Plans for Zoos after support ends (whenever it may, not an alarmist thread!)

[jcp011c]

Slightly off topic but only a bit. Something I have always wanted to do is a have a base zoo that develops with each dlc.

I've got three very large zoos that I tried to do this with, to varying degress of failure..even though I'm proud of all three zoos.

As I mentioned earlier, my "main" zoo, I started in the summer of 2021 and by the time the Wetlands pack came out, I was running out of space. Not in terms of map size just how I laid out my zoo. I've been able to put a few more animals in my South America, Africa and Oceania sections, but now I only have room in the last of these to work with.

One of my first large scale zoos I started with in the spring of 2020. So I managed just fine adding in the 2020 releases. It only got more difficult from there, and to be honest I struggled keeping up with those newer animals. I'm not even sure I have put in animals from the Grassland pack.

My other really large zoo I started in....early summer 2020. While designing the core of it the Australia pack came out, so I was able to work those animals in with no problem. I managed to keep up with everything through the Africa pack, but then I switched my focus to my "main" zoo, and have been struggling to keep up every since. I've been a bit more on point with keeping up though, since I've not blocked myself in spacewise. I haven't put in anything from the Arid pack yet (weird since it's a desert based zoo) but otherwise I'm current.

The struggle to keep up with new DLC is why I want to hold off on making another huge zoo until support is over. I realize that I won't be able to get all the animals in, but at least I'll know exactly what I've got to choose from and can put in more of my favorite animals. I know I could always redesign, move out animals I don't really want anymore, but that's just something I haven't tackled doing but a handful of times.

 

[leehonglocal]

What if I say this?:
Until Planet Zoo have all the species and subspecies I wanted and hoped (Anyone know what?) for Planet Zoo to accept and have, I won't know whether I could like and accept that as my most likable and favorite zoo-building game or not. And that took me three to four years of deciding while waiting. Three to four years since the first released DLC pack (Arctic pack).

 

[Swjosdotschka]

What if I say this?:
Until Planet Zoo have all the species and subspecies I wanted and hoped (Anyone know what?) for Planet Zoo to accept and have, I won't know whether I could like and accept that as my most likable and favorite zoo-building game or not. And that took me three to four years of deciding while waiting. Three to four years since the first released DLC pack (Arctic pack).

If 3 years can not kick whatever your favourite zoo game is off the throne, whatever might still come will not manage it either. Your "plan" to decide if the game is your most favoruite zoo game or not seem to have a strong short cut to an answer then.

 

[Atiggerx33]

Mods.

I can't deal with the hassle of them breaking with updates and whatnot. But as soon as support ends I'm gonna go nuts with mods. It's already so tempting (I'm a masochist and visit Nexus from time to time to stare longingly).

 

[jcp011c]

Mods.

I can't deal with the hassle of them breaking with updates and whatnot. But as soon as support ends I'm gonna go nuts with mods. It's already so tempting (I'm a masochist and visit Nexus from time to time to stare longingly).

Oh for sure, the modding community is great and does fantastic work. But I'm holding off on them for now for the exact same reasons - updates and related issues. It's been really hard to do so for a couple of animals, but since I spend much of my time in franchise mode anyways, it's not like I could add those animals in there.

When official support ends though? I'm very much going to pick up any animal mods that I might even slightly want and go wild with it in Sandbox Zoos. I can tackle both Franchise and Sandbox very differently then, because my roster for Sandbox zoos will only be limited to what the modders put out, which isn't very limited at all. Franchise can be, by the nature of it, a stricter way of playing with only official content - exactly the way it is now.

So yeah, that's actually another thing I'm looking forward to once support ends. Really delving into the mods.

 

[FlameWizard492]

Call me overly optimistic, but with all of this talk about support ending, I don't think it'll be ending for another year or two. This game is a bit of a cash cow for Frontier.

 

[jcp011c]

Call me overly optimistic, but with all of this talk about support ending, I don't think it'll be ending for another year or two. This game is a bit of a cash cow for Frontier.

That's certainly the hope. I'll be very sad if support were to end after two more packs and I really have hope that it will continue into and maybe even through all of 2024. But on the other hand, having things to look forward to whenever it does end is not a bad thing either. To me it's better than the state of mind that when new content stops coming, to stop playing. Not saying you're saying you're saying that of course, just making a general observation.

 

[Leaf Productions]

Mods.

I can't deal with the hassle of them breaking with updates and whatnot. But as soon as support ends I'm gonna go nuts with mods. It's already so tempting (I'm a masochist and visit Nexus from time to time to stare longingly).

Imagine having to be the one to update them

 

[Aramar]

Imagine having to be the one to update them

That one is someone loved, admired and respected by the community!

 

[FlameWizard492]

Imagine having to be the one to update them

I'm giving you a virtual hug, bro. I don't use mods, but I know the community loves them.

 

[Veah]

Don't let the thread title throw you off please! This is not doom speaking because support could go on for another year or 2, 3, etc years.

What I'm wondering is, are you holding back on any ultimate zoo plans until support ends, whenever that may be?

For me, I've come up with a lot of franchise zoos, over 30 at this point, but I'm also saving an idea until after we get that final pack (which we may not know is a final pack for a while after it releases!) I'd like to create a series of zoos based around the world in themes, think of it it like a zoo version of Disney or Six Flags (if you're in the US you'll know the second). The zoos will have varying rosters, but there will also be some commonalities to them.

Now, the reason I want to wait until support ends is so that I can design each zoo with the final plan in mind, not try to squeeze in species, or move them around, or wonder what's coming next. It's something i struggle with in current zoos - for instance my "main" zoo cannot expand in Europe, North America, Africa or Asia sections any longer. I don't want to limit myself on this series of zoos, i want to know what I have to work with and plan from the start. If that makes sense?

Does anyone else have anything you're waiting to do until we've "got all we're getting?"

That's a really interesting topic, thanks for the new thread!

Back in ZT2 days, I downloaded a lot of modded animals and did some experiments. Like a zoo based on the evolution of species and history of the Earth, where each enclosure was based on a geological period. But I never bought the Extinct Animals expansion, so I did it in a more realistic way, like a tundra enclosure with horses and reindeers for the Ice Age, or enclosures with crocodiles and cassowaries instead of "true" dinosaurs. However, that zoo was only possible thanks to the Marine Mania expansion, the first third of periods were aquaria and so would be impossible to portray in current PZ...

Then my best zoo and the one I had the most fun was designed around the biodiversity hotspots, and I'm already doing an improved version for that (see this thread which BTW I will update very soon) in PZ. However, for some of the Indo-Pacific hotspots I still had to use water tanks. So with my PZ version I will get into trouble for the lasts 4 hotspots or so, unless we get true sea animals (sea turtles, animals from coral reefs) or a big aviary expansion with a diverse roster (Nene from Hawaii, kagu from New Caledonia).

And now just talking about PZ, something that is probably the least original idea in this thread but also something that I couldn't even dream of in ZT2. I had already decided to make a zoo with at least 1 habitat and 1 exhibit built with each of the building sets (and only pieces from that set), with species that match each style. Maybe many more than 1 habitat and 1 exhibit, it will depend on each style, some are very specific, others are very versatile, a few can be used with just a handful of species... An easy project but that feels like wrapping up the game, using it the way the devs designed it.
For example, the North African Sahelian and Arabic architecure we got with the African pack wasn't really helpful for the animals that came with the pack, except for the fennec fox. But now it's cool to use that style to make a small area with a dromedary and dama gazalles, porcupines, a exhibit with the new viper, and of course our fennec fox. Using the East Asian set from the base game for the Manchurian cranes and the Amur leopard. Using the Indian style for a mixed exhibit with Indian rhino and water buffalo... You get the idea.

 

[jcp011c]

That's a really interesting topic, thanks for the new thread!

Back in ZT2 days, I downloaded a lot of modded animals and did some experiments. Like a zoo based on the evolution of species and history of the Earth, where each enclosure was based on a geological period. But I never bought the Extinct Animals expansion, so I did it in a more realistic way, like a tundra enclosure with horses and reindeers for the Ice Age, or enclosures with crocodiles and cassowaries instead of "true" dinosaurs. However, that zoo was only possible thanks to the Marine Mania expansion, the first third of periods were aquaria and so would be impossible to portray in current PZ...

Then my best zoo and the one I had the most fun was designed around the biodiversity hotspots, and I'm already doing an improved version for that (see this thread which BTW I will update very soon) in PZ. However, for some of the Indo-Pacific hotspots I still had to use water tanks. So with my PZ version I will get into trouble for the lasts 4 hotspots or so, unless we get true sea animals (sea turtles, animals from coral reefs) or a big aviary expansion with a diverse roster (Nene from Hawaii, kagu from New Caledonia).

And now just talking about PZ, something that is probably the least original idea in this thread but also something that I couldn't even dream of in ZT2. I had already decided to make a zoo with at least 1 habitat and 1 exhibit built with each of the building sets (and only pieces from that set), with species that match each style. Maybe many more than 1 habitat and 1 exhibit, it will depend on each style, some are very specific, others are very versatile, a few can be used with just a handful of species... An easy project but that feels like wrapping up the game, using it the way the devs designed it.
For example, the North African Sahelian and Arabic architecure we got with the African pack wasn't really helpful for the animals that came with the pack, except for the fennec fox. But now it's cool to use that style to make a small area with a dromedary and dama gazalles, porcupines, a exhibit with the new viper, and of course our fennec fox. Using the East Asian set from the base game for the Manchurian cranes and the Amur leopard. Using the Indian style for a mixed exhibit with Indian rhino and water buffalo... You get the idea.

Interesting back story with Zoo Tycoon 2. After quite some time, I recently started it up to play again ever since Leaf modernized the ZTC2 trailer via Planet Zoo. It's really hard to get back into those graphics now though, as great as they were nearly 20 years ago. It's almost like ZT original would be considered better graphics in a strange way since it's just the "top down" view, which is pretty retro looking, but retro is in now.

I like your idea about building a habitat and exhibit with each building set, that will be interesting to see or hear how that turns out. Maybe at some point I could even do a zoo with just the same (likely a very small zoo lol), but I'd probably have to use the planet coaster theme for some things as well. Perhaps if they ever make the Sandstone set Flexicolor.

 

[NachoB]

That's certainly the hope. I'll be very sad if support were to end after two more packs and I really have hope that it will continue into and maybe even through all of 2024. But on the other hand, having things to look forward to whenever it does end is not a bad thing either. To me it's better than the state of mind that when new content stops coming, to stop playing. Not saying you're saying you're saying that of course, just making a general observation.

Well if i'm being honest i think just one more year of support would be enough for me i think. I don't expect aquariums or flying birds anymore but i do want a bunch of animals that we still don't have and that i think with another year of support we might get. With 5 more DLCs total i think the roster could come very close to cover pretty much all the essentials in my list. So i don't need ten more years of support. Just one more

That said i'm also looking forward to playing with mods but i want to see if some of those species are added first by Frontier.

 

[Atiggerx33]

Imagine having to be the one to update them

As someone who has only dipped my toes into modding (not PZ though, other games), I can only imagine. I can't begin to thank modders like yourself enough for all the awesome work you do.

I've totally been staring longingly at your mods in particular (along with others who consistently do phenomenal work), and I'm super excited for so many of them. Thank you for giving me something to actually look forward to when official support ends (although I do hope official support continues for a while more; I'm still hoping for a lot of awesome unique models for you to work with). I hope Frontier releases official modding tools at the end.

 

[jcp011c]

As someone who has only dipped my toes into modding (not PZ though, other games), I can only imagine. I can't begin to thank modders like yourself enough for all the awesome work you do.

I've totally been staring longingly at your mods in particular (along with others who consistently do phenomenal work), and I'm super excited for so many of them. Thank you for giving me something to actually look forward to when official support ends (although I do hope official support continues for a while more; I'm still hoping for a lot of awesome unique models for you to work with). I hope Frontier releases official modding tools at the end.

That would be really neat. As it stands right now, we can't use any mods in Franchise just because of the nature of how integral it is to the trade center. I don't think we can use mods in Challange mode either, just sandbox I think. If getting official modding tools were to change any of that, it would be fantastic. I could conceptually see how they would work in Challange mode, which would be 2 modes instead of just 1.