Most fun game mode?

JenMDX

J
I was wondering what everyone though was the most fun game mode to play? Is it sandbox because you can do anything you want and be your most creative or do you like the challenges of other modes?

I have started in career mode as I needed to do the tutorials and I'm working through Eye of the Tiaga, but I don't have a lot of time when I can play and I wondered if I'd get more out of it playing in sandbox or if career mode does give you a bit more structure so it's less daunting?

What do you find is the most fun?
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
For me it's Sandbox, but it really depends on what you're looking to get out of the game. I can only speak for myself but I play as a creative outlet, so Sandbox is the go-to. I don't have any interest in being challenged - in both Zoo Tycoon games for example I downloaded mods that unlocked everything from the start so I wouldn't have to play through the challenges to unlock things. At least with PZ it's just the reward statues which I'm not too bothered about anyway.
 

KönigDerKaffeebohnen

K
I agree that its sandbox, but for different reasons.
I found franchise mode stupidly easy, never struggled, but got burned out on replacing animals, keeping an eye on alabama, clear exhibits etc.
The game became alot less tedious when i switched to sandbox. I let Most of the things stay like in franchise and only deactivated births and deaths and it is so much better
 

XT

XT
Depends on what you like, I guess. I generally play sandbox but periodically get a hankering for Franchise (for some reason it feels 'realer' when I use the franchise trade market - plus the 'frontier zoo' animals have become so horrible, it's only possible to get good animals from other players). I'd say ... if you've made it to the Eye of the Taiga you can probably move to either franchise or sandbox - you've gotten most of the key tutorial information. I would strongly suggest watching some youtube videos on pathing however (if you haven't already), even with the tutorials you don't really learn enough about them. I shed genuine tears of frustration around pathing until I watched some videos and got the hang of it.
 

jcp011c

jcp011c
Sandbox and franchise for me.

When the game first released I play enough career scenarios to get a basic idea of "how to" in the game, and picked up a lot of the rest in sandbox, then moved on to Franchise when I saw my yearly "profit" doing well in sandbox. The only bad thing for that though is that now the career scenarios are so tedious and slow.

I played challenge mode a bit at first as well, but only until franchise mode shared research. After that challenge mode lost any appeal for me, with it's not having at least buildings researched. If they ever change that, I'll probably go back to it, but until then, no way.
 

paul78

paul78
For me sandbox easily. I’ve played franchise for a couple challenges but really not my thing. I’m glad frontier has provided several game modes for all types of players. And a huge thanks to the devs and frontier for getting this game right and providing a outright sandbox mode with no need to unlock things and jump through hoops to enjoy this mode.
 

iloveyourzoos

I
I play mostly in franchise mode, and focus much more on animal welfare and management of animals, staff and guests. I know there are players for whom building is the "main" game play mechanic, but I'd say that building is probably only 25-33% of my time. The rest is caring for, breeding and trading animals; training and balancing staff; and trying to get guests to the highest happiness ratings and donation levels. I also enjoy the "economic" challenge of getting each zoo off the ground and functioning at 100%. While money stops being an issue at some point, each new start requires a new set up, building zoo reputation, etc.. I focus on all the game mechanics and ratings systems, and keep working to make as many as possible be "perfect".

Much of this can be done in other modes, if you leave welfare on and choose to follow the game mechanics. But there are three features that are found only in franchise which I have become particularly fond of:
  • Community Challenges. I often spend the full two weeks (beginning with the online announcement) to work on the community challenge. The first "off" week is setting up the zoo, building, making money, training staff, and searching for animals. And then the second "on" week is completing the challenge itself, whether that's breeding or getting them to the highest star rating. It makes for a nice rhythm for me, since there is a new challenge every two weeks, which keeps me cycling through all the different game mechanics (and hopefully getting better at each of them as I go).
  • Trading and the Animal Market. I enjoy this aspect quite a bit, and spend a lot of time searching for the best animals, as well as putting animals up for sale. (Unfortunately, I don't always play as wisely as I should, and sometimes end up buying animals for cc points that are way higher than I should). More than in the other modes, I find that the franchise trading market gives more of an incentive to watch for prices, stats, and age, as well as making sure your animals come from different zoos to avoid inbreeding. And it also gives a purpose and incentive to my own breeding programs, since high-quality animals can go on the market instead of being merely a personal achievement or a small release to wild boost.
  • Playing franchise as a franchise of zoos, instead of just individual zoos. As someone who enjoys the management and animal sides of things, this adds another level of game play for me. I get to have breeding programs where I can exchange animals between my zoos, keep generations of animals within my system which increases my attachment to them, and plan and prepare for upcoming zoos even before I open them.
I think this last element often gets overlooked when we discuss the various modes -- despite being right there in the name! A lot of people approach franchise mode as simply a specific series of settings for a specific zoo. Sort of "challenge mode plus a market". Which is totally cool to play that way. But I tend to approach it as a whole other management level where the explicit goals and strategies focus on the franchise as a whole.
 

FoxyDee

FoxyDee
I play challenge mode, simply because I find sandbox boring. I like the management, but also do not want to play online. I would like to keep all my zoos in the future, and franchise mode servers are going to be shut down one day, sooner or later, so a challenge mode is an awesome alternative. I even like the limited market where not all species are available all the time, something that zoos have to deal with in real life.
 

JenMDX

J
KönigDerKaffeebohnen said:
Have fun!
Click to expand...
Thanks!
I’ve watched quite a lot of Paul Leys videos, tutorials and design ones. I do still struggle with pathing a little bit but the videos were really helpful. I’d like to try some of the water features and terrains shaping. That looks like fun! You can do it much or at all in the early career mode levels.
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
JenMDX said:
Thanks!
I’ve watched quite a lot of Paul Leys videos, tutorials and design ones. I do still struggle with pathing a little bit but the videos were really helpful. I’d like to try some of the water features and terrains shaping. That looks like fun! You can do it much or at all in the early career mode levels.
Click to expand...
With the pathing and terrain it really is just a matter of practice makes perfect. The more you play the easier it gets!
 

JenMDX

J
I've started setting up a starter layout - I didn't have as much time as I would have liked today due to other commitments but got started on the paths, 2 rectangular enclosures, staff buildings and starter customer facilities. I might get a chance to play again later for a bit.

Can you copy enclosure fencing across to another space if they're the same size? It would make life easier!

Does it matter what biome etc you choose in sandbox? I went local so temperate and Europe as I'm in the UK but given you can turn off settings like temperate requirements for your animals does it matter or is it just a personal preference? I assume in sandbox you can have any animals you want? (I'm dying to try out some that swim when I get a bit further).
What does it affect? Plants and building design?
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
JenMDX said:
I've started setting up a starter layout - I didn't have as much time as I would have liked today due to other commitments but got started on the paths, 2 rectangular enclosures, staff buildings and starter customer facilities. I might get a chance to play again later for a bit.

Can you copy enclosure fencing across to another space if they're the same size? It would make life easier!

Does it matter what biome etc you choose in sandbox? I went local so temperate and Europe as I'm in the UK but given you can turn off settings like temperate requirements for your animals does it matter or is it just a personal preference? I assume in sandbox you can have any animals you want? (I'm dying to try out some that swim when I get a bit further).
What does it affect? Plants and building design?
Click to expand...
The only way to copy a habitat is to save it as a blueprint and then place it down from the build menu, however building asymmetrically is also fun. With biome, it only matters if you want to play with all the animal welfare options turned on. Personally I turn them off and only play in temperate maps, but that's just because I find the welfare needs too restrictive (particularly space, temperature, and stress, all of which have relatively unrealistic ranges compared to real-world zoo animals). Otherwise it's entirely up to you - if you play in a map that gets low temperatures and use tropical animals with their temperature needs turned on, you'll need to place heaters in the habitat to keep them warm; likewise if you play somewhere tropical and want to use Arctic or alpine animals, you need to place coolers.

For me temperate zoos are great, because just as in real life you can go to both extremes fairly easily.

In Sandbox you always get a choice of four animals from every species in the market. Biome doesn't affect plants or anything else; all options are available to you.
 

JenMDX

J
NZFanatic said:
The only way to copy a habitat is to save it as a blueprint and then place it down from the build menu, however building asymmetrically is also fun. With biome, it only matters if you want to play with all the animal welfare options turned on. Personally I turn them off and only play in temperate maps, but that's just because I find the welfare needs too restrictive (particularly space, temperature, and stress, all of which have relatively unrealistic ranges compared to real-world zoo animals). Otherwise it's entirely up to you - if you play in a map that gets low temperatures and use tropical animals with their temperature needs turned on, you'll need to place heaters in the habitat to keep them warm; likewise if you play somewhere tropical and want to use Arctic or alpine animals, you need to place coolers.

For me temperate zoos are great, because just as in real life you can go to both extremes fairly easily.

In Sandbox you always get a choice of four animals from every species in the market. Biome doesn't affect plants or anything else; all options are available to you.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks very much. I did turn off the temperature requirements so I could have anything without having to worry about heaters or coolers and some of the other welfare options I turned off too, I thought it was easier while I'm learning.
I was copying a tutorial layout to get started but I'm sure I'll have a play about with shapes and enclosures when I get more practice.

Oh right, so what do you do for larger social groups like chimps if you only get 4 animals? Just wait for babies?

I did get the Aquatic DLC so I hope to play about with that soon.
 

Swjosdotschka

Swjosdotschka
Definately challenge.
I have to worry about money enough in real life, I don't need it in a game. Plus, I dislike the habit of some franchise players to buy cheap animals (that I would give away cheap to give newer franchise players a chance) and seeling it for a higher price.

However, I do like to turn money and CC on when my sanbox zoos are partly or mostly done. I just want a lttle head start.

But that's just my playstyle and everybodys playstyle is fine (except for the self centered one in my honest opinion :p )
 
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