Eryel and her team also managed to have Mammoths and Woolly Rhinos with different and broken tusks and horns, that would vary graetly
Lion Redo
- Thread starter jtwhite5
- Start date
Eryel and her team also managed to have Mammoths and Woolly Rhinos with different and broken tusks and horns, that would vary graetly
Like I said already, I won't be publishing this list for quite some time. However, if you are interested in helping out with this list, please give this post a like and I will create a group message for us to collaborate on. My focus for this would be concrete suggestions we can pass on to the development team for animals to be improved. So, for the lion, it might be removing the permanent "smile" markings the skins have, and fixing the manes on adult males, potentially even adding some model variations with that.
Another example would be completely redoing the baby cheetah and baby Nile monitor models/skins because they frankly do not look anything like the infant or juveniles of those species should.
I think it's helpful when we do some of the legwork for the dev team, and then pass along everything to them at once so they can actually do it. If we can help out by cutting down on research time, that gives them more time to actual work on the models/skins etc.
I'm not sure about the chimps, but basegame bears (specially the grizzly) would be my first choice for a refurbishment (lions the 2nd). They are too much round, they look like stuffed teddy bears, and it's going to get worse in comparison when the new DLC launches with its slender and very realistic sun bear.
My number one pick would be the female saltie's tail, as it is the only animal in the game that has a major error with anatomical proportions - its tail is almost twice as short as it should have been proportionally.
I am not against other suggestions, but those could simply be explained away by saying its the style they were going for.
I am not against other suggestions, but those could simply be explained away by saying its the style they were going for.
I feel the female bison look too masculine in terms of fluffiness
Also, in terms of making the lions look better, the Assassins Creed games and RDR2 are a good reference
Also, in terms of making the lions look better, the Assassins Creed games and RDR2 are a good reference
The mane does look a bit cartoony. I've only just got Planet Zoo (long time ZT2 player but decided to take the plunge) and the big cats are the reason I want to play it but the Lion has other issues (which are bigger for me). The West African Lion seems like a mixed attempt between a Lion from South/East Africa and a genuine West African Lion. Biome = South/Eastern (many West/North African subspecies were happy to go into more temperate or even desert zones), West African Lions live in smaller groups typically, and have smaller mane's (the game looks more like South/East African for those reasons). Weight/Size is more like West African though.
It's a shame there isn't the ability to clone the West African base animal to have two types of Lion. With the original - Increase the biome options, correct the zoopedia distribution, reduce the group size and reduce the mane slightly. With the new one, rename it South/East African Lion, increase the animal weight/size, update the distribution and slightly improve the mane.
Would be a pretty small amount of work for Frontier but gives the users two options for the Lion that reflect more accurately the differences between the two.
It's a shame there isn't the ability to clone the West African base animal to have two types of Lion. With the original - Increase the biome options, correct the zoopedia distribution, reduce the group size and reduce the mane slightly. With the new one, rename it South/East African Lion, increase the animal weight/size, update the distribution and slightly improve the mane.
Would be a pretty small amount of work for Frontier but gives the users two options for the Lion that reflect more accurately the differences between the two.
Well Pandora’s box has been open with the binturong remake. Which did need it. Now everyone who feels a animal is incorrect is starting to request edits. I do believe frontier has already mentioned they would not redo the lion. I seriously think the binturong was a one time deal as I’m sure the members are pretty busy. Now the lion is my real life favorite animal and although at different angles the mane may have flaws I do think they’re pretty good also from different angles. I use lions in every zoo I do and often spend quite a bit of time watching them as well. This is a game so the need to be perfect isn’t really necessary as I do believe they look satisfactory.
These two pics show that the lion isn’t that bad and is very easy to tell it’s a male lion as to where the binturong looked like a cross between a red panda and less then stellar binturong.
These two pics show that the lion isn’t that bad and is very easy to tell it’s a male lion as to where the binturong looked like a cross between a red panda and less then stellar binturong.
I understand people's concerns about the lion, but I really don't think there is anything to fix here. The style is the same with other large carnivores like bears and tigers. Yes, they are all somewhat stylistic, but at least the style is consistent. A change to the lion would warrant a change to the rest of the large carnivores.
The smaller cats on the other hand, like the clouded leopard and cheetah are more photo-realistic. That seems to be a different category on its own.
The lion is just a favorite of many, and this is why these changes keep getting suggested. I don't think people are looking at all the animals objectively while making these demands: "My favorite, so it has to be perfect". But then every animal in the game is a favorite of someone else. We can't use this logic when demanding changes.
A change in the model of an animal should only be asked for if there is anything wrong with it objectively, not stylistically. The only thing I can say that is wrong with the lion is the name "West African Lion". The current lion with its fluffy mane doesn't resemble the actual subspecies. Perhaps a change in the name and scientific name would fix that problem. Other than that I see no problem with it. The style is consistent with the rest of the large carnivores. Plus I don't think making a less solid looking mane is possible with the current fur system, as seen with other animals like the orangutan. I think there are other animals that need some love before the lion, animals with more serious issues with their models. People either don't care about those animals, or don't know how they look like.
The smaller cats on the other hand, like the clouded leopard and cheetah are more photo-realistic. That seems to be a different category on its own.
The lion is just a favorite of many, and this is why these changes keep getting suggested. I don't think people are looking at all the animals objectively while making these demands: "My favorite, so it has to be perfect". But then every animal in the game is a favorite of someone else. We can't use this logic when demanding changes.
A change in the model of an animal should only be asked for if there is anything wrong with it objectively, not stylistically. The only thing I can say that is wrong with the lion is the name "West African Lion". The current lion with its fluffy mane doesn't resemble the actual subspecies. Perhaps a change in the name and scientific name would fix that problem. Other than that I see no problem with it. The style is consistent with the rest of the large carnivores. Plus I don't think making a less solid looking mane is possible with the current fur system, as seen with other animals like the orangutan. I think there are other animals that need some love before the lion, animals with more serious issues with their models. People either don't care about those animals, or don't know how they look like.
Just as a clarification, the West African lion is not a subspecies, it's a subpopulation of Panthera leo leo (the other subspecies is Panthera leo melanochaita, the "southern lion", and all its various subpopulations). I agree with your thoughts around the model, I don't think it should be a pressing issue unless Frontier intends on doing a huge overhaul of almost all the basegame models and designs. Personally the only change I'd make to the lion is just to change the name to "Northern Lion" as per the actual subspecies so it can be used as a West Africa, Barbary, or even Asiatic lion if you want.