Planet Zoo 2 Speculation and ideas

[RightWhale]

Oh I like the idea. Maybe as part of the challenge mode?

I think it should be part of challenge and franchise. The difference is it’s optional. Here’s an example of how it works:

• Your zoo is found in temperate North America.
• After a couple hours of establishing your zoo (and setting up quarantine and a hospital) you would get a randomly generated pop up.
• The pop up reads: a mother black bear was hit by a car, it has two surviving cubs. Can these animals be brought to your zoo for a check up? You can click yes or no.
• If you click yes your vets will run to the hospital and do the check up on the two cubs. After a check up your vet may bring up that they are too young to be released back into the wild. Likewise they would be way too acclimated to human care by the time they are ready for release.
• You have an option to either build these cubs a habitat, or send them to another zoo. If you keep them you get conservation credits, and a special “rescued” sign.

I was thinking something like that. A way to make each zoo a bit more unique than the other, giving them some “life and history”.

 

[synthetase]

I hope for animals to look more unique from each other. Different antlers, tails, patterns, manes, horns, etc... Also it would be cool to transfer animals between sandbox zoos IMO. In the sequel I hope you could make time go slower.
Now I will attempt a 50 species roster...

Spoiler: Planet Zoo 2

• African Buffalo
• African Lion
• African Pygmy Goat
• African Savannah Elephant
• Aldabra Giant Tortoise
• American Alligator
• American Bison
• American Flamingo
• Arabian Oryx
• Asian Small-clawed Otter
• Black Rhinoceros
• Blue Wildebeest
• Bornean Orangutan
• Cheetah
• Columbian White-faced Capuchin
• Common Ostrich
• Cougar
• Dromedary
• Elk
• Eurasian Brown Bear
• Eurasian Lynx
• Giant Panda
• Greater Rhea
• Hippo
• Iberian Wolf
• Indian Elephant
• Indian Peafowl
• King Penguin
• Koala
• Komodo Dragon
• Malayan Tapir
• Meerkat
• Nile Crocodile
• Nyala
• Okapi
• Perentie
• Plains Zebra
• Polar Bear
• Red Fox
• Red Panda
• Reindeer
• Reticulated Giraffe
• Ring-tailed Lemur
• Siberian Tiger
• Sloth Bear
• Snow Leopard
• Sumatran Tiger
• Western Lowland Gorilla
• Wild Boar
• Wild Turkey

 

[yoav_r]

I hope for animals to look more unique from each other. Different antlers, tails, patterns, manes, horns, etc... Also it would be cool to transfer animals between sandbox zoos IMO. In the sequel I hope you could make time go slower.
Now I will attempt a 50 species roster...

Spoiler: Planet Zoo 2

• African Buffalo
• African Lion
• African Pygmy Goat
• African Savannah Elephant
• Aldabra Giant Tortoise
• American Alligator
• American Bison
• American Flamingo
• Arabian Oryx
• Asian Small-clawed Otter
• Black Rhinoceros
• Blue Wildebeest
• Bornean Orangutan
• Cheetah
• Columbian White-faced Capuchin
• Common Ostrich
• Cougar
• Dromedary
• Elk
• Eurasian Brown Bear
• Eurasian Lynx
• Giant Panda
• Greater Rhea
• Hippo
• Iberian Wolf
• Indian Elephant
• Indian Peafowl
• King Penguin
• Koala
• Komodo Dragon
• Malayan Tapir
• Meerkat
• Nile Crocodile
• Nyala
• Okapi
• Perentie
• Plains Zebra
• Polar Bear
• Red Fox
• Red Panda
• Reindeer
• Reticulated Giraffe
• Ring-tailed Lemur
• Siberian Tiger
• Sloth Bear
• Snow Leopard
• Sumatran Tiger
• Western Lowland Gorilla
• Wild Boar
• Wild Turkey

That's a much better starting diversity than PZ1

 

[Fallax]

Decided to take a go at a PZ2 roster, I decided to go for 100 habitat species which might be a lot but its just about the upper limit I can see Frontier doing. I tried to get a mix of animals we would expect to see in the game as well as realistic smaller species and a fair amount of aviary and aquatic species. Bold indicates a completely new species for Planet Zoo. Red indicates a flying aviary species, and Blue indicates a fully aquatic species. I didn't want to include all the "must-have" species because realistically some would have to be eye-grabbers for DLC!!

Spoiler: The Big 100

1. Lion
2. Tiger
3. Jaguar
4. Leopard
5. Snow Leopard
6. Puma
7. Serval
8. Cheetah
9. Grey Wolf
10. African Wild Dog
11. Brown Bear
12. Polar Bear
13. Giant Panda
14. California Sea Lion
15. Walrus
16. Meerkat
17. Red Panda
18. Spotted Hyena
19. Striped Hyena
20. Wolverine
21. Asian Small-Clawed Otter
22. Raccoon
23. South American Coati
24. European Fallow Deer
25. Red Deer
26. Moose
27. Reindeer
28. Bactrian Camel
29. Dromedary Camel
30. Wild Boar
31. Common Warthog
32. Plains Zebra
33. Przewalski's Horse
34. American Bison
35. African Buffalo
36. Hippopotamus
37. Pygmy Hippopotamus
38. Blue Wildebeest
39. Bongo
40. Gemsbok
41. Thomson's Gazelle
42. Sable Antelope
43. Alpine Ibex
44. Markhor
45. Reticulated Giraffe
46. Okapi
47. Black Rhinoceros
48. White Rhinoceros
49. Malayan Tapir
50. Ring-Tailed Lemur
51. Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur
52. Tufted Capuchin
53. Guianan Squirrel Monkey
54. Mandrill
55. Chimpanzee
56. Bornean Orangutan
57. Western Lowland Gorilla
58. Red Kangaroo
59. Red-Necked Wallaby
60. Koala
61. Patagonian Mara
62. Capybara
63. Crested Porcupine
64. Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
65. North American Beaver
66. Asian Elephant
67. African Bush Elephant
68. Giant Anteater
69. Aardvark
70. West Indian Manatee
71. Common Bottlenose Dolphin
72. Beluga Whale
73. Common Ostrich
74. Emu
75. Greater Rhea
76. King Penguin
77. Indian Peafowl
78. Golden Pheasant
79. Common Pheasant
80. Mute Swan
81. Black Swan
82. Mallard
83. Mandarin Duck
84. Greater Flamingo
85. White Stork
86. Great White Pelican
87. Scarlet Ibis
88. Blue-and-Yellow Macaw
89. Red-and-Green Macaw
90. Snowy Owl
91. Eurasian Eagle-Owl
92. Bald Eagle
93. Harris's Hawk
94. Komodo Dragon
95. Green Iguana
96. Saltwater Crocodile
97. American Alligator
98. Galapagos Tortoise
99. African Spurred Tortoise
100. Green Sea Turtle

 

[Iben]

1. What do you think will be in PZ2?

I think the game will mostly be what we already have, with the obvious inclusion of aviaries and some sort of aquariums. I know there are people out there that think aquariums are "too big" for this game and that it would need to be a separate game; but I genuinely believe that the fact that Planet Coaster 2 didn't turn out to be a separate water park game also means we won't get a separate aquarium game.

Especially because the latter already has competition with very specific expectations which I don't think fits with Frontier's approach.

• What will be the key new features?

Aviaries, some sort of aquariums, and general tweaks to the existing features.

I don't think the climbing feature itself requires an entire overhaul, but I do think it's going to see some tweaks that make it easier for you to know whether you've build your climbing frames correctly.

• How much of the current roster will transfer to the sequel?
• What do you think will be the base roster of the sequel? And how many species?

Ah the dreaded question.

I don't think the current roster will completely transfer to the sequel's base game, and I think that's absolutely the most logical thing to do. If you put all the current animals in the base game and add some birds and fish, you barely have any marketable animals left for long term support. The exact same people who've complained about too many ungulates will complain as well the moment Frontier introduces more than 2 vulture species, so there's no way you can do long term support without rereleasing some animals in DLCS. And long term support is what gave us some of the best features in this game, so I'd gladly wait for a few animals a little bit longer and receive great free updates alongside it than to only have a game supported for a year.

I think we'll see a mix of base game animals, DLC animals and birds and fish in the base game, and then throughout the years we'll see similar DLCs to the ones we've had, but hopefully this time around with more birds and fish.

• What are your hopes?
• What do you hope not to see in a sequel?

My genuine hope is that people can be open minded enough to give a potential sequel a fair chance, and that they understand that just because there's a sequel the fun they had with the original does not magically vanish. You (hopefully) already had tons of fun with this game, and no matter the amount of sequels may come, none of it becomes moot unless you want it to be so.

• What feature from what's announced in PC2 will you want in PZ2?

Scaling, pathing, everything flexicolor.

 

[yoav_r]

If they do add aviaries and aquariums, like in JWE2 and water oarks in PC2, how many aquatic and flying animals would be in the new baase game?

 

[Britches]

I think it should be part of challenge and franchise. The difference is it’s optional. Here’s an example of how it works:

• Your zoo is found in temperate North America.
• After a couple hours of establishing your zoo (and setting up quarantine and a hospital) you would get a randomly generated pop up.
• The pop up reads: a mother black bear was hit by a car, it has two surviving cubs. Can these animals be brought to your zoo for a check up? You can click yes or no.
• If you click yes your vets will run to the hospital and do the check up on the two cubs. After a check up your vet may bring up that they are too young to be released back into the wild. Likewise they would be way too acclimated to human care by the time they are ready for release.
• You have an option to either build these cubs a habitat, or send them to another zoo. If you keep them you get conservation credits, and a special “rescued” sign.

I was thinking something like that. A way to make each zoo a bit more unique than the other, giving them some “life and history”.

I would absolutely love this!

 

[RightWhale]

If they do add aviaries and aquariums, like in JWE2 and water oarks in PC2, how many aquatic and flying animals would be in the new baase game?

Depends on the vibes I guess? I’m gonna say 20 or less for each.

I would absolutely love this!

Zoos often get involved with the communities they are a part of, likewise they often work with conservation and wildlife officials. I’m hoping in some future we would get more of that!

 

[Britches]

Depends on the vibes I guess? I’m gonna say 20 or less for each.

Zoos often get involved with the communities they are a part of, likewise they often work with conservation and wildlife officials. I’m hoping in some future we would get more of that!

I guess I would get emotionally attached to every animal I'd rescue. And yes! That's absolutely a good thing!

 

[Fallax]

If they do add aviaries and aquariums, like in JWE2 and water oarks in PC2, how many aquatic and flying animals would be in the new baase game?

Probably 20 at most but I'd expect less. They'd want to sell most of them as DLC and at the end of the day, regular habitat animals are always going to be the bulk of any zoo so they should have priority.

 

[Markiz]

If they do add aviaries and aquariums, like in JWE2 and water oarks in PC2, how many aquatic and flying animals would be in the new baase game?

In my base roster speculation I guessed 6 (+6 Aquarium exhibits and WE aviaries) to not be too ambitious or optimistic, but actually I think bigger number is more realistic for advertisement reasons.

Say 15 to 20 (combined), now it only remains to be seen would those spots be additions to already present 50+ (habitat) animal roster or part of it (which would mean reduced "land" roster).

 

[PnGLINNyo]

Say 15 to 20 (combined), now it only remains to be seen would those spots be additions to already present 50+ (habitat) animal roster or part of it (which would mean reduced "land" roster).

I second this. I mean could be even fewer considering exhibit animals added too. Unless of course they go like 80 species in-game.

 

[Marvinb]

If they do add aviaries and aquariums, like in JWE2 and water oarks in PC2, how many aquatic and flying animals would be in the new baase game?

Cant imagine to many. And honestly i think it depends alot on how its actually executed.
But in any case i wouldnt expect a fully fledged roster for either of them.
And similar to PZ1 i think alot of key species will be held back to headline future dlcs, so i dont expect the basegamse to have macaws, toucans, kookaburras, bald eagles and every other big name bird. Same for aquatics.

To answer the actual question, i think 5-10 each are reasonable

 

[SpookDoc]

Love to see people are starting to talk about PZ2 and the possibilities/likelihoods around it. I’ll eventually address all your initial talking points @yoav_r but for time sake I’m just focusing on what I think will happen to the PZ1 animal roster in a PZ2 situation—

So I think we’ve been given a lot of clarity on what will be happening with PZ and the now inevitable PZ2 (because it’s almost certainly coming at this point, sooner rather than later too). And I think it all fits well with the current discussion (quoted comments) below:

The now official announcement of PC2, the way Frontier is marketing it, and the beginning bits of info that are being released about it tell us the direction Frontier is taking on things with Planet series games (particularly how they’ll handle sequel titles). It’s clear from Frontier-provided copy/text that the base game for PC2 will not have everything that was featured in PC1, including most if not all of the DLC content. Additionally, most of the initial marketing for PC2 has been largely branding the game as a waterpark CMS (obviously with coasters still being a key element but the advertising focus clearly isn’t there). Another important piece is specifically the fact that most PC1 base game themes won’t be showing up in PC2 (at least upon initial release).

A lot can be gathered from this. And a lot should be if you want to make a truly-informed guess of what’s to be expected from Frontier moving forward. Frontier definitely made all of their announcement decisions for PC2 strategically and under the guidance of “marketing” experts (and likely invested serious amounts of time & money into what’s needed in PC2 and it’s advertising to make it sell well).

All this said, the same things will almost certainly apply to a potential PZ2 (especially if Frontier has it slated to be a soon-to-come release). Base game PZ2 isn’t going to feature all the DLC animals, and likely even a good amount of PZ1’s base game roster. Initial marketing for a PZ2 would emphasize and focus on species that would’ve never worked in PZ1 (whether that’s fully aquatics, free-flying birds, more-freely moving “exhibit” animals, or true nocturnal/light-sensitive species). Yes, there would still be some of the species we’ve encountered in PZ1, but none of them would be Frontier’s intended consumer draw for the new game. Advertisings wouldn’t be headlined by terrestrial megafauna (lions, elephants, etc.), like we saw in PZ1. At least for the initial marketing for PZ2. The game needs to be branded initially as something with a different “flavor” than PZ1.

Which brings me to my final point and how it’s all relevant to what we can still be expecting for PZ1. I’m not going to dive into the evidence for how many DLC PZ1 has left (though I personally think the odds aren’t likely for more than one), but I can pretty confidently say that whatever is still coming for PZ, it won’t be anything that in some way could support the “new twist/flavor” that a PZ2 would come with. And this even goes for species that could still, mechanically speaking, work in PZ1 but strongly support themes/mechanics that are currently untouched (walrus, sea otter, sea turtles, pelicans, green anaconda, king cobra, small rodents, most birds, etc.) Though these are all things I’d personally love to still see in PZ1 (one of my most wanted DLCs is something coastal-themed), all the evidence points towards Frontier saving ALL of this for a PZ2.

Now we wait.

Alright, so may be a really hot/unpopular take (because its not the “what I want” but instead the “what’s realistic” one) but I think Frontier will include very little of the PZ1 base game animals in the PZ2 base game. And my reasoning on this stems from a few things. The rather abrupt design changes (less stylized & more realistic) that happen w animal models after the first 2 years of DLC. The bulk of terrestrial “classic ABC animals” being in PZ1 base game. And the incredibly high likelihood that PZ2’s big/advertised new consumer draw will be aquatics and/or flying species (refer to my linked-above, previous comment from a different thread for more thoughts on this). Along this same line of thinking, I predict we’ll see a good amount of the first “PZ1 DLC species” not included in PZ2 base game either. So Im personally not expecting stuff like the Jaguar, Caribou, or Koala to make an appearance at first. They are all too easy to sell again with updated models and be buying-draws for new DLC.

All this said, I think we’ll see a lot of the newer/later-in-development DLC species be most of our terrestrial species roster for PZ2 base game. So basically, animals with newer/more realistic models will show up in the base game because there’s little-to-no work needed in “upgrading” them.

Side note, but I’m HEAVILY betting we will see the entire Barnyard DLC roster in base game PZ2. Frontier conveniently picked breeds from domesticated species that had more publicly well-known options, the only exceptions to this are the Alpaca & Highland Cow. Meaning too that I’m also expecting to see a Petting Zoo V.2-type pack for PZ2, with things like mini ponies, dwarf goats, silkie chickens, and potbelly pigs as inclusions. So Frontier can include Petting Zoos as a base game feature for PZ2 (hopefully with some additional mechanics/animations) alongside the other new animal “categories” they’ll use to sell/advertise the game.

And I think this all makes even more sense when we consider how most of the base game animals could easily headline entire DLCs of their own. And the pushback for owners of PZ1 likely wouldn’t be as harsh if they saw these species now reappearing with increased details and animations. Who can honestly say they would be mad to see the Orangutan headline a PZ2 DLC, with a less gorilla-based rig and fully updated model? And the same can apply to a lot of the base game animals. Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Okapi, Indian Rhino, Asian Elephant, Giant Panda, Galapagos Tortoise, Ring-tailed Lemur, American Bison, Timber Wolf, etc. The list could go on. And also this more easily allows Frontier to explore completely different DLC themes than they did with PZ1. Galapagos? Himalayas? Madagascar? India? Congo? Wild West? All of these would be easily sellable options when including a revamped PZ1 base game species with a small assortment of entirely new (and likely more niche) species. And the themes get even easier to sell when you factor in animal categories that currently aren’t touchable in PZ1.

Personally, I’m hyped for PZ2 and am totally on-board as long as we see updates done to most of the current PZ1 game features, new building/customization options, and inclusion of new animal categories (which all feel like givens at this point). Just really hoping it’s the 3rd CMS game that Frontier has stated is coming.

 

[leehonglocal]

To me, hopefully fish and aviaries for flying birds and perhaps more animal species and subspecies like most hopefully, African leopard.

 

[Milurian]

Love to see people are starting to talk about PZ2 and the possibilities/likelihoods around it. I’ll eventually address all your initial talking points @yoav_r but for time sake I’m just focusing on what I think will happen to the PZ1 animal roster in a PZ2 situation—


Alright, so may be a really hot/unpopular take (because its not the “what I want” but instead the “what’s realistic” one) but I think Frontier will include very little of the PZ1 base game animals in the PZ2 base game. And my reasoning on this stems from a few things. The rather abrupt design changes (less stylized & more realistic) that happen w animal models after the first 2 years of DLC. The bulk of terrestrial “classic ABC animals” being in PZ1 base game. And the incredibly high likelihood that PZ2’s big/advertised new consumer draw will be aquatics and/or flying species (refer to my linked-above, previous comment from a different thread for more thoughts on this). Along this same line of thinking, I predict we’ll see a good amount of the first “PZ1 DLC species” not included in PZ2 base game either. So Im personally not expecting stuff like the Jaguar, Caribou, or Koala to make an appearance at first. They are all too easy to sell again with updated models and be buying-draws for new DLC.

All this said, I think we’ll see a lot of the newer/later-in-development DLC species be most of our terrestrial species roster for PZ2 base game. So basically, animals with newer/more realistic models will show up in the base game because there’s little-to-no work needed in “upgrading” them.

Side note, but I’m HEAVILY betting we will see the entire Barnyard DLC roster in base game PZ2. Frontier conveniently picked breeds from domesticated species that had more publicly well-known options, the only exceptions to this are the Alpaca & Highland Cow. Meaning too that I’m also expecting to see a Petting Zoo V.2-type pack for PZ2, with things like mini ponies, dwarf goats, silkie chickens, and potbelly pigs as inclusions. So Frontier can include Petting Zoos as a base game feature for PZ2 (hopefully with some additional mechanics/animations) alongside the other new animal “categories” they’ll use to sell/advertise the game.

And I think this all makes even more sense when we consider how most of the basic game animals could easily headline entire DLCs of their own. And the pushback for owners of PZ1 likely wouldn’t be as harsh if they saw these species now reappearing with increased details and animations. Who can honestly say they would be mad to see the Orangutan headline a PZ2 DLC, with a less gorilla-based rig and fully updated model? And the same can apply to a lot of the base game animals. Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Okapi, Indian Rhino, Asian Elephant, Giant Panda, Galapagos Tortoise, Ring-tailed Lemur, American Bison, Timber Wolf, etc. The list could go on. And also this more easily allows Frontier to explore completely different DLC themes than they did with PZ1. Galapagos? Himalayas? Madagascar? India? Congo? Wild West? All of these would be easily sellable options when including a revamped PZ1 base game species with a small assortment of entirely new (and likely more niche) species. And the themes get even easier to sell when you factor in animal categories that currently aren’t touchable in PZ1.

Personally, I’m hyped for PZ2 and am totally on-board as long as we see updates done to most of the current PZ1 game features, new building/customization options, and inclusion of new animal categories (which all feel like givens at this point). Just really hoping it’s the 3rd CMS game that Frontier has stated is coming.

This sounds like a horrible idea some of the base game animals sure but saying that pz2 will release without a majority of the pz1 base game is a really really bad idea the planet zoo 1 base game was already heavily criticised for lack of key animals imagine if it didnt have a lion or tiger or elephant. Imagine if it didnt have a giraffe zebra or an ape imagine if the only versions of these the game had was the rare or non famous ones like the bonobo yes it would sell dlc but at the cost of the base game. Also even if the introduce aviaries and aquatics I think that will be less than half the roster 20 or so animals total because no zoo is entirely aviary animals it would only take a few to hook people in the rest would make great dlc and aquatics to.

If we believe what your saying the roster will and that the base game will be of similar size to the first that means that around 10% of the roster will be domestics we have already seen it will be missing even more basics than the first game and for what some fish and birds.

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

I actually hope that, in a hypothetical sequel, some of the base game animals are held back - the orangutan and pangolin especially stick out in my mind. Doing so would hopefully allow them to be made to a better standard and give them a more accurate appearance and behaviour.

 

[Stygi]

I actually hope that, in a hypothetical sequel, some of the base game animals are held back - the orangutan and pangolin especially stick out in my mind. Doing so would hopefully allow them to be made to a better standard and give them a more accurate appearance and behaviour.

I would expect all animals to have updated models though and the orangutan is so important I would expect it in the base game

 

[SpookDoc]

This sounds like a horrible idea some of the base game animals sure but saying that pz2 will release without a majority of the pz1 base game is a really really bad idea the planet zoo 1 base game was already heavily criticised for lack of key animals imagine if it didnt have a lion or tiger or elephant. Imagine if it didnt have a giraffe zebra or an ape imagine if the only versions of these the game had was the rare or non famous ones like the bonobo yes it would sell dlc but at the cost of the base game. Also even if the introduce aviaries and aquatics I think that will be less than half the roster 20 or so animals total because no zoo is entirely aviary animals it would only take a few to hook people in the rest would make great dlc and aquatics to.

If we believe what your saying the roster will and that the base game will be of similar size to the first that means that around 10% of the roster will be domestics we have already seen it will be missing even more basics than the first game and for what some fish and birds.

I never said I don’t think PZ2 base game will not have a tiger, elephant, giraffe, lion, zebra, rhino, etc. I think it definitely will (specifically the ones I just mentioned). I just don’t think we will be seeing the entire base game selection again. You can’t have your cake and eat it too; Frontier isn’t going to give us everything we want for a PZ2 in the base game. They’re a company with employees and long-term responsibilities/goals. They have to make DLC after initial release. No one can truthfully expect them to include majority of the entire PZ1 roster (all with updates & tweaks for a PZ2 revamp) on top of the likely decent selection of species from new animal categories and new PZ2 game features. I understand that as a game player we might want everything out-right, but that’s just not realistic.

Plus, if I’m honest, there’s some species in base game PZ1 that would’ve likely benefited from being DLC headliners instead. Maybe then they would’ve gotten the design attention they deserved. As others have mentioned, the Orangutan is a glaring example. Others include many of the species I mentioned in my previous comment (and there’s definitely plenty of other examples too).

 

[NachoB]

I've tried to come up with a roster for base game that i would be happy with but is nearly imposible. I just don't want to pay twice for animals that are already good. Some could use better animations, models, skins, etc. so they would be ok for paid DLCs but a lot of them (mostly all the animals we got in the last packs) are just as good as they can get already.

Climbing animals, early DLC animals, more birds, more reptiles and some of the base game animals (snow leopard, spotted hyena, giant panda, gharial, green iguana, some bears, okapi, etc) would be good for DLCs in a sequel but a lot other need to be in base game because: 1) they are AbC animals for a zoo Game (lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, elephants) or 2) they already as good as they can be (wisent, boar, alpaca, dromedary, kiwi, swan, etc).

So that begs the question. Which current animals in the game would you pay twice for in a sequel's DLCs?

I think a sequel needs big names for DLCs and i think animals like the Giant panda, the snow leopard, spotted hyena, etc are all appealing enough and not as "essential" for base roster to be left for DLCs and bring in sales.