questions for devs regarding Jurassic World Evolution

[Raithial]

Dear Developers

Having played both Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution, one thing really strikes me as somewhat.. odd, to be quite honest, so I'm curious to the difference between the customization between Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution.
It almost feels as if Jurassic World Evolution has the dinosaurs as the main attraction but in order to get those a substantial amount of options are completely thrown to the wayside, so I'm curious to know whether that's due to the engine the game is built on, or if that's a concious choice to hold to the Jurassic World brand more closely?

I think I speak for a majority of JW:E fans when I say that I find the difference between customisation in Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution to be quite staggering. In Planet Zoo you design your own buildings, and can overlap plants and make super-elaborate exhibitions, and in Jurassic World Evolution you put up a fence, place some water, trees and maybe a rock plus a feeder and that's about it. Each building has only 1 skin, and there's a severe lack of esthetic items in the game.
As a result I'm almost thinking that this is either an issue with the engine, or an issue with the rights and legal entanglements due to the Intellectual Property.

from a purely theoretical standpoint, would it be possible for Jurassic World to implement esthetic items such as signs, lamps, benches and the likes? We know the lights are an option due to Return to Jurassic Park, same for the signs, but is it possible legally?

Furthermore; what's stopping you(the devs) from implementing stuff like advanced viewing attractions like the walkthrough-log from Jurassic World, or the pachy-arena, or a sort of amphitheatre? or better yet; let players design their own attractions akin to Planet Zoo, with the same problems as Jurassic Park/World. Raptors still have a tendency to break out, rexes can eat people that aren't high up enough on a walkway, trikes/pachies can prove a danger to walkway supports etc. I don't mean to imply anything, and I'm just spitballing ideas, because as a community we simply don't know why Jurassic World Evolution has so many restrictions when compared to Planet Zoo...?

 

[stefffff]

Its most likely the engine or sth like that. JWE is also a console game, planet zoo is not. Everything the Devs are doing for JWE needs to be compatible and doable for the consoles aswell.

 

[SotF]

Its most likely the engine or sth like that. JWE is also a console game, planet zoo is not. Everything the Devs are doing for JWE needs to be compatible and doable for the consoles aswell.

I think that it's the same basic engine, JWE and PZ each heavily modified it for their own things there.

Dear Developers

Having played both Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution, one thing really strikes me as somewhat.. odd, to be quite honest, so I'm curious to the difference between the customization between Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution.
It almost feels as if Jurassic World Evolution has the dinosaurs as the main attraction but in order to get those a substantial amount of options are completely thrown to the wayside, so I'm curious to know whether that's due to the engine the game is built on, or if that's a concious choice to hold to the Jurassic World brand more closely?

I think I speak for a majority of JW:E fans when I say that I find the difference between customisation in Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution to be quite staggering. In Planet Zoo you design your own buildings, and can overlap plants and make super-elaborate exhibitions, and in Jurassic World Evolution you put up a fence, place some water, trees and maybe a rock plus a feeder and that's about it. Each building has only 1 skin, and there's a severe lack of esthetic items in the game.
As a result I'm almost thinking that this is either an issue with the engine, or an issue with the rights and legal entanglements due to the Intellectual Property.

from a purely theoretical standpoint, would it be possible for Jurassic World to implement esthetic items such as signs, lamps, benches and the likes? We know the lights are an option due to Return to Jurassic Park, same for the signs, but is it possible legally?

Furthermore; what's stopping you(the devs) from implementing stuff like advanced viewing attractions like the walkthrough-log from Jurassic World, or the pachy-arena, or a sort of amphitheatre? or better yet; let players design their own attractions akin to Planet Zoo, with the same problems as Jurassic Park/World. Raptors still have a tendency to break out, rexes can eat people that aren't high up enough on a walkway, trikes/pachies can prove a danger to walkway supports etc. I don't mean to imply anything, and I'm just spitballing ideas, because as a community we simply don't know why Jurassic World Evolution has so many restrictions when compared to Planet Zoo...?

A lot of the things are potentially on the licensing end of things, they need to get permissions for anything they add into it. Universal approval is something that becomes major thing there where you need to keep running back and forth for it.

Planet Zoo doesn't have the issue, it's all things of their own design for it and don't need approval from other companies.

 

[stefffff]

I think that it's the same basic engine, JWE and PZ each heavily modified it for their own things there.


A lot of the things are potentially on the licensing end of things, they need to get permissions for anything they add into it. Universal approval is something that becomes major thing there where you need to keep running back and forth for it.

Planet Zoo doesn't have the issue, it's all things of their own design for it and don't need approval from other companies.

probably but it is still a fact that the console-compatibility is limiting the technical possibilities of that game

 

[Robert Maynard]

probably but it is still a fact that the console-compatibility is limiting the technical possibilities of that game

Interesting, in that context, that Planet Coaster will be released on consoles this year.

 

[SotF]

probably but it is still a fact that the console-compatibility is limiting the technical possibilities of that game

A lot of that is more of things like the map sizes rather than on the engine side of things, and possibly update speed since both Sony and Microsoft have their own approval things for patches and DLC that are harsher than Steam is.

It's a lot slower to develop things when you need a separate corporation to approve things, so you normally have a smaller scope for the thing.

While not a video game, you can look at the tabletop RPG market and see a lot of things with it.

For example, you could glance at the Star Wars RPG and miniatures, the easiest to see it with it with the D20 era of stuff. In the same period you would get a whole lot more of their D&D books and minis compared to their Star Wars ones even when they used the same basic engine. They had to get a lot more approval for anything that was from an exterior brand because every little change requires going for approval before going on. Sure, you can combine several small things, but all of the artwork, page layout, and more needs approval before you can do more with it and also final approvals.

You also have the costs portion of it, even if JP:E and PZ make the same amount of sales (assuming the same pricing), JP:E makes less money since you have the licensing fees where a chunk of the profits go to Universal, which means that you can't afford as many people working on the project compared to a self owned IP. Part of that is countered by a licensed game having a built in audience base of both game genre fans, but franchise fans.

 

[PCMR4Life]

Planet Coaster was originally a PC game. All that customization is much easier on the PC with a mouse and keyboard than it is with a controller.

That's the main reason why JWE is so different.

 

[Bo Marit]

Hiya,

Thanks for your questions! While JWE launching on consoles certainly plays a part, it's also good to remember that Planet games (Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo) are a completely different "franchise": they are developed, published, and owned by Frontier (us), with the ultimate vision of being simulation management games that also have an amazing creative angle and offer unlimited creative freedom. Jurassic World Evolution is developed and published by us, yes, but we do not own the Jurassic IP - therefore it's harder to offer the same limitless creativity you might see in our Planet games, because the ultimate vision of the game comes through the IP as a whole (and we're just lucky that we get to work with such an amazing brand). So there are some challenges there, and certainly that's why JWE is more of a standalone title than Planet Coaster and Zoo are - those two are in the same spirit and same universe. Comparing them is understandable, as they're all Frontier games, but they're in very different worlds.

Hope this explains a little! You can find quite a bit more information on older posts, as we've talked about this a lot when the game had just released as well.

Have a nice weekend!

 

[IndominusSun]

Hiya,

Thanks for your questions! While JWE launching on consoles certainly plays a part, it's also good to remember that Planet games (Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo) are a completely different "franchise": they are developed, published, and owned by Frontier (us), with the ultimate vision of being simulation management games that also have an amazing creative angle and offer unlimited creative freedom. Jurassic World Evolution is developed and published by us, yes, but we do not own the Jurassic IP - therefore it's harder to offer the same limitless creativity you might see in our Planet games, because the ultimate vision of the game comes through the IP as a whole (and we're just lucky that we get to work with such an amazing brand). So there are some challenges there, and certainly that's why JWE is more of a standalone title than Planet Coaster and Zoo are - those two are in the same spirit and same universe. Comparing them is understandable, as they're all Frontier games, but they're in very different worlds.

Hope this explains a little! You can find quite a bit more information on older posts, as we've talked about this a lot when the game had just released as well.

Have a nice weekend!

Dear Bo Marit,

I have been active on the forums making posts, some of which can't be answered as Frontier is not willing or at liberty to answer. But, in most of the posts I mention that Evolution should have that unlimited creative freedom in regards to terrain/habitat/environment creation. Would I be right in saying that?

Also am I calling the tools to manipulate the terrain (painting and actual manipulation); placing many types of plants/trees/ferns from all types of biomes and areas of the world; and making waterfalls/geysers/lakes/rivers/etc like Planet Zoo correctly as terrain/habitat/environment creation? I have been trying to find the right phrase to describe them and I wanted to ask what you and the developers would correctly call them.

The Jurassic IP doesn't really nor should limit the game in terms of terrain/habitat/environment creative freedom and so we should have unlimited creative freedom in this regard. Look at the Hawaiian island in which the films were filmed in that they had all types of environments and so the current Evolution game and hopefully for a possible sequel should have the same unlimited creative freedom as Planet Zoo, or better, in terms of terrain/habitat/environment creation. I would also argue we should have the unlimited creative freedom in regards to genetic manipulation, just look at all the lines made in the movies and the lore from the Jurassic IP about the things the scientists hinted at and vaguely stated they did with the genes or could do. I hope a possible sequel (Jurassic World Evolution 2) has this unlimited creative freedom in regards to terrain/habitat/environment creation and genetic manipulation, because even with the additions the developers have made by adding the scenery trees and rocks and a few extra brushes (terrain painting and shrub brushes) this is no where near enough for Evolution. I completely understand we should be limited in regards to structural creativity (making buildings and such) as the Jurassic IP is strict in that but never should we have been limited in terrain/habitat/environment creativity and also, in a slightly less degree, in genetic manipulation creativity. So a sequel, if one is or will be made, should have unlimited creative freedom in terrain/habitat/environment creation and genetic manipulation.

Please answer the two questions above, but please still read the long paragraph right below them and take it to heart, which is above this sentence.

 

[Bo Marit]

Dear Bo Marit,

I have been active on the forums making posts, some of which can't be answered as Frontier is not willing or at liberty to answer. But, in most of the posts I mention that Evolution should have that unlimited creative freedom in regards to terrain/habitat/environment creation. Would I be right in saying that?

Also am I calling the tools to manipulate the terrain (painting and actual manipulation); placing many types of plants/trees/ferns from all types of biomes and areas of the world; and making waterfalls/geysers/lakes/rivers/etc like Planet Zoo correctly as terrain/habitat/environment creation? I have been trying to find the right phrase to describe them and I wanted to ask what you and the developers would correctly call them.

The Jurassic IP doesn't really nor should limit the game in terms of terrain/habitat/environment creative freedom and so we should have unlimited creative freedom in this regard. Look at the Hawaiian island in which the films were filmed in that they had all types of environments and so the current Evolution game and hopefully for a possible sequel should have the same unlimited creative freedom as Planet Zoo, or better, in terms of terrain/habitat/environment creation. I would also argue we should have the unlimited creative freedom in regards to genetic manipulation, just look at all the lines made in the movies and the lore from the Jurassic IP about the things the scientists hinted at and vaguely stated they did with the genes or could do. I hope a possible sequel (Jurassic World Evolution 2) has this unlimited creative freedom in regards to terrain/habitat/environment creation and genetic manipulation, because even with the additions the developers have made by adding the scenery trees and rocks and a few extra brushes (terrain painting and shrub brushes) this is no where near enough for Evolution. I completely understand we should be limited in regards to structural creativity (making buildings and such) as the Jurassic IP is strict in that but never should we have been limited in terrain/habitat/environment creativity and also, in a slightly less degree, in genetic manipulation creativity. So a sequel, if one is or will be made, should have unlimited creative freedom in terrain/habitat/environment creation and genetic manipulation.

Please answer the two questions above, but please still read the long paragraph right below them and take it to heart, which is above this sentence.

Of course!
And yes, you're free to post all of those things; I think we usually use "terraforming" when it comes to terrain manipulation, but honestly any term is fine as long as it helps you convey your point.

As for the other stuff, thanks for taking the time to write it to us again; it's feedback we're very aware of so I'll make sure it's passed on to the team once more - it's not always changes we're able to make unfortunately.

 

[IndominusSun]

Of course!
And yes, you're free to post all of those things; I think we usually use "terraforming" when it comes to terrain manipulation, but honestly any term is fine as long as it helps you convey your point.

As for the other stuff, thanks for taking the time to write it to us again; it's feedback we're very aware of so I'll make sure it's passed on to the team once more - it's not always changes we're able to make unfortunately.

Dear Bo Marit,

May I ask in regards to what you stated as the "other stuff," what do you mean by "the other stuff" as I don't know If I am thinking of the same thing as you when you said that? I hope it's not an inconvenience to ask this question, I am just one of those persons that wants to make sure there is no misunderstanding.

When you say "it's not always changes we're able to make unfortunately," is the issue an IP issue, current gen console issue, game engine issue, or a combination of two or more or something else? I really wish to know. Please answer this to however you are able to disclose to us, as myself and others included wouldn't want you to be in any trouble for saying certain things.

PLEASE inform the team again as you said you would. Thank you for your statement that I am free to post "those things."

ALSO, I know you can't comment on this exact sentence, but if you all are making sequel to Jurassic World Evolution, please tell the team to work to give us the unlimited creative freedom in regards to terraforming, habitat tools (various trees/ferns/plants/waterfalls/lakes/rivers/rocks from all the various biomes of the world; and placement of these things (terraphasing and positioning), and genetic manipulation, but especially the terrafforming and habitat tools on the same unlimited level of creative freedom as Planet Zoo or even better. And when you inform the team in regards to this exact paragraph please also convey the "Spared No Expense" line John Hammond said to give them inspiration and motivation to give us the unlimited creative freedom in the two areas of: 1) terraforming, habitat tools and 2) genetic manipulation. The Jurassic IP from what I see and from all its lore would allow for unlimited creative freedom in these two areas and it shouldn't and wouldn't be a problem with the IP.

Please answer the two questions above but still read the long paragraph and take it to heart and to the team.

 

[Raithial]

Hiya,

Thanks for your questions! While JWE launching on consoles certainly plays a part, it's also good to remember that Planet games (Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo) are a completely different "franchise": they are developed, published, and owned by Frontier (us), with the ultimate vision of being simulation management games that also have an amazing creative angle and offer unlimited creative freedom. Jurassic World Evolution is developed and published by us, yes, but we do not own the Jurassic IP - therefore it's harder to offer the same limitless creativity you might see in our Planet games, because the ultimate vision of the game comes through the IP as a whole (and we're just lucky that we get to work with such an amazing brand). So there are some challenges there, and certainly that's why JWE is more of a standalone title than Planet Coaster and Zoo are - those two are in the same spirit and same universe. Comparing them is understandable, as they're all Frontier games, but they're in very different worlds.

Hope this explains a little! You can find quite a bit more information on older posts, as we've talked about this a lot when the game had just released as well.

Have a nice weekend!

Hi

thank you for the response.
With the answers you have given I think I have a better picture of what's going on behind the scenes that is more or less restricting some of the more creative aspects in JW:E.
I love both games to bits and I'm glad this little thing that was troubling me has been answered.Truth be told for the longest time I suspected some of the Jurassic World IP was partially to blame for the restricted creativity, but I do still seriously love how the rather streamlined gameplay of JW:E has still resulted in some creators creating absolutely gorgeous parks.
I still have a ton of questions though, but none of those are anywhere near important enough to ask.
I do find it quite fascinating to understand the behind-the-scenes and differences between working on an internal(Planet Zoo) and external(Jurassic World Evolution) IP.
Was there a lot of trouble getting the Return to Jurassic Park skins for the animals, by the way? Just out of curiosity. I'ts a bit after-the-fact but I'm really curious to know about that. Was it something that was planned right from the start or was it something that was put in place by constant begging and pressure from the fans?

yours truly
Raith

 

[MightyRevenge]

Hiya,

Thanks for your questions! While JWE launching on consoles certainly plays a part, it's also good to remember that Planet games (Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo) are a completely different "franchise": they are developed, published, and owned by Frontier (us), with the ultimate vision of being simulation management games that also have an amazing creative angle and offer unlimited creative freedom. Jurassic World Evolution is developed and published by us, yes, but we do not own the Jurassic IP - therefore it's harder to offer the same limitless creativity you might see in our Planet games, because the ultimate vision of the game comes through the IP as a whole (and we're just lucky that we get to work with such an amazing brand). So there are some challenges there, and certainly that's why JWE is more of a standalone title than Planet Coaster and Zoo are - those two are in the same spirit and same universe. Comparing them is understandable, as they're all Frontier games, but they're in very different worlds.

Hope this explains a little! You can find quite a bit more information on older posts, as we've talked about this a lot when the game had just released as well.

Have a nice weekend!

Would we ever get a Planet Dinosaur or Planet Prehistoric in that case? Free us from all the restrictions and let us loose like the amazing Planet Zoo?

 

[Jgroves6]

Its most likely the engine or sth like that. JWE is also a console game, planet zoo is not. Everything the Devs are doing for JWE needs to be compatible and doable for the consoles aswell.

I absolutely love JWE. It’s definitely a huge step up from JPOG, obviously.
My questions for you:
1. Do you think that the developers will add the iconic waterfall feature to the Nublar map? Preferably, develop the feature so it can be placed anywhere on an existing map?
2. Would it be ever possible to cross tourist path over vehicle tour? Or allow for buildings to work without path connection to helipad?
3.Remove the bamboo on the vehicle tour fence crossing gates—go with just concrete, like the film.
4. when a tour vehicle gets compromised, so should the people inside.
5. T-rex paddock tunnel? Or basic tunnel that resembles it?