the green in the app.
 
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