I understand that the idea of driving around in a jeep feels great and being able to go on the rides and see stuff in first person is quite enjoyable.
I also understand that you feel compelled to keep giving the player something to do so they don't get bored.
The problem is that some of the current micromanagement, particularly in the campaign that functions as the tutorial, ends up becoming so unwieldy that it detracts from the gameplay that is genuinely fun: customizing your park, watching the dinosaurs interact and occasionally responding to problems.
So I've identified a few specific parts of the game and have some solutions. Hopefully this is useful to someone.
- Scientists forcibly taking breaks. This is the least egregious micromanagement, but when combined with everything else it is a pain. An 'easy' solution would be to make breaks automatic (with approval) - an employee literally coming to you and saying "hey I need a break, press this button to give me one," or the ability to set it ahead of time that scientists take breaks when they hit the threshold.
- Healthcare. This is a huge one. I can go into detail but to keep it concise: Vets should be automatic, using ranger stations as patrol routes to auto-heal/scan dinosaurs in the area that have unusual diseases/effects. After a fight for dominance or combat, it should also probably just be revealed that X dinosaur has broken bones. Additionally a way to automate dinosaurs being recovered for healing would be desirable.
- Assigning staff. This needs to be a semi-permanent station rather than a per-job one. Instead of having them cost lump sums, have them generate additional upkeep based on how long they work. Maybe extend the timers if you feel you need to, for balance reasons. E.g.: if I set someone as a vet they work there, they will take in any dinosaur that is sufficiently injured (and marked by the system) to warrant it. If I set someone on fossil duty then all I have to do is say "work on this batch of fossils" and they're the ones handling it. This is, unfortunately, probably the more expansive shift as it requires entirely new systems and reworking old ones, but I think it will dramatically improve the health of the game.
- Constantly popping in and out of menus. Currently to respond to an injured animal I need to: Click on the paleomedical facility -> select truck -> select dinosaur -> select ranger station -> select capture squad -> mark dinosaur for tranq -> select transport button -> tell them to move dinosaur from the field to the medical facility -> select the scientist -> select "okay" -> select the facility again later -> select the transport option -> select where I want the dinosaur to be placed.
This is, well, an entirely unreasonable amount of work to go into something that often happens after nearly every dominance display.
Possible solution: allow players to tag animals to be checked by the vet/rangers/etc. If the vet finds that they have an injury or low health, they can then heal that dinosaur after finding that out - automatically. If the vet finds that the dinosaur has a severe injury it can call the nearest capture squad to tranq it - or maybe the vet can tranq it themselves - and call a transport helicopter in.
The problem is that while it can be fun to do a lot of these things yourself, that's not where the main draw of the game is. The main draw of the game is being able to manage your park by making important decisions; what building or fence goes where, what dinosaur goes in what section, what shops cater to which customers, etc. The bulk of the game - especially now that you guys have added the ability to accelerate time - cannot be mindless busywork that in a functioning business would not require management's okay to do.
In short I think it's awesome that there is effectively a time-lag between information on the dinosaurs based on the last time the rangers saw them. I think it's nice that we have a dedicated medical facility/vet that has to physically run out and do things. I don't think it's nice that I, personally, need to do those things when the fantasy I'm here for is managing a park filled with dinosaurs. It's not that I want a brainlessly easy mode or anything or to disable these systems outright - I would just prefer them handled behind the scenes where the important decision is where they need to be and how many people to employ with them. Heck, you could even add more staff ala the scientists but for rangers/capture teams/etc., if you go with the assign-to-facility option I suggested.
I still love the game, by the way. I just want to see it more successful and less frustrating to get to the parts that I enjoy.
I also understand that you feel compelled to keep giving the player something to do so they don't get bored.
The problem is that some of the current micromanagement, particularly in the campaign that functions as the tutorial, ends up becoming so unwieldy that it detracts from the gameplay that is genuinely fun: customizing your park, watching the dinosaurs interact and occasionally responding to problems.
So I've identified a few specific parts of the game and have some solutions. Hopefully this is useful to someone.
- Scientists forcibly taking breaks. This is the least egregious micromanagement, but when combined with everything else it is a pain. An 'easy' solution would be to make breaks automatic (with approval) - an employee literally coming to you and saying "hey I need a break, press this button to give me one," or the ability to set it ahead of time that scientists take breaks when they hit the threshold.
- Healthcare. This is a huge one. I can go into detail but to keep it concise: Vets should be automatic, using ranger stations as patrol routes to auto-heal/scan dinosaurs in the area that have unusual diseases/effects. After a fight for dominance or combat, it should also probably just be revealed that X dinosaur has broken bones. Additionally a way to automate dinosaurs being recovered for healing would be desirable.
- Assigning staff. This needs to be a semi-permanent station rather than a per-job one. Instead of having them cost lump sums, have them generate additional upkeep based on how long they work. Maybe extend the timers if you feel you need to, for balance reasons. E.g.: if I set someone as a vet they work there, they will take in any dinosaur that is sufficiently injured (and marked by the system) to warrant it. If I set someone on fossil duty then all I have to do is say "work on this batch of fossils" and they're the ones handling it. This is, unfortunately, probably the more expansive shift as it requires entirely new systems and reworking old ones, but I think it will dramatically improve the health of the game.
- Constantly popping in and out of menus. Currently to respond to an injured animal I need to: Click on the paleomedical facility -> select truck -> select dinosaur -> select ranger station -> select capture squad -> mark dinosaur for tranq -> select transport button -> tell them to move dinosaur from the field to the medical facility -> select the scientist -> select "okay" -> select the facility again later -> select the transport option -> select where I want the dinosaur to be placed.
This is, well, an entirely unreasonable amount of work to go into something that often happens after nearly every dominance display.
Possible solution: allow players to tag animals to be checked by the vet/rangers/etc. If the vet finds that they have an injury or low health, they can then heal that dinosaur after finding that out - automatically. If the vet finds that the dinosaur has a severe injury it can call the nearest capture squad to tranq it - or maybe the vet can tranq it themselves - and call a transport helicopter in.
The problem is that while it can be fun to do a lot of these things yourself, that's not where the main draw of the game is. The main draw of the game is being able to manage your park by making important decisions; what building or fence goes where, what dinosaur goes in what section, what shops cater to which customers, etc. The bulk of the game - especially now that you guys have added the ability to accelerate time - cannot be mindless busywork that in a functioning business would not require management's okay to do.
In short I think it's awesome that there is effectively a time-lag between information on the dinosaurs based on the last time the rangers saw them. I think it's nice that we have a dedicated medical facility/vet that has to physically run out and do things. I don't think it's nice that I, personally, need to do those things when the fantasy I'm here for is managing a park filled with dinosaurs. It's not that I want a brainlessly easy mode or anything or to disable these systems outright - I would just prefer them handled behind the scenes where the important decision is where they need to be and how many people to employ with them. Heck, you could even add more staff ala the scientists but for rangers/capture teams/etc., if you go with the assign-to-facility option I suggested.
I still love the game, by the way. I just want to see it more successful and less frustrating to get to the parts that I enjoy.
Last edited:
