I don't know why everone's freaking out about the plants. This is probably going to be the best, most impactful update yet, but now, thanks to a bush and a tree, all anyone can talk about is the rumored Australian DLC. The plants could have been rotated and placed at confusing angles, originated from something that was scrapped, or are related to an update that won't come out anytime soon. Yes it's possible they are Easter eggs, but last time it was pretty obvious that the revealed photos had significance. Let's just appreciate the variations.
Planet Zoo - Colour Variation
- Thread starter Chante Goodman
- Start date
So, I have some questions regarding this. First off, I am excited to see color variations coming to the game in any capacity, but I have to ask: What about animals who not only have differences in color, but also have a diverse range of patterns?
And for animals like wolves, with an EXTREME range of diversity in both color AND patterns, how will that be handled? Will there be any kind of random pattern variation, such as "markings" that can be mix/matched/layered/etc? Because, of course, not all "gray" wolves look identical, for example. Not all black wolves look the same either- and for that matter, will there even be black wolves? What about white wolves, aside from the arctic wolf? Will the arctic wolf also be getting color variants?
Basically; Will there be enough color/pattern variation and differences among individuals in animals of the "major" category, especially animals like wolves of which they have a MASSIVE amount of variation realistically, that the variants won't just start getting repetitive after, say, 7 wolves in a pack? Is there any kind of randomization to patterns, or are all patterns(i.e. white areas, tan spots, black back ticking, etc etc, i.e. the "markings" of the wolf) just tied to the wolf's base color overall, so all brown wolves will look identical, all gray wolves will look identical, and so on?
What I mean by "variation":
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Notice how, pretty much all of those wolves are unique from eachother. Even the ones that are similar in overall color, have subtle differences that make them visually different- different placement of brown spots, or white markings, or black ticking. Each wolf looks visually different despite being somewhat similar and sharing some similarities(such as a lot of the gray wolves having brown muzzle markings.)
I ask, because I noticed in the image shown with the example wolves, I noticed that... every single one of them, and I mean EVERY single one, had the EXACT same markings. Now, I don't know if those are final or not, which is why I'm asking- but that was something I noticed that was a bit disappointing. Despite being different colors, the wolves all had the exact same marking placement and everything- it looks as if the base timber wolf texture was color changed in photoshop and that is the only difference between a lot of them... you can see the exact same black ticking on the back, with the exact same placement on every wolf, the same spots where the base wolf is white, it's all the same, just recolored... which, to be honest, I am really hoping is not the case when the update actually arrives. I don't want to be able to buy 10 wolves and then I have every single possible color/pattern variation in the game... I don't want to have two "brown" wolves in my zoo and have them look 100% identical to eachother... because then, they're not really "unique," they're just... one of a few different "variants". At least tigers and cheetahs have multiple types of spot differences that can combine together to make each tiger/cheetah look at least somewhat unique- even if two tigers share the same facial stripes, the body stripes might be different. But with the wolves in that image... they all look identical except for a color change, as if someone brought the texture image to photoshop and just changed the hue.
I am REALLY hoping there will be more uniqueness and variation than that.
And for animals like wolves, with an EXTREME range of diversity in both color AND patterns, how will that be handled? Will there be any kind of random pattern variation, such as "markings" that can be mix/matched/layered/etc? Because, of course, not all "gray" wolves look identical, for example. Not all black wolves look the same either- and for that matter, will there even be black wolves? What about white wolves, aside from the arctic wolf? Will the arctic wolf also be getting color variants?
Basically; Will there be enough color/pattern variation and differences among individuals in animals of the "major" category, especially animals like wolves of which they have a MASSIVE amount of variation realistically, that the variants won't just start getting repetitive after, say, 7 wolves in a pack? Is there any kind of randomization to patterns, or are all patterns(i.e. white areas, tan spots, black back ticking, etc etc, i.e. the "markings" of the wolf) just tied to the wolf's base color overall, so all brown wolves will look identical, all gray wolves will look identical, and so on?
What I mean by "variation":
Notice how, pretty much all of those wolves are unique from eachother. Even the ones that are similar in overall color, have subtle differences that make them visually different- different placement of brown spots, or white markings, or black ticking. Each wolf looks visually different despite being somewhat similar and sharing some similarities(such as a lot of the gray wolves having brown muzzle markings.)
I ask, because I noticed in the image shown with the example wolves, I noticed that... every single one of them, and I mean EVERY single one, had the EXACT same markings. Now, I don't know if those are final or not, which is why I'm asking- but that was something I noticed that was a bit disappointing. Despite being different colors, the wolves all had the exact same marking placement and everything- it looks as if the base timber wolf texture was color changed in photoshop and that is the only difference between a lot of them... you can see the exact same black ticking on the back, with the exact same placement on every wolf, the same spots where the base wolf is white, it's all the same, just recolored... which, to be honest, I am really hoping is not the case when the update actually arrives. I don't want to be able to buy 10 wolves and then I have every single possible color/pattern variation in the game... I don't want to have two "brown" wolves in my zoo and have them look 100% identical to eachother... because then, they're not really "unique," they're just... one of a few different "variants". At least tigers and cheetahs have multiple types of spot differences that can combine together to make each tiger/cheetah look at least somewhat unique- even if two tigers share the same facial stripes, the body stripes might be different. But with the wolves in that image... they all look identical except for a color change, as if someone brought the texture image to photoshop and just changed the hue.
I am REALLY hoping there will be more uniqueness and variation than that.
AHHH! Wow! Great Job frontier! Best Developers!
Hope other game studios can learn from yall!
Hope other game studios can learn from yall!
Really nice pics, Wolfs are really diverse.
But I'm not expecting such an extensive and extreme variation, and I must say I like the examples Frontier showed.
I do also hope they will work more on them. I was a little bit disappointed when I saw the Wolf Variations. These Pictures look absolutely great and I would love it if the People at Frontier get some Inspiration from them to make the Wolves betterSo, I have some questions regarding this. First off, I am excited to see color variations coming to the game in any capacity, but I have to ask: What about animals who not only have differences in color, but also have a diverse range of patterns?
And for animals like wolves, with an EXTREME range of diversity in both color AND patterns, how will that be handled? Will there be any kind of random pattern variation, such as "markings" that can be mix/matched/layered/etc? Because, of course, not all "gray" wolves look identical, for example. Not all black wolves look the same either- and for that matter, will there even be black wolves? What about white wolves, aside from the arctic wolf? Will the arctic wolf also be getting color variants?
Basically; Will there be enough color/pattern variation and differences among individuals in animals of the "major" category, especially animals like wolves of which they have a MASSIVE amount of variation realistically, that the variants won't just start getting repetitive after, say, 7 wolves in a pack? Is there any kind of randomization to patterns, or are all patterns(i.e. white areas, tan spots, black back ticking, etc etc, i.e. the "markings" of the wolf) just tied to the wolf's base color overall, so all brown wolves will look identical, all gray wolves will look identical, and so on?
What I mean by "variation":
Notice how, pretty much all of those wolves are unique from eachother. Even the ones that are similar in overall color, have subtle differences that make them visually different- different placement of brown spots, or white markings, or black ticking. Each wolf looks visually different despite being somewhat similar and sharing some similarities(such as a lot of the gray wolves having brown muzzle markings.)
I ask, because I noticed in the image shown with the example wolves, I noticed that... every single one of them, and I mean EVERY single one, had the EXACT same markings. Now, I don't know if those are final or not, which is why I'm asking- but that was something I noticed that was a bit disappointing. Despite being different colors, the wolves all had the exact same marking placement and everything- it looks as if the base timber wolf texture was color changed in photoshop and that is the only difference between a lot of them... you can see the exact same black ticking on the back, with the exact same placement on every wolf, the same spots where the base wolf is white, it's all the same, just recolored... which, to be honest, I am really hoping is not the case when the update actually arrives. I don't want to be able to buy 10 wolves and then I have every single possible color/pattern variation in the game... I don't want to have two "brown" wolves in my zoo and have them look 100% identical to eachother... because then, they're not really "unique," they're just... one of a few different "variants". At least tigers and cheetahs have multiple types of spot differences that can combine together to make each tiger/cheetah look at least somewhat unique- even if two tigers share the same facial stripes, the body stripes might be different. But with the wolves in that image... they all look identical except for a color change, as if someone brought the texture image to photoshop and just changed the hue.
I am REALLY hoping there will be more uniqueness and variation than that.
I dunno, I just find it a bit... disappointing, I guess, that wolves, the #1 animal with the most variation and diversity in coat colors and patterns, are getting... very little attention in general and have less variation than a tiger or a cheetah. Like sure, they may be getting different colors now, but... even with the different colors, a tiger or a cheetah would still have more variation, with the spots and stripes and how they work with mix and matching. I was kind of hoping wolf coats would have a similar system with markings, rather than just a basic texture with no variation at all.
Wolves in this game have so much potential to be interesting and have each individual genuinely be unique, but as it is, they're just... not.The wolves in those pics have literally just had the base wolf texture run through photoshop and hue changed, and other than that there is 0 variation in the actual pattern of the coat whatsoever, which is not at all accurate and is, tbh, very disappointing. Sure, it's nice to have different colors, but when the variations stop after a few individuals and then all you get are carbon copies, then... what's the point? Why do the brown wolves have the EXACT same coat pattern as the normal gray wolves? Why do ALL wolves of the same "color type" look 100% identical to eachother, when even cheetahs and tigers have more uniqueness and variation?
I can have 30 cheetahs and still see some uniqueness in their patterns. No two cheetahs have the EXACT same spots across their entire body- and their spot patterns aren't determined by their coat color, either. But wolves? Judging by the screenshot, it looks like their ONLY difference will be their base coloration and then nothing else. No unique markings, no nothing. Just...color changes, with no changes to the actual texture of the coat to show ANY effort at making the different variants unique besides their color. No marking randomization like the tigers and cheetahs have.
It's especially disappointing because, like... the system is THERE. Systems DO exist for layered, mix/matched markings. Tigers, cheetahs, and zebras have them. The system could be adapted to work with wolves, but... honestly, with as little attention to detail as Frontier put into the wolves in this game(considering at first launch, they couldn't even get pack mechanics right and wolves would kill eachother 24/7, despite being pack animals...), it kinda makes me wonder why they even bothered putting them in at all. They don't really seem to like or care about them, because they're just...low effort, compared to other animals.The fact that even CHEETAHS started out with some coat color variation at launch, but wolves were all carbon copies of eachother, speaks volumes.
Wolves in this game have so much potential to be interesting and have each individual genuinely be unique, but as it is, they're just... not.The wolves in those pics have literally just had the base wolf texture run through photoshop and hue changed, and other than that there is 0 variation in the actual pattern of the coat whatsoever, which is not at all accurate and is, tbh, very disappointing. Sure, it's nice to have different colors, but when the variations stop after a few individuals and then all you get are carbon copies, then... what's the point? Why do the brown wolves have the EXACT same coat pattern as the normal gray wolves? Why do ALL wolves of the same "color type" look 100% identical to eachother, when even cheetahs and tigers have more uniqueness and variation?
I can have 30 cheetahs and still see some uniqueness in their patterns. No two cheetahs have the EXACT same spots across their entire body- and their spot patterns aren't determined by their coat color, either. But wolves? Judging by the screenshot, it looks like their ONLY difference will be their base coloration and then nothing else. No unique markings, no nothing. Just...color changes, with no changes to the actual texture of the coat to show ANY effort at making the different variants unique besides their color. No marking randomization like the tigers and cheetahs have.
It's especially disappointing because, like... the system is THERE. Systems DO exist for layered, mix/matched markings. Tigers, cheetahs, and zebras have them. The system could be adapted to work with wolves, but... honestly, with as little attention to detail as Frontier put into the wolves in this game(considering at first launch, they couldn't even get pack mechanics right and wolves would kill eachother 24/7, despite being pack animals...), it kinda makes me wonder why they even bothered putting them in at all. They don't really seem to like or care about them, because they're just...low effort, compared to other animals.The fact that even CHEETAHS started out with some coat color variation at launch, but wolves were all carbon copies of eachother, speaks volumes.
I hope the Eyes and Inside of the Mouth are at least different Textures because I fear that we will get really weird Eye Colors if they are in the same File and if they really put as low as an Effort in it as it seems. I don't understand why they didn't just create a second Wolf Texture that is like the original but without Markings and then recolor that one and add new created Markings to them
I hate to sound ungrateful, but I do have to agree with xTosca. While these new coat colors are definitely a step up from what we had, I am concerned, as well, that we will only be getting a handful of skins for each animal, in which case they will quickly become very same-y once again. As xTosca pointed out, this is especially apparent with the wolves, as it is very clear that the four or so skins we see are just quick tint tweaks done in Photoshop (or another similar program). There is no differentiation in markings whatsoever, and to be honest, it just looks really lazy. Perhaps Frontier is holding back the "good stuff" in order to surprise us. Or perhaps there is a system in place that selects color tones on a spectrum (which would be amazing), but in this case, there should still be at least a few different patterns for the algorithm to choose from. Even if there isn't a mix and match of markings, four or five different patterns with a spectrum of tints and darkness would be a big start.
Take the system in place for WolfQuest, for example. It's not really randomized in-game, as far as I can tell, but the player can choose from a large selection of different "base coats" and drastically tweak the darkness and level of brown tint from there, as well as the color of the eyes, all while remaining as true-to-life as possible. They had this option for the coats way back in 2007 when the first demo came out, so surely it would be more than possible to implement a random generator like this in Planet Zoo.
Prehistoric Kingdom is doing something similar, as well. There are three base skins for each animal (plus an albino and melanistic skin), but the tint of each skin is randomized so that every creature you breed looks slightly different, even among creatures with the same skins.
As I said, I really don't want to sound ungrateful, as any sort of variation is much-needed and has been from the very beginning, but if all we're getting is slight tint changes -especially with animals that have as much variation as both of the wolves, African wild dogs, llamas, etc. - this will be very disappointing. I will reserve full judgment until the update is released, but at this point I have to say, I'm a little... concerned.
Take the system in place for WolfQuest, for example. It's not really randomized in-game, as far as I can tell, but the player can choose from a large selection of different "base coats" and drastically tweak the darkness and level of brown tint from there, as well as the color of the eyes, all while remaining as true-to-life as possible. They had this option for the coats way back in 2007 when the first demo came out, so surely it would be more than possible to implement a random generator like this in Planet Zoo.
Prehistoric Kingdom is doing something similar, as well. There are three base skins for each animal (plus an albino and melanistic skin), but the tint of each skin is randomized so that every creature you breed looks slightly different, even among creatures with the same skins.
As I said, I really don't want to sound ungrateful, as any sort of variation is much-needed and has been from the very beginning, but if all we're getting is slight tint changes -especially with animals that have as much variation as both of the wolves, African wild dogs, llamas, etc. - this will be very disappointing. I will reserve full judgment until the update is released, but at this point I have to say, I'm a little... concerned.
This would be absolutely awesome in the Game. If the Eyes are their own Texture File, the Eye Color could also be randomized (at least I think that Wolves can have slightly different Eye Colors but I'm not completely sure)
As of right now, wolves are all clones. I haven't heard of anything having different eye colors.
Edit: I now see that you meant IRL. Never mind.
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The eyes should be a different texture file, yes. As far as I'm aware, the eyeballs are their own separate objects. Indeed - wolves actually can have a pretty wide spectrum of eye colors (or at least, the wolves here in the northern US do - Canis lupus occidentalis. I don't know as much about other subspecies.) They're usually a shade of yellow or amber, though. To my (by no means professional) eye, the "timber wolves" in the game most resemble C. l. occidentalis. They could be C. l. lupus (Eurasian wolf), though the Eurasian wolves I usually see images of tend to seem stockier and shorter-legged, and have a distinctive red-tinged coat pattern/color, as well as, often, a dark streak on the front of the foreleg above the carpal. But for some reason, Frontier never assigned a subspecies to the in-game wolves, so they could, theoretically, encompass any or all gray wolf subspecies... which is additionally confusing, considering we also have the arctic wolf (C. l. arctos). 
Yeah, I would say getting different eye colors for any animal is probably a bit of a stretch, unfortunately, as cool as it would be.
Yeah, I would say getting different eye colors for any animal is probably a bit of a stretch, unfortunately, as cool as it would be.
A few Examples of Wolf Eye Colors
As you can see there is a big Number of possible Eye Colors
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As you can see there is a big Number of possible Eye Colors
They assigned a Subspecies but it is only mentioned a few times during Career-Mode
As is already being demonstrated in this thread, there will be a substantial number of people who won't be happy whatever gets done. As far as I'm concerned the wolves look great and I'm sure the variations for other species will be great too.
Very, very true. If there's more variety, I'll take it, I don't care if they're not all 100% unique.
I (and I think the other People who mentioned it) am just disappointed because the Wolf Variations look like they didn't put much Effort in them. I really hope they are just Work in Progress or that they get changed if enough People want it. It's OK to just change the Color for some other Animals like Bisons and Bears but it just looks weird for the Wolves
In any case, I do think a coat tint randomization would really benefit all animals, so they aren't just one of a handful of clones instead of all identical, as they are now. However, animals with striking pattern differences, like wolves, llamas, and wild dogs (I know the dogs have different patterns already, but they're... very subtle, as are most of the other animals that do currently have different patterns), as well as probably reindeer and Asian elephants, really need pattern differentiation. I only narrowed down on wolves because of how marked their differences are (as well as how familiar I am with them). We were told before the game was even released that "every animal is unique", and it's very frustrating that this isn't the case, so naturally some people (like myself) want to see that promise come to fruition.
You've been repeatedly shown how wrong you are but still insist on coming back with more. Nesting and eggs in habitats is not a rarity as you initially claimed. As for endangered animals,the California Condor eggs were not removed (for long term anyways). If they did remove the eggs they returned them quickly after examining them and take efforts to ensure the mother never realizes the eggs were removed and replaced.
So in short, eggs in planet zoo would be realistic. More realistic than keepers walking into habitats with animals still in them at least.
Why can't people be hyped about both? You act like we must choose only one thing to be excited about at a time. Obviously the fur variations update will include more than just fur colors, so I'm excited about everything that is to come soon. Sorry that somehow upsets you and your desire to control how people feel about things. And everyone was already talking about Australia dlc before, so it isn't new. The reason some grass and a tree is significant is that it makes the Australia speculation seem more likely.
Whoa, aggresive much? Calm down, I just felt like people were getting excited about something not that important, and if you had explained how you felt about what I posted in a more polite way, I wouldn't be upset in the least. But no, now I'm "controlling how people feel about things." People can be hyped about both, and I'd say that's on me, except you're acting like I just committed a war crime.