Updated: 5/16/24
Consider this a comprehensive overhaul and/or iterative revamp of the game's lagoons and the various systems existing or new elaborated on therein. This is my answer to dramatically improving the lagoons, making them more dynamic, interesting, and overall more fun. There are plenty of tools, systems, and items that are directed at a variety of players and, of course, Sandbox options to disable mechanics that players aren't interested in or they are simple enough to not be too much of a bother.
Lagoons & Marine Reptiles
Marine Reptile Cohabitability - Rebalanced
Marine Reptile Security Ratings
In consideration of destructible glass and the presence of submarines, now is the appropriate time to assign Security Ratings to marine reptiles. Right now, they can ram the walls of the lagoon and injury themselves, so the beginnings of a much more dynamic system are in place. Interactivity with the lowered Viewing Stands and the recent addition of the Marine Viewing Dome would help build upon this, and to determine their toughness Security Ratings fulfill this purpose.
Destructible Glass
Natural Lagoon
The addition of natural lagoons with the Malta expansion changes this dynamic further by creating the possibility of actual marine reptile escapes. Functionally it would be akin to the pterosarus in the first Jurassic World Evolution, once they manage to escape the map's boundaries they simply de-spawn. This feature and the aquatic fencing are restricted to maps with natural lagoons bordering open waters. However, a trend is now observable wherein a progression system has finally manifested for marine reptiles in terms of both developing attractions and even a completely unique scenario with natural lagoons allowing for escape potential.
Viewing Stand ---> Viewing Dome ---> Submarine
Finding a niche for marine reptiles to have meaningful interaction with guests and create gameplay is challenging, but these system/feature proposals are a positive step towards those ends.
I tried to keep things succinct to start off, so I will be the first to acknowledge the cohabitation between species isn't ideal, but I really struggled with it due to the lack of variety of species. Logically most things would try to eat the Ichthyosaurus and aren't too fond of other large predatory animals, but for the sake of gameplay I compromised on that logic. I also want to point out immediately that the Likes category means the animals will cohabitate not one enjoys to eat the other!
This disclaimer aside, I have wanted to tackle the customization of the Lagoon itself in a manner different than some others have suggested. I have seen a lot of comments wanting to be able to dynamically control the color of the water, so I compromised on this one. Adjusting the water level of the Lagoon gives you customization options and it also changes the color from clear to more opaque. Additional customization options are pretty self-explanatory from the list with the exception of the Desalination Plant which exists simply to give you some variety in what your Lagoons can contain such as mixing fresh and salt water vegetation.
The aquaculture system is as I already stated just taking the paleobotany & environmental systems and tailoring it for marine reptiles. They already require way too much space as it is which is made worse by their picky cohabitation issues. This makes them feel more like other creatures in the game and is only possible thanks to the added Lagoon customization options.
Lagoon Filtration System
Returning to water coloration for a moment, I reserved the murky green hues for my longstanding proposal of a Lagoon Filtration System. This serves as a visual indicator to the player which is important for gameplay reasons, but also reserves a unique effect exclusively for this system. There are two sizes, one is large and has an expensive maintenance cost like a slightly less costly Backup Generator while the other is more moderate, but covers a smaller radius, thus you require more of them. Marine Reptiles are a big draw and moneymaker, so them costing quite a bit in maintenance makes sense. Marine Reptiles also tend to be attractions late in your park's development, so their costs are adjusted accordingly.
Meanwhile Ammonia & Algae Poisoning are prolific threats to Marine Reptiles, so its not a type of management you can really ignore. I wanted to avoid proposing a system that was too manually taxing on the player, so I thought the more passive draw of the operating costs of this system and the clear visual indication of a problem would help solve it and would be more to Frontier's liking as well. This also continues a trend from my prior thread: Diseases, Injuries, & Scars of making disease and injuries more logically occurring, so the player understands their source and how to manage them.
Weather & Catastrophes
Seeing as our reptiles here are aquatic they generally don't suffer the safe problems as our other prehistoric creatures. However, I have found some niches where it will impact the Lagoon and its denizens. Now that I've explained the filtration system, it should be noted that both it and the reptiles do have some susceptibility and behavioral responses to weather conditions.
Sandstorms and Snowstorms are another matter, however, and they are not alone as I propose two new catastrophes that could be seen as variations of the two aforementioned. Generally these catastrophes cause the filtration systems to fail on the lagoon so that ammonia and algae build-up having that knock-on effect. These are pretty straightforward, but the addition of the Heat Wave & Cold Snap are more subtle, but similar meteorological conditions.
Heat Waves are prolonged, they incur high operating costs like a Backup Generator, agitate your reptiles terribly, and they cause intermittent operation of your filtration systems without causing them to fail.
Cold Snaps are similarly prolonged events that also incur high operating costs, but they instead induce specific disease occurrences, and target the fauna you feed to your reptiles limiting the types of bait that you can feed them for the duration of the Cold Snap.
Attractions
Attractions continue to be a big area in need of improvement in general, but could more acutely help the Lagoon. Most people just want an ability for the Viewing Stands to be able to snap together to recreate the Jurassic World set piece. However, the first of the new attractions has a retroactive effect. Feeding Shows are unique to the Lagoon, first and foremost it adds a scheduler to certain attractions. The Viewing Stands can now be scheduled so they Raise/Lower at set intervals, again, more like the film complete with voice over. The Shark feeder also inherits a scheduler, so you aren't just waiting randomly for things to be a little more cinematic.
The Desalination Plant I mentioned earlier comes into its own here. Not only does it let you customize your Lagoon, but it changes what sort of bait you can feed your reptiles. For this reason, a new small feeder is added that will let your smaller reptiles get some attention; it comes equipped with a lure to draw them in. Frontier can decide whether it is something like Sonar or maybe just a cloud of gas, something to indicate the lure is in effect to draw your reptiles to it. I appreciate the symbiosis of this new building and I think others will as well.
The Submarine Tour is the premiere marine attraction you unlock from the lagoon branch of the research tree, it is also the most exciting. It snaps onto the side of the lagoon wall and you schedule the tours like any other tour. The submarine movement is either scripted to climb or descend at different intervals, or if we are lucky we can set an angle of attack ourselves. Also, being able to operate your own submarine is a special experience in itself.
I noted the guest appeals on these attractions for the sake of further hammering home the point that the game doesn't do much of anything to allow you to interact or push for certain guest types. Attractions are the prime driver for your guest types and are supplemented by your customized amenities rather than those amenities seemingly being the primary driver. The Lagoon, however, has little appeal to Nature Guests for the same reason Sea World is controversial with environmentalists.
Marine Reptile Behavior
First off, the Tylosaurus deserves to be able to eat the Great White from the feeder if both the Kronosaurus and Dunkleosteus can, it just makes sense. Other than that, the behavior I am focusing on here is gameplay interactions specifically with guests. The Lagoons aren't fun since there is nothing you can do with them and the creatures in it aren't imposing if they don't do much of anything. The reason for the Submarine Tour and destructible glass is to get your guests right in the face of the marine reptiles, and to make them into real potential threats if ignored.
Chronic Stress is a condition that is specific to marine reptiles and it makes them uncomfortable and aggressive. This can lead to a host of different aggressive and destructive behaviors such as:
Additionally, we just need more behaviors, animations, and interactions for marine reptiles. More dynamic behaviors and idle animations would give each species or family grouping a more unique identity. Special interactions such as with Large Marine Reptiles and the Zip-Line or with snatching up pterosaurs that come too close/land on the rock platforms adds a mix of variety as well as just coming up with ways to attract guests to where the marine reptiles are seeing as they cannot go to the guests.
I'll try to wrap this up quickly given the length of this thread. Essentially, the lagoons are just lacking development. Updates have improved them greatly, but we need to go a bit farther with being able to customize their appearance especially in light of the fact the lagoon beds look largely the same whether an artificial or natural lagoon. The marine reptiles are also lacking behavior and could use some new animations like their terrestrial and flying peers. However, it can be done; it just requires some more creative thinking and investment into making them more of what they can be. If Frontier can nail the lagoons, I think Jurassic World Evolution 2 is well on its way to being a game remembered fondly for many years much like Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (JPOG) has and leaving an enduring legacy.
References: Guest Attractions (Revisited), Events & Feeding Shows
Consider this a comprehensive overhaul and/or iterative revamp of the game's lagoons and the various systems existing or new elaborated on therein. This is my answer to dramatically improving the lagoons, making them more dynamic, interesting, and overall more fun. There are plenty of tools, systems, and items that are directed at a variety of players and, of course, Sandbox options to disable mechanics that players aren't interested in or they are simple enough to not be too much of a bother.
Lagoons & Marine Reptiles
- Lagoon Customization
- Adjustable water levels (Shallow, Moderate, Deep)
- Shallow waters are crystal clear
- Moderate water are a rich blue
- Deep waters are a navy blue nearly black
- Terrain tools to paint & sculpt the exhibit floor
- Decorative/Nature Items placeable in Lagoon
- Corals, seaweed, etc.
- Desalination Plant (new building)
- Access to fresh water customization options
- Fresh Water Decorative Flora
- Fresh Water Bait & prey specimens
- Pre-requisite Research for Lagoon Filtration System
- Access to fresh water customization options
- Aquaculture System--- an offshoot of the paleobotany & environmental systems
- Marine Reptiles have environmental needs now (Ex: Flora, Corals)
- Chronic Stress condition can be triggered if in prolonged distress
- Lagoon Filtration System
- Pump-fed filtration system that keeps water clean and clear (large radius | attaches to Lagoon)
- High Operating Cost (Ex: Backup Generator)
- Filtration Vents that keep waters clean and clear (small radius | attaches to Lagoon)
- Moderate Operating Cost
- Filters out deadly algae and ammonia build-up
- Unfiltered lagoons will change hue progressively from a clear/deep blue to a murky green
- Ammonia & Algae Poisoning threats grow as the water festers
- Chronic Stress increases as contamination worsens/persists
- Pump-fed filtration system that keeps water clean and clear (large radius | attaches to Lagoon)
- Adjustable water levels (Shallow, Moderate, Deep)
- Weather & Catastrophe Effects
- Sandstorm
- Causes filtration systems to overheat and fail
- Heat Wave
- Agitates marine reptiles, increase power consumption, and intermittently disrupts filtration systems
- Snowstorm
- Causes filtration system pumps to freeze, burst, & fail
- Cold Snap
- Induces disease, increase power consumption, and prohibit use of many types of live bait
- Sandstorm
- Lagoon Attractions
- Viewing Stands
- Snap together
- Raise/Lower Stand Scheduler
- Appeals to All Guest Types
- Feeding Shows
- Scheduler
- Live Bait
- Built-in lure
- Appeals to General Guests
- Marine Viewing Dome
- Appeals to Luxury Guests
- Submarine Tour
- Entrance attached to Lagoon wall
- Player controllable
- Appeals to Adventure Guests
- Viewing Stands
Marine Reptile Cohabitability - Rebalanced
| Species | Likes | Dislikes |
| Mosasaurus | None | Tylosaurus |
| Tylosaurus | Styxosaurus | Mosasaurus |
| Styxosaurus | Tylosaurus, Nothosaurus | Kronosaurus |
| Kronosaurus | Dunkleosteus | Liopleurodon |
| Elasmosaurus | Plesiosaurus | Liopleurodon |
| Liopleurodon | Nothosaurus | Elasmosaurus |
| Attenborosaurus | Elasmosaurus | Nothosaurus |
| Plesiosaurus | Attenborosaurus, Ichthyosaurus | Styxosaurus |
| Ichthyosaurus | Plesiosaurus, Kronosaurus | Attenborosaurus |
| Shonisaurus | Icthyosaurus, Archelon | Elasmosaurus |
| Megalodon | None | Dunkleosteus |
| Archelon | Icthyosaurus, Shonisaurus | Megalodon |
| Nothosaurus | Elasmosaurus | Kronosaurus |
| Dunkleosteus | Plesiosaurus, Styxosaurus | Megalodon |
- Marine Reptile Behavior
- New Feeding, Combat, & Kill Animations (Ex: Mosasaur vs. Pteranodon)
- Chronic Stress
- Marine Reptiles now ram/snap at Glass Attractions (Lowered Viewing Stand / Marine Viewing Dome / Submarine Tour)
- Glass can break sucking guests into the Lagoon where they can be preyed upon
- Submarines can be crushed in the jaws of some marine reptiles
- Submarines have high durability (Security Rating 4)
- Marine Reptiles now ram/snap at Glass Attractions (Lowered Viewing Stand / Marine Viewing Dome / Submarine Tour)
- Tylosaurus can feed from the Great White Shark feeder
- Zip-Line cables can now be snapped by marine reptiles
- Large Marine Reptiles (only)
- Prolonged Chronic Stress
Marine Reptile Security Ratings
| Species | Security Rating 1 | Security Rating 2 | Security Rating 3 | Security Rating 4 | Security Rating 5 | Security Rating 6 |
| Mosasaurus | |  | ||||
| Tylosaurus | | |||||
| Styxosaurus | | | | |||
| Kronosaurus | | |||||
| Elasmosaurus | | |||||
| Liopleurodon | | |||||
| Attenborosaurus | | |||||
| Plesiosaurus | | |||||
| Ichthyosaurus | | |||||
| Shonisaurus | | | ||||
| Megalodon | | |||||
| Archelon | | |||||
| Nothosaurus | | |||||
| Dunkleosteus | |
In consideration of destructible glass and the presence of submarines, now is the appropriate time to assign Security Ratings to marine reptiles. Right now, they can ram the walls of the lagoon and injury themselves, so the beginnings of a much more dynamic system are in place. Interactivity with the lowered Viewing Stands and the recent addition of the Marine Viewing Dome would help build upon this, and to determine their toughness Security Ratings fulfill this purpose.
Destructible Glass
- Viewing Stand
- Security Rating 3
- Marine Viewing Dome
- Security Rating 4
- Submarine
- Security Rating 4
Natural Lagoon
- Marine Reptiles can now breach the lagoon to escape (requires lagoon connected to the sea)
- Aquatic Fencing
- Light Aquatic Fence (Security Rating 2)
- Heavy Aquatic Fence (Security Rating 3)
- Electrified Aquatic Fence (Security Rating 4)
The addition of natural lagoons with the Malta expansion changes this dynamic further by creating the possibility of actual marine reptile escapes. Functionally it would be akin to the pterosarus in the first Jurassic World Evolution, once they manage to escape the map's boundaries they simply de-spawn. This feature and the aquatic fencing are restricted to maps with natural lagoons bordering open waters. However, a trend is now observable wherein a progression system has finally manifested for marine reptiles in terms of both developing attractions and even a completely unique scenario with natural lagoons allowing for escape potential.
Viewing Stand ---> Viewing Dome ---> Submarine
Finding a niche for marine reptiles to have meaningful interaction with guests and create gameplay is challenging, but these system/feature proposals are a positive step towards those ends.
I tried to keep things succinct to start off, so I will be the first to acknowledge the cohabitation between species isn't ideal, but I really struggled with it due to the lack of variety of species. Logically most things would try to eat the Ichthyosaurus and aren't too fond of other large predatory animals, but for the sake of gameplay I compromised on that logic. I also want to point out immediately that the Likes category means the animals will cohabitate not one enjoys to eat the other!
This disclaimer aside, I have wanted to tackle the customization of the Lagoon itself in a manner different than some others have suggested. I have seen a lot of comments wanting to be able to dynamically control the color of the water, so I compromised on this one. Adjusting the water level of the Lagoon gives you customization options and it also changes the color from clear to more opaque. Additional customization options are pretty self-explanatory from the list with the exception of the Desalination Plant which exists simply to give you some variety in what your Lagoons can contain such as mixing fresh and salt water vegetation.
The aquaculture system is as I already stated just taking the paleobotany & environmental systems and tailoring it for marine reptiles. They already require way too much space as it is which is made worse by their picky cohabitation issues. This makes them feel more like other creatures in the game and is only possible thanks to the added Lagoon customization options.
Lagoon Filtration System
Returning to water coloration for a moment, I reserved the murky green hues for my longstanding proposal of a Lagoon Filtration System. This serves as a visual indicator to the player which is important for gameplay reasons, but also reserves a unique effect exclusively for this system. There are two sizes, one is large and has an expensive maintenance cost like a slightly less costly Backup Generator while the other is more moderate, but covers a smaller radius, thus you require more of them. Marine Reptiles are a big draw and moneymaker, so them costing quite a bit in maintenance makes sense. Marine Reptiles also tend to be attractions late in your park's development, so their costs are adjusted accordingly.
Meanwhile Ammonia & Algae Poisoning are prolific threats to Marine Reptiles, so its not a type of management you can really ignore. I wanted to avoid proposing a system that was too manually taxing on the player, so I thought the more passive draw of the operating costs of this system and the clear visual indication of a problem would help solve it and would be more to Frontier's liking as well. This also continues a trend from my prior thread: Diseases, Injuries, & Scars of making disease and injuries more logically occurring, so the player understands their source and how to manage them.
Weather & Catastrophes
Seeing as our reptiles here are aquatic they generally don't suffer the safe problems as our other prehistoric creatures. However, I have found some niches where it will impact the Lagoon and its denizens. Now that I've explained the filtration system, it should be noted that both it and the reptiles do have some susceptibility and behavioral responses to weather conditions.
Marine Reptiles are wholly unaffected by Thunderstorms, Hurricanes, & Tornadoes
Sandstorms and Snowstorms are another matter, however, and they are not alone as I propose two new catastrophes that could be seen as variations of the two aforementioned. Generally these catastrophes cause the filtration systems to fail on the lagoon so that ammonia and algae build-up having that knock-on effect. These are pretty straightforward, but the addition of the Heat Wave & Cold Snap are more subtle, but similar meteorological conditions.
Heat Waves are prolonged, they incur high operating costs like a Backup Generator, agitate your reptiles terribly, and they cause intermittent operation of your filtration systems without causing them to fail.
Cold Snaps are similarly prolonged events that also incur high operating costs, but they instead induce specific disease occurrences, and target the fauna you feed to your reptiles limiting the types of bait that you can feed them for the duration of the Cold Snap.
Attractions
Attractions continue to be a big area in need of improvement in general, but could more acutely help the Lagoon. Most people just want an ability for the Viewing Stands to be able to snap together to recreate the Jurassic World set piece. However, the first of the new attractions has a retroactive effect. Feeding Shows are unique to the Lagoon, first and foremost it adds a scheduler to certain attractions. The Viewing Stands can now be scheduled so they Raise/Lower at set intervals, again, more like the film complete with voice over. The Shark feeder also inherits a scheduler, so you aren't just waiting randomly for things to be a little more cinematic.
The Desalination Plant I mentioned earlier comes into its own here. Not only does it let you customize your Lagoon, but it changes what sort of bait you can feed your reptiles. For this reason, a new small feeder is added that will let your smaller reptiles get some attention; it comes equipped with a lure to draw them in. Frontier can decide whether it is something like Sonar or maybe just a cloud of gas, something to indicate the lure is in effect to draw your reptiles to it. I appreciate the symbiosis of this new building and I think others will as well.
The Submarine Tour is the premiere marine attraction you unlock from the lagoon branch of the research tree, it is also the most exciting. It snaps onto the side of the lagoon wall and you schedule the tours like any other tour. The submarine movement is either scripted to climb or descend at different intervals, or if we are lucky we can set an angle of attack ourselves. Also, being able to operate your own submarine is a special experience in itself.
I noted the guest appeals on these attractions for the sake of further hammering home the point that the game doesn't do much of anything to allow you to interact or push for certain guest types. Attractions are the prime driver for your guest types and are supplemented by your customized amenities rather than those amenities seemingly being the primary driver. The Lagoon, however, has little appeal to Nature Guests for the same reason Sea World is controversial with environmentalists.
Marine Reptile Behavior
First off, the Tylosaurus deserves to be able to eat the Great White from the feeder if both the Kronosaurus and Dunkleosteus can, it just makes sense. Other than that, the behavior I am focusing on here is gameplay interactions specifically with guests. The Lagoons aren't fun since there is nothing you can do with them and the creatures in it aren't imposing if they don't do much of anything. The reason for the Submarine Tour and destructible glass is to get your guests right in the face of the marine reptiles, and to make them into real potential threats if ignored.
Chronic Stress is a condition that is specific to marine reptiles and it makes them uncomfortable and aggressive. This can lead to a host of different aggressive and destructive behaviors such as:
- Attacking each other
- Injuring themselves on the lagoon walls
- Starving
- Becoming disease prone
- Aggression towards guest attractions
Additionally, we just need more behaviors, animations, and interactions for marine reptiles. More dynamic behaviors and idle animations would give each species or family grouping a more unique identity. Special interactions such as with Large Marine Reptiles and the Zip-Line or with snatching up pterosaurs that come too close/land on the rock platforms adds a mix of variety as well as just coming up with ways to attract guests to where the marine reptiles are seeing as they cannot go to the guests.
I'll try to wrap this up quickly given the length of this thread. Essentially, the lagoons are just lacking development. Updates have improved them greatly, but we need to go a bit farther with being able to customize their appearance especially in light of the fact the lagoon beds look largely the same whether an artificial or natural lagoon. The marine reptiles are also lacking behavior and could use some new animations like their terrestrial and flying peers. However, it can be done; it just requires some more creative thinking and investment into making them more of what they can be. If Frontier can nail the lagoons, I think Jurassic World Evolution 2 is well on its way to being a game remembered fondly for many years much like Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (JPOG) has and leaving an enduring legacy.
References: Guest Attractions (Revisited), Events & Feeding Shows
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