Planet Zoo: Twilight Pack arriving 18 Oct 🦇
- Thread starter Lydiah Moon
- Start date
I think it's very important that we're all on the same page here.
In terms of customization, JWE2's aviaries are essentially habitats. The animals do not fly around in predefined loops, you can place enrichment items by hand which the animals will interact with and the animals can break out and fly wherever they want in the map. That is essentially what we would consider a habitat animal to be. This is opposite to how exhibit boxes work in Planet Zoo. Exhibits are a predefined set of looped animations which means that you have far less customization than you have with habitats.
Given that Frontier has called these are walkthrough exhibits, the assumption that these are indeed looped animations is the correct one unless specifically said not to be so by any of the Frontier devs in this topic.
The disappointment people feel atm based on what we seem to know so far when it comes to walkthrough exhibits, is that this is a step back compared to how flying animals were handled in JWE2. Given that both games are by the same developer and are on the same engine, it's not surprising that that disappointment is there. Planet Zoo is a game with a high level of customization, and to see it get less customization options than the other game is obviously disappointing for a group of players ( including myself).
This disappointment is obviously not going to be shared by everyone, but I don't think it's fair to counter the disappointment with "it would have been impossible"/"they never would have done flying habitat animals" when Frontier themselves have proven very much so that they are indeed capable of doing fully free flight mechanics like a habitat. It's completely fair not to feel this disappointment, and it's absolutely fine to be happy with what we got; but it's equally fair to feel the disappointment and fear that some of us are feeling right now.
Now onto the pack. As mentioned on Twitter, I have mixed feelings about the pack at this point in time. Whilst I think the animals look good as always and I can already spot several pieces that look really good. If they are anything like the Europe pack, then I know that plenty of these pieces will easily be reusable and can be used within a non themed setting. I think this pack surely has a lot of potential, and seeing that we go back to the 200's in terms of pieces does kinda make me feel like we're getting more pieces that have plenty of potential in realistic settings.
On the other hand, I cannot deny that this also feels like an Arctic Pack 2 for realistic builders. There are plenty of pieces here that really don't fit within a zoo setting, a gargoyle wombat statue isn't really something I can remotely use for instance. I wouldn't really mind having such statues ingame if they also came with a more realistic counterpart, pleasing both audiences is always the best of course.
Animal selection wise I'm also a bit mixed. I don't think I needed a skunk or a fox in the same pack as a raccoon, I think either of those animals are a nice addition but I think I would have liked a sloth or tasmanian devil more. However, the animals do look really good, so I will judge the pack for what it is rather than what it could be.
I do hope we get some more information on the walkthrough exhibit boxes. I want to see what it entails, if we could possibly get a very limited boxless version and if we perhaps could get a smaller version than the big one we have now. I'll have to see it ingame first, but at this point in time I'm in the same camp as most other people who would have liked a JWE2 approach for flying animals.
Overall as I said, mixed feelings. Though, importantly, this is more because of choices made than anything quality related. Some choices just aren't the ones that I would have made, but in the end, I'm not the only person they target so that's fine. Not every pack is going to be for me, and that's perfectly okay. What I see is still very well crafted and shows the incredible talent of all the developers of Frontier, so big props to them!
JWE2 Aviaries are basically habitats with a roof (like Iben said). The animals have anims like any other dino in the game and act as such. It's not the same as JWE where the Pteros really were nothing more but the current looped exhibit animals. You have comple reign over what you put in those aviaries as well and the animals act and use stuff according to that just like regular habitat ones would. And isn't that exactly what real aviaries are? Just a habitat with a mesh roof to keep the animals in and that's pretty much exactly what we have in JWE2 and hope to get for PZ.
Anyway, as far as the pack goes I'm really meh about the animal choises. Wombat and Bat yay! Raccoons are cute, okay fine. But I really would've loved to see something other than a fox reskin and the skunk. Think Kakapo or Kiwi and Tasmanian Devil all of which would've fit the pack's and the game's conservation theme and would've made for way more interesting choises IMO.
Really happy to see it's a scenery pack after all, though since as a builder, I much prefer those over pure animal packs anyway and already have a few ideas on how I wanna add those pieces in my parks. And thank you so much for the new career scenario! I really love playing those and always missed them in the previous updates/dlc. Can't wait to check that out. And of course new plants and other nature pieces are always welcome
I haven't seen this question asked before, but what do you all think the interspecies enrichment bonuses will be with the new animals?
Might the skunk and the raccoon enrich each other? Perhaps the red fox can work together with the badger; I have seen mixed exhibits featuring those two, but I somehow doubt they'd get the enrichment bonus in Planet Zoo. Also, will wombats be enriched by sharing their habitats with koalas and/or kangaroos?
Might the skunk and the raccoon enrich each other? Perhaps the red fox can work together with the badger; I have seen mixed exhibits featuring those two, but I somehow doubt they'd get the enrichment bonus in Planet Zoo. Also, will wombats be enriched by sharing their habitats with koalas and/or kangaroos?
Probably not, adult wombats are pretty territorial and can be aggressive towards other animals.
I'm a little shocked it isn't an animal pack, I was fully prepared to have 8 new animals. And the fact that we guessed all habitat animals last night on stream, left me with no surprises.
I'm a little divided about the spooky scenery. I love it, and I believe it will be useful for many other things, but perhaps some look a bit too themed? But then again, it's useful to also have those pieces because when you do need something specific (like a giant mushroom), usually I'd have to download it from the workshop (+think of the piece count).
I don't want to judge too soon as we have only seen a tiny bit (the building walls and the round towers look fantastic though, I can't wait to make an entrance out of them!). I'm a sucker for autumnal scenery so the fallen leaves, roots etc are just right up my alley.
I love the expansion of the exhibits and I love the bats.
Overall, I'm happy with the pack. Well, it's only appropriate I start a new zoo!
I'm a little divided about the spooky scenery. I love it, and I believe it will be useful for many other things, but perhaps some look a bit too themed? But then again, it's useful to also have those pieces because when you do need something specific (like a giant mushroom), usually I'd have to download it from the workshop (+think of the piece count).
I don't want to judge too soon as we have only seen a tiny bit (the building walls and the round towers look fantastic though, I can't wait to make an entrance out of them!). I'm a sucker for autumnal scenery so the fallen leaves, roots etc are just right up my alley.
I love the expansion of the exhibits and I love the bats.
Overall, I'm happy with the pack. Well, it's only appropriate I start a new zoo!
OK... I was not expecting a scenery pack at all. With the inclusion of the new walkthrough exhibit, I hope it means we could get a Birds animal pack with at least 8 birds in December. Not sure of course but I feel hopeful about birds again ! And as far as I'm concerned, I would be OK with birds being looped exhibit animals if it's well done. Way better than not getting birds at all and maybe even better if it means it's easier to do and we can have more species.
But to come back to this DLC...
Regarding the animals, the raccoon alone makes the pack wonderful
The three other animals were not on my top 25 wishlist but I still like them, especially the skunk. And I'm really excited about the bats and their new exhibit ! I would have prefered the Tasmanian Devil (which, btw, would have been perfect for a Halloween/spooky theme) instead of the wombat or the fox but overall, I like it.
Regarding the scenery, I'm less excited. I'm not into Halloween at all and I think I will never use some of those scenery pieces. But I know I'm not the only player of this game and that some other people will love this theme. Just not my cup of tea ! However, I love the new path and the bristlecone pine and I hope there will be at least some other useful pieces I will enjoy among the 200+. Waiting to see everything before judging too much.
In the end though, the most important thing is I'm getting my raccoon and I'm so so happy about that. Thank you Frontier !
But to come back to this DLC...
Regarding the animals, the raccoon alone makes the pack wonderful
The three other animals were not on my top 25 wishlist but I still like them, especially the skunk. And I'm really excited about the bats and their new exhibit ! I would have prefered the Tasmanian Devil (which, btw, would have been perfect for a Halloween/spooky theme) instead of the wombat or the fox but overall, I like it. Regarding the scenery, I'm less excited. I'm not into Halloween at all and I think I will never use some of those scenery pieces. But I know I'm not the only player of this game and that some other people will love this theme. Just not my cup of tea ! However, I love the new path and the bristlecone pine and I hope there will be at least some other useful pieces I will enjoy among the 200+. Waiting to see everything before judging too much.
In the end though, the most important thing is I'm getting my raccoon and I'm so so happy about that. Thank you Frontier !
That’s a big relief. It looks really nice.Not sure if someone has pointed this out yet, but I just noticed the skunk sign in the trailer - very happy to see it isn't overly themed!
Can't believe it's been 2 whole hours since the announcement and nobody is discussing the most importand question of the update / DLC.... is there the potential for a new splash screen? We haven't had one in a while, my favourite is still the grey seal. It may not even be related to the pack , sometimes they have one that came out a while ago. Could be a badger snuffling out of the ground... a meerkat balancing on the globe... a capybara literally just staring at the screen blinkin slightly... maybe none at all. The tension is unbearable!
@Iben ahh I see what you are saying. I do still fully expect our aviary system to be the exact same as JWE2 tho. I don’t know why they chose to operate the way they did in this example. I just wasn’t sure if people expected more then the jwe2 system as I really do expect ours to be identical tbh. As for animations I did expect them to be better then jwe1 but wasn’t exactly sure they were on the same level as habitat animals so good to know.
Lydiah Moon
Community Manager
Look, people can say it feels the same for them, but at the end of the day they are not. We can argue in circles for days and days on end, but the moment your animal can escape and fly through your park, it is no longer a looped animation like the exhibit box in PZ. It's really as simple as that.
As long as nobody from Frontier explicitly says that these are indeed escapable animals, the only assumption we can make about it is that they are as much exhibits as the other exhibits in PZ are.
You‘ll be pleasantly surprised to hear that most scenery pieces in this pack will have a rather Romanian/ European Castle/ Cottge Core vibe, I really think the heavy theming will only apply to a small number of piecesOK... I was not expecting a scenery pack at all. With the inclusion of the new walkthrough exhibit, I hope it means we could get a Birds animal pack with at least 8 birds in December. Not sure of course but I feel hopeful about birds again ! And as far as I'm concerned, I would be OK with birds being looped exhibit animals if it's well done. Way better than not getting birds at all and maybe even better if it means it's easier to do and we can have more species.
But to come back to this DLC...
Regarding the animals, the raccoon alone makes the pack wonderful
Regarding the scenery, I'm less excited. I'm not into Halloween at all and I think I will never use some of those scenery pieces. But I know I'm not the only player of this game and that some other people will love this theme. Just not my cup of tea ! However, I love the new path and the bristlecone pine and I hope there will be at least some other useful pieces I will enjoy among the 200+. Waiting to see everything before judging too much.
In the end though, the most important thing is I'm getting my raccoon and I'm so so happy about that. Thank you Frontier !
I really like new plants especially colorful digitalis plants (foxglove plant) which have magical powers in my folk culture and beliefs and are simply beautiful.
The new Romanian building stuff will nicely work with European pieces that we already have. Props for that. I guess the badger castle build by Tim was not so random after all
Going back to career scenarios was the best idea ever!!! I don’t like to play under pressure so I have never used the times scenarios but all the career scenarios from the base game were really fun and I still remember how addictive in a positive way they were.
Also red fox with many color options, raccoon and wombat seems like a nice supplement to the existing regional packs (Europe, NA and Australia). We have been talking for ages about missing species in these packs and I think that fox, raccoon and wombat were always the most popular and mentioned by many.
Similarly to wetlands pack (except for capybara - here we don’t have a star species like this) the mediocrely popular animal roster in this pack makes me think that the future of the game is safe with many more packs to come.
They probably save more popular species for the next pack ideas and I think that I’m ok with that - as long as at least 20 first species from the meta wishlist will find it’s way into the game.
Including less popular species also gives hope to oddballs like striped hyena or Père David’s deer which makes me very happy.
Changing the regular and expected animal Pack to the regular pack was a very nice curveball.
It seems like we would need to wait only 2 months more for the winter pack which is absolutely great. This could be the animal pack this time with 7 presents for Christmas.
Last but least the bats
OMG that really made me happy and opened the door wide enough for the birds to flew in 
A totally new, game changing feature is exactly what I have been waiting for. Next birds and manatees after that. Everything is possible in planet zoo.
Again huge surprise and such an amazing success Frontier
thank you for being so great 
The new Romanian building stuff will nicely work with European pieces that we already have. Props for that. I guess the badger castle build by Tim was not so random after all
Going back to career scenarios was the best idea ever!!! I don’t like to play under pressure so I have never used the times scenarios but all the career scenarios from the base game were really fun and I still remember how addictive in a positive way they were.
Also red fox with many color options, raccoon and wombat seems like a nice supplement to the existing regional packs (Europe, NA and Australia). We have been talking for ages about missing species in these packs and I think that fox, raccoon and wombat were always the most popular and mentioned by many.
Similarly to wetlands pack (except for capybara - here we don’t have a star species like this) the mediocrely popular animal roster in this pack makes me think that the future of the game is safe with many more packs to come.
They probably save more popular species for the next pack ideas and I think that I’m ok with that - as long as at least 20 first species from the meta wishlist will find it’s way into the game.
Including less popular species also gives hope to oddballs like striped hyena or Père David’s deer which makes me very happy.
Changing the regular and expected animal Pack to the regular pack was a very nice curveball.
It seems like we would need to wait only 2 months more for the winter pack which is absolutely great. This could be the animal pack this time with 7 presents for Christmas.
Last but least the bats
OMG that really made me happy and opened the door wide enough for the birds to flew in A totally new, game changing feature is exactly what I have been waiting for. Next birds and manatees after that. Everything is possible in planet zoo.
Again huge surprise and such an amazing success Frontier
thank you for being so great
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Honestly this is an interesting approach to a Nocturnal Pack! I do kinda wish we got stuff like sloths and whatnot, but taking the pack as it is, I have pretty high hopes! AND THOSE BATS!!!
Just... quit being so pedantic man, seriously.
Has anyone asked what the subspecies will be for the Red Fox? Curious to know if the pack ends up being 3/5 North America add-on or if they go with the European fox or another Euro-specific subspecies.