Planet Zoo 2 Speculation and ideas

[KKJ]

I think the obvious selling point would be aviaries and aquariums. I'm sure we'd get at least one or the other from the get-go (like PC2 did with waterslides). My guess would be flying birds, just because I feel like those have been more widely requested, but I could see them adding aquariums and other aquatic animals in a dlc soon after.

I have faith in Frontier and would like to think that no matter what they come up with, it's not going to be just a cash-grab or gimmick. Of course I'd rather not repay for the same dlc animals, but ultimately I'm more annoyed with waiting than paying up. I'd rather pay extra to get them immediately than have to wait or not get them at all.

Generally though, I'm less concerned with the animal roster and more with gameplay. I feel like the management options could be heavily improved from PZ1. The seasons are all over the place, the flow of time needs to be adjusted, and I feel like franchise mode could be improved by making it more connected, competitive, or ideally, collaborative. @RightWhale mentioned newsletters, which I think is a great idea. In general, even though I know we can obviously share our zoos and chat about them on these forums, I wish there was a way to browse other people's stuff within the game. I just think it would be cool if you could build a reputation for your zoo, whether it be a good or a bad one. Currently the only glimpses we get of other people's zoos are the names of them on the animals being sold and to be honest, they're absolutely forgettable. Especially since Frontier releases animals to the market so regularly that it barely matters what other people are putting out there.

 

[Veah]

I think the obvious selling point would be aviaries and aquariums. I'm sure we'd get at least one or the other from the get-go (like PC2 did with waterslides). My guess would be flying birds, just because I feel like those have been more widely requested, but I could see them adding aquariums and other aquatic animals in a dlc soon after.

Given that having an aquarium is already posible in Planet Zoo (e.g. axolotl), and the big focus on water of Planet Coaster 2, it would be unforgivable not having full aquatic animals in a potential Planet Zoo 2 from the very beginning.

 

[Topaz Star]

I honestly feel they would go for aquatics first. Also based on that we have already seen Marine Mania DLC for Zoo Tycoon game, but we have never seen any form of Aviary DLC in like any format.

 

[Marvinb]

Yeah my bets are definetly on aquatics aswell. I think between aquatics and aviaries the aquatics would be the more popular one for a general audience. Also im pretty sure they are the easier to do seeing how all we really need is a aquatic gate, in comparission aviaries with free flying birds are something that i imagine is alot more work to get going

 

[NachoB]

I think they Will do both just like what happened with JWE.

 

[Eletan888]

And another question, what do you think should be the base roster of the sequel?

Here's my thrown-together roster of sixty habitat animals. There are definitely fewer essentials left for DLC, but it would be less frustrating to returning players who have to wait for essential animals for years all over again.

Spoiler: Planet Zoo 2 Roster

Aardvark
Addax
African Savannah Elephant
African Wild Dog
American Bison
Amur Leopard
Amur Tiger
Asian Elephant
Bactrian Camel
Baird's Tapir
Blue Wildebeest
Bornean Orangutan
California Sea Lion
Capybara
Caribbean Flamingo
Cheetah
Chimpanzee
Chocoan Peccary
Common Ostrich
Common Warthog
Galapagos Giant Tortoise
Gharial
Giant Anteater
Giant Panda
Gray Wolf
Grizzly Bear
Hippopotamus
Indian Peafowl
Indian Rhinoceros
Jaguar
King Penguin
Koala
Komodo Dragon
Lar Gibbon
Lesser Kudu
Llama
Lion
Mandrill
Nile Crocodile
Nyala
Okapi
Plains Zebra
Polar Bear
Pygmy Hippopotamus
Radiated Tortoise
Red Kangaroo
Red Panda
Red River Hog
Red Ruffed Lemur
Reticulated Giraffe
Ring-Tailed Lemur
Snow Leopard
Spotted Hyena
Southern White Rhinoceros
Spectacled Bear
Sumatran Tiger
Thomson's Gazelle
Tufted Capuchin
Western Lowland Gorilla
White-Bellied Pangolin

 

[Antimony96]

And another question, what do you think should be the base roster of the sequel?

Going with an even sixty and excluding aviary birds and aquatics. Goal was to have more regional balance than the original base game (which was like 80% Africa) while still focusing on ABC species and leaving room for strong DLC headliners.

Spoiler: PZ2 base roster

1. African lion
2. Sumatran tiger
3. Amur tiger
4. Jaguar
5. Cheetah
6. Cougar
7. Spotted hyena
8. Meerkat
9. California sea lion
10. Asian small-clawed otter
11. Eurasian wolf
12. Mexican wolf
13. Grizzly bear
14. Eurasian brown bear
15. Polar bear
16. Giant panda
17. Red panda
18. Burchell's zebra
19. White rhinoceros
20. Bactrian camel
21. Reticulated giraffe
22. Okapi
23. Blue wildebeest
24. Thomson's gazelle
25. Lesser kudu
26. Addax
27. American bison
28. Fallow deer
29. Red river hog
30. Common hippopotamus
31. Ring-tailed lemur
32. Red ruffed lemur
33. Guianan squirrel monkey
34. Hamadryas baboon
35. Japanese macaque
36. Western lowland gorilla
37. Chimpanzee
38. Black-tailed prairie dog
39. Capybara
40. North American beaver
41. African bush elephant
42. Indian elephant
43. Aardvark
44. Red kangaroo
45. Common ostrich
46. Emu
47. African penguin
48. King penguin
49. American flamingo
50. Helmeted guineafowl
51. Indian peafowl
52. Black swan
53. Southern screamer
54. Grey crowned crane
55. Great white pelican
56. Nile crocodile
57. American alligator
58. Komodo dragon
59. Galapagos giant tortoise
60. Aldabra giant tortoise

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

And another question, what do you think should be the base roster of the sequel?

Literally every animal cause the code is right there and theres no reason to exclude any besides greed to sell them back to us

 

[PnGLINNyo]

And another question, what do you think should be the base roster of the sequel?

Not sure if people are gonna like it but here's my attempt.

Spoiler: PZ2 BASE GAME HABITAT ROSTER

1. African Bush Elephant
2. Northern Lion
3. Reticulated Giraffe
4. Western Lowland Gorilla
5. Plains Zebra
6. Hippopotamus
7. Western Chimpanzee
8. Okapi
9. Common Ostrich
10. Black Rhinoceros
11. Cheetah
12. Mandrill
13. Greater Flamingo
14. Raccoon
15. American Bison
16. Grizzly Bear
17. Capybara
18. Jaguar
19. California Sea Lion
20. Polar Bear
21. Brazilian Tapir
22. African Penguin
23. Gray Wolf
24. Collared Peccary
25. Indian Elephant
26. Bengal Tiger
27. Snow Leopard
28. Spotted Hyena
29. Asiatic Black Bear
30. Giant Panda
31. Red Panda
32. Indian Peafowl
33. Bornean Orangutan
34. Saltwater Crocodile
35. Red Kangaroo
36. Meerkat
37. Japanese Macaque
38. Ring Tailed Lemur
39. Red Ruffed Lemur
40. Galapagos Tortoise
41. Thomson's Gazelle
42. Indian Rhinoceros
43. Bactrian Camel
44. Red Deer
45. Gemsbok
46. Blue Wildebeest
47. Emu
48. African Spurred Tortoise
49. Southern White Rhinoceros
50. Bongo

Edit: The reason I withheld to 50 species is so that we can get both aviary and vivarium species too, at least 25 species like so.

Spoiler: PZ2 BASE GAME EXHIBIT ROSTER

• Scarlet Macaw
• Blue and Gold Macaw
• Military Macaw
• Toco Toucan
• Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
• Andean Condor
• Fischer’s Lovebird
• Great Hornbill
• Barn Owl
• Bald Eagle
• Boa Constrictor
• Green Iguana
• Diamondback Terrapin
• Reticulated Python
• Emerald Tree Boa
• Gila Monster
• Panther Chameleon
• Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
• Blue Poison Dart Frog
• Golden Poison Frog
• Giant Tiger Land Snail
• Hercules Beetle
• Mexican Red-Knee Tarantula
• Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion
• Giant Burrowing Cockroach

Some species like the African spurred tortoise and the green iguana hopefully get a larger exhibit box sizes too.

 

[Captain Callum]

African spurred tortoise and the green iguana hopefully get a larger exhibit box sizes too.

Never thought I would ever see the african spurred tortoise and exhibit box in the same sentence, lets leave them in a habitat lol.

 

[PnGLINNyo]

Never thought I would ever see the african spurred tortoise and exhibit box in the same sentence, lets leave them in a habitat lol.

Oh how silly of me. I got em both in habitat and exhibit roster lol.

 

[Milurian]

The sequel will for sure feature aquariums over aviaries if only one is possible simply because you cant make the argument aviaries arent zoos but you can make that argument about aquariums.
Aquariums sit in the same realm as waterparks where depending how you define it it can be considered a theme park but it is more of a subclass usually independent like aquariums are with zoos. aquariums also are larger and more complex than aviaries which usually are only part of a larger zoo whereas aquariums can be entirely independent making me consider it the more substantial addition.
Aviaries however would add more to a zoo game then aquariums simply because avaires are a part of almost every zoo whereas aquariums are often separated.

 

[PnGLINNyo]

Never thought I would ever see the african spurred tortoise and exhibit box in the same sentence, lets leave them in a habitat lol.

Changed it.
Thanks for notifying

 

[RightWhale]

I will say, if we get aquatics in the sequel, it really makes me wonder if the WTE is some sort of failed experiment to add birds :/

 

[Milurian]

I will say, if we get aquatics in the sequel, it really makes me wonder if the WTE is some sort of failed experiment to add birds :/

I can almost guarantee it was

Well it's just said "which has had multiple developer confirmed final major updates" but was it a problem after? Did players riot or what happened?

no rioting just an utter failure in clarity and marketing it was more just an example of potential problems of calling a games end too early

 

[Bughs]

I can almost guarantee it was

no rioting just an utter failure in clarity and marketing it was more just an example of potential problems of calling a games end too early

Ok thank you for clarifying

 

[Markiz]

7. I'll definitely get back to base roster, I like to rethink stuff like this over and over, but in broad strokes

Here's what I concocted for base roster while keeping close to original number of animals in base game (I added minimal amount of marine animals (blue) and flying birds (green) to it, they'd have to sell game with something). Animals with just (bold) are the ones that got swapped for better, but similar species (better of course is highly subjective from me). Animals in (italics) with two (*) are the ones that I believe should be remodeled or updated. I tried to move all animals that needed update out of base roster and have them come back with better model through DLC, but stuff like Lions and Wolves are too iconic and necessary for zoo game to be left out.

So this roster is 53 (original number of base habitat animals) plus 7 of flying birds and marine animals

• Spoiler: Base Roster

  African Crested Porcupine
  [*]African Elephant
  [*]African Lion*
  [*]African Wild Dog
  [*]American Alligator
  [*]Amur Leopard
  [*]Asian Small Clawed Otter
  [*]Asian Water Monitor
  [*]Asiatic Black Bear
  [*]Bald Eagle
  [*]Blacktip Reef Shark
  [*]Blue Wildebeest
  [*]Bottlenose Dolphin
  [*]Californian Sea Lion
  [*]Capybara
  [*]Cheetah
  [*]Collared Peccary
  [*]Common Ostrich
  [*]Dromedary Camel
  [*]Emu
  [*]Eurasian Brown Bear
  [*]Fennec Fox
  [*]Giant Panda
  [*]Greater Flamingo
  [*]Green Sea Turtle
  [*]Grey Wolf*
  [*]Hippopotamus
  [*]Indian Elephant
  [*]Indian Rhinoceros
  [*]Jaguar
  [*]King Penguin
  [*]Koala
  [*]Lar Gibbon
  [*]Malayan Tapir
  [*]Meerkat
  [*]Moose
  [*]Nile Lechwe
  [*]Plains Zebra
  [*]Polar Bear
  [*]Red Deer
  [*]Red Kangaroo
  [*]Red Necked Wallaby
  [*]Red River Hog
  [*]Red Panda*
  [*]Reticulated Giraffe
  [*]Ring Tailed Lemur
  [*]Roseate Spoonbill
  [*]Scarlet Ibis
  [*]Scimitar Horned Oryx
  [*]Siberian Tiger
  [*]Snowy Owl
  [*]South American Tapir
  [*]Spotted Hyena*
  [*]Springbok
  [*]Sulcata Tortoise
  [*]Sumatran Tiger
  [*]Western Chimpanzee
  [*]White Faced Capuchin
  [*]White Rhinoceros
  [*]Wisent

Deluxe can remain the same plus one of each of birds and marine life (something like Golden Eagle and Harbor Porpoise)

For exhibits animals I already said I expect (and hope for) greater variety of terrarium boxes, but also more small birds for WE and aquatic life for small aquariums. Because that offers plethora of choices for future DLCs I don't why we wouldn't get just all the exhibit animals from Base AND DLCs (complete with WEs). At the end of the day it's not huge amount of content and exhibit animals are already simple enough as it is. However there would be additions to this roster as well, again to have some base for birds and fish.

• Spoiler: Additions to Exhibit roster

  African Grey Parrot (WE)
  [*]Blue and Yellow Macaw (WE)
  [*]Clownfish (AQ)
  [*]Common Octopus (AQ)
  [*]Kookaburra (WE)
  [*]Mediterranean Moray Eel (AQ)
  [*]Scarlet Macaw (WE)

Now there's a question of huge number of base and DLC animals left out of sequel. There's number of ways they could implement those.

#1 cope way is we just get them for free in monthly updates. But this is not really happening.

I thought maybe we get smaller collector packs in-between bigger DLCs/Expansions that have only like 4 to 5 old animals (no scenery/no exhibits) remodeled or retextured (of course not every animal needs this/but many base ones do) and they sell for like half the price. Maybe the could serve like precursor or hint for incoming expansion. Something like:

Spoiler: Mini-pack examples

African Jungle Mini-pack:
1. Lowland Gorilla
2. Bongo
3. Okapi
4. Mandrill

South Africa Mini-pack:
1. Aardvark
2. African Penguin
3. Black Rhino
4. Gemsbok

Polar Mini-pack:
1. Reindeer
2. Arctic Fox
3. Wolverine
4. Dall Sheep

And then coupled with that we'd have more expensive Expansions that feature marine life and flying birds along regular land fauna. Something like:

Spoiler: Expansion DLC examples

Rainforest Expansion:
1. Mantled Guereza
2. Spider Monkey
3. Ocelot
4. Coati Mundi
5. Agouti
6. Congo Guineafowl
7. Harpy Eagle
8. Great Indian Hornbill
9. Arapaima
10. Red Tailed Catfish
11. Freshwater Stingray
12. Tiger Fish
13. African Cichlid (AQ)
14. Toco Toucan (WE)
15. Turaco (WE)

Tropical Coasts Expansion:
1. Coquerel's Sifaka
2. Brown Fur Seal
3. Dalmatian Pelican
4. Caribbean Flamingo
5. Rock Hyrax
6. Osprey
7. West Indian Manatee
8. Whale Shark
9. Manta Ray
10. Napoleonic Wrasse
11. Long Spined Porcupine Fish
12. Angelfish (AQ)
13. Butterflyfish (AQ)
15. Bali Mynah (WE)

Northern Expansion:
1. Walrus
2. Musk Ox
3. Sea Otter
4. Rock Ptarmigan
5. Mountain Hare
6. American Black Bear
7. Canadian Porcupine
8. Steller's Sea Lion
9. Great Grey Owl
10. Steller's Sea Eagle
11. Atlantic Puffin
12. Beluga Whale
13. Pacific Giant Octopus
14. King Crab (AQ)
15. Siberian Flying Squirrel (WE)

 

[RightWhale]

Something else I thought about, I want more animals that can’t be released into the wild. Like a moose got hit by a car, brought to an animal hospital, and had to have a leg removed. Or maybe you encounter some bear cubs that had their mother killed. Or perhaps you found someone who housed some wild birds illegally, and now they are too dependent on people to be released.

It’s a great way to add personality to you zoos. I understand sometimes animals in the trade center have “seized by customs” but I want it to be more interactive! Give your players some “story elements” that can be 100% randomly generated.

 

[Milurian]

Something else I thought about, I want more animals that can’t be released into the wild. Like a moose got hit by a car, brought to an animal hospital, and had to have a leg removed. Or maybe you encounter some bear cubs that had their mother killed. Or perhaps you found someone who housed some wild birds illegally, and now they are too dependent on people to be released.

It’s a great way to add personality to you zoos. I understand sometimes animals in the trade center have “seized by customs” but I want it to be more interactive! Give your players some “story elements” that can be 100% randomly generated.

yeah because right now where the animal is from outside of being from a player made zoo makes no difference adding a purpose to the text would help story telling alot.

 

[Fini]

Something else I thought about, I want more animals that can’t be released into the wild. Like a moose got hit by a car, brought to an animal hospital, and had to have a leg removed. Or maybe you encounter some bear cubs that had their mother killed. Or perhaps you found someone who housed some wild birds illegally, and now they are too dependent on people to be released.

It’s a great way to add personality to you zoos. I understand sometimes animals in the trade center have “seized by customs” but I want it to be more interactive! Give your players some “story elements” that can be 100% randomly generated.

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