🐾 Planet Zoo - Update 1.2 coming 7 April 🐾

[NZFanatic]

If there is not a giant anteater and instead we will get sometthing re-skinned as a spectacled bear I admit I would be a little dissapointed. But lets wait and see.

There are still three or more animal slots aside from the llama (assuming it is a llama and not some fakeout), or two if we take the jaguar as a given (which if we're correct on the theme I think we should), so who knows. I guess it depends on what the theme actually is. If they decide to hone in on the specific bioregion (the Andes) rather than go broad spectrum (South America) I would suggest the spectacled bear is an obvious one.

I know it's jumping the gun of course, but I find it hard to not examine possible patterns. In the Arctic Pack we got a bear (granted it's not a complete clone but it's still a bear), a wolf (which almost was a complete clone), and two hoofed animals. All of these animals could be built from existing rigs without any major adjustments except for a few animations (excepting the wolf, I believe, which except for having a fluffier coat was a pure copy-paste of the timber wolf) and cosmetic additions (the polar bear needed to be bigger and have a longer neck/sloped head, reindeer obviously has antlers, and so on). If we have the same sort of pattern, then we can guess that we'll get four animals that can be relatively easily made from existing rigs. The llama is a readjusted camel, the jaguar a readjusted big cat (lion, tiger, snow leopard - take your pick). The spectacled bear is an obvious choice since we already have a bunch of bears, and the Formosan has a number of behavioural cues the spectacled could easily mimic (such as the climbing requirement). If we only have one slot left, what animal is passably "different" enough from existing animals that it could be included?

A rhea? A caiman?

I'm crossing my fingers hard for a monkey, at least to complete the "rainforest trifecta" - a major herbivore (tapir), major carnivore (jaguar), and a primate. Combined with the exhibit animals, that combo could make for a pretty decent South American jungle area in a zoo.

 

[Masteradstriker]

Dudes, if you look at the new announcement, we get a jaguar, a capuchin, a llama, an anteater and a tree frog. (4 habitats, 1 exhibit)

 

[Mjmannella]

Dudes, if you look at the new announcement, we get a jaguar, a capuchin, a llama, an anteater and a tree frog. (4 habitats, 1 exhibit)

And even when including the tapir and Galapagos trotise, that still fails to represent South America fairly. Meanwhile, Africa gets 5 times as many habitat animals.

 

[Masteradstriker]

And even when including the tapir and Galapagos trotise, that still fails to represent South America fairly. Meanwhile, Africa gets 5 times as many habitat animals.

Um, the boa, anaconda, poison darts and spiders would like to have a word with you.

 

[NL_Mutso]

And even when including the tapir and Galapagos trotise, that still fails to represent South America fairly. Meanwhile, Africa gets 5 times as many habitat animals.

Like in real life??

Why does Africa get so much "hate" when a new DLC comes out? Is there something wrong with Africa?

 

[Alvarodayne]

The problem with PZ and its DLC it’s the main game provides 76 animals for 55€ and the DLC 4/5 animals for 11€. this is not equitable

 

[NL_Mutso]

The problem with PZ and its DLC it’s the main game provides 76 animals for 55€ and the DLC 4/5 animals for 11€. this is not equitable

Does this mean the base game was cheap?

Don't buy it if you think it's expensive and wait for a bargain sale.. I do it with a lot of DLC.. and a lot of people do it.

 

[Mjmannella]

Um, the boa, anaconda, poison darts and spiders would like to have a word with you.

Exhibit animals are irrelevant. Habitat animals are the only ones that really matter. Here's a list that have been excluded:

• Capybara (2 species)
• Spectacled Bear
• Maned Wolf
• Rhea (2 species)
• Caimans (several species)
• Kinkajou
• Howler Monkeys (several species)
• Ocelot
• Grey Fox
• Giant Armadillo
• Nine-Banded Armadillo
• Tamanduas (2 species)
• New World Flamingos (several species)
• Seriemas (2 species)
• Peccaries (several species)
• Coatis (several species)

And many other animals I haven't listed

 

[Jileha]

Exhibit animals are irrelevant. Habitat animals are the only ones that really matter. Here's a list that have been excluded:

• Capybara (2 species)
• Spectacled Bear
• Maned Wolf
• Rhea (2 species)
• Caimans (several species)
• Kinkajou
• Howler Monkeys (several species)
• Ocelot
• Grey Fox
• Giant Armadillo
• Nine-Banded Armadillo
• Tamanduas (2 species)
• New World Flamingos (several species)
• Seriemas (2 species)
• Peccaries (several species)
• Coatis (several species)

And many other animals I haven't listed

Even the African animal collection is far from being complete. Frontier could have taken a year to develop an expensive expansion pack with maybe 20 new animals, or give us more frequent smaller DLCs with animals from various continents/biomes. As long as there is a strong enough buyer base, they will most likely continue releasing more DLCs with more exciting animals. The latter strategy is also smarter because it will keep us entertained with PZ longer than getting one large expansion pack whose novelty wears off almost as quickly as that of a smaller DLC.

I am extremely happy about the jaguar (to be expected) and the giant anteater! I would have loved more scenarios, but we get lots of new plants, rocks and building material. Can’t wait for next Tuesday!

 

[Danny_zoo]

Not exactly.

Frontier developed the original Xbox 360 / Xbox One version in 2013 and maintained it until 2016, at which point Microsoft licensed Frontier's Cobra engine and passed on the development of Zoo Tycoon and Disneyland Adventures to Asobo Studios. If I recall correctly Microsoft paid £550,000 to buy out Frontier and license the engine.

Asobo studios ported both games to PC and added any additional content to the Ultimate Animal Collection of Zoo Tycoon.

So Frontier created the original game but anything post 2016 is Asobo Studios.

Thank you for offering this information, as it does clarify certain things. As you seem to be knowledgeable of the particulars behind the scenes in this industry, I would like to ask you a question. Do you think is possible for Frontier with their current workforce to increase the number of content, specifically animals being included in each DLC? How difficult would it be for them to integrate new team members within the Planet Zoo team if needed? And my last question, why in your estimation the game has poor marketing in the U.S, where so many would enjoy and purchase this game if its existence was known to them. I'm not from the video game industry, but have been a part of the zoo world for many years and there are thousands of us in forums just like this one that have always waited for a game like this. Add to that the hundreds of thousands of American families that would love to purchase such an educational game for their children or themselves.

 

[Harbinger]

Its not behind the scenes info. It has been publicly announced. I just happened to read, recall and relay that info. All I can really offer are my own opinions.

There's only so much that can be accomplished in Frontier's typical DLC/Free Content cycle of 3-4 months. If they add more content to the DLC then the free content which benefits everyone will suffer and it's important to continue to improve the base game too.

Adding more staff to the equation or decreasing the frequency at which DLC are launched increases the costs which in turn would increase the price of the DLC to the end user.

I'm going to leave the marketing question as it's not really one I can sufficiently answer.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Adding more staff to the equation or decreasing the frequency at which DLC are launched increases the costs which in turn would increase the price of the DLC to the end user.

I'm sure a lot good devs would appreciate a good jpb and I am more than happy to pay more for a fleshed out DLC. Never saw a problem with the price vs. content balance. However, I do see one with the size of the DLC. Especially, when it's not called "5 awesome animals that are accidentlly living on the same continent." but "South America DLC", like it would represent south america. It doesn't. It can't with that size.

 

[NL_Mutso]

but "South America DLC", like it would represent south america. It doesn't. It can't with that size

Now that's just nitpicking.. It's called South America Pack because it focused on South America with animals/building items/scenery.
They could easily add pack 2 to the name and it would still make sense..

I think Frontier should stop making continent based DLC, just go with other packs. At least that will stop the whining of some users..
Some users really showed their true colours since the last DLC announcement.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Now that's just nitpicking.. It's called South America Pack because it focused on South America with animals/building items/scenery.
They could easily add pack 2 to the name and it would still make sense..

I think Frontier should stop making continent based DLC, just go with other packs. At least that will stop the whining of some users..
Some users really showed their true colours since the last DLC announcement.

If you mean me by "some users", please address me directly. I can deal with criticism.

And I think Frontier should just use other dlc titles for mini-packs.At this point, we don't knowm if there willbe a part two, but calling something "soutz america part II" would kust provoke discussions about why something was not in part 1 and needs a part 2.

 

[markun]

To be fair they didn’t say anywhere this is a comprehensive representation of South American fauna, nor have they said these are the only South American animals we will ever get.

 

[Lea_G]

Even if they made three or five South American themed packs, they wouldn't be able to cover all important or distinctive species. Following that logic, we'd have to criticise the game title as well and require it to be called "Planet Some Animals Held in Zoos But No Representation of Real-Life Diversity" instead of Planet Zoo
There has to be a selection, but even with much larger packs, people would feel important animals to be lacking. Simply because there are so many which deserve to be included.

(Edit: Also coming to my mind is the fact that smaller packs give me somewhat more choice and allow me to decide what I want in the game. I was not too interested in some aspects of the Arctic pack and decided not to buy it, while I fully embrace the content and animals in the SA pack. Had there been a large expansion pack for maybe 25 euros and I only liked half of the content, I'd have a hard time deciding whether it was worth my money.)

 

[NL_Mutso]

If you mean me by "some users", please address me directly. I can deal with criticism.

And I think Frontier should just use other dlc titles for mini-packs.At this point, we don't knowm if there willbe a part two, but calling something "soutz america part II" would kust provoke discussions about why something was not in part 1 and needs a part 2.

Ok, you are one of those users. I just use 'some users' because in quite a few topics it's a general type of complaining.
In the DLC announcment topic there are more examples.

For the second part , I'm going to repeat the same here: That's just nitpicking.. It's like you are looking for something to complain about..

Markun added a good comment, wished I thought that one - when i posted my previous comment.
And the edit of Lea_G, is something I mentioned some time ago as well. And a really good reason for smaller packs.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Well, I guess I post enough fangirling in the forum, supportive words, my appreciation for huge free updates, always said that Frontier is absolutely awesome in reacting to feedback. These things still stands, I still support Frontier, I still defend them when critiue come completly without logic (like asking for animals for free or calling this pack overpriced or whatever). If you don't like that I actually do more than fangirling BECAUSE my good feelings towards Frontier is as true as my concernes, I can absolutely deal with that. My true colors are multicolors and I mean what I say everytime. In my opinion, that makes praise more valuable as well.

You call it nitpicking, I call it careful marketing and marketing speech. And as I said, at this point I don't believe in a second south america DLC. Just a glimpse at my signature should tell you that I'd love to be proven wrong one day.

 

[NL_Mutso]

You call it nitpicking, I call it careful marketing and marketing speech. And as I said, at this point I don't believe in a second south america DLC

I think because you don't believe in more south american dlc - you complain about the name.
To me, there's nothing a single thing to believe there won't be any south american dlc/animals in the future (especially not when looking at the name of a DLC)
If this would be the "Ultimate/complete South American DLC". Yeah, your pov would make sense.

Careful marketing and marketing speech? Sorry to say this but how is South America Pack wrong? I just read it, as it is - with no underlying tone - and there's nothing wrong.
I don't think Frontier is to "blame" for people (including you) who can't distinguish this properly/objectively and start assuming things.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Careful marketing actually includes (trying to) making sure people don't get wrong (negative) assumptions. And it's perfectly normal that people consume spoken words differently. That, as well, is something you need to be aware of if you sell something.There is no right or wrong in this. If you are sure that we have or will get a good representation of south america and consume the title differently, that's fine. Doesn't make you wrong, just as it doesn't make me wrong to see south america as a bigger word and assume there won't be any more. We are both assuming. I already explained why I understand it differently. It's simply not possible to have the same way of reading things. Language is not math, it is not objective, it's decoded by its recipient. We don't have to agree.
Making it personal, however and making it a "people like you" argument is completly unnesseccary.