Realistic Wild Animal Behaviors for Safari Park Builds

Basically, what I want for this game is to not be completely restricted to playing the game as a legitimate 'zoo' with exhibits etc- when it comes to 'zoo games', I play them because they are the closest thing to any kind of 'god game with animals'/'ecosystem game' that exists in any capacity. Thus, I like the freedom to play the game with 'wildlife park' or 'safari' builds- i.e. no exhibits, no fences(save for a fenced-in guest area) with nearly the entire park open for free-roaming animals to coexist with other animals. I want my predators to hunt, but I don't want them to be vicious killing machines that decimate an entire herd of gazelles in five minutes. I want animals to react to eachother realistically, i.e. lions will hunt, but only when they are hungry and there is no food around. I'd like prey animals to behave realistically around predators, as well- i.e. avoiding predator territories, not walking right into a lion's den, or acting uneasy around a predator that passes by them. Herd animals shielding their young.

It would also be nice if packs and prides etc had realistic pack/pride behavior, and would hunt together, and generally stick together. Established groups would be awesome- i.e. animals placed together within a close time period would be likely to accept eachother as pack/pridemates, while new animals added later on may be outcasts for awhile, or in the case of an open safari build, where the animal can actually get away and isn't stuck in the exhibit with the hostile pack/pride, actually driven off. Alternatively, there could be a chance for them to be accepted as well, particularly if the pack/pride needs more animals to add to the gene pool to prevent inbreeding. Rival packs/prides could be hostile to eachother.

Basically, I want to be able to place an ecosystem of free-ranging animals and be able to just watch them handle themselves like realistic wild animals, and them be able to survive and behave realistically.
 
Good suggestion, although a good working eco-system needs a whole lot of room, and a whole lot of animals to continue the lifeline.

And you can't tell a lion or tiger to not eat an entire herd of gazelles. Or try another animal sometimes instead of a gazelle anytime..
And although the predator wouldn't mind sharing his space with herbivors, I doubt herbivores will be "happy" with sharing their exhibit with a predator.

I don't think it's good zoo-keeping if you need to buy a gazelle over and over again, just to have a pair.
Animals don't only attack because of hunger, it's also about territory defending.

But, if it could work, yes it's a good idea.
How? i wouldn't know, but that's not for me to find out.
 
@Luuknoord Sure, you can't tell a lion or tiger not to eat an entire herd of gazelles... but realistically, they wouldn't. You will NEVER see a predatory animal in the wild mass-killing for fun. They simply don't do that, ever, otherwise every 'prey animal' would be extinct by now. Predators need to conserve their energy- they will only hunt when they're hungry, otherwise they save their energy for if they need it to protect themselves. Yes, animals do fight over territory, however usually this does not end in death, only with the intruder being driven out, and predators don't do that with prey animals regardless. Predators will tolerate prey in their territory, just not other predators.

And prey animals in real life are perfectly happy to live wild and free, maybe with predators sometimes in their vicinity. They just do their best to avoid them. Obviously a herd of zebra is going to be uneasy if a lion pride gets too close, but in a build like this they would be able to generally remain far enough away from predators that it shouldn't negatively impact their happiness. Bc let's face it lol, if a 'prey animal' is in the bottom left corner of the map, and there's a lion in the top right(which should be VERY far away), and the 'prey animal' is unhappy because that predator is ""in the same exhibit"" as them... that's a problem lol and shouldn't be an issue. Prey animals should have a certain radius within which they get uncomfortable if a predator gets too close, but just being in a fenceless environment with predators shouldn't be an issue.

Secondly... you wouldn't have to buy a gazelle over and over again. You place a big herd to begin with, and they should naturally repopulate themselves by breeding- with a big enough herd, inbreeding should not be an issue. If Zoo Tycoon 2 could handle this, this game should CERTAINLY be able to.

Third, the "good zoo-keeping" thing is an invalid point, as a build like this would not be meant as a "zoo", it would be meant as a "wildlife preserve".

If I can do it in Zoo Tycoon 2, I should be able to do it here. The animal AI in Zt2 certainly wasn't great, BUT it is entirely possible to make a safari build, in which the predators and prey will balance eachother out.
 
Also, another point- with this game having a focus in ""conservation"" and ""releasing animals into the wild"", this style of gameplay should actually be encouraged, as it fits right in. Wildlife preserves where animals live in wide open spaces and get to use skills they'd use in the actual wild to survive would be perfect for that.

Plus, really... if the point of the game is conservation with a goal of releasing some animals into the wild, shouldn't said animals be able to behave like wild animals and survive if placed in a "wilderness" environment? Why would I want to release an animal into the wild if it can't survive in my own "wilderness" simulation? If it dies in that case, wouldn't it be realistic to assume it'd just die if it were released for real? x'D
 
It's just not my type of zoo keeping. But if it encourages me to work and think differently in some way yes I'd be in for it.

It is a good suggestion. I hope it works better than with JWE as there the herbivores are spooked all the time.

I'm definitely in for some safari type stuff! And if this works as well, then that would be great.
 
Wholeheartedly agree on this topic/suggestion!

Part of my time spent on ZT2 was often to make this sort of thing and just sit back and observe. There were a couple of things that could've been improved, but overall it worked pretty well with what ZT2 offered; predators would hunt to eat, certain species would fight for the mating rights, and some would form packs (provided you had the AA-expansion, which brought in pack/herd behavior).

Overall I'm sure it'll be possible to do a safari/sanctuary/wildlife in Planet Zoo; biggest question is how well different species will interact with one another, and whether the predators restrict hunting/attacking to be related to hunger.
 
Not only for Safari areas either, but there are some fantastic mixed species bird enclosures like the King Vulture/Thick-Billed Parrot/Burrowing Owl enclosure at the Queens Zoo, most mixed species Penguin enclosures, and event some interesting tropical mixes, Capybaras with everything from monkeys to caiman and turtles, Gelada Baboons and Ibex, Red River Hogs and Mandrills, the list goes on. I'm confident Frontier has done their research, but allowing us to mix these species would allow for more educational exhibits ;), and also allow us to "save space" in our parks allowing us more creative freedoms.
 
Es muy buena idea yo considero que Zoo Tycoon 3 (el ultimo), fue uno de los peores por que no nos dejaban crear nuestros recintos y dado el caso hacer que fueran libres

very good idea I think Zoo Tycoon 3 (the last), was one of the worst because they did not let us create our enclosures and if necessary make them free
 
This is an awesome idea! It takes me back to the wildlife 'documentaries' that ~I would make playing zoo tycoon 2. It would be great if we could have sort of wilderness type building opportunities. I used to make wolf rehabilitation centres, pretending to teach them how to go back to the wild. It would be great if wolves could have some sort of pack rivalry dynamics, as you said, animals placed together would be more likely to accept each other and if you added in another animals it could have a hard time being accepted. This could also be implemented into the zoo side of things.
 
It can be a special exhibit and i think it would be really good as it does exit in real life where the animals are semi wild and hunt life prey. But the realistic behavior is so important.
 
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