So to start out I’m not advocating giving the players an option to actively breed dinosaurs, that can ruin some of the more challenging aspects (and practical matters) of the game. What I am advocating for instead, is making what breeding was in both the novels and movies for park managers: a serious life threatening problem. There are a lot of layers this could involve and add some thrilling and challenging gameplay. So first off you can have there always being a very very small potential for breeding, especially IF players leave Dino’s unmodified. The chance is low but it’s there, I notice the graphic for the null DNA is frog DNA. Veterans will remember this was the problem with the first batch of Dino’s as they changed from female to male to breed. So you can have unsuspecting or cheap players who always want cheaper viable Dino’s actually increasing the chance you’ll create viable breeding Dino’s based on the lack of modifications (I think there should always be a small chance for fun but have it be lowered depending on mods added that remove frog DNA). Obviously during the early campaigns this can be unfair and unmanageable so maybe have it disabled on the first island or two or even give players the option to disable in sandbox. However, I would argue when parks are small you have a pretty good idea how many animals you have made and can spot outliers, this makes unwanted breeding an issue naturally more apparent on the bigger parks and one more experienced managers should then be ready to face. You may be wondering what’s the point then? The point is what happens when they do breed, certain Dino’s (like raptors) should favor creating their nests in hidden areas like jungles, so only players really attuned to their Dino’s will catch it. Second, having infants and then adults suddenly popping up in your padlocks could make perfectly content populations and you freak out, adding challenge (though I think infants shouldn’t count for population total till they reach maturity). Infants should also be more adept at cage breaking (like climbing or slipping through non electrified fences) or hiding, they will also need to eat and you may see your dinos suddenly fighting for food when they weren't before. This gives a scenario where a park manager who hasn’t been paying attention to say, his raptors suddenly realizes he has two unaccounted for raptors attacking the herbivores nextdoor or even their guests. This may seem unfair (well life isn’t and it finds a way, that’s the point of the game) but you can implement controls to give players an edge if they choose to be security conscious.
Sterilization: In the later game players should have the opportunity to sterilize their animals before release and after on sedated animals using rangers for a higher price. The catch, this still may not always work because well vets don’t know everything about Dino anatomy, but it’ll give players twofold protection making breeding even more highly unlikely if they want to.This can give managers an edge and reduce the chance of their dinos breeding, if they choose to pay up that is. This creates a dynamic where cash strapped or busy managers may not want to bother and run the risk, or even take on missions that forbid it, that is their choice.
Another solution: cameras. I’ve seen threads suggesting cameras and in one a dev asked what the point would be, this could be it. You can start with basic motion sensors which players can purchase and connect to a network that tracks animals in the park (probably have a small central building they have to build that requires power). Animals that were born in park will not have trackers and therefore pop on sensors as an anomaly, even giving players an alert in their message box and pop up on maps. Players can add cameras to these sensors so the camera identifies the species in question (although it should probably sometimes be wrong) and has improved range that allows players to physically look through. Finally, infrared should be a third upgrade that gives even better reliability to identify and locate unknown animals to the manager. The only Dino in the park that can trick infrared should be the I-Rex, for obvious reasons. This surveillance system of course can be sabotaged, lose power, and even give errors or not record correctly near water or during storms, not making it entirely foolproof and overpowered. I'd highly suggest this as it can add even more cool security aspects to the gameplay (one could even argue they could be used in guest areas or at sensitive areas because for some reason this game forgets people need security from each other not just dinos, the pickpockets in these parks must be crazy rich). I believe this option has the most to bring to the game (and therefore would be the most difficult to implement)
Fencing: You can actually make the fences mean something more than delaying the inevitable. You could make it where infants (since they are smaller) can climb, slip through, or burrow under the regular non electrified fences (except maybe concrete walls). So if a manager has a breeding problem or wants to be extra cautious, electric fence comes to the rescue (most the time) if they can afford it (practically would probably require allocating those fences to trouble dinos or sensitive areas).
Another more mundane but easy fix: the dinosaurs that you raise in labs have a name/number identifying them on a blue screen of dino statistics. Just have wild bred dinos not have a name/identifier (instead have "unknown", "wild", etc.)and/or make the panel showing dino stats a different color, easy. That way managers can easily spot unwelcome guests if they start seeing irregularities (high discomfort levels due to social/population, food scarcity, odd behavior, etc.) and care to look into it.
Rangers: You could also have rangers send a notification if they are in a paddock and "see" an unknown dinosaur, this gives them more use and creates a real world scenario where park managers have to rely on their staff who interact more with their animals to report problems.
Genetics: You could have wild bred animals sometimes have different mutations that may make them stand out against the rest, such as skin color. This means more focused managers will quickly spot any irregularities or quickly spot the problem dino when issues arise.
With some or all of these potential features and careful management, a player who doesn’t want their Dino to breed should realistically be able to prevent, catch, and manage this challenge while adding another layer of gameplay . Sorry for the rant and let me know if anyone has other suggestions, rebuttals, or ideas.
Sterilization: In the later game players should have the opportunity to sterilize their animals before release and after on sedated animals using rangers for a higher price. The catch, this still may not always work because well vets don’t know everything about Dino anatomy, but it’ll give players twofold protection making breeding even more highly unlikely if they want to.This can give managers an edge and reduce the chance of their dinos breeding, if they choose to pay up that is. This creates a dynamic where cash strapped or busy managers may not want to bother and run the risk, or even take on missions that forbid it, that is their choice.
Another solution: cameras. I’ve seen threads suggesting cameras and in one a dev asked what the point would be, this could be it. You can start with basic motion sensors which players can purchase and connect to a network that tracks animals in the park (probably have a small central building they have to build that requires power). Animals that were born in park will not have trackers and therefore pop on sensors as an anomaly, even giving players an alert in their message box and pop up on maps. Players can add cameras to these sensors so the camera identifies the species in question (although it should probably sometimes be wrong) and has improved range that allows players to physically look through. Finally, infrared should be a third upgrade that gives even better reliability to identify and locate unknown animals to the manager. The only Dino in the park that can trick infrared should be the I-Rex, for obvious reasons. This surveillance system of course can be sabotaged, lose power, and even give errors or not record correctly near water or during storms, not making it entirely foolproof and overpowered. I'd highly suggest this as it can add even more cool security aspects to the gameplay (one could even argue they could be used in guest areas or at sensitive areas because for some reason this game forgets people need security from each other not just dinos, the pickpockets in these parks must be crazy rich). I believe this option has the most to bring to the game (and therefore would be the most difficult to implement)
Fencing: You can actually make the fences mean something more than delaying the inevitable. You could make it where infants (since they are smaller) can climb, slip through, or burrow under the regular non electrified fences (except maybe concrete walls). So if a manager has a breeding problem or wants to be extra cautious, electric fence comes to the rescue (most the time) if they can afford it (practically would probably require allocating those fences to trouble dinos or sensitive areas).
Another more mundane but easy fix: the dinosaurs that you raise in labs have a name/number identifying them on a blue screen of dino statistics. Just have wild bred dinos not have a name/identifier (instead have "unknown", "wild", etc.)and/or make the panel showing dino stats a different color, easy. That way managers can easily spot unwelcome guests if they start seeing irregularities (high discomfort levels due to social/population, food scarcity, odd behavior, etc.) and care to look into it.
Rangers: You could also have rangers send a notification if they are in a paddock and "see" an unknown dinosaur, this gives them more use and creates a real world scenario where park managers have to rely on their staff who interact more with their animals to report problems.
Genetics: You could have wild bred animals sometimes have different mutations that may make them stand out against the rest, such as skin color. This means more focused managers will quickly spot any irregularities or quickly spot the problem dino when issues arise.
With some or all of these potential features and careful management, a player who doesn’t want their Dino to breed should realistically be able to prevent, catch, and manage this challenge while adding another layer of gameplay . Sorry for the rant and let me know if anyone has other suggestions, rebuttals, or ideas.
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