Items I found interesting from Developer Journal: Creativity and Habitats

[mjcarrier]

Items I found interesting in Developer Journal

• Rock terrain is not just visual, has management feature, different animals enjoy different terrains.
• West African Lions, social cat, require big habitat for multiple animals.
• Lions groups can be alpha male with a few females, some males, or some females. If females around males don't get along.
• Strong fences needed for lions.
• Lions tolerate large range of temperatures. But if too cold they need heaters.
• Lions require shelter to escape elements and for privacy.
• Theme habitat to animal for their happiness and the guests enjoyment. For example elephants enjoy a savannah habitat.
• Things to account for when making exhibit:

1. group size - tortoise happy alone or in small group, Elephants prefer larger herds
2. space - hippos need more space than others
3. areas for special activities species need
4. shelter - a place to get away be it a shelter or rocks or foliage to hide behind.
5. Terrain and foliage - animals want to live in environment that resembles their natural habitat

• Biomes and weather impact zoo - Zebra don't thrive in cold rainy biome without well-build habitat.
• Heater and coolers used to make animals comfortable.
• Will be shiny new wall sets, props, and decorations for planet zoo. For piece by piece building like Planet Coaster
• New themes for zoos
• New foliage for zoos.

What things did you find interesting?

 

[Dezessete]

Adding a bit of rock terrain to a habitat is not just a visual, it’s also an actual management feature, because different animals will have different terrains they enjoy!

For me, this is the most interessting part, or at least the part that made me think about it the most.
What exactly do they mean with "rock terrain"? Is it something like a ground type for example like grass or sand, or does the actual placement of rocks make a terrain "rocky"?

I'm really excited for a zoo building game where you can build really creative enclosures and I have already some ideas for future enclosures, which are mostly inspired by the Zoo Tycoon 2 Videos from NickNackGaming:

He mostly uses rock formations instead of fences, which gives a really natural look to the enclosures (like in the Video above).
Can we do this too or will animals that don't like rocky terrains get mad if we place to many rocks in their enclosure? And if they get mad, will we have some other natural barriers that we can use as substitute for fences?

 

[Joël]

I find it interesting that we will have a lot of freedom in how we can design animal shelters in their habitats. It's going to be awesome to see what players are going to create in Planet Zoo!