Here is a list of things i genuinely want to see in the up coming zt game from frontier.
1. The ability to truly customize the exhibits. I like how the recent demo on ign showed how quick and easy it was to construct wonderful exhibits but I want to be able to edit them. I felt while watching the demo that the enclosures looked great but is that small rain Forrest themed enclosure going to be suitable for a family of tigers? I think not. (the walls were way too low)
2. Research. I noticed that you do have a menu for this which is a nice touch and makes it more significant I hope than zt2 so please make research an important corner stone for this game. I want to be able to research conservation projects, unlock new tools such as walkie talkies for my keepers, improved recycling methods and more effective advertisement to attract tourist.
3. Indoor enclosures - Not all creature are suited for a large tundra enclosure so why cant I have a miniture enclosure for smaller animals like scorpions, Burmese pythons, aye-ayes etc.
4. Conservation versus community - i like this idea but cant help but think of Mass effect 3 and their multiplayer in particular the N7 challenges and rewards. Well i think microsoft aiding the release and protection of vulnerable animals is great. But what do I get? What I am hoping for is like N7 rewards when a challenge is met we get something unique and exotic for the zoo. Something to show off to the community I was there and I helped to release 10 000 black rhinos. This reward could range from new decorations to even more desirable new species of animals. How cool would that be.
5. Hardcore mode - the challenge with this game is its aimed for both kids and adults. Please dont forget the adults. Why cause we are the ones paying for this game and if this is a game worthy of my time and indeed challenging I am going to come back and buy dlc and expansions on the first day of release!
6. Dont forget the birds and the bees - I want not just mammals but other creatures as well. In zoo tycoon so far I have always felt this to be a missed opportunity. A good example in zt2 marine adventures is the touch pool. A great way to show off individual creatures like jelly fish and clown fish in separate but unique enclosures. Every time I would place one I would go into keeper mode just to get a better look at them.
7. A zoo that fits. An issue with zt2 was not everything fits into your zoo despite using the largest map which was frustrating at best. And in addition to this your zoo was always always too quiet in sections because tourists/visitors never made it that far into your park. So your most expensive animals were always at the back where no one could see them. This was and still is an epic fail. So to fix this make sure I can fit everything in and secondly make sure quests can get to the other end of my zoo in no time and with ease. Even if you need to put things like a monorail system in or something
8. I want to be able to interact with characters. Similar to the way tropico 4 runs. If you dont know tropico 4 has factions each with their own unique desires. For example intellectuals want better education while the religious want better belief. And these desires from rival groups sometimes conflict with one and other and you have limited resources to do everything. So imagine in your zoos a capitalist character giving you quests to aid in the zoo economy while the environmentalist character want you to improve your ambiance in the zoo instead. This would mean that this game would have more replay ability and wont feel so alone and empty.
9. Transportation - I couldn't see this in the demo. But before I get started on transportation I want to say for the record the zoo front entrance looked amazing. I hope though I can customize it. That chimp concept art work was really nice but what if I dont have a chimp? Anyway back to the car park. Ok no car parking on screen so how do guests/tourists/visitors arrive? I think You did this to avoid having lots of concrete on screen. But still begs the question how quests arrive. What I would like to see is an up-gradable bus like in the original theme park. Allowing for more guests all year round. You could even have multiple skins.
10. A decent pre-order bonus - for this i want something nice. Heck these next few months are packed with heavy hitters like gta 5 etc. So tell me why I should pre-order this game? The answer is simple. Pre-order and you get the exclusive tree frog enclosure, new skins for you vehicle, a new sub species of lemur ie red ruffled and a exclusive new species the endangered amur leopard....SOLD
11. lots for my guests to do and buy. There was nothing better than watching your guests buy that moose hat and then wear it. But We need more for example audio guides and we could research new languages fulfilling guests educational needs. maybe even a hotel we can customize so we can have visitors all year round. These are just a few examples.
Now that I have rattled these things off. I want to say this....
It has been almost ten years since the last zoo tycoon game which has been too long. I dont want another ten years to go by before we get the next one. So with this in mind please feel free to post your ideas and comments on what you want to see in this game so we can get the zoo tycoon game we have been waiting for!
And a special thanks to frontier games for their hardwork and making some of the best looking animals in a video game ever! Keep up the good work.
1. The ability to truly customize the exhibits. I like how the recent demo on ign showed how quick and easy it was to construct wonderful exhibits but I want to be able to edit them. I felt while watching the demo that the enclosures looked great but is that small rain Forrest themed enclosure going to be suitable for a family of tigers? I think not. (the walls were way too low)
2. Research. I noticed that you do have a menu for this which is a nice touch and makes it more significant I hope than zt2 so please make research an important corner stone for this game. I want to be able to research conservation projects, unlock new tools such as walkie talkies for my keepers, improved recycling methods and more effective advertisement to attract tourist.
3. Indoor enclosures - Not all creature are suited for a large tundra enclosure so why cant I have a miniture enclosure for smaller animals like scorpions, Burmese pythons, aye-ayes etc.
4. Conservation versus community - i like this idea but cant help but think of Mass effect 3 and their multiplayer in particular the N7 challenges and rewards. Well i think microsoft aiding the release and protection of vulnerable animals is great. But what do I get? What I am hoping for is like N7 rewards when a challenge is met we get something unique and exotic for the zoo. Something to show off to the community I was there and I helped to release 10 000 black rhinos. This reward could range from new decorations to even more desirable new species of animals. How cool would that be.
5. Hardcore mode - the challenge with this game is its aimed for both kids and adults. Please dont forget the adults. Why cause we are the ones paying for this game and if this is a game worthy of my time and indeed challenging I am going to come back and buy dlc and expansions on the first day of release!
6. Dont forget the birds and the bees - I want not just mammals but other creatures as well. In zoo tycoon so far I have always felt this to be a missed opportunity. A good example in zt2 marine adventures is the touch pool. A great way to show off individual creatures like jelly fish and clown fish in separate but unique enclosures. Every time I would place one I would go into keeper mode just to get a better look at them.
7. A zoo that fits. An issue with zt2 was not everything fits into your zoo despite using the largest map which was frustrating at best. And in addition to this your zoo was always always too quiet in sections because tourists/visitors never made it that far into your park. So your most expensive animals were always at the back where no one could see them. This was and still is an epic fail. So to fix this make sure I can fit everything in and secondly make sure quests can get to the other end of my zoo in no time and with ease. Even if you need to put things like a monorail system in or something
8. I want to be able to interact with characters. Similar to the way tropico 4 runs. If you dont know tropico 4 has factions each with their own unique desires. For example intellectuals want better education while the religious want better belief. And these desires from rival groups sometimes conflict with one and other and you have limited resources to do everything. So imagine in your zoos a capitalist character giving you quests to aid in the zoo economy while the environmentalist character want you to improve your ambiance in the zoo instead. This would mean that this game would have more replay ability and wont feel so alone and empty.
9. Transportation - I couldn't see this in the demo. But before I get started on transportation I want to say for the record the zoo front entrance looked amazing. I hope though I can customize it. That chimp concept art work was really nice but what if I dont have a chimp? Anyway back to the car park. Ok no car parking on screen so how do guests/tourists/visitors arrive? I think You did this to avoid having lots of concrete on screen. But still begs the question how quests arrive. What I would like to see is an up-gradable bus like in the original theme park. Allowing for more guests all year round. You could even have multiple skins.
10. A decent pre-order bonus - for this i want something nice. Heck these next few months are packed with heavy hitters like gta 5 etc. So tell me why I should pre-order this game? The answer is simple. Pre-order and you get the exclusive tree frog enclosure, new skins for you vehicle, a new sub species of lemur ie red ruffled and a exclusive new species the endangered amur leopard....SOLD
11. lots for my guests to do and buy. There was nothing better than watching your guests buy that moose hat and then wear it. But We need more for example audio guides and we could research new languages fulfilling guests educational needs. maybe even a hotel we can customize so we can have visitors all year round. These are just a few examples.
Now that I have rattled these things off. I want to say this....
It has been almost ten years since the last zoo tycoon game which has been too long. I dont want another ten years to go by before we get the next one. So with this in mind please feel free to post your ideas and comments on what you want to see in this game so we can get the zoo tycoon game we have been waiting for!
And a special thanks to frontier games for their hardwork and making some of the best looking animals in a video game ever! Keep up the good work.