Hello Zookeepers!
Welcome to November's Catch Up! In this post, we will take a look back at the past month together, and we'll catch you up on all the latest news since we launched Planet Zoo! Can you believe Planet Zoo only launched at the start of this month? So much has happened since then: we've started weekly livestreams; we've achieved community challenges; we've released updates and we're even doing multiple competitions! Let's take a look back at the launch trailer together again:
We've absolutely loved hearing all of your useful feedback and seeing all of your amazing creations, and we'd like to thank you for all of your ongoing support - from our Planet Zoo announce to post-launch, we've appreciated having such an encouraging community behind us. We had a fabulous time launching Planet Zoo during our launch livestream, where we were joined by multiple developers from different areas of expertise, such as Game Director Piers Jackson! We showed off live gameplay, we hosted a big giveaway in partnership with San Diego Zoo, and we counted down to the launch of Planet Zoo. Did you join us for that stream? If you weren't able to catch it live, you can watch it here!
Recently, we discovered that Planet Zoo has been nominated for the Global Game Awards in the categories "Best PC Exclusive" and "Best Management"! We are honoured that Planet Zoo has been considered for these awards, and thank the community for all of your support so far! You can vote for Planet Zoo on the Game Debate website; we are looking forward to seeing who the winners are!
We've since shown developer team photos of the people behind Planet Zoo. Both the Core-Audio team and the Animation team have shared photos on social media, but a huge part of the Planet Zoo developer team got together and took a photo to celebrate the launch. Did you know, Planet Zoo developers are a playful and social species who are easily distracted by (bad) puns?
The Planet Zoo team also try and bring awareness to animal causes, such as Orange for Orangutan Day! Check out this bright team photo:
Our community is always at the forefront of our minds here at Frontier. We have the pleasure of having such a fantastic community, and we love sharing creations and works from you all on our social media and livestreams. Just before the launch, we shared a Community Highlights video on our YouTube, where some Planet Zoo content creators and community members got together and wished us luck on the launch. This delightful video was a pleasure for us at Frontier to watch, and gave our team an encouraging last push just before launch. You can watch it here:
Since launch, we have started our weekly livestreams, which take place on Twitch, YouTube and Mixer. Community Managers Bo and Chanté stream on Wednesdays at 7PM UTC for around an hour with guest developers, who share their development stories and give interesting tips and tricks for Planet Zoo! We currently have two series running: the Career Mode Let's Play, where Bo is playing through the Career Mode, and the Workshop Wonderland series, where Chanté showcases community creations. However, on the 27 November, they were joined by San Diego Zoo's Behaviour Husbandry Manager Nicki Boyd! Nicki shared all sorts of information about her job at San Diego Zoo, such as what sort of tasks she gets up to and why animal welfare is important. This special stream is one you definitely want to watch back if you missed it - you can do so here:
If you're unable to join us for our livestreams, we post them all on the Planet Zoo YouTube channel so you can watch them back. We also share community creations on our social channels, such as for Workshop Wednesday and Spotlight Saturday. Make sure you're following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram for news updates, animal facts and community content!
Speaking of updates, we are currently on Update 1.0.3, which contained over 400 fixes! Thanks to all who have continued to share feedback on the Issue Tracker and who have suggested new features, such as the Sandbox Mode features we have added into the game during the recent update. We will continue to work on fixes and community suggestions, please keep posting and commenting on forum threads and the Issue Tracker so we can prioritise what is added in future updates.
Every Monday, Planet Zoo's Franchise Mode will be taken offline between 9AM - 10AM UTC for maintenance. During this time, you will not be able to access Franchise Mode if you launch the game, and won't be able to save Franchise Mode if you're in-game. This will happen every week. We will also be setting up the next Community Challenge during this time - the weekly community activities that run every Tuesday - Sunday. During this time, if you work towards the community goal, you can earn animals, Conservation Credits and Avatar Costume parts (hat, shirt and shorts). For more information on Community Challenges, you can read all about them here.
This month, we also shared the keyboard shortcuts for Planet Zoo. These helpful key bindings will improve your player experience if you learn them, such as how to manipulate the camera, toggle heatmap view and curve your paths. You can read all the key bindings here!
Also on the forums, we are currently running our Think Inside the Box competition! For this competition, we are looking for the most creative Exhibit Animal blueprint! Essentially, we're searching for creators who can make their Exhibit Animals feel loved and cared for by designing thought-out exhibits that really capture the essence of the animal. Think you've got what it takes to design something like that? All entries must be submitted by 6 December, 2019! To enter, save your exhibit as a blueprint and email us at community@frontier.co.uk. We will then be showing them on the following Facebook Friday, on the 13 December, 2019! The winner will also be contacted so we can send them a massive Planet Zoo goodie bag! For all the information, you can read it on the forums here.
This month, we have shared a variety of Zoopedia facts! Let us catch you up to date:
That's all for the November Catch Up! Even though Planet Zoo has launched, we still have so much news and fun coming up! Make sure you keep checking back to the forums and our social media channels to make sure you're always up to date with all the Planet Zoo news, or tune in to the Facebook Fridays where we will catch you up! See you next month for another catch up.
Chanté
❤
Welcome to November's Catch Up! In this post, we will take a look back at the past month together, and we'll catch you up on all the latest news since we launched Planet Zoo! Can you believe Planet Zoo only launched at the start of this month? So much has happened since then: we've started weekly livestreams; we've achieved community challenges; we've released updates and we're even doing multiple competitions! Let's take a look back at the launch trailer together again:
We've absolutely loved hearing all of your useful feedback and seeing all of your amazing creations, and we'd like to thank you for all of your ongoing support - from our Planet Zoo announce to post-launch, we've appreciated having such an encouraging community behind us. We had a fabulous time launching Planet Zoo during our launch livestream, where we were joined by multiple developers from different areas of expertise, such as Game Director Piers Jackson! We showed off live gameplay, we hosted a big giveaway in partnership with San Diego Zoo, and we counted down to the launch of Planet Zoo. Did you join us for that stream? If you weren't able to catch it live, you can watch it here!
Recently, we discovered that Planet Zoo has been nominated for the Global Game Awards in the categories "Best PC Exclusive" and "Best Management"! We are honoured that Planet Zoo has been considered for these awards, and thank the community for all of your support so far! You can vote for Planet Zoo on the Game Debate website; we are looking forward to seeing who the winners are!
We've since shown developer team photos of the people behind Planet Zoo. Both the Core-Audio team and the Animation team have shared photos on social media, but a huge part of the Planet Zoo developer team got together and took a photo to celebrate the launch. Did you know, Planet Zoo developers are a playful and social species who are easily distracted by (bad) puns?
The Planet Zoo team also try and bring awareness to animal causes, such as Orange for Orangutan Day! Check out this bright team photo:
Our community is always at the forefront of our minds here at Frontier. We have the pleasure of having such a fantastic community, and we love sharing creations and works from you all on our social media and livestreams. Just before the launch, we shared a Community Highlights video on our YouTube, where some Planet Zoo content creators and community members got together and wished us luck on the launch. This delightful video was a pleasure for us at Frontier to watch, and gave our team an encouraging last push just before launch. You can watch it here:
Since launch, we have started our weekly livestreams, which take place on Twitch, YouTube and Mixer. Community Managers Bo and Chanté stream on Wednesdays at 7PM UTC for around an hour with guest developers, who share their development stories and give interesting tips and tricks for Planet Zoo! We currently have two series running: the Career Mode Let's Play, where Bo is playing through the Career Mode, and the Workshop Wonderland series, where Chanté showcases community creations. However, on the 27 November, they were joined by San Diego Zoo's Behaviour Husbandry Manager Nicki Boyd! Nicki shared all sorts of information about her job at San Diego Zoo, such as what sort of tasks she gets up to and why animal welfare is important. This special stream is one you definitely want to watch back if you missed it - you can do so here:
If you're unable to join us for our livestreams, we post them all on the Planet Zoo YouTube channel so you can watch them back. We also share community creations on our social channels, such as for Workshop Wednesday and Spotlight Saturday. Make sure you're following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram for news updates, animal facts and community content!
Speaking of updates, we are currently on Update 1.0.3, which contained over 400 fixes! Thanks to all who have continued to share feedback on the Issue Tracker and who have suggested new features, such as the Sandbox Mode features we have added into the game during the recent update. We will continue to work on fixes and community suggestions, please keep posting and commenting on forum threads and the Issue Tracker so we can prioritise what is added in future updates.
Every Monday, Planet Zoo's Franchise Mode will be taken offline between 9AM - 10AM UTC for maintenance. During this time, you will not be able to access Franchise Mode if you launch the game, and won't be able to save Franchise Mode if you're in-game. This will happen every week. We will also be setting up the next Community Challenge during this time - the weekly community activities that run every Tuesday - Sunday. During this time, if you work towards the community goal, you can earn animals, Conservation Credits and Avatar Costume parts (hat, shirt and shorts). For more information on Community Challenges, you can read all about them here.
This month, we also shared the keyboard shortcuts for Planet Zoo. These helpful key bindings will improve your player experience if you learn them, such as how to manipulate the camera, toggle heatmap view and curve your paths. You can read all the key bindings here!
Also on the forums, we are currently running our Think Inside the Box competition! For this competition, we are looking for the most creative Exhibit Animal blueprint! Essentially, we're searching for creators who can make their Exhibit Animals feel loved and cared for by designing thought-out exhibits that really capture the essence of the animal. Think you've got what it takes to design something like that? All entries must be submitted by 6 December, 2019! To enter, save your exhibit as a blueprint and email us at community@frontier.co.uk. We will then be showing them on the following Facebook Friday, on the 13 December, 2019! The winner will also be contacted so we can send them a massive Planet Zoo goodie bag! For all the information, you can read it on the forums here.
This month, we have shared a variety of Zoopedia facts! Let us catch you up to date:
- The Indian Peafowl footstep sounds were recorded by using a fork taped to a microphone stand, with the metal dampened by Plasticine to stop any metallic ringing!
- Gorillas are incredibly important to the forests in which they live, because their feeding and roaming habits disperse fruit seeds.
- Giant Pandas have the smallest babies relative to adult body size of any placental mammal; cubs are 800 times smaller than their mothers.
- Bongos are known to eat charcoal from burned trees after lightning strikes and forest fires. It is believed they use this as a source of salt and minerals.
- The Bactrian Camel’s two humps are made of fat and are built up during times of plentiful food, then shrink as they sustain the Camel through times when food is sparse.
That's all for the November Catch Up! Even though Planet Zoo has launched, we still have so much news and fun coming up! Make sure you keep checking back to the forums and our social media channels to make sure you're always up to date with all the Planet Zoo news, or tune in to the Facebook Fridays where we will catch you up! See you next month for another catch up.
Chanté
❤
