Planet Zoo - Colour Variation

[Swjosdotschka]

Now that uniqueness will be addressed on short notice, I hope we don't linger on "animals still don't feel unique" after this update and a next update will have a different focus.
Mentioned many times to keep expectations low (to avoid disappointment) and wait and see what the next update will (also) bring along.

Well, for me "uniqueness" is more than different fur color, so I don't expect that much on that front. I benefit from this update, because I like detailed breeding - which is why I don't see this addition as comsmetic, because, since it's genetic, if you WANT to play that way, you can actually do something with this feature.

I still wish for a personality update in the future, that will also effect animal management. But that might as well be to heavy on the calculation process of the game. All in all, this will probably not be the last major update we get, so I'm sure, on the long run there will be something for everyone and every playstyle.

 

[Keats523]

That's where I always stop people; if possible it is preferred.

Most zoos don't have that option, either due to environmental constraints or other reasons. For highly endangered species it is usually preferable to artificially incubate the eggs to ensure the best chance of survival for as many of the offspring as possible. I myself have taken part in this process. It is more common for zoos to allow reptiles to naturally nest, but less commonly for birds (especially not in mixed exhibits).

I've actually worked at a zoo and talked to many other facilities about this. At least in the US, we almost never remove the eggs, especially from endangered species because we don't want to hand raise them. The only times we remove the eggs are if we don't want them to hatch, in which case we may replace them with dummies, or if the parents aren't doing very well. Hand-raised birds just come with so many behavioral issues, and it can impact their breeding, health, and socialization.

 

[PaigeAmber]

Hayo Zookeepers,

Thanks for all of your brilliant support; we're excited to show you a snippet of what we've been working on over the last couple of months, and we'll be sharing more news on what else we've been up to very soon!

We've been intently reading your feedback regarding animal colour variation, and we've spent many hours researching realistic and well-documented variations to bring you accurate depictions of our animal roster. As a result, we've been working on bringing you varying colour, from the majority of animals with subtle differences to the couple of animals that have large variety in colour.

We'll be going further in to detail on how genetics will impact your groups, herds and individual animals in the next couple of weeks, where we'll also be going in-depth about what you can expect in our next update.

The animals will be categorised with subtle, medium and major variations. While we've aimed to give this treatment to as many animals as possible, we haven't done it for all of them. Exhibit animals and some habitat animals won't have these changes, largely due to either their environments being too densely packed to benefit from it, or there not being any clear variation occurring in the wild. Today, we'll be showing you one example from each category:

Subtle - American Bison

View attachment 183091​

Medium - Reticulated Giraffe

View attachment 183092​

Major - Timber Wolf

View attachment 183093​

Thanks again for all of your feedback on this, including your threads sharing videos and photos. We cannot wait for you all to get your hands on this upcoming update to see these variations for yourself, and what else we've been working on too!

Hayo Zookeepers,

Thanks for all of your brilliant support; we're excited to show you a snippet of what we've been working on over the last couple of months, and we'll be sharing more news on what else we've been up to very soon!

We've been intently reading your feedback regarding animal colour variation, and we've spent many hours researching realistic and well-documented variations to bring you accurate depictions of our animal roster. As a result, we've been working on bringing you varying colour, from the majority of animals with subtle differences to the couple of animals that have large variety in colour.

We'll be going further in to detail on how genetics will impact your groups, herds and individual animals in the next couple of weeks, where we'll also be going in-depth about what you can expect in our next update.

The animals will be categorised with subtle, medium and major variations. While we've aimed to give this treatment to as many animals as possible, we haven't done it for all of them. Exhibit animals and some habitat animals won't have these changes, largely due to either their environments being too densely packed to benefit from it, or there not being any clear variation occurring in the wild. Today, we'll be showing you one example from each category:

Subtle - American Bison

View attachment 183091​

Medium - Reticulated Giraffe

View attachment 183092​

Major - Timber Wolf

View attachment 183093​

Thanks again for all of your feedback on this, including your threads sharing videos and photos. We cannot wait for you all to get your hands on this upcoming update to see these variations for yourself, and what else we've been working on too!

This looks great, praying we get a black/melanistic variation of the Timber Wolf!!

 

[Indoraptor27]

@Chante Goodman, just curious, how many variations, on average will each species with them have? Or is it something you're not planning to reveal yet? It's fine if it is.

 

[avietar]

I hope the saturation, shades and colors exist on a spectrum instead of X amount of variants A couple of set variants is of course better than the phenotypical clones we have now, but if the colors exist on a spectrum it will feel a lot more natural and it is quite unlikely that two animals are exactly the same. I'm very excited for this update!

 

[Urufu1997]

I hope the saturation, shades and colors exist on a spectrum instead of X amount of variants A couple of set variants is of course better than the phenotypical clones we have now, but if the colors exist on a spectrum it will feel a lot more natural and it is quite unlikely that two animals are exactly the same. I'm very excited for this update!
View attachment 183353

This would be absolutely awesome

 

[Lea_G]

I'm a bit late to the party, but really excited by the announcement! Summer isn't really gaming time for me, but I'm super curious to check out the new colours. I didn't mind the lack of variation as much as others, but I'm sure it's going to improve the gaming experience a lot. Looking forward to more info and more pictures

 

[Sheep]

I hope the saturation, shades and colors exist on a spectrum instead of X amount of variants A couple of set variants is of course better than the phenotypical clones we have now, but if the colors exist on a spectrum it will feel a lot more natural and it is quite unlikely that two animals are exactly the same. I'm very excited for this update!
View attachment 183353

Would be absolutely amazing, indeed. By looking at the wolves, it seems like they didn't repaint the fur pattern, but only changed the values and hues (from what I see, at least), so maybe that means it's possible they work in a spectrum? Fingers crossed!

 

[Urufu1997]

Would be absolutely amazing, indeed. By looking at the wolves, it seems like they didn't repaint the fur pattern, but only changed the values and hues (from what I see, at least), so maybe that means it's possible they work in a spectrum? Fingers crossed!

I really hope we will also get Pattern Differences for them. I think I've never seen a Wolf with dark Fur that still has this kind of Pattern on the Back

 

[Sheep]

I really hope we will also get Pattern Differences for them. I think I've never seen a Wolf with dark Für that still has this kind of Pattern on the Back

I'd like to see that, too! Hopefully it is for a good reason, if they decided on not changing them.
Can't wait to see them!

 

[Urufu1997]

We do also need Pattern Variations for Llamas. I want the Possibility to get a white Llama with brown Spots

 

[NZFanatic]

I've actually worked at a zoo and talked to many other facilities about this. At least in the US, we almost never remove the eggs, especially from endangered species because we don't want to hand raise them. The only times we remove the eggs are if we don't want them to hatch, in which case we may replace them with dummies, or if the parents aren't doing very well. Hand-raised birds just come with so many behavioral issues, and it can impact their breeding, health, and socialization.

I've been working in zoos for the past six years, and played a part in Operation Nest Egg for the kiwi. The eggs are always removed, and hatched in an incubator. I've been part of the same thing for many species. I worked at one facility where they preferred to let some of their birds raise their offspring naturally, particularly with lovebirds (which are not an endangered species) and they had a recurring issue of pairs fighting over their preferred nest boxes. On more than one occasion eggs would be destroyed in the process, and if the chicks didn't leave the next in time they were sometimes attacked by their own parents (parrots are notorious for this). I also briefly took part in this process for greater flamingos; the young were raised with puppets, and eggs were replaced in the nests purely so the parents would give up on raising them when they realised they would never hatch.

It's not about hand-rearing. Typically the young is only hand-reared up to a point, and then re-introduced to the flock, or a number of young are reared together so they understand what they are. In the case of birds or prey, usually a puppet it used in feeding so the chick imprints on a resemblence of its own kind. In any case there is a vast difference between hand-rearing and hand-raising, and hand-taming, which is where you're getting confused. All three are different levels of care.

I've known keepers who have had to hand-rear wallaby joeys and even one who had to hand-rear a siamang baby after the mother chose one twin over the other. The baby was successfully reintroduced to the habitat even after being with a human surrogate. The beautiful thing about animals is that behaviour is typically instinctive, not necessarily learned. This includes calling, mobility, and feeding. The risks are not as high as you seem to imagine.

 

[Keats523]

I've been working in zoos for the past six years, and played a part in Operation Nest Egg for the kiwi. The eggs are always removed, and hatched in an incubator. I've been part of the same thing for many species. I worked at one facility where they preferred to let some of their birds raise their offspring naturally, particularly with lovebirds (which are not an endangered species) and they had a recurring issue of pairs fighting over their preferred nest boxes. On more than one occasion eggs would be destroyed in the process, and if the chicks didn't leave the next in time they were sometimes attacked by their own parents (parrots are notorious for this). I also briefly took part in this process for greater flamingos; the young were raised with puppets, and eggs were replaced in the nests purely so the parents would give up on raising them when they realised they would never hatch.

It's not about hand-rearing. Typically the young is only hand-reared up to a point, and then re-introduced to the flock, or a number of young are reared together so they understand what they are. In the case of birds or prey, usually a puppet it used in feeding so the chick imprints on a resemblence of its own kind. In any case there is a vast difference between hand-rearing and hand-raising, and hand-taming, which is where you're getting confused. All three are different levels of care.

I've known keepers who have had to hand-rear wallaby joeys and even one who had to hand-rear a siamang baby after the mother chose one twin over the other. The baby was successfully reintroduced to the habitat even after being with a human surrogate. The beautiful thing about animals is that behaviour is typically instinctive, not necessarily learned. This includes calling, mobility, and feeding. The risks are not as high as you seem to imagine.

Out of curiosity, what country/area are you from? It may be a difference involved in both the language and methods used in this process.

 

[Xrystal]

We'll be going further in to detail on how genetics will impact your groups, herds and individual animals in the next couple of weeks, where we'll also be going in-depth about what you can expect in our next update.

Expanding on genetics ? or explaining how the ones you have allowed us to see affect each creature? Either way, looking forward to seeing how much that side of things are.

 

[JamieCA]

Happy to hear progres is being made even with the disruptions of the pandemic!

 

[Joshwa0327]

Hi Planet Zoo Peps. I posted this Poll in the Planet Zoo PC Community. I think we Should have Eggs, For the Egg laying Animals.

 

[Cool Cats and Kittens]

Now, after this poll, frontier has to do it! Let's make a poll "should Planet Zoo release a free dlc every month" next. Or "Should the vets be able to research a vaccine against covid-19 that works in real life?"

 

[Iben]

Maybe we should leave the egg-discussion for what it is, and focus on the hidden new items in the images ?

 

[Urufu1997]

Maybe we should leave the egg-discussion for what it is, and focus on the hidden new items in the images ?

There are hidden new Items? I've searched on the Pictures when they were released but found nothing. Thanks, I will look again

Edit: I think I found something. Is that a new Plant on the lower left Side of the Giraffe Picture?

 

[Iben]

There are hidden new Items? I've searched on the Pictures when they were released but found nothing. Thanks, I will look again

Edit: I think I found something. Is that a new Plant on the lower left Side of the Giraffe Picture?

And there's a tree in the wolf picture at the back that matches with no tree that is ingame at this point I tripple-checked to be sure, but that isn't a tree we have ingame!