Help with Challenge mode

[JLoco11]

Thanks for the tips. If i fail again ill have to stay under 1 star like u said and stockpile money. Im just about to crack 4 stars right now. Money is low. But i figured out a way to start earning money a little faster. I never did this before because it's so expensive but i started researching reduced feeder cost and marketing. The reduced feeders really helps. The sauropods eat so much that your constantly spending 150,000 on each feeder. At 2.0 what was 150 is like 80 now.

Last time i was feeding my indominus carnos and diplods but his life span was so low he died before he could help me get to 5 stars. Gonna give my carns big life spans this time.

In all honesty, Indominus is probably the worst dino to have in challenge. Between her comfort threshold, price & price per rating.... she should be the lowest priority on your list. Indominus, T-Rex, Raptors, Carchara, Indoraptor, Giga & Allosaurus all have thresholds so low that any storm will trigger them. You probably spend more time & money tranq'ing them during a storm than anything.

Every dino you need will be unlocked by the 2nd star. The only 3 star dino people should use is Camarasaurus. Only 4 star dinos would be Apatosurus & Spino on the bigger islands. So if you're getting into 4 star dinos, you've passed up some of the best dinos in the game that easily beat challenge.

The best carnivores to use (in order) are Troodon, Dilopho, Cerato, Baryonyx, Metriacanth, Carnotaurus, Spinosaurus. And Carno & Spino are only needed on Sorna & Nublar at best. Just 1 pen of 3 Ceratos & 16 Troodons is almost 1,400 points. That's anywhere from 10-20% of the dino score on just 1 enclosure.

My other main carnivore enclosure is 2 Baryonyx & 12 Dilophos.... that's 1,100 points. Those 4 easy to maintain carnivores give you 25-40% of your dino score. You can fill the rest of the islands with herbivores. 8 Diplodocus is just under 1,000 points. In just 5 dinos, that is 3,500 in score..................... all unlocked by 2 stars.

 

[Flint2025]

I put stress inhibitor genes on the carns so they dont break out during. Storns i have 1 bary i forgot to do that with so i tranq him but that's it.

Im at 4 stars now. I need 3,000 or so points i think. Im gonna make more trodons, raptors, dilos, a 2nd charca, then try to fill 1 other paddock with camaras and more diplods or other sauropods.

I dont worry too much about the storms. Its the disease outbreaks that mess me up. If my feeders arent all topped off when it happens it occurs in multiple paddocks and dinos start dying before i can clear it out.

I swear it feels like money slows at 4 stars though. Im at 368,00 a min profit and i was getting the platinum or gold worth 400,000 a pop... Be at 3 million. Im like what?

 

[JLoco11]

I put stress inhibitor genes on the carns so they dont break out during. Storns i have 1 bary i forgot to do that with so i tranq him but that's it.

Im at 4 stars now. I need 3,000 or so points i think. Im gonna make more trodons, raptors, dilos, a 2nd charca, then try to fill 1 other paddock with camaras and more diplods or other sauropods.

I dont worry too much about the storms. Its the disease outbreaks that mess me up. If my feeders arent all topped off when it happens it occurs in multiple paddocks and dinos start dying before i can clear it out.

I swear it feels like money slows at 4 stars though. Im at 368,00 a min profit and i was getting the platinum or gold worth 400,000 a pop... Be at 3 million. Im like what?

Well, your money flow is tied to the prep work you've done in the earlier parts of the game and the dinos you select to be in the pens. Stress genes are pricey (research & incubation). Less stress also equals lower dino rating too.

For 0-3 stars, you want to make sure you incubate the most economical dinos for the best ratings. You'd be surprised at how many "trap" dinos there are that cost WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much for the tiny rating they give you. Edmontosaurs & Styracosaurs are easily the worst herbivores for cost per rating. Using too many of them means you could have spent the money elsewhere.

Indominus costs 2.5 million without mods and without research. For that price, you can incubate 8 Troodons. 1 Indominus = 273 base rating without mods. 8 Troodons = 504 rating without mods. I rather have a 500 rating for 2.5 million than 273.

Research is another money pit. Only 1 gene in the game is worth the money (Aggressive Instincts 1.0). Pretty much every other gene costs more money to apply to the dino, than you get back in a return on the rating. If you spent money on research genes, then you might have lost quite a bit of money on things that don't return the ratings you want.

 

[Deleted member 198721]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pan8KjBZaho

Here is a quick youtube search of someone who posted their time on Nublar at 4:47. It's even easier than when he posted this due to Troodon's, Iguanodon & Olorotitans being added to the game. All 3 of them make the 1-3 star range go much quicker.

I did all 8 islands in around 5 hours as well..... 4:08 was the fastest on Matanceros and 5:30 was the longest on Sorna. Once you get the pattern down of which dinos to release, avoid........ what to research and what not to research...... the order of the buildings you need, each island will roughly play the same.

Only difference is each island has different dino & hotel requirements. Nublar & Sorna have bigger requirements for both, while Matanceros only needs 1 hotel for a 5 star rating. Pena only needs 16 dinos since it's small.

On every single island, I got 5 stars without an Indominus, T-rex, raptors, Deinonychus, Allosaurus & Mamenchi because you can get higher points spamming little dinos like Troodon, Dilophos & the key dino Diplodocus.

You have the patience of a saint. But how on earth do you deal with the problem of not having enough species you need?

 

[Flint2025]

I 5 stared Sorna tonight a few hours ago. I added 4 camaras, then spammed dilos and trodons to finallu get my dino rating where it needed to be. Didn't need the indominus after all like you said. But of course my facility rating went from 5 stars to 4 n 3/4ths a star as soon as my dino rating was 5 syar. So i had to cut back a few fences and add some shops and an extra hotel to get the job done. I feel pleased.

I've gone back to campaign mode now feeling i have conquered isla sorna... Im now building my own site b on campaign mode loosley based on the novel. ��

 

[JLoco11]

You have the patience of a saint. But how on earth do you deal with the problem of not having enough species you need?

That wasn't my video, that was someone else's. I couldn't speak to how he did his run.

But each dino is worth X amount of points, and each island has a certain point threshold to get to 5 stars. Nublar is 10,000, Sorna is 11,000 & both want 26 species........... but Pena is 6,400 with 16 species. Research Tacano is 8,400 with 16 species. When you unlock sauropods and spam them, they give massive point boosts.

Someone on reddit created this Google doc that has ALL the info for every dino in the game. It helps you know how many dinos you need for them to be happy and how many you can put in a pen together. That's the key to filling each enclosure with dinos that fit. Otherwise you won't know that 8 dracorex don't work with 5 stegos. And that Dreadnoughtus & Camarasaurus in the same pen means you need the entire g island to keep both of them happy.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1asbl4934A6JhpCrZvQzU3S8Qu1DTZSguCuLihiNzrFk/edit

 

[Deleted member 198721]

That wasn't my video, that was someone else's. I couldn't speak to how he did his run.

But each dino is worth X amount of points, and each island has a certain point threshold to get to 5 stars. Nublar is 10,000, Sorna is 11,000 & both want 26 species........... but Pena is 6,400 with 16 species. Research Tacano is 8,400 with 16 species. When you unlock sauropods and spam them, they give massive point boosts.

Someone on reddit created this Google doc that has ALL the info for every dino in the game. It helps you know how many dinos you need for them to be happy and how many you can put in a pen together. That's the key to filling each enclosure with dinos that fit. Otherwise you won't know that 8 dracorex don't work with 5 stegos. And that Dreadnoughtus & Camarasaurus in the same pen means you need the entire g island to keep both of them happy.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1asbl4934A6JhpCrZvQzU3S8Qu1DTZSguCuLihiNzrFk/edit

I understand about the point system and I get that certain dinosaurs don't work together and have different requirements (I five stared the whole campaign mode). And I nearly five stared two of the other islands including Nublar within about 500 points each, but every other minute one of my dinosaurs would die of old age so that all forward progress was halted as I was left trying to replace dinosaurs that had died of old age which not only meant I needed to replace said dinosaur to keep others happy, but also that the funds I was trying to save to keep going were undercut by the Hammond foundation. Other problems I noticed in this mode included dinosaurs being dehydrated and yet they were right next to water and starving while they were right next to the feeder. Instead they would panic and run around like crazy not knowing what they were doing.

 

[JLoco11]

Dino behavior is impossible to control, even with herbivores. Only option is multiple small water sources and multiple feeders in a pen. There are times a dino is LITERALLY standing in water next to a feeder but is hungry and thirsty and does nothing.

Early dinos dying shouldn't be too much of an issue by end game. Most of the early ones are struthis, trikes and probably some hadrosaurs. Most are low points, low social requirements.... so you can lose a few without too much of an issue. By time you unlock the better rated dinos, the points you lose will be made up by the biggest dinos.

I assume you have dig yield on your expedition center? Because they bring in a TON of money at the end of the game, like $600,000+ every dig. The hammond foundation hurts like hell, but the digs & contracts bring in enough money to offset it. Raising prices constantly at the stores also helps.

How many hammond centers are you using? Usually 3 does the trick..... maybe a 4th if you really need to spam dinos at the end. That helps with dying dinos while incubating new ones.

 

[Deleted member 198721]

I fill all three spots on the expedition center with dig yield and it wasn't the trikes or struthis that were dying that became the issue, but rather the Troodon* and even dilophosaurs. As far as contracts go I had all three be impossible and desperately needed all funds to try and save up to pay to have the feeders supplied and try and clone a diplo once in a while so I couldn't cancel out of any of them. Also I had three of the Hammond centers up and running on the smaller island (one for herbivores and two for carnivores) and put restaurants, arcades, and cloths shops near each observation spot and hotel.

 

[JLoco11]

What order are you incubating dinos? Because if your carnivores are dying, then 2 things are possibly happening. Either you're incubating the higher valued dinos too early or your runs are taking too long where dinos are dying off.

If it's an issue of release schedule, ideally you should be following this pattern:

Struthis (4 in a pen is fine unless you get contracts to release more)
Huyango
Sinoceratops
Triceratops. You can release 4 of each of these dinos, although if you get contracts that go past these 4, then start removing from the bottom up. Trikes are least valuable.

8 Dracorex in their own tiny pen (and if your facilities are on point, you should be rate at 1 star at this point)

4 Crichtonsaurs
4 Ankylos

2 Chungkings
13 Iguanadons & Olorotitans (any combination of these are fine)
2 Corythosaurs
1 Edmontosaurus (Edmontosaurus is by far the worst herbivore in the game for the price.... just use 1 for the species bonus, otherwise it's a colossal waste of money)

If you have a chance, throw 4 Torosaurs into the pen with the Dracorex for another species and another maximum limited pen

You should be WELL into 2 stars on any island at this point. Probably well past 2 stars, pushing 2.5-2.8 stars. That's 4 pens, 13 herbivores without a single carnivore, and all of these are cheap replaceable dinos.

If you're comfortable with challenge, while you created all the above pens (probably from just 1 hammond center), you could be releasing carnivores at a separate hammond center & pen. I don't release Cerato & Baryonyx until I have electrified steel.... it saves me the headache of them breaking out during a storm. While you then fill your park with carnivores, you should be gathering sauropod genome.

By time you get sauropod genome & incubate them since they take forever, you can plot out the final dinos that you need. The sauropods exponentially increase your park rating. Filling a pen with Diplos and Brachios (including all the above dinos) will have you on the cusp of 4 stars at Nublar and Sorna with 20 species. The final ones are literally whatever you want, but you might need a big carnivore on Sorna for the extra 1,000 points the island needs. Giga or Spino are the best choices, although Spino gets angry quick in storms.

Around the 4 1/2 hour mark, Struthis should be dying. Around the 5 hour mark, all the others in the first pen are dying. By the 6th hour, the first pen & second pen should all be dead and your armored dinos will be dying of old age. You can always sell them before they die to gain money off them instead of losing them. Once I lose 1 dino, I sell the others I bred with it... get some money from them to breed new ones.

 

[Flint2025]

If you've increased dinos ratings once you get around 4 stars... Start nulling genes and putting a few cardio genes in their cheaper replacements so they live longer. Keep your variety and only lose a few points. That's what i started doing to deal with my dinos dying of old age.

 

[Deleted member 198721]

Okay I went back to an earlier save of my Nublar island and just completed it after whatever the one is that gives you the green triceratops. I wound up with a dinosaur rating of 11000 and quickly dropped in some more viewing posts on top of dropping prices and finally pushed me over the limit. While I know you shouldn't bother cloning certain dinosaurs I found that doing the research on them to get access to the fossil fields helps at lot with funds and just dropped in a bunch of apatosaurs and diplodocus. Also dropped funds into increase the speed of the cloning process and had three troodons die on me from combat as my genetically superior ones killed the baser ones I cloned forgetting to check the social limit size.

 

[Tyrano]

Hi , I would like ask you an info please : Where can I find the no stress genome for carnivores? Thank you to All guys..

 

[Gondrasia]

Hi , I would like ask you an info please : Where can I find the no stress genome for carnivores? Thank you to All guys..

The Stress Inhibitor gene is made available in the Research Center, upon completing contracts and missions on the two maps from the Secrets of Dr. Wu DLC.

 

[Tyrano]

The Stress Inhibitor gene is made available in the Research Center, upon completing contracts and missions on the two maps from the Secrets of Dr. Wu DLC.

Thank you very much for your reply. Unfortunately I don't have the Dr Who dlc. I would like to know if to win the T.rex skin on isla pena, it is mandatory to finish the challenge in 8 hours, or you can just finish it ,sooner or later ...

 

[Flint2025]

You can just finish it sooner or later. Time doesnt matter. I restarted my first challenge from the first dlc 4 or 5 times on easy before i realised time didnt matter lol

 

[Tyrano]

I currently have 2 stars, with 11 hours of play, a budget of 19,550,000, and I only made herbivores. I have just finished researching the Dreadnoughtus and will be focusing on sauropods. The real troubles will begin with the carnivores and the expansion of the park with fences. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you

 

[Flint2025]

The ceratasaurus and the mettricanthasaurus are 2 medium carnivores that won't over stress during storms and break out. I think there is 1 other carnivore that wont break out during storms but the rest will...

Make sure you have the max amount of herbivores in your current paddocks. If u can fit more in there and add new species do it. Then add in a bunch of sauropods... An you can add those low risk carnivores too. Once you're at 4 to 2
4 n 1/2 stars and your facility rating is at 5 stars add in a rex and a spino or something and hopefully it'll bring you to 5. You need at least 16 different species on Pena i think it might only be 13 i cant remember.... Then u just need dinos with high ratings.

 

[tinywolf]

Hello, this is pretty dead but if anyone needs help to consider looking at this website: https://jurassicstrategies.wordpress.com/
It tells you almost everything you need to know. It is a bit outdated but still useful.

 

[cometcruiser]

I just want to let people know not to be put off from Challenge mode. I just recently decided to have a go, for the Ceratosarus and T-rex skins.

My first go was on Matanceros on Jurrasic. Well 14 hours later I scraped through with 5 stars. After checking this forum and using the experience I managed Pena in just over 6. Which I was impressed with.

On Matanceros I tried to build a park similar to the main campaign, nice enclosures, normal herds etc and later I spent loads of cash on the DNA perks for lifespan. But in the end I don't think I needed to.

Because with Pena I just went for it as quick as I could, no stat changes other than comfort for the carnivores. This was after reading up on this thread about Dilophosaurus's and how to cram dozens of creatures into tiny spaces. well it worked out fine. Pena looked a horrible mess of enclosures and crappy paths, but It got 5 stars and that's all I needed.

One other thing was getting at least 200 point bonus for just scenery items, rocks, trees and that. that's 200 points you don't need to feed or watch or chase down.

last thought is like everyone else has said. Save that game, all the time. At one point a storm hit, I saved. A cyclone spawned, caused untold destruction and released dozens of Dilophosaurus's into the world. I just hit load a few times until RNG decided the cyclone would only trash some buildings and off down the beach.