Hayo zookeepers!
It's time for the August Monthly Catch Up, and we have a lot to get through! Let's take a look back at what we got up to this month.
Free Update 1.3, and Planet Zoo: Australia Pack released on the 25 August, packed full of content. We're proud to add popular community requests into Planet Zoo, such as Vending Machines; Staff Management Multi-Select; Scenery Light Toggle; Animal Food Management Page, and, of course, Colour Variations! If you haven't already, make sure your game is on Update 1.3.1 (we're already working on Update 1.3.2, thanks to all who have submitted Issue Tracker reports). What addition have you been most excited about? Share your park screenshots with us down below!
As previously mentioned, we released the Planet Zoo: Australia Pack, which features five marvellous, iconic animals: the curious Koala, handsome Red Kangaroo, cunning Dingo, striking Southern Cassowary and inquisitive Eastern Blue-Tongued Lizard. Which one is your favourite? If you haven't already, you can purchase this pack for £7.99 ($9.99, €9.99) on Steam and the Frontier Store. We've really enjoyed seeing all the screenshots and videos our PlanZo Fam has created over the last couple of days. We hope you've had a wonderful time exploring Down Under - did we mention we also published our Australia Pack Developer Journal, where we heard from Senior Artist Anthony McKenzie, Senior Animator Joshua Shepherd, and Aboriginal Artist who worked with us on this pack, John Smith Gumbula, Founder|Cultural Ambassador & Chief Indigenous Creative of Bur'an Holdings Australia. You can read an excerpt from Anthony here:
It’s always important to us, as a team, that we responsibly represent any region of the world in Planet Zoo. This usually starts with a diverse session of research and reference gathering; from the native animals, the indigenous cultures, the incredible architecture, the latest lifestyle trends and, the diverse landscape. One thing that initially stuck out to the team was the visual contrast between the sleek modern cityscapes and the vast red sand plains of the outback - it was important to us to find a good balance between the two. When collecting reference from Australia, we started to see recurring themes that would begin to inform the material choices. The outback had some great visuals of rusted metals that naturally form over time and visually this is something we chose to incorporate across a variety of assets for the pack.
That isn't all we celebrated this month. On 8 August, we celebrated World Cat Day, 12 August was World Elephant Day, and 19 August was International Orangutan Day! These are all important days in the Animal Kingdom, as they help raise awareness on any struggles the animals are facing in the wild. We hope you took the time to research how we can help these animals thrive, such as looking into what products we use in our everyday lives that could harm these precious animals. We all have a part to play when it comes to looking after our animal counterparts!
As always, let's finish this Catch Up with the Zoopedia Facts we learnt this month:
It's time for the August Monthly Catch Up, and we have a lot to get through! Let's take a look back at what we got up to this month.
Free Update 1.3, and Planet Zoo: Australia Pack released on the 25 August, packed full of content. We're proud to add popular community requests into Planet Zoo, such as Vending Machines; Staff Management Multi-Select; Scenery Light Toggle; Animal Food Management Page, and, of course, Colour Variations! If you haven't already, make sure your game is on Update 1.3.1 (we're already working on Update 1.3.2, thanks to all who have submitted Issue Tracker reports). What addition have you been most excited about? Share your park screenshots with us down below!
As previously mentioned, we released the Planet Zoo: Australia Pack, which features five marvellous, iconic animals: the curious Koala, handsome Red Kangaroo, cunning Dingo, striking Southern Cassowary and inquisitive Eastern Blue-Tongued Lizard. Which one is your favourite? If you haven't already, you can purchase this pack for £7.99 ($9.99, €9.99) on Steam and the Frontier Store. We've really enjoyed seeing all the screenshots and videos our PlanZo Fam has created over the last couple of days. We hope you've had a wonderful time exploring Down Under - did we mention we also published our Australia Pack Developer Journal, where we heard from Senior Artist Anthony McKenzie, Senior Animator Joshua Shepherd, and Aboriginal Artist who worked with us on this pack, John Smith Gumbula, Founder|Cultural Ambassador & Chief Indigenous Creative of Bur'an Holdings Australia. You can read an excerpt from Anthony here:
It’s always important to us, as a team, that we responsibly represent any region of the world in Planet Zoo. This usually starts with a diverse session of research and reference gathering; from the native animals, the indigenous cultures, the incredible architecture, the latest lifestyle trends and, the diverse landscape. One thing that initially stuck out to the team was the visual contrast between the sleek modern cityscapes and the vast red sand plains of the outback - it was important to us to find a good balance between the two. When collecting reference from Australia, we started to see recurring themes that would begin to inform the material choices. The outback had some great visuals of rusted metals that naturally form over time and visually this is something we chose to incorporate across a variety of assets for the pack.
That isn't all we celebrated this month. On 8 August, we celebrated World Cat Day, 12 August was World Elephant Day, and 19 August was International Orangutan Day! These are all important days in the Animal Kingdom, as they help raise awareness on any struggles the animals are facing in the wild. We hope you took the time to research how we can help these animals thrive, such as looking into what products we use in our everyday lives that could harm these precious animals. We all have a part to play when it comes to looking after our animal counterparts!
As always, let's finish this Catch Up with the Zoopedia Facts we learnt this month:
- Did you know, Lions, Tigers, Leopards and Jaguars can all roar, with Lions being the loudest. But, on the other hand, Cheetahs and Snow Leopards cannot!
- The earliest forms of Flamingos were seen 40 million years ago in the fossil record.
- Red Kangaroos often live in the desert areas of Australia and, as such, can withstand temperatures up to 44°C.
- Dingoes have very flexible wrists that enable them to clutch prey; this also gives them the ability to open doors and gates that dogs or wolves could not get through.
- Southern Cassowaries are important to their local environment as they are effective seed dispersers; they eat over 200 species of plants and disperse the seeds as they are egested.
- Eastern Blue-Tongued Lizards may detach their tail when attacked as a distraction. Their tails can grow back after detachment.
- Koalas rarely drink, getting almost all the water they need from their eucalyptus diet.
- Koala fur is an extremely good insulator, rivalling arctic mammal fur. They need this fur to keep them warm because their metabolism is very slow.
