Hey guys! I think I have an idea that will help us get more animals into the game. Do you all remember the mini exhibits from the Xbox 1 version of Zoo Tycoon? Well, since there are many important zoo animals that haven't been added yet and still needs a lot of space but probably won't do much, I think that the mini exhibits would be great to add in. That way, we can have animals like koalas and sloths. And we can also birds in there as well so we don't have to worry about aviaries. Just like the creatures in the terrariums, the mini exhibit animals would be stationary most of the time. But just like in Zoo Tycoon, they will be able to move freely in their enclosures. What types of animals do you guys think mini exhibits should have?
Mini Exhibits
- Thread starter LionKing94
- Start date
Not sure what you mean by mini exhibits, is it something similar to the current box exhibits? I do remember that game, and their exhibit format was highly unrealistic, as it just does not conform with the realism (at least in most areas) that Planet Zoo offers. There was another member in here NZfanatic, he offered a suggestion of just having birds on looping animations, in case that the flight animation could not be viable at the end, at the time I did not like this idea, but I have changed my mind with time, since it would allow for more species to be added. In any case, if at the end it is a question of either static birds or even looping animations or just no birds at all, I think the choice is clear.
However, since this is a piece by piece building game that allows for player creativity, Just give us the animals (birds/reptiles/amphibians/small mammals) and the building components, heat lamps, (actual see thru glass, the ones in the game building sections are not as clear as the exhibit ones) mesh for birds, a variety of small plants and hiding places etc, and let us design this exhibits. This way, we will end up with the species, realistic exhibits that offer a variety of sizes and designs, instead of the genetic boxes that end up looking all the same when it comes to interiors. I have altered many of them to not look genetic, but by adding a lot of scenery to the interior the visibility of the animals is highly impacted. In my opinion, this is one area of the game that frontier could have made significant improvements on.
However, since this is a piece by piece building game that allows for player creativity, Just give us the animals (birds/reptiles/amphibians/small mammals) and the building components, heat lamps, (actual see thru glass, the ones in the game building sections are not as clear as the exhibit ones) mesh for birds, a variety of small plants and hiding places etc, and let us design this exhibits. This way, we will end up with the species, realistic exhibits that offer a variety of sizes and designs, instead of the genetic boxes that end up looking all the same when it comes to interiors. I have altered many of them to not look genetic, but by adding a lot of scenery to the interior the visibility of the animals is highly impacted. In my opinion, this is one area of the game that frontier could have made significant improvements on.
@Danny_zoo what the OP is referring to is the X-Box version of Zoo Tycoon. There was a feature there called 'mini-exhibits', where small animals such as meerkats could be added to small prefabricated exhibits and moved around on looping animations (this was part of the basis for my aviary idea, along with the pterosaur aviary in Jurassic World Evolution).
IMO OP has misrepresented this concept by stating that the animals were 'free moving', when in fact they were not.
IMO OP has misrepresented this concept by stating that the animals were 'free moving', when in fact they were not.
Hello NZFanatic, thank you for clarifying that, I understand what you mean, as I did purchase the game after Planet Zoo came out, just to get a general vibe of Frontiers work in the past, sadly the version i purchase (Zoo Tycoon Ultimate Collection) was actually the work of a different company, so it is hard for me to know what Frontier was responsible for nor not. In any case, getting back to the discussion, I'm not a fan of the pre built habitats, small or large, as you probably already know by our many discussions here. For me and think many out there, the creativity and construction element is the primary reason why we love this game. However I'm no longer opposed to looping animations for small birds and even medium size ones like Toucans, Macaws, Horn bills etc. If we could get the reptiles/amphibians/birds in some sort of looping animation as you have recommended in the past it would be great i think for everyone. My only compromise would be that the habitats/enclosures are left to the players imagination and own design. New materials and components would need to be available of course, as I have stated many times before, individual sections of mesh, glass (The clear one like the barriers not the dark material we have now in the construction section) heating lamps/rocks etc, I think you get my drift. The point is that no one would complain about unrealistic genetic exhibits anymore, and the game could benefit from a very simple concept for this animals that would relief the devs and allow them to work on the rest of the habitat animals.
This is an example of what he proposed, it is not only impossible and impractical in real life, but in the context of the game it takes away all of the realism from what we currently have in the game.
This is just a small example of the techniques that i use to individualize small exhibits. It is however a pain in the rear, figuring how where each animal is going to pop up, as to not cut the species in half and take away all realism from the game. So I place several individuals on exhibit, knowing that at each point time, chances are one will show up where i want it to. The other was are completely buried in scenery. Having a looping animation instead, and no box to decorate, would be fantastic, because the possibilities for creativity would be then endless, and you would end up with realistic and fantastic reptile house and complementary exhibits everywhere that would just blend in with the habitat animals.
Imagine having a looping radiated tortoise just placed in the middle of a lemur walk thru exhibit. Now to simplify this design, the small reptiles/amphibian/birds/small mammals would have a small hit box around them so habitat animals and humans would not collide them. I'm sure someone with more knowledge of video game design could improve this idea, but the foundation is there, and it can easily be done.
This is just a small example of the techniques that i use to individualize small exhibits. It is however a pain in the rear, figuring how where each animal is going to pop up, as to not cut the species in half and take away all realism from the game. So I place several individuals on exhibit, knowing that at each point time, chances are one will show up where i want it to. The other was are completely buried in scenery. Having a looping animation instead, and no box to decorate, would be fantastic, because the possibilities for creativity would be then endless, and you would end up with realistic and fantastic reptile house and complementary exhibits everywhere that would just blend in with the habitat animals.
Imagine having a looping radiated tortoise just placed in the middle of a lemur walk thru exhibit. Now to simplify this design, the small reptiles/amphibian/birds/small mammals would have a small hit box around them so habitat animals and humans would not collide them. I'm sure someone with more knowledge of video game design could improve this idea, but the foundation is there, and it can easily be done.
Well, what I meant was that the mini exhibits can be for animals that might be difficult for Frontier to implement as free roaming animals such as tropical birds, eagles, hawks, owls, meerkats, prairie dogs, sloths, platypuses, echidnas, and Tasmanian devils. Although I do agree that the mini exhibits in Zoo Tycoon were way too small for their own good. They should make the exhibits more realistically by making them bigger and have the looping animations vary more such as eating, roaming and playing. The animals can even interact with the zookeepers this time. And we can even have animal trainers to show guests certain animals up close!