Zoo Tycoon PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: A couple of notes about Zoo Tycoon

[Sir.Tj]

Hi everyone.

Welcome to the Zoo Tycoon section of Frontier developments.

As there seems to be a couple of themes reoccurring about Zoo tycoon I've copied some previous posts and posted them in here ans stuck them for a short while as they can soon get buried in the threads.

It's great to have you join us and we hope you have fun while you're here.

Hi guys,

The game was primarily designed for the Xbox One, which is a significantly more powerful machine than the Xbox 360. A workable 360 version would always need some alterations to work and it isn't as simple as saying "Game A had this many animals/units/widgets on the screen at once, so why cant Game B have this many?"- its a lot more complicated than that.

This isn't some cynical marketing strategy, it comes down to the capabilities of the two systems, and the fact is that the 360 doesn't offer enough resources to have all the features that we want for the Xbox One version.

The Xbox One version will be superior to the Xbox 360 one, but both will still be great games that we're sure everyone will love. Hopefully once you get to see more footage from both versions this will become more apparent.

Hi Guys,

I understand the frustration in your posts but...

The decision on what systems the game is released/ported to is made by Microsoft as they are the publisher of the game.

Frontier are in a partnership on the development of the game, developers will create a title for a publisher using a remit from the publisher. I don't know the details in this case but usually it tends to go like this:

Both publisher and developer have input in the game. depending on the publisher's remit when engaging the developer, said developer may or may not have input into which system the game will be released on. ultimately the publisher tends to have the final say on such matters not the developer.

I'd suggest contacting Microsoft and telling them what platform etc. you would like the game to be released on if enough people ask nicely you never know.

Hope that helps.

Hi again,

If there are no differences between the two versions of the game, then it has been developed primarily for the inferior console, which means it isn't utilising the power of the superior one.

There's nothing wrong with this and for a multi-platform game it makes sense commercially this early into a new console generation. But Zoo Tycoon hasn't been designed to be multi-platform, it is being developed as a launch title for a new piece of hardware. In this circumstance it doesn't make sense to inhibit the Xbox One version of the game so it can be equal to the version on the 360.

As we previously mentioned a PC port of the game isn't our decision, that lies with the publisher (Microsoft). If you want to petition them to consider Zoo Tycoon for other platforms, then the main page for the Microsoft Studios site can be found here.

Unfortunately the release of information is controlled by the publisher in this case, we can't discuss what they haven't revealed.

Michael

As Michael and Ashley mentioned, Microsoft being the owner of the franchise make the decisions on what platform the game is released on and if you like "employed" Frontier to make the game for them using the remit that Microsoft wants for the game.

One thing to think on is the fact that the game will be created using Frontiers Cobra Engine. All of Frontier’s games are developed using our Cobra proprietary cross-platform technology, allowing code and resources developed on PC to be compiled and run on XBox360, PS3, iOS, Nintendo WiiU etc. (with new platforms in development), whilst offering the ability flexibly to take advantage of the different platforms’ capabilities (e.g. different artwork resolutions, shaders etc.).

So if Microsoft decide to release the game on other platforms the capability is there to do so.

Microsoft Studios are the publisher.

Michael

The issue is that it isn't our game, we developed the game for Microsoft, we cannot communicate anything that they haven't already.

Michael

Again have fun on the forum discussing Zoo Tycoon and playing the game.