Planet Zoo 2 Speculation and ideas

Has anyone ever calculated how many percent were scratched from JWE3 (as far as I know) compared to the overall roster?
Do we have the exact number of species in JWE3? The Steam pages mentions "over 80 species", which could be 81 or 89 for all I know...
Anyway, if I'm counting correctly JWE2 had exactly 79 species in the base game plus 5 in the Deluxe upgrade pack, so those numbers are not wildly different. We may start PZ2 with barely more species than what PZ1 had on release, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a far higher percentage of habitat animals (if not a fully habitat roster, considering how exhibits have been scrapped from recent releases and Frontier might have completely lost interest in them). Obviously, there's also the relatively high possibility of new flying and fully aquatic species replacing some of those we currently have, and I expect some of PZ1 base game species to be replaced by more recent or entirely new ones (kangaroos, koalas and polar bears sound more essential to me than African wild dog, spotted hyena or Himalayan brown bear for instance).
 
How about this starting roster for 80 habitat species?

bolded = improved model
underlined = new animal
Animal* = DLC animal in PZ1
  • Africa
    1. Addax*
    2. African bush elephant
    3. African crested porcupine*
    4. African leopard
    5. African penguin*
    6. Blue wildebeest*
    7. Common ostrich
    8. Common zebra
    9. Dromedary
    10. Gemsbok
    11. Giraffe
    12. Greater fllamingo
    13. Hamadrayas baboon*
    14. Mandrill
    15. Nile crocodile
    16. Nile monitor
    17. Northern Lion (new model pls)
    18. Red river hog*
    19. Sable antelope
    20. Scimitar horned oryx*
    21. Southern Rhino*
    22. Thomson gazelle*
    23. Western chimpanzee
    24. Western Lowland Gorilla
  • Asia
    1. Asian elephant
    2. Asian small-clawed otter*
    3. Caracal*
    4. Giant Panda
    5. Indian peafowl
    6. Indian wolf
    7. Japanese macaque
    8. Lar gibbon*
    9. Lion-tailed macaque*
    10. Mainland tiger
    11. Red Panda
    12. Sand cat*
    13. Siamang*
    14. Striped hyena*
    15. Sumatran tiger
    16. Ussuri Dhole*
    17. Water Buffalo*
  • Europe
    1. Alpine Ibex*
    2. Eurasian brown bear
    3. Eurasian wolf
    4. Fallow deer*
    5. Grey seal*
    6. Mute swan*
    7. Red deer
    8. Wild boar*
    9. Wisent*
  • North America
    1. Arctic wolf*
    2. American alligator*
    3. American black bear
    4. California sea lion*
    5. Cougar*
    6. Grizzly bear
    7. Moose*
    8. North american beaver*
    9. Raccoon*
  • South America
    1. Alpaca*
    2. American flamingo*
    3. Baird's tapir
    4. Capybara*
    5. Collared peccary
    6. Colombian white-faced capuchin*
    7. Galapagos giant tortoise
    8. Greater rhea*
    9. Green Iguana
    10. Galapagos giant tortoise
    11. Llama*
    12. Rhinoceros Iguana
  • Australia
    1. Dingo*
    2. Emu*
    3. Little penguin*
    4. Red-necked wallaby*
    5. Red kangaroo*
  • Other
    1. Aldabra giant tortoise
    2. King penguin*
  • Domestics
    1. Alpine goat*
    2. Sussex chicken*
I tried to carve out niches that would allow for future DLCs while keeping most essential things for each region in the base game
 
Not sure if I understood that sentence right, but that means roughly 69% is making it back, right?
Honestly, I would not consider that bad for PZ2 either, as the rough 30% rest could be birds. (I am not fully sold on aquariums in PZ2, as it feels that the demand for it came up rather late)
Yeah You Understood The Question Right. If They Include Ten New Species Though, The Returning Roster Drops To 60.6557377% Of JWE2'S Full Roster.
 
How about this starting roster for 80 habitat species?

bolded = improved model
underlined = new animal
Animal* = DLC animal in PZ1
  • Africa
    1. Addax*
    2. African bush elephant
    3. African crested porcupine*
    4. African leopard
    5. African penguin*
    6. Blue wildebeest*
    7. Common ostrich
    8. Common zebra
    9. Dromedary
    10. Gemsbok
    11. Giraffe
    12. Greater fllamingo
    13. Hamadrayas baboon*
    14. Mandrill
    15. Nile crocodile
    16. Nile monitor
    17. Northern Lion (new model pls)
    18. Red river hog*
    19. Sable antelope
    20. Scimitar horned oryx*
    21. Southern Rhino*
    22. Thomson gazelle*
    23. Western chimpanzee
    24. Western Lowland Gorilla
  • Asia
    1. Asian elephant
    2. Asian small-clawed otter*
    3. Caracal*
    4. Giant Panda
    5. Indian peafowl
    6. Indian wolf
    7. Japanese macaque
    8. Lar gibbon*
    9. Lion-tailed macaque*
    10. Mainland tiger
    11. Red Panda
    12. Sand cat*
    13. Siamang*
    14. Striped hyena*
    15. Sumatran tiger
    16. Ussuri Dhole*
    17. Water Buffalo*
  • Europe
    1. Alpine Ibex*
    2. Eurasian brown bear
    3. Eurasian wolf
    4. Fallow deer*
    5. Grey seal*
    6. Mute swan*
    7. Red deer
    8. Wild boar*
    9. Wisent*
  • North America
    1. Arctic wolf*
    2. American alligator*
    3. American black bear
    4. California sea lion*
    5. Cougar*
    6. Grizzly bear
    7. Moose*
    8. North american beaver*
    9. Raccoon*
  • South America
    1. Alpaca*
    2. American flamingo*
    3. Baird's tapir
    4. Capybara*
    5. Collared peccary
    6. Colombian white-faced capuchin*
    7. Galapagos giant tortoise
    8. Greater rhea*
    9. Green Iguana
    10. Galapagos giant tortoise
    11. Llama*
    12. Rhinoceros Iguana
  • Australia
    1. Dingo*
    2. Emu*
    3. Little penguin*
    4. Red-necked wallaby*
    5. Red kangaroo*
  • Other
    1. Aldabra giant tortoise
    2. King penguin*
  • Domestics
    1. Alpine goat*
    2. Sussex chicken*
I tried to carve out niches that would allow for future DLCs while keeping most essential things for each region in the base game
Would be absolutely on board with that.
Would that still leave me with some personal fears (e.g. Skunk neing left out forever etc.) ? Yes. But I think this would actually be a well rounded roster with something for every region to enjoy to build their home town zoo or whatever.

Yeah You Understood The Question Right. If They Include Ten New Species Though, The Returning Roster Drops To 60.6557377% Of JWE2'S Full Roster.
Honestly still fully reasonable to me.
 
  1. African Buffalo
  2. African Giant Pouched Rat
  3. African Lion
  4. African Pygmy Goat
  5. African Savannah Elephant
  6. Aldabra Giant Tortoise
  7. Alpine Marmot
  8. American Alligator
  9. American Bison
  10. American Flamingo
  11. Amur Leopard
  12. Andean Bear
  13. Arabian Oryx
  14. Arctic Fox
  15. Argentine Black and White Tegu
  16. Asian Small-clawed Otter
  17. Black Rhinoceros
  18. Blue Wildebeest
  19. Bornean Orangutan
  20. Chamois
  21. Cheetah
  22. Cloud Rat
  23. Columbian White-faced Capuchin
  24. Common Ostrich
  25. Cougar
  26. Demoiselle Crane
  27. Dingo
  28. Dromedary
  29. Elk
  30. Eurasian Brown Bear
  31. Eurasian Lynx
  32. Galapagos Giant Tortoise
  33. Giant Panda
  34. Greater Rhea
  35. Himalayan Monal
  36. Hippo
  37. Iberian Wolf
  38. Indian Elephant
  39. Indian Peafowl
  40. Jacob Sheep
  41. King Penguin
  42. Koala
  43. Komodo Dragon
  44. Kune Kune Pig
  45. Malayan Tapir
  46. Meerkat
  47. Mexican Grey Wolf
  48. Nile Crocodile
  49. Northwestern Timber Wolf
  50. Nyala
  51. Okapi
  52. Perentie
  53. Plains Zebra
  54. Polar Bear
  55. Prairie Dog
  56. Pronghorn
  57. Przewalski's Wild Horse
  58. Pygmy Hippo
  59. Raccoon Dog
  60. Red Fox
  61. Red Panda
  62. Reindeer
  63. Reticulated Giraffe
  64. Ring-tailed Lemur
  65. Serval
  66. Shetland Pony
  67. Siberian Tiger
  68. Silky Chicken
  69. Sloth Bear
  70. Snow Leopard
  71. Spanish Mustang
  72. Southern Pudu
  73. Sumatra Chicken
  74. Sumatran Tiger
  75. Warthog
  76. Western Lowland Gorilla
  77. White-tailed Deer
  78. Wild Boar
  79. Wild Turkey
  80. Wisent

I updated my original PZ2 Roster with 30 New Animals
 
I don't like this definition of "greed" being a medium game company trying to make profit. We are not talking about Amazon employing children in sweatshops in third world countries to cut costs, but about a mid-sized game company in the EU trying to be profitable.

Just because they have at one point created an asset for one game does not make them greedy for not giving it for free in a different game. We are not entitled to the labour of the devs just because we bought it in one game. Also, do you feel they are being greedy for nor giving you easy animals right now? We are likely a few hours of dev work away from some "reskinned" animals like the guanaco, various gazelles and several monkeys. Should we boycot until we get the easy reskins because these are assets Frontier already has and does not give us for free?
Eh frontier lost that argument the second they had huge layoffs which reeked of corporate greed. I do agree though that we are not entitled to their work but expecting their work to be of a certain quality when we purchase it is not entitlement we are paying for it what we deem worth our money it is subjective.
I think they made additionally 50.

As Iben said in the other thread, birds etc. are actually not that popular as this community thinks, Frontier will not lean THAT heavily on them.
They will because its new same with whatever form aquatics will take. You are right that besides a few exception both aquatics and birds are only important as concepts people want to build aviaries they dont really care what birds are in them and people can probably only name 2-3 cetaceans. Apart from what will come in the case game they will probably be treated like exhibit animals where its one per dlc and eventually they fade out.
 
  1. African Buffalo
  2. African Giant Pouched Rat
  3. African Lion
  4. African Pygmy Goat
  5. African Savannah Elephant
  6. Aldabra Giant Tortoise
  7. Alpine Marmot
  8. American Alligator
  9. American Bison
  10. American Flamingo
  11. Amur Leopard
  12. Andean Bear
  13. Arabian Oryx
  14. Arctic Fox
  15. Argentine Black and White Tegu
  16. Asian Small-clawed Otter
  17. Black Rhinoceros
  18. Blue Wildebeest
  19. Bornean Orangutan
  20. Chamois
  21. Cheetah
  22. Cloud Rat
  23. Columbian White-faced Capuchin
  24. Common Ostrich
  25. Cougar
  26. Demoiselle Crane
  27. Dingo
  28. Dromedary
  29. Elk
  30. Eurasian Brown Bear
  31. Eurasian Lynx
  32. Galapagos Giant Tortoise
  33. Giant Panda
  34. Greater Rhea
  35. Himalayan Monal
  36. Hippo
  37. Iberian Wolf
  38. Indian Elephant
  39. Indian Peafowl
  40. Jacob Sheep
  41. King Penguin
  42. Koala
  43. Komodo Dragon
  44. Kune Kune Pig
  45. Malayan Tapir
  46. Meerkat
  47. Mexican Grey Wolf
  48. Nile Crocodile
  49. Northwestern Timber Wolf
  50. Nyala
  51. Okapi
  52. Perentie
  53. Plains Zebra
  54. Polar Bear
  55. Prairie Dog
  56. Pronghorn
  57. Przewalski's Wild Horse
  58. Pygmy Hippo
  59. Raccoon Dog
  60. Red Fox
  61. Red Panda
  62. Reindeer
  63. Reticulated Giraffe
  64. Ring-tailed Lemur
  65. Serval
  66. Shetland Pony
  67. Siberian Tiger
  68. Silky Chicken
  69. Sloth Bear
  70. Snow Leopard
  71. Spanish Mustang
  72. Southern Pudu
  73. Sumatra Chicken
  74. Sumatran Tiger
  75. Warthog
  76. Western Lowland Gorilla
  77. White-tailed Deer
  78. Wild Boar
  79. Wild Turkey
  80. Wisent

I updated my original PZ2 Roster with 30 New Animals
your list doesnt make much sense?
we already have these but you highlighted them as new?
  • andean bear
  • amur leopard
  • arctic fox
  • dingo
  • galapgos tortoise
  • pararie dog
  • pronghorn
  • pygmy hippo
  • warthog
  • wisent
we also dont have these but you didnt highlight them?
  • pygmy goat (we have a different breed)
  • arabian oryx
  • elk (did you mean moose?)
  • eurasian brown bear (we have a different subspecies)
  • iberian wolf (only have a generic, dingo or arctic)
  • nile crocodile
  • perentie
  • sumatran tiger (we have a different subspecies)
  • wild turkey

(also 3/4 subspecies of grey wolf in the base game is not a good idea especially when you have more wolves than total oceanian animals)
 
your list doesnt make much sense?
we already have these but you highlighted them as new?
  • andean bear
  • amur leopard
  • arctic fox
  • dingo
  • galapgos tortoise
  • pararie dog
  • pronghorn
  • pygmy hippo
  • warthog
  • wisent
we also dont have these but you didnt highlight them?
  • pygmy goat (we have a different breed)
  • arabian oryx
  • elk (did you mean moose?)
  • eurasian brown bear (we have a different subspecies)
  • iberian wolf (only have a generic, dingo or arctic)
  • nile crocodile
  • perentie
  • sumatran tiger (we have a different subspecies)
  • wild turkey

(also 3/4 subspecies of grey wolf in the base game is not a good idea especially when you have more wolves than total oceanian animals)
I think those are new to the previous list. Sentence below the list: "I updated my original PZ2 Roster with 30 New Animals"
 
The truth is, whatever they do, the sequel will never be as succesful as the first game, aviaries/aquariums or not. PZ was a hit because the huge gap between it and the ZT games. There were decades without any good Zoo game so it was huge to see a Zoo game with great graphics, it caught everyones attention. But since the jump between PZ and PZ2 wont be as shocking, I doubt it will bring as many people as the first game.

That is why they tried so much to make the PC2 distinctive from PC1, hence the huge emphasis on the waterparks. But look how it ended. It was not enough to bring in as many new people and the core playerbase compained about the cut content from the first game. If they will cut the animals in PZ2 it will end up the same. Just saying. They should improve and add to what is already there and aim for their loyal playerbase, not cut from it.
 
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How are layoffs an indication of corporate greed rather than a company not making profit?
At the point they were conducted there was not at least based on public knowledge under any sort significant financial trouble the company was profitable just not to the extreme levels predicated and they decided to remove a significant number of employees which we are still seeing the impacts of now so yes it was corporate greed at least on the surface.
 
The truth is, whatever they do, the sequel will never be as succesful as the first game, aviaries/aquariums or not. PZ was a hit because the huge gap between it and the ZT games. There were decades without any good Zoo game so it was huge to see a Zoo game with great graphics, it caught everyones attention. But since the jump between PZ and PZ2 wont be as shocking, I doubt it will bring as many people as the first game.

That is why they tried so much to make the PC2 distinctive from PC1, hence the huge emphasis on the waterparks. But look how it ended. It was not enough to bring in as many new people and the core playerbase compained about the cut content from the first game. If they will cut the animals in PZ2 it will end up the same. Just saying. They should improve and add to what is already there and aim for their loyal playerbase, not cut from it.
I don’t think we can use the botched release of PC2 as a measure of the potential popularity or success of PZ2. If the development team isn’t rushed into pushing the game out to meet an arbitrary release date and they are instead able to make sure the game is complete and ready for consumers, I think it’ll be very popular. Especially with aviaries, aquariums, and a new engine that can improve climbing mechanics. We know what this creative team is capable of when given the time to do it right so hopefully the executives learned their lesson and just let them cook.

There are so many animals in the world, I’d be fine if none of the animals in PZ1 made their way to PZ2. PZ1 still looks gorgeous so if someone really needs to build for a specific species that already exists, they can stick to the OG game. An all new animal roster plus aviaries and aquariums would be huge. All current scenery and nature items should come back at launch though.
 
How are layoffs an indication of corporate greed rather than a company not making profit?
From what I have heared their profit loss was not as huge to justify that many layoffs. And the way they hndled it were inhumane to say the least.

I refuse to call any business greedy, as I find the word rather childish in that context. But Frontier is leaning in a direction I hope they course correct.
 
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