My realistic dlc predictions going into 2021

[FoxyDee]

That seems like a typical Planet Zoo illness though. Ever since the game came out, us hard core players are getting anxiety that the support might end soon. I can not exclude myself from it. Maybe it is because it's kind of a new concept to me that games are only supported for such a short period of time. I mean, even before EA released unfinished base games we had 4 years of support.

Lets just hope that the new DLC explodes in sales and long term engagement of players and Frontier is putting another year or two of support on top.

Yea, we all know it has to end somewhere and probably will if it is not profitable for Frontier anymore. Always a hard hit on the players that keep playing the game long term.

I hope you are right about the additional sales and engagement of the playes, though I am not sure if it will be enough to hold attention of the more casual players. The gaming industry is so big that the alternation of games people play is ever changing and most people do not stay with just a few games. There is always something new to play. Luckily for us, it seems many people are comming back this time. So I am hopeful.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Luckily for us, it seems many people are comming back this time. So I am hopeful.

I try to be as well. The YouTubers that already have the dlc on hand (though they are not allowed to tell and are cryptic ) are still overly excited, even if they are more of a coaster player. One even said it's the first DLC he would recommend getting right away. So there has to be something magical to it. And while I'm also pessimistic that it will hold for long, maaaybe I'm wrong this time and this DLC brings the change in long term player numbers we all have hoped for.

 

[FoxyDee]

I try to be as well. The YouTubers that already have the dlc on hand (though they are not allowed to tell and are cryptic ) are still overly excited, even if they are more of a coaster player. One even said it's the first DLC he would recommend getting right away. So there has to be something magical to it. And while I'm also pessimistic that it will hold for long, maaaybe I'm wrong this time and this DLC brings the change in long term player numbers we all have hoped for.

True, even here on the forums, it seems suddenly more active than before.

As for the youtubers, I saw one of the Rudis videos that was like DLC preparations and on the thumbnail of the video there was a casually diving crocodille. I was like yeah, right Rudy, PREPARATIONS, very inconspicuous.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

True, even here on the forums, it seems suddenly more active than before.

As for the youtubers, I saw one of the Rudis videos that was like DLC preparations and on the thumbnail of the video there was a casually diving crocodille. I was like yeah, right Rudy, PREPARATIONS, very inconspicuous.

The people I watch are too afraid to even open the game and suddenly play random things, so that nothing is revealed.

Honestly, if I were Frontier I would allow my influencers to show their stuff way earlier. But it seems I'd have a different approach of advertising and communication anyway. ^^ And yes, we got a lot new faces in the forums these days. I love it!

 

[random goat]

I believe that even since the SA pack was released there has been this notion that from that point the next DLCs would contain more animals because Frontier would have listened to this 'more animals per DLC' general request. Australia seemed to be a pretty pre-planned DLC too (not surprising) so, again, people assumed the next DLC would really be the first one Frontier incorporated some improvements (aka more animals) based on feedback. I do see some feedback being addressed in the Aquatic Pack which is greatly appreciated, but then again not in the animals department. At this point in time, there are still some people who believe the next DLC was planned pre-launch and is likely to be another 4+1 one. On the other hand, there is again this notion (more majoritary) that 2021 will be the year we finally see a clear shift in PZ DLCs, which surely will incorporate more animals.

Honestly, I don't know what to think at this point. The general theme of the Aquatic Pack seems pretty pre-planned for me, even if it adds two very requested features (diving and educators). We have to bare in mind that it's almost certain both of these features were also pre-planned even before players started requesting them massively. There was even an educator in one of their trailers and, what zoo game wouldn't include otters and/or penguins? Coronavirus has most likely affected the company (just like any other) in a negative way, and the work these guys have been able to pull off (mostly from home, I believe) is just incredible. The updates keep being absolutely phenomenal, and so is the fact that they are adding more and more beautiful foliage.
But, after 9 months-ish of constant 'more animals' feedback, here we are again with a super generic pack and just 4 habitat animals, when it could easily contain 8-10 representative semi-aquatic animals.
For this reason I think that, sadly, we'll be stuck to this 4+1 DLC model for a while still until they completely run out of themes, at which point we might get 2 animals-only packs with 8 animals or so (just like PC's rides packs). So, for this 2021 I'd say: Desert Pack, Aviary Pack, Woodlands Pack.

 

[PeppyPepp]

As for the youtubers, I saw one of the Rudis videos that was like DLC preparations and on the thumbnail of the video there was a casually diving crocodille. I was like yeah, right Rudy, PREPARATIONS, very inconspicuous.

Yes, I saw that too! I had to do a double-take!

 

[Aramar]

Planet Coaster had three years of support though? If I'm wrong please let me know but the Ghostbusters pack was released in 2019 and the game was released in 2016.

You are right (November 2016), though their first DLC was July 2017, and their last DLC June 2019, whereas this game had DLC off the bat, so I'd go for 2 years of DLC as the safer assumption.

If I remember correctly, for Planet Coaster there were 8 full DLCs plus 3 mini DLCs and several rides that were added in free updates. If the plans are to give a similar treatment to Planet Zoo, we should get 5 dlcs in 2021 or expand the lifespan more than 2 years. I hope there's still a long run for our beloved game

 

[NZFanatic]

Snip

We knew they were working on diving since pre-launch - that's where the quote from the Reddit Q&A came from about how difficult it was to implement (harder than climbing). We can also assume educators were always on the cards due to the game's initial trailer.

The notion that things might change next year is based on the assumption that like many gaming companies Frontier has a year-long roadmap. In that case, there's little they can do to change the way things are planned for the first year, with the next year being the time when big changes can be made based on feedback. However, this all guesswork.

It does give me some hope that the devs have said making animals is easier now than before due to all the various rigs they've got on hand. I imagine the research and development side of things is as complex as it ever was, of course, but at the very least it sounds like designing the animal isn't the same gargantuan task as it was before.

 

[Jeminyne]

You are right (November 2016), though their first DLC was July 2017, and their last DLC June 2019, whereas this game had DLC off the bat, so I'd go for 2 years of DLC as the safer assumption.

I do wonder what's the better thing to base our expectations on: years of DLC or amount of DLC. Planet Coaster only ran for "3" years but had 12 DLC. Tbh I'm crossing my fingers we make it to that amount.

 

[SanRazo618]

If I remember correctly, for Planet Coaster there were 8 full DLCs plus 3 mini DLCs and several rides that were added in free updates. If the plans are to give a similar treatment to Planet Zoo, we should get 5 dlcs in 2021 or expand the lifespan more than 2 years. I hope there's still a long run for our beloved game

Yea I just wish they gave us free animals....

 

[Xrystal]

Your suggestions are good, but I did notice a lack of career mode additions..

Looking at the DLC situation for Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo so far


Planet Coaster DLCs - Nov 2016

Are there any earlier DLCs ?

Jul 2017

• Back to the Future Cons Kit
• Knight Rider Cons Kit
• Munsters Cons Kit

Sep 2017
- Spooky Pack
Dec 2017
- Adventure Pack

Mar 2018
- Studios Pack
Jul 2018
- Vintage Pack
Oct 2018
- Worlds Fair Pack
Dec 2018
- Magnificent Rides Collection

Apr 2019
- Classic Rides Collection
Jun 2019

• Quick Draw Interactive Shooting Ride
• Ghostbusters

Planet Zoo DLC - Nov 2019

Dec 2019
- Arctic Pack

Apr 2020
- South America Pack
Aug 2020
- Australia Pack
Dec 2020
- Aquatic Pack


Looking at the pattern so far .. I wouldn't be surprised if they release continent packs 2-3 times a year with the Winter DLC be the culmination of a functionality addition. So, in agreement I suspect Flying Pack could be the Dec 2021 pack. With continents severely lacking animals ( that are available in the real world and creatable in computer terms ) being slotted in the previous seasonal DLCs. Spring/Summer/Autumn.

I noticed Planet Coaster had almost a year before a DLC came out, so, is that a sign they will have a 2-3 year DLC system before releasing the next game .. or will they realise that the game is worth spending more time on. Hopefully the latter. If we are limited to no more than 3 years of DLCs .. Autumn 2022 may be the last DLC being the 2nd or 3rd that year dependent on release times of the earlier packs. There has been a DLC every 4th month so far instead of the 2-3 for Planet Coaster ( that could be due to Covid affecting the work process which they do not have to tell us if it doesn't seriously affect the game), so the next one in theory could be Apr 2021. Europe hasn't got any unique animals in the game yet, so I suspect that may be one of the first animal packs being release

Speculative European Pack Contents

Badger - Habitat
Viper/Adder - Exhibit
Lynx - Habitat
Red Deer - Habitat
Chamois - Habitat

Possible Flying Pack

Aviary building - similar to exhibit building but designed for the smaller birds
Aviary habitat fencing - extra setting on all habitat fencing to close the top with glass, mesh, stone etc.
Air supply for enclosed habitats with no air access, something else for the grumbling engineers to fix .. not that they should complain.. they don't have much research to do now
Career mode zoos to introduce the new features
Example selection of bird types that could be worth adding in an appropriate pack or two
Pelican - Habitat
Stork - Habitat
Swan - Habitat
Condor - Habitat
Vulture - Habitat
Eagle - Habitat
Lapwing - Habitat

Final DLC Pack - if there is a last one

Please, please, create the ability to create our own career mode zoos
Even more pleases to have the ability to create our own animals/plants/objects etc using existing animals as a base and a toolset to make them different for the creative types out there.
Both of which we can upload to steam to keep the game fresh for those people still playing by then.

I definitely won't be bored with the game anytime soon. I still haven't played with ALL of the animals in the base game, let alone all of the DLC ones ( outside of the career zoos ). Obviously fitting gameplay into my life.

Anyway that's my thoughts on the subject.

 

[Thylaco]

If I remember correctly, for Planet Coaster there were 8 full DLCs plus 3 mini DLCs and several rides that were added in free updates. If the plans are to give a similar treatment to Planet Zoo, we should get 5 dlcs in 2021 or expand the lifespan more than 2 years. I hope there's still a long run for our beloved game

Given you've missed a DLC period because of Covid, I would think it more likely they'd extend it, but 2 years is still solid as a minimum (JWE for example got 1.5 years of DLC, though if you don't count deluxe edition, it's one year of DLC).

I do wonder what's the better thing to base our expectations on: years of DLC or amount of DLC. Planet Coaster only ran for "3" years but had 12 DLC. Tbh I'm crossing my fingers we make it to that amount.

3 of those DLC were branded mini DLCs released at the same time, which I don't think makes much sense as a comparison. 1 of them is also a Free DLC containing a single ride, released with the Ghostbusters DLC (it doesn't really make sense to have this as a DLC, surely it should be an update).

So while it is 12 DLCs, it is 9 DLC periods, which should bring you up to 9 DLCs, not including Deluxe edition. 2 years of DLC on the other hand brings you down to 8 DLCs, not including Deluxe.


The other thing to remember with Planet Coaster, it got ported to console and there's a pretty legitimate leak suggesting they're working on a sequel for it. Same goes for Jurassic World Evolution, being ported to the Switch, with that same leak suggesting a sequel for it.

I don't think that is the exact fate of Planet Zoo, as both Planet Coaster and JWE seem to have obvious limitations where the only way to overcome them is with a sequel, but a move to console at some point (possibly a bit further down the line if they don't plan on doing a sequel) does seem likely.

If it ever gets to the point when you've missed 2 DLC periods (March/April & June/July for example), I'd suspect that the move to console is happening (they typically seem to spend a year without DLC on a console port). As for support beyond the console port, it's yet to be seen, but it doesn't look good at the moment.

 

[Jeminyne]

Given you've missed a DLC period because of Covid, I would think it more likely they'd extend it, but 2 years is still solid as a minimum (JWE for example got 1.5 years of DLC, though if you don't count deluxe edition, it's one year of DLC).

I don't think that is the exact fate of Planet Zoo, as both Planet Coaster and JWE seem to have obvious limitations where the only way to overcome them is with a sequel

Planet Zoo absolutely has limitations that can only be overcome with a sequel. We've been talking about the limits of the cobra engine, and how it's holding this game back, for months now. I think it's pretty obvious that if Planet Coaster gets a sequel, Planet Zoo will get one as well. But that won't be for years, so there's not point focusing on that at the moment.

Given the unpredictability of PC's DLC model, I'm curious to see how PZ's will be dealt with throughout its lifespan. Things like the animal variants update and educator update were fun surprises, hopefully they keep doing stuff like that.

 

[NZFanatic]

Planet Zoo absolutely has limitations that can only be overcome with a sequel. We've been talking about the limits of the cobra engine, and how it's holding this game back, for months now. I think it's pretty obvious that if Planet Coaster gets a sequel, Planet Zoo will get one as well. But that won't be for years, so there's not point focusing on that at the moment.

Given the unpredictability of PC's DLC model, I'm curious to see how PZ's will be dealt with throughout its lifespan. Things like the animal variants update and educator update were fun surprises, hopefully they keep doing stuff like that.

To be fair, one of those limitations was diving/underwater navigation, which is apparently solved now.

I think the other issues are the same as they were in PlanCo, of course - the paths, guest behaviour, and so on.

 

[NZFanatic]

Also, comparing to PlanCo isn't exactly useful, considering how vastly different things are between the two games. Rides and animals are hugely different kettles of fish.