Hello all! I've been slowly learning how to actually build, watching a lot of youtubers/streamers to learn...and I've noticed something that really gets to me. Animals, especially tortoises and monitor lizards, tolerate almost no foliage. I understand that every species has its own preferences, but maxing out an animals plant limit with like, 2 bushes is a bit much. I like to decorate my enclosures with plants specific to the region the animals live in, and I feel like enclosures look pretty lifeless without them. Maybe a minimum level of accepted plants would work, but no max? Or can we at least make it so that we can have more than 1 or 2 plants for the species that don't like too much foliage? Perhaps a 'decorative' version of each plant- essentially a plastic plant, so that we can decorate without altering the environment too much. I want to be able to handcraft proper environments that meet the needs of my animals, while also being visually appealing, and I think plants are a huge part of that. Thoughts?
Plant Limit Issues?
- Thread starter PixelFlorist
- Start date
The same thing has bothered me a bit as I've been playing. When I first started there was a very visual and drastic difference between habitats that contained foliage and those that did not. Raising the limit pushes a bit away from realism and I suppose is understandably not something they want to do too much of. However, there are a few ways to still make the habitats appealing:
Mainly I've been using rocks and very sparse bushes or grasses to make habitats look intentionally barren. Changing up the elevation and adding rock formations or caves/dens also helps a lot to break up the monotonous flatness. Some animals can also tolerate a large or infinite amount of water, freeing up the option for large pools or even water features like waterfalls using the special effects objects. There are also tons of non-habitat objects that animals pay no mind to. Because of this you can combine rocks, aesthetic objects, and construction objects to make some pretty interesting structures and features.
So...you may not be able to place plants, but you can build a cave under a waterfall with dilapidated wooden structures built partially of the surrounding rocks and can comfortably house your animals. There's no limit on creative builds like this.
Mainly I've been using rocks and very sparse bushes or grasses to make habitats look intentionally barren. Changing up the elevation and adding rock formations or caves/dens also helps a lot to break up the monotonous flatness. Some animals can also tolerate a large or infinite amount of water, freeing up the option for large pools or even water features like waterfalls using the special effects objects. There are also tons of non-habitat objects that animals pay no mind to. Because of this you can combine rocks, aesthetic objects, and construction objects to make some pretty interesting structures and features.
So...you may not be able to place plants, but you can build a cave under a waterfall with dilapidated wooden structures built partially of the surrounding rocks and can comfortably house your animals. There's no limit on creative builds like this.
That's an excellent idea. I'm going to give it a try. I definitely am unfamiliar with this build system, so I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of creative ways to build an enclosure. Thanks for these great ideas!
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What I did with my monitor lizards was to add lots of small plants like papyrus around the water. Some palm trees completed the scenery. I might be wrong, but I’ve got the impression that large trees with voluminous crowns add more to the coverage percentage than those small scrubs. By using them, I could fill the habitat quite nicely.
Actually, those small plants do make more sense for the monitor lizard as well, as it lives at the banks of a river and not so much in thick forests. *)
Furthermore, I planted my foliage in the front and middle-ground with only some of the taller palms in the back. This also helped to fill the scene from the visitor perspective.
Yea, and lots of rocks and earth-work, as HJ42 suggested.
*) What was way more of an issue for me, were the wolves, actually. Those fellas definitely live in forests and I believe that their need for plant coverage is way too low at the moment.
Actually, those small plants do make more sense for the monitor lizard as well, as it lives at the banks of a river and not so much in thick forests. *)
Furthermore, I planted my foliage in the front and middle-ground with only some of the taller palms in the back. This also helped to fill the scene from the visitor perspective.
Yea, and lots of rocks and earth-work, as HJ42 suggested.
*) What was way more of an issue for me, were the wolves, actually. Those fellas definitely live in forests and I believe that their need for plant coverage is way too low at the moment.
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trees definitely add a lot more cover than smaller plants. For my tortoises, i decided on ferns and small palms and managed to fill a significant portion of the exhibit with them, while they would only be happy with 1 big tree
If the animals get upset over too many plants, apparently its not that bad as long as everything else is maxed out in the exhibit.
I feel like I should make a tutorial on how to essentially "cheat the system" when it comes to this because I feel like I'm one of the few that has no issues when it comes to decking out the habitat with greenery? Even my Nile monitors have a very lush habitat, and it's all within the boundaries of their coverage need.
One cheat I like to use is to take a tree and drag it down until just the top is barely showing through. It adds a nice look of taller foliage/a bush, but if you do it right, it's outside the collider box of the tree and doesn't actually count towards the coverage level.
One cheat I like to use is to take a tree and drag it down until just the top is barely showing through. It adds a nice look of taller foliage/a bush, but if you do it right, it's outside the collider box of the tree and doesn't actually count towards the coverage level.
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Great idea, Silhouette! I’ll try this, too.
I don’t like the idea of getting rid of the upper limit entirely, though.
This limit does make sense! Animals living in open spaces like savanna definitely should want those open spaces in their habitats as well!
Some animals probably should have a more generous upper limit though. Those wolves, for example. I didn’t have the opportunity to try out lots of other animals, though.
I don’t like the idea of getting rid of the upper limit entirely, though.
This limit does make sense! Animals living in open spaces like savanna definitely should want those open spaces in their habitats as well!
Some animals probably should have a more generous upper limit though. Those wolves, for example. I didn’t have the opportunity to try out lots of other animals, though.
I've only had this issue so far with the Nile Monitor, granted I haven't messed around with many animal habitats. Turtles don't mind a lot of trees and bushes in my habitat. Nile's were the only animal I've encountered that had super strict flora restriction, which felt way off for a jungle animal. I could only place 1 tree and 3 plants before it maxed out. What animals are you coming across that are like this?
my niles are pretty happy with what i've done, and i'm satisfied with it too. Definitely seems to help to use ferns and not trees
The ones i've had issues with, surprisingly, are Springbok. They get 'needs more privacy' issues and yet get angry if i put anymore plants down
The ones i've had issues with, surprisingly, are Springbok. They get 'needs more privacy' issues and yet get angry if i put anymore plants down
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These are the habitats for my nile monitors and aldabra(?) tortoises. Both of them were in the acceptable coverage range when I made them. I did notice when you get more animals in an enclosure (the tortoises in this case) suddenly there can be "too much coverage" which is... Weird. Either way the tortoises are only slightly over their acceptable coverage, but they still have 96% rating for their habitat so oh well.
