How do you plan a zoo?
- Thread starter peafowl
- Start date
Usually these questions help me:
- What is the budget of the zoo? High, medium or low? That way I define the animal roster and theming.
- What sections should the zoo have? Personally I never go for geographical, as I run out of steem fast then. For others, that works like a charm.
- What's the story behind the zoo, their mission? Conservation? Education? Or entertainment? Usually it's all of it, but for different zoos to a different extend.
- Lately, when I have this and know where the sections are, I lay down a path and use the fonds to write down which animal goes where. That way I can build in the middle of the zoo whatever I feel like building next. Did this with two zoos so far and pretty recently, so no guarantee yet if it works. Of course I sometimes delete path for a moment to play with elevation changes and such.
While our lion here has some really good good advise, i have one of my own.
Look around often when building your zoo.
Sounds like a nobrainer, but thst often csn help with macro design to just zoom in or out and look from a different angle.
The best and easiest example is to take a look from above to see if anything looks weird or you suddenly get a great idear.
My main focus when looking around are panorama shots in the likes of "if i stand in this spot, how far can i look and what can i see?". For example in my current zoo theres a river running through. If you look to the otherside you can see a big bison habitat, but because of the way i worked with the elevation and fences your also able to take a peak at the neighbouring prariedogs, lynx and badger, aswell as what ever i will build behind their habitat.
If you follow the main path you will cross the river, but while walking over the bridge you start to see more of what was behind the stable of the bison, gaining with every step a new cool panorama shot with different things you can see while looking at or walking between other "main habitats".
For this to work though, you need to do the most important thing besides custom fences: terraforming.
A flat zoo is a boring zoo and building in for example a hill side can be a bit annoying, but in the end its worth it for the views!
If you want some example, i have an old thread that shows step by step how some cool shots formed, give it a look if you feel like it
forums.frontier.co.uk
Look around often when building your zoo.
Sounds like a nobrainer, but thst often csn help with macro design to just zoom in or out and look from a different angle.
The best and easiest example is to take a look from above to see if anything looks weird or you suddenly get a great idear.
My main focus when looking around are panorama shots in the likes of "if i stand in this spot, how far can i look and what can i see?". For example in my current zoo theres a river running through. If you look to the otherside you can see a big bison habitat, but because of the way i worked with the elevation and fences your also able to take a peak at the neighbouring prariedogs, lynx and badger, aswell as what ever i will build behind their habitat.
If you follow the main path you will cross the river, but while walking over the bridge you start to see more of what was behind the stable of the bison, gaining with every step a new cool panorama shot with different things you can see while looking at or walking between other "main habitats".
For this to work though, you need to do the most important thing besides custom fences: terraforming.
A flat zoo is a boring zoo and building in for example a hill side can be a bit annoying, but in the end its worth it for the views!
If you want some example, i have an old thread that shows step by step how some cool shots formed, give it a look if you feel like it
Tiergarten Friedrichswalde
Good day ladies and gentleman, friends, foes and frenemies alike, im here to present to you the fact that i finally got the guts to make my own zoo thread. As already announced, this zoo, oriented on parklike german cityzoos (idk if these zoos are anyway special from the look, its just that...
I'm your basic builder; I like to build big, expensive dream zoos, inspired by San Diego, Taronga, Bioparc, that sort of thing. I base my back of house areas on the zoos and wildlife parks that I've worked in. I like imagining what a zoo would look like if money was no object, conservation was top priority, and animal welfare was top tier. Since we can't literally have all species in one zoo, I compiled a spreadsheet of all animals available, and then pick which animals I want to include in my zoos.
I draw layouts on paper, then draw them on the map with terrain paints. I like to build in geographical sections, and then to try and build the terrain to feel like the guests are moving through ecosystems, one biome at a time. I love mixed exhibits, or exhibits that look like they blend into each other (using moats/rockwork as hidden barriers), and immersive guest areas that feel like you're in the wild with the animals. I also like some story telling, so I might have a walkthrough breeding facility, or an "interactive" area that shows how the species are threatened in the wild, and how we work to save them and reduce the threats.
I get a lot of inspiration from Youtube - Koali Zoo, Lider's researched build sets, Tharmachati Zoo, SimplySavannah's builds, Leaf and Nick's builds. They all show me new ways to build and new details to include in Planet Zoo that I would never think of on my own.
I draw layouts on paper, then draw them on the map with terrain paints. I like to build in geographical sections, and then to try and build the terrain to feel like the guests are moving through ecosystems, one biome at a time. I love mixed exhibits, or exhibits that look like they blend into each other (using moats/rockwork as hidden barriers), and immersive guest areas that feel like you're in the wild with the animals. I also like some story telling, so I might have a walkthrough breeding facility, or an "interactive" area that shows how the species are threatened in the wild, and how we work to save them and reduce the threats.
I get a lot of inspiration from Youtube - Koali Zoo, Lider's researched build sets, Tharmachati Zoo, SimplySavannah's builds, Leaf and Nick's builds. They all show me new ways to build and new details to include in Planet Zoo that I would never think of on my own.
I go with the flow. I start off looking in the animal market for an animal on the cheap side; 9/10 I look for an animal that can more or less realistically live in an outdoor enclosure in the biome I choose.
When one catches my eye, I check the zoopedia for its needs, and build the habitat. Depending on where it's located, I use a single building theme, such as new world or rustic (my 2 favorites).
I try to build each section by continent, too. So, the entrance area is usually cheap animals that have no connection (cassowary here and a warthog there, for example).
I like to build small, 3-5 enclosures per section, with 3-5 sections per zoo, including the entrance.
So, after I do the entrance and its animals, I move on to the next section. I start like before, look for an animal that catches my eye. Once I do, I build the section based off of that continent, and get slightly more popular animals, with a star at the end
When one catches my eye, I check the zoopedia for its needs, and build the habitat. Depending on where it's located, I use a single building theme, such as new world or rustic (my 2 favorites).
I try to build each section by continent, too. So, the entrance area is usually cheap animals that have no connection (cassowary here and a warthog there, for example).
I like to build small, 3-5 enclosures per section, with 3-5 sections per zoo, including the entrance.
So, after I do the entrance and its animals, I move on to the next section. I start like before, look for an animal that catches my eye. Once I do, I build the section based off of that continent, and get slightly more popular animals, with a star at the end
I'm a mix of approaches. I start with inspiration, but I don't plan much, and once I've gotten into a flow everything comes very naturally. Like most builders, I love to do "realms" of my zoo, but it's always worth shaking up the traditional theming a bit -- why not have some unthemed hoofstock yards, or an area themed around taxonomy (bears, monkeys, or something else) rather than another cat house, tropical building, or african savannah (not that these are bad -- I use all of them frequently!) A little bit of imperfection goes a long way into developing a realistic-looking zoo. Maybe even consider age -- old zoos may have archaic-looking buildings; whereas new zoos will have more consistent and well-themed areas.
I try to lean on realism in my animal picks, going for a mix of rare and common species, but my top priority is always fun. A zoo in the American South with platypi and dholes? Unrealistic, but super fun. So I'm definitely less of a stickler for realism and a big advocate for references and a general sense of going with the flow.
I try to lean on realism in my animal picks, going for a mix of rare and common species, but my top priority is always fun. A zoo in the American South with platypi and dholes? Unrealistic, but super fun. So I'm definitely less of a stickler for realism and a big advocate for references and a general sense of going with the flow.
Essentially... Hours and hours of research.
I tend to use existing zoos and do alternate takes on them, so usually it starts by looking at where the current zoo stands today in terms of location, history and style; and see what I could change along the timeline to get a completely different outcome. By then I usually have decided the theme of the zoo.
So first of all I start researching the history of the existing zoo. Usually that means buying/reading books, watching documentaries, watching YouTube walkthroughs, etc. Then I start by checking zoos in the same country or neighbouring countries for both inspiration for the zoo itself and for the animal lists. When I have a good idea of what kind of animals I can use, I start mapping out how the zoo would be split up and how they fit in with the theme of the zoo.
And then the pinterest board gets made and I start collecting as many references as I can. I look at specific exhibits for specific animals, I look at specific scenery pieces I want to include, I look for pictures that capture the general atmosphere.
By then I have mapped out animal lists per section of my zoo in some spreadsheets, I have an idea of what I want to build, I usually have a logo designed and I already have a map on which I build blueprints whenever I feel like it.
And after all that. After hours, days, weeks, months of research, planning, blueprint building. After all that.... I stare at the map and try to make an entrance and end up building in Tharmachati again.
I tend to use existing zoos and do alternate takes on them, so usually it starts by looking at where the current zoo stands today in terms of location, history and style; and see what I could change along the timeline to get a completely different outcome. By then I usually have decided the theme of the zoo.
So first of all I start researching the history of the existing zoo. Usually that means buying/reading books, watching documentaries, watching YouTube walkthroughs, etc. Then I start by checking zoos in the same country or neighbouring countries for both inspiration for the zoo itself and for the animal lists. When I have a good idea of what kind of animals I can use, I start mapping out how the zoo would be split up and how they fit in with the theme of the zoo.
And then the pinterest board gets made and I start collecting as many references as I can. I look at specific exhibits for specific animals, I look at specific scenery pieces I want to include, I look for pictures that capture the general atmosphere.
By then I have mapped out animal lists per section of my zoo in some spreadsheets, I have an idea of what I want to build, I usually have a logo designed and I already have a map on which I build blueprints whenever I feel like it.
And after all that. After hours, days, weeks, months of research, planning, blueprint building. After all that.... I stare at the map and try to make an entrance and end up building in Tharmachati again.
I'm not very good at planning so I try to go with a 'feel'. Split the zoo into little areas with a few related (whether by group, biome, geography etc) species in each area and think about the feel you want for that area. Lush & immersive, open, architectural, natural, imposing... whatever you want. Then you can build an area that works well together. Then I do some research on things that fit that feel. You can go all in like Iben or take more of a grab-bag approach. Personally I LOVE research so I do a lot.
I took different approaches. One of my zoos was just a spontaneous "whatever I feel like", and I added suitable animals whenever a DLC dropped. In other cases, I started with an idea or concept or a theme or something, made a list of animals and then a plan. I don't do detailed maps in advance, but usually draw a really bad sketch so that I at least remember the locations of the habitats or the different sections of the zoo. The rest happens as I play along. I usually start with some exhibit animals to breed and make money, then some easy and cheap habitat animal and then I build up from there.
I wanna to do it the old style, like pachyderm, big cats, bears, hoof, etc.
Wow.Essentially... Hours and hours of research.
I tend to use existing zoos and do alternate takes on them, so usually it starts by looking at where the current zoo stands today in terms of location, history and style; and see what I could change along the timeline to get a completely different outcome. By then I usually have decided the theme of the zoo.
So first of all I start researching the history of the existing zoo. Usually that means buying/reading books, watching documentaries, watching YouTube walkthroughs, etc. Then I start by checking zoos in the same country or neighbouring countries for both inspiration for the zoo itself and for the animal lists. When I have a good idea of what kind of animals I can use, I start mapping out how the zoo would be split up and how they fit in with the theme of the zoo.
And then the pinterest board gets made and I start collecting as many references as I can. I look at specific exhibits for specific animals, I look at specific scenery pieces I want to include, I look for pictures that capture the general atmosphere.
By then I have mapped out animal lists per section of my zoo in some spreadsheets, I have an idea of what I want to build, I usually have a logo designed and I already have a map on which I build blueprints whenever I feel like it.
And after all that. After hours, days, weeks, months of research, planning, blueprint building. After all that.... I stare at the map and try to make an entrance and end up building in Tharmachati again.
I tend to vary heavily, some times it's just going by what I want at the time and messing around.
Others, I start with an idea that I'll sketch something out first and then build based on that. Those tend to get intricate, but I often move beyond my initial plans and things get jumbled.
I'd also had ones where I've worked on things with it. Such as zoos intended to work with a few specific mechanics or things in order to get more out of them later on.
Others, I start with an idea that I'll sketch something out first and then build based on that. Those tend to get intricate, but I often move beyond my initial plans and things get jumbled.
I'd also had ones where I've worked on things with it. Such as zoos intended to work with a few specific mechanics or things in order to get more out of them later on.
How do you guys go about figuring out like, exact physical layouts like where to stick staff buildings or guest facilities among the habitats, where you want big terraforming features and rides, where to put paths for good guest flow etc? Lots of sketches? Plotting out where you want to put buildings/terrain features? Do you need to be able to eyeball potential habitat sizes?
I usually have solid ideas on zoo themes and the animals I'd like in an area, and I'm not bad at individual habitats, but when it comes to fitting them and facility buildings around each other, and figuring out what terrain I could use, I tend to struggle a little. The habitats end up feeling haphazard and disconnected when viewed as a whole, and I can't work out what exactly I can do to fix that.
I usually have solid ideas on zoo themes and the animals I'd like in an area, and I'm not bad at individual habitats, but when it comes to fitting them and facility buildings around each other, and figuring out what terrain I could use, I tend to struggle a little. The habitats end up feeling haphazard and disconnected when viewed as a whole, and I can't work out what exactly I can do to fix that.