Awesome thread, thanks so much for doing this for the community! Sounds like a lot of work! 😵‍💫

+1 to all of these on the list:
Aviaries
Exhibit Reworks
Aquariums
Full Animal Customisation in Sandbox
Turn off Hitboxes of Scenery Pieces
Rework Animal Hitboxes
Rework Base Game Animals to Current Standard
Improved Herding
Custom Map Skirts
Slower Time
Seasons
Give us all of animals from PZ1
Animal Personalities
Educational Props
Cater towards Small Animals
More Map Options
Exhibit Customisation
Animal Rankings
Egg Laying
Rework Rock Hitboxes
All Planet Zoo 1 Themes Return
Climbing Overhaul
Auto Generated Zoo News
Rework Iguanas into Habitat Animals
Nocturnal House Building Set
Random Events
Driveable Staff Vehicles
Playgrounds & Splash Pads
Variety of Animal Horns/Tusks/Antlers
Playable Keeper Mode
Animal Behaviour Overhaul
More Realistic Zoo Props
Realistic Air Conditioning Props
Animal Model Variants
Day and Night Cycle for Animals
More Fonts & Art Shapes
More Custom Signs
More Windows & Doors
Improved Interior Lighting
Realistic Transport Rides
Focus on Zoo Backstage Areas
New and Improved Enrichment Items
Big Bouncy Ball Enrichment
Improved Weather Systems
Guests will dress for the climate
Emu as a Walkthrough Animal
Add Boxless Exhibits
Dynamic Doors
Add Fossil / Taxidermy Props as Scenery Items
Add 2 & 3m paths as an offical feature
Add option to Mirror Items or Groups
Ambient Animals
Zebra on the Equine Rig
Climbing for Monitors
Don't Lock Reward Statues for Sandbox Mode
More Realistic Path Textures
Realistic Feeders
Modular Mesh Building Set
Guest Needs Rework
Improved Hard Shelter
Ambassador Animals
More Animal Guest Interactions
Improved Petting Zoo Mechanics
Optional Tunnel / Road Spawner
Adminstration Center
No Deep Diving Depth for Small Animals
Add Large Pumpkins as an Enrichment Item
Allow Barriers Directly at the Paths Edge
Add Pools
Allow the Safari Ride Track to be Invisible
Null Signs

And +1 to these:
  1. All the new QoL features from PC2 (new paths, foliage brush, that amazing lighting system)
  2. Multiple habitat gates per habitat please!!

Also:
Animal Activity Slider: Similar to the aging slider in the first game, a slider to have certain behaviors last longer or shorter, making behavior more realistic. E.g, turning the slider lower to have say, big cats sleep more rather than constantly running around. Of course, have the slider make need decay faster/slower too so my lions don’t starve themselves because they’re too busy sleeping.

Interspecies Interactions in Mixed Habitats: Could be something as simple as sniffing each other, or more complex like an elephant calf chasing guineafowl, meerkats climbing tortoises, or zebra and wildebeest herding together.

Auto Placing Seasonal Scenery: Option to create and tag sets of certain scenery items around the zoo to automatically appear and disappear around set times of year. The Sims 4 Seasons has a similar system, and I think it would make the otherwise hyper niche holiday sets from the Arctic and Twilight packs much more useful.

To add on to that: Custom Holiday/Event System: Another system from Sims 4 that would be nice in PZ2, the ability to create certain holidays (or use preexisting ones, eg. Halloween/Boo at the Zoo in American zoos, Zoo Lights, etc.). Effects could include things the player sets for a particular holiday, such as guests appearing in certain outfits, automatic paid marketing to attract more guests (such as the system from ZT Xbox), and of course, the aforementioned scenery placement.

EDIT: because I saw specific foliage being suggested, throwing in a vote for a proper NZ beech tree and a leafless baobab
 
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  • Improved Engine that allows for better fur and hair textures.
  • Completely overhaulled Exhibit System with varying exhibit sizes and the ability to build custom ones from scratch. Also looped exhibit animal animations similar to Prehistoric Kingdom.
  • Fix all scenery hitboxes
  • More foliage and plantpedia
  • Improved quality of exhibit animal models
  • Improve all animal models to have a consistent style.
  • Overhauled climbing system. Monitors lacking climbing is unfortunate.
  • Overhaul Interspecies enrichment. It does literally nothing. Different anmals don't even interact with one another outside of predator\prey relationships.
  • Customizable perch points for the ground dwelling birds. Some of the ones currently in the roster do roost in trees.
  • All engine upgrades present in PC2 (lighting, pathing, passage of time being in days instead of months, etc)
  • Marine animals
  • Flying birds
  • More enrichment items
  • Better DLC diversity. Ungulate/canine/feline pack formula got really old really fast.
 
Not really something I need and it doesn't even relate to the gameplay so I don't know if it counts, but screw it. You know how animal pack trailers have little segments showing off each animal and telling you what it is, while scenery pack trailers do the first thing to I would like if the showed what the animals where called by showing there names in the trailer, I don't know why I want this but I do 🤪.
 
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Not really something I need and it doesn't even relate to the gameplay so I don't know if it counts, but screw it. You know how animal pack trailers have little segments showing off each animal and telling you what it is, while scenery pack trailers do the first thing to I would like if the showed what the animals where called by showing there names in the trailer, I don't know why I want this but I do 🤪.
I don't know if that really applies to this wishlist, more of a personal wish for the dlc trailers.
 
I not sure if this has been mentioned before but a couple ideas for the management side of the game:

Reworking the plant need of animals and plant system in general: Coverage definitely makes sense for animals to care about, for example a fallow deer prefering a more densely planted enclosure whereas a zebra might prefer a more open one.
But animals caring about if a plant is native to their natural habitat is just really stupid. And the imo better way to bring depth to it would be give plants wellfare aswell.
Like give them a "healthbar" that can take damage from being in an unsuitable climate, constantly walked on or being eaten, but refills over time. For example: You wanna have some nice flowers in your habitat, if you place them at a place the animals frequent, like the entrance to their shelter, the flowers will take more damage from being trampled on than they can regenerate, so they will die of pretty soon. But if you put them where the animals dont frequent they will hold up with occasional being walked over, if they still dont you might have to look into way to keep your animals away from them.
And to sort of tie in with that:

Making climate actually mean something: Right now the choice of in which biome and climate you build your zoo is a cosmetic one more than anything. But i think it would provide more depth to Planet Zoo 2 as a zoo sim if this choice actually meant something, like if you want to keep crocodilians you have the option to go with a tropical setting and be able to keep them outdoors, or if you want to build in a temperate area you can do that aswell but you do need to keep them indoors.
Likewise you could offset the advantage of zoos in a mediterranean climate zone being able to keep more animals outside the whole year by making food costs higher due to it spoiling fast in warmer climates and giving animals a higher chance of catching a food poisoning or something. In contranst in temperate you could offset the disadvantage of having to build a lot more indoor areas by giving boni if guests can still observe tropical animals in the winter. Obviously this is just a concept and there would need some balancing to be done so all biomes have their pros and cons and none is the inherently best choice.
TLDR: give it more depth than just plopping heaters or coolers down and calling it a day
 
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Making climate actually mean something: Right now the choice of in which biome and climate you build your zoo is a cosmetic one more than anything. But i think it would provide more depth to Planet Zoo 2 as a zoo sim if this choice actually meant something, like if you want to keep crocodilians you have the option to go with a tropical setting and be able to keep them outdoors, or if you want to build in a temperate area you can do that aswell but you do need to keep them indoors.
Likewise you could offset the advantage of zoos in a mediterranean climate zone being able to keep more animals outside the whole year by making food costs higher due to it spoiling fast in warmer climates and giving animals a higher chance of catching a food poisoning or something. In contranst in temperate you could offset the disadvantage of having to build a lot more indoor areas by giving boni if guests can still observe tropical animals in the winter. Obviously this is just a concept and there would need some balancing to be done so all biomes have their pros and cons and none is the inherently best choice.
TLDR: give it more depth than just plopping heaters or coolers down and calling it a day
The best way to do that would be to slow down the time system, using the coolers and heaters make sense when a single season might only mean 5 minutes of game time. However, if we slow down the time and seasons last maybe as much as even 30min-1 hour then it makes sense!

Now you have to build backstage stuff, now you need the vets to transport animals from their summer habitats to their winter ones. Now, to tie it in with some of my earlier suggestions, seasons matter and can affect your other management decisions.

It’s the summer: animals are moved to their full summer habitats, you can also set some special “Summer Lights” to run around the evening to bring in more money. Your babirusa gets to spend all day outside, and your reindeer needs to have massive fans and have its fur coat trimmed.

It’s the fall: your zoo is prepared for its “Boo at the Zoo event”, meanwhile the days are warm and the nights are getting cold. Your babirusa spends some of the time outdoors, mostly during midday. The reindeer are starting to get more comfortable, but mid afternoon is still hot.

It’s winter: the cold weather means some animals must be moved into backstage areas, but on the flip side animals like the reindeer can now spend as much time as they want outside. While the babirusa spends its time in a nice climate controlled house. Also, being winter, you can hire a Santa impersonator to bring in revenue during an off season.

It’s the spring: things are starting to warm up again, and your zoo is getting prepared for a special spring celebration! In the meantime the weather is somewhat like the fall. Instead of getting colder however, the weather is getting warmer. Your babirusa and reindeer will act accordingly.
 
One thing I have thought of that may not be overly popular, but I think would solve quite a few of the 'errors' that have come about from this latest DLC - get rid of mixed-species bonuses.

A bonus, to me, implies that an animal is somehow unhappy without the presence of another species when, in actuality, I suspect the opposite is more often true. A lot of the supposed safe mixes that get bonuses in the game (ring-tailed and ruffed lemurs, sun bears and binturongs, zebras and anything) are actually about as fraught as mixing bears and wolves. I think it would be safer to just completely remove it, and instead simply have the ability to put different species together without needing to for a certain bonus. It could also couple up with animal personalities - some animals are very friendly and suitable for mixing, while others are very aggressive and unsuited to living with other species - that would provide a management challenge that also reflects reality.

It would also save discussions after each DLC is released that X animal somehow needs a bonus with A, B and C animals.
 
One thing I have thought of that may not be overly popular, but I think would solve quite a few of the 'errors' that have come about from this latest DLC - get rid of mixed-species bonuses.

A bonus, to me, implies that an animal is somehow unhappy without the presence of another species when, in actuality, I suspect the opposite is more often true. A lot of the supposed safe mixes that get bonuses in the game (ring-tailed and ruffed lemurs, sun bears and binturongs, zebras and anything) are actually about as fraught as mixing bears and wolves. I think it would be safer to just completely remove it, and instead simply have the ability to put different species together without needing to for a certain bonus. It could also couple up with animal personalities - some animals are very friendly and suitable for mixing, while others are very aggressive and unsuited to living with other species - that would provide a management challenge that also reflects reality.

It would also save discussions after each DLC is released that X animal somehow needs a bonus with A, B and C animals.
I think this would be a significant step backwards. The intention was never meant to be a necessity for species but rather as it's literally stated, a bonus.

Every species is perfectly happy being housed without any mixes, but the enrichment bonus just rewards players building wild-like habitats by researching which species would live together in the wild. That directly gives an incentive for players to make educational habitats, which adds a lot to edu-tainment.

There's the additional bonus of making more lifelike safari areas without having a bunch of toys scattered around. It's more natural for species to interact with other species than just having obvious "enrichment here" objects everywhere.

Of course, PZ's system is very liberal and doesn't always reflect best practices. But I think the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks.
 
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One thing I have thought of that may not be overly popular, but I think would solve quite a few of the 'errors' that have come about from this latest DLC - get rid of mixed-species bonuses.

A bonus, to me, implies that an animal is somehow unhappy without the presence of another species when, in actuality, I suspect the opposite is more often true. A lot of the supposed safe mixes that get bonuses in the game (ring-tailed and ruffed lemurs, sun bears and binturongs, zebras and anything) are actually about as fraught as mixing bears and wolves. I think it would be safer to just completely remove it, and instead simply have the ability to put different species together without needing to for a certain bonus. It could also couple up with animal personalities - some animals are very friendly and suitable for mixing, while others are very aggressive and unsuited to living with other species - that would provide a management challenge that also reflects reality.

It would also save discussions after each DLC is released that X animal somehow needs a bonus with A, B and C animals.
Don't you think that throwing a whole mechanic by the window because of Frontier random errors don't sounds very extreme?

Also, adding a little bit to what @Mjmannella said, if the sequel ever happens i hope they keep the system, but that instead of telling right away what animals have a bonus, they won't tell us untill we try the mix by ourselfs. This way there would be a reward for players that take certain risks or that are smart enough to figure it out by themselfs.
 
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I'm in agreement towards keeping the species bonus for the sequel, pretty much what @Mjmannella said is my personal opinion of how the species bonus appeals to the vast majority of players. If we want to continue debating this matter or suggest an improvement to the bonus than outright removing it, that's fine but currently I got no plans to add it to the wishlist.
 
I'm in agreement towards keeping the species bonus for the sequel, pretty much what @Mjmannella said is my personal opinion of how the species bonus appeals to the vast majority of players. If we want to continue debating this matter or suggest an improvement to the bonus than outright removing it, that's fine but currently I got no plans to add it to the wishlist.
Whilst I totally agree on removing interspecies bonus being a bad idea not including it in the wishlist sets a precedent of only ideas you agree with making it onto the wishlist which doesnt sit right with me I feel it should be in a controversial idea section like the free update wishlist had.

I would like to vote on something similar adding a compatibility chart built into the game to show which species can be housed together safely such as selecting a pair or group of animals in the zoopedia and it showing conflicts.
This will avoid part of the issue the original poster mentioned of people obsessing over interspecies enrichment because I have seen people use that list as if it is the only set of species that can go together. Also to the original posters point about the animals not actually enriching each other in real life that is both not true and not the point of interspecies enrichment it is more to add educational value to the habitats than actually using the animals as enrichment.
 
Hoard of quotes incoming. I'll add my own suggestions in a separate post to make it easier to quote.

Please note I removed parts from some quotes that were either duplicate suggestions or not something I wish to cast my vote for.

Aviaries: I don't think we'll be able to make fully free-form aviaries, because that might screw up the navigable area of flying birds. Instead, what Frontier could do is make it so you build a habitat and then have the option to add a mesh roof, which is then automatically made. Ideally this would also work if the barriers of the habitat were null barriers.
Item scaling: Speaks for itself really.
Improved path system: I can't really put into words how to fix the path system, but PC2 is improving it, so maybe PZ2 can do the same.
All terrain paints in all biomes: One of my most wanted features, I don't understand how this isn't already a thing.
Plant brush: Another thing that PC2 has, I see no reason why PZ2 can't have it too.
Custom map skirts: You should be able to import an image, or potentially a collection of images, to make custom map skirts.
More maps: Why don't we have a city map? PC had it.
+1 to all

Exhibit Mammals: I long for chinchillas, Egyptian Spiny Mice, Tree Shrews etc...
+1

Aquariums and aquatic animals
+1

We need new educational pieces, be it signs, skeletons, etc.
+1 - skeletons, skulls, horns, antlers & hides please!

-Making the game more "Small animal friendly": Planet Zoo is very biased towards large animals, both in the animal roster aswell as the system, pieces and enrichment items. So i really would like more small climbing pieces, smaller enrichtment items and so on
-Option to turn off the hitbox of building pieces: Its really annoying how much space some items take away from the traversable area. This would allow to have animals go through doors that are not obnoxiously oversized aswell as more interesting and realistic habitat design without the animals being unable to take a single step.
-Full animal customizability in Sandbox: If i want a max size elephant i dont want to buy and sell 20 animals to finally find one. Add a option in sandbox where you can chose the exact size, scaring, color variation and color morph you want to have.
+1 to all

2. Overhaul to the "Animal Hitbox" to allow much better travel within an enclosure.
3. Hard Shelter update - I know I'm not the only one who puts a giant shelter into an enclosure - only to be told it's not enough somehow. This needs to be decreased. Also, for shy animals, add a "backstage" requirement that is completely hidden from the public(could be either a building like real zoos have, or could use natural items - foliage/rocks).
4. Random events - easily my favorite update. This should be a check box that the player could disable if they want. It would add disasters, like floods or fire, that would affect your zoo. Also, animal opportunities like housing animals rescued from circus/private owners, or taking in(whether permanent or temporary) animals from a zoo in financial trouble. That type of thing.
+1 to all

  • A proper first-person Zookeeper Mode, where you can walk around into habitats and manually tend to basic needs
  • Modular exhibits to make them more dynamic and impressionable
+1 to all. I think modular exhibits would work best for aviaries and walkthrough exhibits. I think exhibit boxes would still have their place though for tiny things like insects and such but would love for them to have different size and shape options.

  1. Revamp the older animals to bring them up to standard
  2. Co-op multiplayer! It would be really fun to build a zoo together.
  3. Multiple habitat gates per habitat please!!
  4. Animal shows! This would be particularly great for flying birds or marine mammals, and would be a sort of stealth way to add "free flight" to some of the larger birds while keeping them as mostly functional habitat species.
+1 to all

Here's my own suggestions although I don't think I need to go into too much detail as I'll be inputting all the data anyway:

  1. Playgrounds and splash pads for guests
  2. Carousel rides
  3. More fonts and art shapes , especially smaller ones
  4. Base game custom signs similar to the Australia pack wooden signs
  5. Horizontal stained wood walls
  6. More windows and doors, make them see-through
  7. Elevated null paths
  8. One way paths
  9. Improve interior lighting so I don't need 50+ spotlights to have a bright interior
  10. Nocturnal building panels to block out light
  11. Disable guest models for franchise users to improve performance
  12. Disable path snapping for benches and bins
  13. More realistic zoo props
  14. Vehicle props
  15. Transport rides that look like actual transport rides , use the planet coaster models it isn't that hard
  16. Staff vehicle for quick access to remote parts of the zoo
  17. Increased emphasis on zoo backstages
  18. Import my air conditioning props please or at least offer something better than a single low resolution wall unit
  19. Rework animal and rock hitboxes
  20. Optional tunnel or road spawner connection for parking lots
  21. More vehicle spawners like the European bus or boat
  22. Tall trees, we need really tall trees like the California palm tree
  23. Increased amount of animal enrichment, including new and worn looks of them
  24. Herding behaviours
  25. Guests dress for the weather
  26. Random events and disasters
  27. Improved zoo management but don't turn it into a micromanagement simulator
  28. Expand on the walkthrough exhibit allowing multiple species inside - bats, butterflies, sloths, lizards etc
+1 to all

Animals:
  • Improved traversability (remove the requirement where an animal needs to fit through an opening sideways).
  • No need for 2m or 4m depth for deep-diving of small animals.
Habitat:
  • Reduce terrain obstruction for habitat items.
  • Add firehoses as climbing items.
Barriers:
  • Have a barrier item for each construction wall texture.
  • Have an option to tilt barriers in- or outward of the habitat.
  • Underwater tunnels are an in-game feature.
  • Allow barriers directly at the path's edge.
  • Add a barrier with a faux/natural rock texture.
Construction:
  • Add triangular (equilateral and rectangular triangle) versions of each wall panel.
  • Remove non-flexicolour duplicates of flexicolour items (i.e. unpainted bamboo, wooden plank wall).
  • Add semi-transparent panels to upload our own pictures on the texture of construction items.
  • Dynamic items: doors actually open when guests go through them.
  • Add null signs, like in Planet Coaster.
Nature:
  • Add flexicolour natural rocks.
  • Add common tropical plants incl. traveller's tree, bird-of-paradise, tembusu tree.
Paths:
  • Allow using different path railings and kerbs for each path.
  • 2m and 3m guest paths are an in-game feature.
+1 to all

I want a better subspecies selector so I can for instance select lion as a filter then from there select a subspecies or leave it random. This will ideally help reduce the issues with people getting mad at new subspecies taking animal slots since it will be one animal with essentially skin variants.
+1

Horn/Tusk variety
+1

fix all animal sound issues, the devil and donkeys spring to mind but there might be others
+1 or at least make it easier for modders to do so

7. Photo challenges. I've said this before and I'll say it a thousand times, let players walk around their zoos and take photos, and make those photos have an actual impact (use them in publicity and for challenges in scenarios) to make the experience engaging.
+1

Interspecies Interactions in Mixed Habitats: Could be something as simple as sniffing each other, or more complex like an elephant calf chasing guineafowl, meerkats climbing tortoises, or zebra and wildebeest herding together.
+1

  • More foliage and plantpedia
  • Customizable perch points for the ground dwelling birds. Some of the ones currently in the roster do roost in trees.
+1 to both of these. Would love to have my chickens and peafowl perching properly.

5. Ambassador animals
+1 This would work well with animal shows/talks

Reworking the plant need of animals and plant system in general: Coverage definitely makes sense for animals to care about, for example a fallow deer prefering a more densely planted enclosure whereas a zebra might prefer a more open one.
But animals caring about if a plant is native to their natural habitat is just really stupid. And the imo better way to bring depth to it would be give plants wellfare aswell.
Like give them a "healthbar" that can take damage from being in an unsuitable climate, constantly walked on or being eaten, but refills over time. For example: You wanna have some nice flowers in your habitat, if you place them at a place the animals frequent, like the entrance to their shelter, the flowers will take more damage from being trampled on than they can regenerate, so they will die of pretty soon. But if you put them where the animals dont frequent they will hold up with occasional being walked over, if they still dont you might have to look into way to keep your animals away from them.
+1 "animals caring about if a plant is native to their natural habitat is just really stupid" 100%
 
Here are some some suggestions I have. None are duplicates from previous posts that I could see but may have missed one.
  • Elevators. These can work where when placed on top of each other guests can enter (despawn) and exit (respawn) through any of the stacked elevators. Elevators can be rotated so that the doors (entry/exit) are facing different directions. For example a guest can enter on a ground floor elevator from the front and exit on the second floor to the right. Or possibly have a couple different types of Elevators (single-sided, double-sided, etc.). They would also obviously need to be connected to a path.
  • Flat Solar Panels. Can actually be placed on roofs. These can be linked to some sort of pad-mounted transformer (like how tables can be linked to restaurants) and the transformer is what mechanics interact with for maintenance purposes.
  • Animal Feed Vending Machines. These could work like a donation box where guest interact with it, a small donation is collected, and then a small animal-guest interaction animation plays of either either guests tossing food or holding out their hand to the animal (both of these animations are already in game). Animals in habitats that have feeders in them could also be less prone to hunger.
  • Different Styles of Donation Boxes. I'd really like one that was shorter without the spinning thing on top.
  • Allow Pathing to be Included in Blueprints
  • Private Trades with Other Players
  • The Ability to Save Color Palettes
  • Exit Gates. I'd really like to designate an entrance and exit to my zoos. Many smaller zoos do this irl to funnel guests through gift shops.
  • Guest Only Barriers/Signs. Prevent guests from entering areas (especially within walkthrough habitats) but still allow zookeepers access.
  • School Tours/Field Trip Tours
  • Educational Center
  • Animal Model Viewer Like What Modders Have
  • Pathing with Road Markings
  • Animal Gates of Various Sizes. Bonus if they actually function (open/close).
  • Small Parking Lot or Parking Garage. Guests spawn out of vehicles. Would also love if cars we shown driving in and out.
  • Modular Tree Parts. Give us tree parts to create our own trees (branches, trunks, and logs of various kinds (debarked, mossy, old and dry, rotten, etc). Should have a few varieties, one for each biome basically. Can also be used for creating custom feeders and enrichment items.
These two aren't deal breakers but I would like to see them implemented if at all possible:
  • Prevent Animals from Walking Through Other Animals
  • Prevent Guests from Walking Through Animals
 
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