I think this review here pretty much sums it up perfectly:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgNJsaMYEk
I haven't played JWE in a little while now after last getting super frustrated with dinosaur behavior and severely limited creative freedom in the game. I bought the deluxe edition on PS4, and played for quite a while, but I hit the wall over and over, and the fun factor for me was eventually lost. However, all that being said, I will still continue to support tycoon games regarding dinosaurs, as the love for dinosaurs for me is still there. I was really hyped for this game, but the excitement eventually fell flat. As of today, I finally have a gaming PC of my dreams, and I bought Planet Zoo, and it really has stepped up on a lot of the issues in this game and carried forward all the good parts. (and by that I really just mean sound, texture and animation quality of animals) I'm having an absolute blast with that game so far.
Another thing I want to bring up is the frequent comparison to Jurassic Park Operation Genesis. Ok, I freakin loved that game. That game defined by childhood. So did Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, Zoo Tycoon 2 and SimCity. However here's the thing. That game is really freakin old. It is from a time in gaming long, long past. We are light years ahead, with the technology and tools we use considerably different and more complex, yet making things easier to accomplish. Our standards now are different as well. I mean just take a look at the look and feel of the dinosaurs alone. They are absolutely gorgeous, they have stunning texture work and smooth movement. (just forget the behavior for a second and just admire the look and sound) This was never possible then. Look at the pathing and barrier system. Placing them down is snappy and smooth. As a programmer myself, I can imagine the amount of math and ingenuity it must've taken to add that in the game engine. JPOG fell flat after you accomplished a 5 star rating in the park. There really isn't any depth after you reach that stable financial and reputation level. Only a true JPOG fan will acknowledge this. And the game wasn't without its bugs. It was wonderful, but it's time has long ended.
People underestimate the power of nostalgia. You look back to a game from a long, long time ago, and think it was absolutely perfect, when in reality it isn't. In-fact it probably had a lot of bugs, but either you were little or you played a long time ago, that you just erased it and kept the good parts. I mean, that's literally how our brains work. We only hold on to what is necessary.
It's a disservice to compare any game to a game from that long ago. Don't get me wrong, I grew up with those games and I love them to bits. I also know that we should learn from our pasts not to repeat it. But what I know most is that I shouldn't let my nostalgia cloud my judgement. We are light years ahead of where then, and we need to keep improving and moving forward. Less blame, less ragey backlash, more analysis, more solution-oriented constructive feedback.
So... lets move forward. Here's what I think would be the things that the next game should absolutely do. I'm not including an update here because all these changes should really be free because they should be part of core game, but if it's unfeasible to implement it at this point, we can only hope for these changes in the next game:
Things to keep and evolve
-> Quality in the look and sound of the dinosaurs. They are brilliant. The dinosaur pack DLC's in this game were always top quality, and the only good DLCs.
-> Dinosaur variations.
-> Smooth pathing, asset and barrier construction. Yes there are a few improvements to be made, but all great stuff. Barriers themselves are great.
-> Foliage richness. The game engine is a big part of this, but the foliage in this game is gorgeous .. especially the density of it is something I appreciate. When building enclosures and your entire park, it feels "secluded" and very "Jurassic Park". Frontier nailed this.
-> Weather effects and how it interacts with the ground, foliage and buildings.
-> Gene editing.
-> Sound in almost everything is brilliant.
-> Help menus are short, sweet and to the point.
-> Dinopedia could use some upgrades regarding species co-habitance and preferred prey. Otherwise, Dino info itself is great.
-> The buildings look gorgeous and are quite detailed. Love the building "upgrade" system as well.
Primary Goal
Make the dinosaurs feel more alive. Make it feel like you're housing these giant prehistoric creatures and you have no idea what they'll do next. Make it feel like, if you went back in time and looked at these dinosaurs somewhere in the world, on some grassland or whatever, what would they be doing? Would they resemble wildlife today to some extent?
What needs to be desperately improved or added
Smaller Irks
I won't get into more nice to have's because the community has posted many a great idea, and I certainly added a few in this forum, but that's for another discussion.✔
I haven't played JWE in a little while now after last getting super frustrated with dinosaur behavior and severely limited creative freedom in the game. I bought the deluxe edition on PS4, and played for quite a while, but I hit the wall over and over, and the fun factor for me was eventually lost. However, all that being said, I will still continue to support tycoon games regarding dinosaurs, as the love for dinosaurs for me is still there. I was really hyped for this game, but the excitement eventually fell flat. As of today, I finally have a gaming PC of my dreams, and I bought Planet Zoo, and it really has stepped up on a lot of the issues in this game and carried forward all the good parts. (and by that I really just mean sound, texture and animation quality of animals) I'm having an absolute blast with that game so far.
Another thing I want to bring up is the frequent comparison to Jurassic Park Operation Genesis. Ok, I freakin loved that game. That game defined by childhood. So did Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, Zoo Tycoon 2 and SimCity. However here's the thing. That game is really freakin old. It is from a time in gaming long, long past. We are light years ahead, with the technology and tools we use considerably different and more complex, yet making things easier to accomplish. Our standards now are different as well. I mean just take a look at the look and feel of the dinosaurs alone. They are absolutely gorgeous, they have stunning texture work and smooth movement. (just forget the behavior for a second and just admire the look and sound) This was never possible then. Look at the pathing and barrier system. Placing them down is snappy and smooth. As a programmer myself, I can imagine the amount of math and ingenuity it must've taken to add that in the game engine. JPOG fell flat after you accomplished a 5 star rating in the park. There really isn't any depth after you reach that stable financial and reputation level. Only a true JPOG fan will acknowledge this. And the game wasn't without its bugs. It was wonderful, but it's time has long ended.
People underestimate the power of nostalgia. You look back to a game from a long, long time ago, and think it was absolutely perfect, when in reality it isn't. In-fact it probably had a lot of bugs, but either you were little or you played a long time ago, that you just erased it and kept the good parts. I mean, that's literally how our brains work. We only hold on to what is necessary.
It's a disservice to compare any game to a game from that long ago. Don't get me wrong, I grew up with those games and I love them to bits. I also know that we should learn from our pasts not to repeat it. But what I know most is that I shouldn't let my nostalgia cloud my judgement. We are light years ahead of where then, and we need to keep improving and moving forward. Less blame, less ragey backlash, more analysis, more solution-oriented constructive feedback.
So... lets move forward. Here's what I think would be the things that the next game should absolutely do. I'm not including an update here because all these changes should really be free because they should be part of core game, but if it's unfeasible to implement it at this point, we can only hope for these changes in the next game:
Things to keep and evolve
-> Quality in the look and sound of the dinosaurs. They are brilliant. The dinosaur pack DLC's in this game were always top quality, and the only good DLCs.
-> Dinosaur variations.
-> Smooth pathing, asset and barrier construction. Yes there are a few improvements to be made, but all great stuff. Barriers themselves are great.
-> Foliage richness. The game engine is a big part of this, but the foliage in this game is gorgeous .. especially the density of it is something I appreciate. When building enclosures and your entire park, it feels "secluded" and very "Jurassic Park". Frontier nailed this.
-> Weather effects and how it interacts with the ground, foliage and buildings.
-> Gene editing.
-> Sound in almost everything is brilliant.
-> Help menus are short, sweet and to the point.
-> Dinopedia could use some upgrades regarding species co-habitance and preferred prey. Otherwise, Dino info itself is great.
-> The buildings look gorgeous and are quite detailed. Love the building "upgrade" system as well.
Primary Goal
Make the dinosaurs feel more alive. Make it feel like you're housing these giant prehistoric creatures and you have no idea what they'll do next. Make it feel like, if you went back in time and looked at these dinosaurs somewhere in the world, on some grassland or whatever, what would they be doing? Would they resemble wildlife today to some extent?
What needs to be desperately improved or added
- immense focus on the dinosaur behavior. Herding and group composition improvements were finally added, but it's still all artificial. Come together every so often, bark at each other, disband, repeat. The dinos always felt "programmed" do to 1, 2, 3, repeat. It always felt artificial, always. The socializing & fighting behavior is probably the most artificial looking. Playing, running (there's never enough of this), play-fighting, territorial-fighting.... all these will make them feel alive. There was no uniqueness to any of them. Some other frustrating things ? Stegosaurus won't stick in groups but they HAVE a social need.... but they just walk away from each other all the time and start getting angry. I was INCREDIBLY frustrated with this. (This was the point where I had to walk away) There was no inter-species interactions. I feel like the potential to do amazing work with AI is here, with all the deep learning and AI improvements over the past years, dev time has to be dedicated to this. This is absolutely the biggest thing this game needs.
- Here are the types of behavior that would make the dinosaurs feel rich:
- Resting
SleepingRunningif food need dire and food has been found / is accessible.if water need dire and water has been found / is accessible.- while playing (e.g. Gallimimus, Homalocephale etc)
- catching up to a herd
Looking aroundCouple of unique movements (e.g. diloph frill enlargement, pachys head-butting, Iguanadon eating with the hand etc.)- Fighting (free fight unlike the locked-in animation and ability to flee) - partially implemented
- actual fighting
- play fighting (smaller herbivores)
- Territorial roaring & aggression (without damage)
DrinkingEating- hunting - barebones implementation
- severely scripted right now. hunting should actually have a chase and chance to catch element to it.
- pack hunting (e.g. Velociraptor)
from a feedermeat pile- live feed (goat) eating shouldn't look so scripted.... it should actually feel like a chase / hunt.
fish feeder is amazing.. love how the fish get agitated, and how the carnivore feeds from it
Grazing
- hunting - barebones implementation
- Scratching
- Scouting for danger
- Herding - partially implemented
- Pooping
- Communicating - partially implemented
- right now herbivores just gather in a circle and bark at each other. rather it should be a mixture ... they should be able to move and call to each other or stand still and call to each other. Hardosaurs? For example a cory or a parasorolophous can stand on its hind legs in a herd... and make a loud call and communicate. (this part of what they're communicating is completely imaginary of course)
- Intimacy (dinosaurs scratching each other or being close, or sleeping next to each other)
- Interacting with guests - partially implemented (near viewing points and fences)
- herbivores wandering curiously when they happen to leave the enclosure
- carnivores not just straight running, but also scanning the surroundings and wandering.. .and only hunting when they find prey.
- Here are the types of behavior that would make the dinosaurs feel rich:
- immense focus on the variety of dinosaur animations. Super tired of the same kill animation for every dinosaur. Super tired of the fighting dynamics between dinosaurs. Jab, dance around, jab, dance around, end with kill animation gets boring super fast. They need to feel a little more dynamic and surprising.
- creative freedom. Bigger maps, more control over colors & other aesthetics of buildings and assets. More ploppable assets. The nature assets were a much needed addition... and I commend Frontier for making that happen! I think a bunch more great stuff came with the Return to Jurassic Park DLC, which I loved. More of this please.
- Management and strategic depth. This was severely lacking in this game. There just isn't enough strategic decisions to be made. Keeping on top of financials is super easy. Dealing with breakouts is the same old series of steps. Not much variety in income sources. The "oomph" or "challenge" just isn't there. It's severely shallow.
Smaller Irks
- Why don't the doors open in buildings when guests go in?
- Guest AI is really bad when it comes to their interaction with dinosaurs. Their death animations are so terribly scripted
- Being able to look at guest or group needs individually, their comments, what they want to see and their overall personality time. (slightly inspired by JPOG here) This will make the park feel more alive.
- the Contracts system gets very repetitive and out of context at times.
- When herbivores leave enclosures, they suddenly get super aggressive and runny. Very unrealistic and jarring. If they broke out of the enclosure, that's a different story.
- Goat attack animations are all the same. They're really boring.
- Guests just "pop" into existence in all the viewing areas. Guests even just "pop" into existence in random parts of the map even if they've never even arrived in the park. Easily shows that the "guests" in the park are just there for simulation purposes... they don't actually represent anything.
- Guest don't have umbrellas when it rains.
- Toys or clothes guests buy in stores aren't exactly shown off or used in-game.
- Herbivores graze but it doesn't satisfy their hunger.
I won't get into more nice to have's because the community has posted many a great idea, and I certainly added a few in this forum, but that's for another discussion.✔
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