Planet Zoo 2 Animal Roster Wishlist

[NegativeHeli]

Most games that are successful will usually, if not almost always have a second edition to it. Such was the case for Zoo Tycoon. Though a Planet Zoo 2 seems unlikely to come in the next few years (since it's still being supported), it's always fun to create a wishlist for the next roster.

I would love to see what are everyone's choices for the next Planet Zoo game, if it ever comes out.

Here is my base game roster of 70 habitat animals

Aardvark
African Savannah Elephant
African Spurred Tortoise
African Wild Dog
Alpine Ibex
American Beaver
American Bison
Asiatic Black Bear
Binturong
Black Handed Spider Monkey
Bornean Orangutan
Brazilian Tapir
Brown Nosed Coatimundi
Black Howler Monkey
Bongo
California Sea Lion
Cape Buffalo
Capuchin Monkey
Capybara
Cheetah
Chinese Pangolin
Chinese Red Panda
Cougar
Dingo
Emu
Eurasian Lynx
Fennec Fox
Fossa
Gaur
Giant Anteater
Giant Ground Pangolin
Giant Otter
Giant Panda
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo
Grant's Zebra
Grey Wolf
Grizzly Bear
Hamadryas Baboon
Himalayan Red Panda
Hippopotamus
Indian Elephant
Indian Gharial
Indian Rhinoceros
Jaguar
Koala
Komodo Dragon
Malayan Tapir
Maned Wolf
Masai Lion
Masai Ostrich
Moose
Mountain Gorilla
Polar Bear
Pygmy Hippo
Red Kangaroo
Red River Hog
Red Ruffed Lemur
Reticulated Giraffe
Ring Tailed Lemur
Saltwater Crocodile
Siberian Tiger
Sloth Bear
Snow Leopard
Southern White Rhinoceros
Spotted Hyena
Sumatran Tiger
Tasmanian Devil
Western Chimpanzee
White Handed Gibbon
Wombat

Birds

African Crowned Crane
African Penguin
Andean Condor
Atlantic Puffin
Australian Pelican
Bald Eagle
Barn Owl
Golden Pheasant
Greater Flamingo
Himalayan Griffin Vulture
Hyacinth Macaw
King Penguin
Philippine Eagle
Red Crowned Crane
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Scarlet Macaw
Secretary Bird
Snowy Owl
Sulfur Crested Cockatoo
Toco Toucan

What changes would you make?

 

[TheYeti]

Based on the developments in the main game, I think the developers should take a few things into account:

1. Players want small animals. Some of the highest animals on the wishlist are the capybara, coati, tamarin, platypus, fossa and small-clawed otter. However, a pack with only small species doesn't sell. Since real zoos often have a majority of small species, it wouldn't be bad if the main game includes more small animals. I wouldn't mind if they take the place of larger, perhaps more charismatic species that can be added later in DLCs.
2. Players want realistic filler species. In addition to the smaller animals that are popular in the wishlist, players love to add realism by adding species such as small waterfowl and perhaps fish and small aviary birds.
3. Players love scenery AND animals. In the current game, some animals form certain regions were left out to allow for a pack that contains animals and scenery from those regions. However, the 4+1 pack is unpopular because it adds few species and usually doesn't give much attention to small species (see previous point). The 7+1 pack is unpopular because it doesn't add scenery. I think the DLC format in Planet Zoo 2 should have a higher number of animals as well as scenery. To make this marketable, they will still need to hold some charismatic species back to be added later in DLCs.
4. African animals will always dominate. In every zoo game, as well as in the wishlist, a large number of animals is African. African sections are also highly popular in zoos. Moreover, there are only so many themes you can make for Africa, even though it wouldn't be hard to come up with 10 animals from each subregion (North, East, West, Central and Southern Africa). Therefore, I think it would be good to keep having many African animals in the main game, with at most two subregions underrepresented to be added later.
5. Some animals are hard to add later. There are some popular animals unlikely to be added because they do not really fit any of the most likely themes of DLCs. These animals include species with a wide distribution such as the wolverine, golden jackal, musk ox and caracal. Since these animals are quite widely distributed, it may be nice to give them preference over animals with a less wide distribution.
6. Subspecies are troublesome. Many animals have quite distinct subspecies. In Planet Zoo, we have different subspecies of wolves, brown bears and tigers. While it is nice to have this diversity, it's a shame when new subspecies take up the space of other animals. Therefore, it would be nice to have a different system, where subspecies may be added to the game, but not as a new species. If I'm correct, Zoo Tycoon 3 has a system where most animals have different subspecies that are distinct from each other. This way, wider regions can be represented without taking the place of other species. We can for instance have bears and wolves from both Europe and North-America and leopards from Africa, the Middle East and different parts of greater Asia.

With that, my list would be something like this:

Habitat Animals:

1. African Forest Elephant
2. Lion
   1. South-African Lion
   2. West-African Lion
3. African Buffalo
4. White Rhinoceros
   1. Southern White Rhinoceros
5. Hippopotamus
6. Blue Wildebeest
7. Thomson's Gazelle
8. Ostrich
9. Reticulated Giraffe
10. Plains Zebra
    1. Grant's Zebra
11. Common Warthog
12. Cheetah
13. Meerkat
14. African Penguin
15. Spotted Hyena
16. African Wild Dog
17. Gemsbok
18. Sable Antelope
19. Great White Pelican
20. Greater Flamingo
21. Helmeted Guineafowl
22. Grey Crowned Crane
23. Hamadryas Baboon
24. Chimpanzee
    1. Western Chimpanzee
25. Western Gorilla
    1. Western Lowland Gorilla
26. Mantled Guereza
27. Ring-Tailed Lemur
28. Red-Ruffed Lemur
29. Indian Crested Porcupine
30. Bactrian Camel
31. Leopard
    1. Amur Leopard
    2. Persian Leopard
    3. African Leopard
32. Asian Elephant
33. Tiger
    1. Siberian Tiger
    2. Bengal Tiger
    3. Sumatran Tiger
34. Indian Green Peafowl
35. Bornean Orangutan
36. White-Crested Gibbon
37. Asian Small-Clawed Otter
38. Giant Panda
39. Red Panda
40. Mandarin Duck
41. Gold Pheasant
42. Golden Jackal
43. Bennett's Wallaby
44. Emu
45. Saltwater Crocodile
46. Black Swan
47. Mute Swan
48. Alpine Ibex
49. Hermann's Tortoise
50. Fallow Deer
    1. European Fallow Deer
    2. Persian Fallow Deer
51. Raccoon
52. Wolverine
    1. Eurasian Wolverine
53. Brown Bear
    1. Eurasian Brown Bear
    2. Grizzly Bear
54. Grey Wolf
    1. Eurasian Wolf
    2. Northwestern Wolf
    3. Dingo
55. American Flamingo
56. Capybara
57. Brazilian Tapir
58. Guianan Squirrel Monkey
59. South-American Coati
60. Southern Isabela Tortoise

Aviary Birds:

1. Toco Toucan
2. Blue-and-Yellow Macaw
3. Scarlet Macaw
4. Laughing Kookaburra
5. Palm Cockatoo
6. Great Indian Hornbill
7. Andean Condor
8. Bald Eagle
9. Harpey Eagle
10. Griffon Vulture
11. Hamerkop
12. Eurasian Eagle Owl
13. Snowy Owl
14. Scarlet Ibis
15. Rainbow Lorikeet

Fish:

1. Alligator Gar
2. Ocellated River Stingray
3. Russian Sturgeon
4. Arapaima
5. Black Pacu
6. Red-Bellied Piranha
7. American Paddlefish
8. Redtail Catfish
9. Koi
10. Northern Pike
11. Largemouth Bass
12. Eurasian Carp
13. Tench
14. Asian Arowana
15. Mekong Giant Catfish

In this list I left out some iconic animals of different regions to leave space for future DLCs. Mandrills and Pygmy Hippos can be in a Central Africa DLC, Moose and Cougar could be in a North-America DLC, etc. I also leave out marine species, as they would also make a good DLC option later.

 

[Doran]

I will do it JWE2 way, so speculatively most closest to true list. With assumptions aviaries arent coming + there are 4 dlcs left.
Notes:
1. Nearly all animals are coming back, because majority of them look good and they will be simply ported without changes (well, some of them could get new model like t-rex). Currently there are 92 habitat / 30 exhibit species. After 4 supposed packs ( 2 animals packs and 2 scenery packs) it would be 114 habitat / 34 exhibit. Overall 148 animals in first game.
2. One animal is for some reason in deluxe edition. Perhaps, because they didnt had time to do new one in time.
3. Some animals might be cut for thematic reason. Dont see it coming tbh, but JWE2 cut their hybrids, which is kinda understandable.
4. 6 new aquatics and birds = 12 new species
5. Few new arrivals ( like amaragasaurs and crylophosaurus)

Hard to know what will come this year, but lets assume next 4 packs will bring us more animals from amazon, middle east, oceania, asia.
List include 121 current animals ( you Himalayan Brown Bear are coming to deluxe pack, no one will complain) and 26 Animals from upcoming packs:

• Amazon Animal Pack: Capybara, Sloth, Spider Monkey, Collared Peccary, Armadillo, Coati, Howler Monkey, Mata-Mata Turtle
• Asia Pack: Lar Gibbon, Amur Leopard, Przewalski's Horse, Asian Otter, Giant Salamander
• Oceania Animal Pack: Tree Kangaroo, Wombat, T. Devil, Emu, Wallaby, Kiwi, Platypus, Frilled Lizard
• Middle East Pack: Dromadery Camel, Hamadryas Baboon, Sand Cat, Scimitar-Horned Oryx, Velied Chameleon

New aquatic animals (have no idea, but 6 of them) and flying animals :

• Blue and Yellow Macaw
• Bald Eagle
• Andean Condor
• Toco Toucan
• Snowy Owl
• Indian Hornbill

Few newcomers:

• Indian Crested Porcupine
• Patagonian Mara
• Takin
• Red River Hog
• European Mink
• 3 exhibits

Deluxe edition animals:

• Maned Wolf
• Golden Lion Tamarin
• Himalayan Brown Bear
• Sawfish (marine)
• Peregrine Falcon (flying)

Ultimately it have 172 animals at launch. Creating this list reminded me how pointless would be PZ2. Why would anyone buy it with less animals, if first game can have around 150 species? Furthermore imagine selling again animals from first version in dlcs (like puma), when first game have assests, which certain leaf dude could literally reuse and give it everyone for free.

 

[Fabian]

Ultimately it have 172 animals at launch. Creating this list reminded me how pointless would be PZ2. Why would anyone buy it with less animals, if first game can have around 150 species? Furthermore imagine selling again animals from first version in dlcs (like puma), when first game have assests, which certain leaf dude could literally reuse and give it everyone for free.

That's the same thought I have. It seems like Planet Zoo will continue to be supported for at least a while, which gives Frontier more opportunities to give us more big-ticket animals through DLCs. Unless birds and marine animals will be entirely excluded in the current game, there is not much potential to benefit from high-profile DLC sales anymore if all the big-ticket animals were already released for PZ. The game would need to be drastically different in order to be considered an improvement over the current game rather than a cash-grab. Selling us animals from PZ's DLCs through more DLCs would seem both redundant and exploitative, unless of course models are significantly different/improved or the animal would come with enormous gameplay differences.

If aviaries and marine animals are not introduced in PZ, there would be a lot more potential for a Planet Zoo 2. But even then, the previous point still stands: they wouldn't be able to sell DLCs based on flying/marine animals alone. Which then leads to the dilemma: either the big-ticket animals are included in the base game roster, since after all we already got them and paid for them in Planet Zoo 1, or they are included in DLCs and Frontier almost inevitably scares away some customers.

 

[becks474]

Ultimately it have 172 animals at launch. Creating this list reminded me how pointless would be PZ2. Why would anyone buy it with less animals, if first game can have around 150 species? Furthermore imagine selling again animals from first version in dlcs (like puma), when first game have assests, which certain leaf dude could literally reuse and give it everyone for free.

These are my thoughts, too. Only a big step in graphics or in gameplay would make sense in my opinion to make a PZ 2. I am not sure to buy the same game with the same animals just because some birds within the next few years. Thats why I do not believe the game will end after this year or in early 2023. (Of course this would be just the case of the game and DLCs are still profitable for Frontier). Selling us 5 animals with scenery or 8 animals without scenery can generate more money than making a complete new game of this packs are still sold.
And I would not compare it to JWE as this is a Franchise in which frontier cannot make its decisions on its own and which had a limited life span from the beginning. Planet Coaster would be the more comparable game but as there are so much animals to pick out compared to theme park rides it is easier to sell DLC longer for PZ.

But to the topic:
I think the rooster would be more or less comparable with some minor exchanges. Perhaps you could integrate a Leopard instead of a Snow leopard. A porcupine instead of an aardvark. An armadillo instead of a pangolin. You could take some other antelopes. And of course birds and fish tanks as further options. But in my opinion the mixture of the base game was good. Some of the highlights are coming with DLCs like it was done with penguins or the kangaroo.

 

[sockeyejo]

I suspect it will be years before there's any hint of a sequel so at this stage, talking about the game mechanics makes much more sense than the animals. Still hoping there will be a Planet Coaster 2...

 

[Antimony96]

I don't see it happening for a long while; PZ development suggests that they want to work on the current game for at least a couple more years, as long as DLC is still profitable (remember--JWE being relatively unsuccessful is what prompted a swifter move to JWE2).

 

[Doran]

(remember--JWE being relatively unsuccessful is what prompted a swifter move to JWE2).

Not true. JWE was very succesful. It was just so bad on coding level so they had to make sequel (info from roadmap 2020 leak). Also they apparently couldnt make dinosaurs as easy as animals in PZ ( leaked video, infamous aquatic pack leak). They wanted to support JWE, but it wasnt possible.

 

[Mjmannella]

I fully expect a sequel to retain all past animals if it's using some form of the Cobra engine. I can't think of any excuse to cut animals in this context.

 

[Antimony96]

I fully expect a sequel to retain all past animals if it's using some form of the Cobra engine. I can't think of any excuse to cut animals in this context.

At most they could retool a couple animals. Himalayan brown bear --> Eurasian brown bear, Timber wolf taxonomy fix, etc.

 

[Mjmannella]

At most they could retool a couple animals. Himalayan brown bear --> Eurasian brown bear, Timber wolf taxonomy fix, etc.

I think the Himalayan brown bear would benefit more from a remake. It and some others like the Bactrian camel and Malayan tapir aren't very representative of the real-life animals...

 

[jcp011c]

These are my thoughts, too. Only a big step in graphics or in gameplay would make sense in my opinion to make a PZ 2. I am not sure to buy the same game with the same animals just because some birds within the next few years. Thats why I do not believe the game will end after this year or in early 2023. (Of course this would be just the case of the game and DLCs are still profitable for Frontier). Selling us 5 animals with scenery or 8 animals without scenery can generate more money than making a complete new game of this packs are still sold.
And I would not compare it to JWE as this is a Franchise in which frontier cannot make its decisions on its own and which had a limited life span from the beginning. Planet Coaster would be the more comparable game but as there are so much animals to pick out compared to theme park rides it is easier to sell DLC longer for PZ.

But to the topic:
I think the rooster would be more or less comparable with some minor exchanges. Perhaps you could integrate a Leopard instead of a Snow leopard. A porcupine instead of an aardvark. An armadillo instead of a pangolin. You could take some other antelopes. And of course birds and fish tanks as further options. But in my opinion the mixture of the base game was good. Some of the highlights are coming with DLCs like it was done with penguins or the kangaroo.

To the first - I absolutely agree. The game isn't perfect, but I absolutely love it. I honestly don't know what improvements could be made that would make me want to start over and invest in another version. I've done that with so many game series and I'm a bit tired of doing so, not when there's an already enjoyable game out there. Of course, this would just be the second Planet Zoo, vs. some series I've played. Adding in particular animals though would be nice, but not enough to make me switch over, unless the base roster was so strong I couldn't be convinced what we have is better than what we'd possibly be getting.

But, to the Topic, I think for the most part PZ had a strong base roster for Africa and Asia, but there would be some adjustments obviously.

For one, I'd remove a couple of the antelopes from Africa and add in the Meerkat and an African Rhino; the two animals that after the Aquatic pack's release were the most requested animal up to the point of their leak/release. That's two adjustments.

I'd remove a couple of very similar animals as well, like the HBB, Bonobo and another antelope (we probably have 3 too many IMO) and add in three medium profile animals that wouldn't necessarily headline a pack - the Capybara, Giant Anteater and the Capuchian Monkey to give more SA representation. which was very missing in the base game.

Here's where it gets a little tricky. While I thought the base roster was good in general terms, Oceania absolutely got the short end of the stick. One habitat animal. True the Kangaroo and Koala are great choices for headlining a DLC, but I'd put them in the base game, and switch out other potential DLC headliners in PZ's base game (though not from Oceania)- the Orangutan and the Indian Elephant from Asia.

Additionally, I'd put in four other animals that should have been included in the base game- the Polar Bear, King Penguin, Cougar and Moose. No switches, they're all just so "basic" meant in a good way, as in core animals that people think of when they think of zoo simulating games, that they shouldn't left out in the first place.

That would give us....7 replacements and 4 additional animals. Of all 11 animals, we have all but one in the game as of now. And that one that's not is still the only real misstep I'll say Frontier made with animal choices - for the players over all, not just my own personal choices.

 

[Antimony96]

That would give us....7 replacements and 4 additional animals. Of all 11 animals, we have all but one in the game as of now. And that one that's not is still the only real misstep I'll say Frontier made with animal choices - for the players over all, not just my own personal choices.

PZ's main representation flaw is the over-representation of charismatic megafauna (big cats, pachyderms, great apes, bears, etc.) at the expense of smaller animals that are more represented in both larger and smaller zoos (wading birds, monkeys, tortoises, small exhibit animals in general). Even the limited representation the latter got is skewed in this manner--the two base game monkeys both being relatively out-there picks, the Aldabra and Galapagos tortoises being picked over the sulcata tortoise, etc. The wishlist has partially rectified this, but even so, the current meta-wishlist includes a lot of animals which are rare in zoos but fairly popular among the general public (walrus, platypus, three-toed sloth rather than two-toed, etc.)

I know why this is, of course--people buy zoo simulators for lions and elephants, not Patagonian maras or Demoiselle's cranes, and the same goes for real zoos in picking which animals they use as mascots to advertise with. But it does work against the notion of PZ being a realistic simulator.

 

[TheYeti]

I agree that the game is pretty perfect and I'd rather see more DLCs for about 3-5 years than a sequel for now. However, I think there are some arguments why a sequel should come at some point. While many issues of the game can be fixed, it is unlikely that this will happen for some. I think the main reasons for a sequel would be:

• Focus directly on realism: when Planet Zoo launched, it was the most realistic zoo game ever. Yet, it was initially not designed to build very realistic zoos. Evidence for this are the cartoonish look of some animals, the extreme habitat requirements of others and the very themed or cartoonish look of some construction pieces. In later DLCs, we got many (and I mean MANY) pieces that help for more realistic zoos, but you can still see that their original target group may have been slightly different. A sequel could possibly come with more standard/common paths, construction sets and barriers, that may not look as fancy but represent real zoos more accurately.
• The scale is off: the grid in Planet Zoo is 4x4m, which is pretty huge. In Zoo Tycoon 2, the grid was 2x2m, which can cause some confusion for those who switched from one to the other. In Planet Zoo, we are often forced to make buildings (and in particular exhibits) way larger than they would be in real life, often without even noticing it. If you look at real zoos, paths are often 1-3m wide, exhibits can be less than 1m in width, and a small food stand doesn't need to be 4m wide either. If we get a sequel, I think having a smaller standard grid would make more sense. Plus this also allows more small construction pieces, which helps the realism aspect.
• Smaller animals: with a smaller grid, it also makes it easier to include small animals like tamarins, tarsiers, small tortoises and turtles as habitat animals. We really need these animals as they are the most common ones in real zoos. While we will probably get some more in Planet Zoo, the number will be limited, because there is only a certain number of small animals that can be included in a pack to make it marketable. Similarly, there is only a certain number of large/iconic animals left to headline a pack. Therefore, a sequel could help feature more small animals.
• Some new games have features we should get in Planet Zoo. Most notably, Prehistoric Kingdom has the option to rescale objects, which creates infinitely more opportunities for building. While this could be implemented in Planet Zoo, it is unlikely that we get such a drastic change of gameplay options, but it would be an amazing feature to have in a sequel.
• There are issues with construction: I'm not gonna talk about the path system, as I'm personally okay with it except for one point: the fact that changing terrain becomes totally impossible near a pathway. Similar issues with terrain occur around barriers, which also don't allow modifying terrain. It would be great to have more options to change terrain, paths or barriers without first having to delete one of the others and then replacing it. Similarly, it would be great to have a greater diversity of paths and barriers, so that we don't need to use groups of construction pieces to get types of walls and paths that are not in the game. The latter is especially tricky when paths are not level or when barriers curve uphill. Finally, it would be great to have more freedom with barriers of paths. For instance, it would be nice if we can pick different barriers for each path and to have the freedom to decide where on the path we would place the barrier (instead of just having it on the edges).
• More advanced gameplay features: this is a far-fetched argument, and I personally don't think it's really necessary. However, there are some features that would be nice to have for realism issues. One of them is seasonality. It would be incredible to have trees change colour and lose their leaves in temperate regions, while some animals should also change their looks. I do realise, however, that this may be a huge investment that can better be put in other aspects of the game. Another idea would be to have a more weathered look of buildings and to have plants that are not perfectly green.

 

[premierfong]

Full roster from Vanilla + all DLCs. I dont wanna wait for another many years for roster again.