Releastic looking guests

[shirandhak]

For me building comes first, animals second, guests are.... unnessessary (for me at least). I don't look at them closely (why should I?), so I don't care if they can "express themselves" or not. They are just a pain, because they are clogging everything up and getting stuck. And I would rather have them look lifeless and stiff (and being about 10 to 20 times less many per default) than causing me to fall out of my beautiful realistic zoo into a silly cartoon. But as you can keep your guests off in sandbox, this is not so much annoying as the staff.

 

[VioletGrey]

I'd prefer something in-between.
Planet Zoo human faces are too cartoonish, but JWE faces are too much like mannequins. If they could do something in-between that still keeps the charm of the cartoon faces, while making them a tiny bit more realistic, that would be great.

 

[XT]

Honestly, staying away from the uncanny valley is a wise choice. It's much creepier when you hit that spot than to have cartoonish guests - and, honestly, the body language and the voices are much more realistic and, for me, much more convincing that visual realism that is accompanied by robotic, looped movements. If you watch the guests sit at chairs and benches, or gesture towards the animals (sometimes through rock walls, but you can't have everything), the body language is so fluid and naturalistic - much more than I've seen in almost any game that wasn't a triple A rpg.

 

[Kolikokoli]

I'm ok with the style. But I would like to see groups more as individuals and not "one object". I'd like to see kids and strollers.

 

[ElectricMonk]

I'm ok with the style. But I would like to see groups more as individuals and not "one object".

Whilst that’d be cool, I suspect it would badly affect performance. Having guests as groups substantially reduces the amount of path-finding (and other factors) that needs to be calculated.

 

[Roxxsmom]

I'm ok with the style. But I would like to see groups more as individuals and not "one object". I'd like to see kids and strollers.

Agreed. It would be nice if the kids acted like kids and played and frolicked the way kids do. I suppose it's easier on the processor power for the game to group guests, though.

Strollers would be a realistic touch though. So would some guests in wheelchairs or mobility scooters too, even as part of a group. You see them in real zoos all the time. People who rely on wheels are part of the world.

 

[ElectricMonk]

Agreed. It would be nice if the kids acted like kids and played and frolicked the way kids do. I suppose it's easier on the processor power for the game to group guests, though.

Strollers would be a realistic touch though. So would some guests in wheelchairs or mobility scooters too, even as part of a group. You see them in real zoos all the time. People who rely on wheels are part of the world.

Again, I 100% agree that strollers, wheelchairs etc would be great to have, but it would mean a decrease in performance, as such guests would, presumably, have to have different path finding mechanics to other guests (to avoid stairs).

 

[Kolikokoli]

Again, I 100% agree that strollers, wheelchairs etc would be great to have, but it would mean a decrease in performance, as such guests would, presumably, have to have different path finding mechanics to other guests (to avoid stairs).

Mobility scooters seem like a very american thing. I haven't seen any in real life outside USA. I would not want that in my game.

 

[Cool Cats and Kittens]

Mobility scooters seem like a very american thing. I haven't seen any in real life outside USA. I would not want that in my game.

There are regional backgrounds for some areas like Australian desert. Why not introducing regional guests? It should have been done it with the north America DLC.

 

[Kolikokoli]

There are regional backgrounds for some areas like Australian desert. Why not introducing regional guests? It should have been done it with the north America DLC.

Yeah, scooters like that are not allowed everywhere for security reason. Especially in Zoos. I would be ok to have one or two guests on thing like that but not more. I build European Zoos so it would look completely out of place. People here use wheelchairs, crutches etc., you can borrow a wheelchair at the gates.
If it was only on american maps, then that would be ok for me.

 

[DragonNTiger]

I too want more realistic guests... but they don't need to be perfectly realistic. Making them more like Pixar people would be perfectly fine for me... at least give them real eyes and realistic hair, not those creepy dot eyes and plastic textures...

 

[Zoo Tycoon]

I'm ok with the style. But I would like to see groups more as individuals and not "one object". I'd like to see kids and strollers.

Exactly. I just don't like how 4~6 people are moving perfectly the same like robots.

 

[Urufu1997]

Is it not partially a performance thing? I like them though. They’re charming. The way they cluster in big groups, however... But thats a different talk lol

I also think Performance is the Main Reason why they came up with this Guest Design. I absolutely hate how they move. Almost all of them are always in the same Area (and for some Reason almost no one at the Enclosure of the most popular Animal ) surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of People. Who moves like that voluntarily? I hate it even more thanks to the current Real Life Situation.

Absolutely soulless.

PlanCo styled guests were the right choice. If you get realism it dates itself instantaneously. The PlanCo style is charming and dare I say timeless. Plus, they can express themselves a lot more organically rather than the lifelessness that JWE guests have.

For me the Main Problem is that the Skin is so shiny for some Reason. Also something with the Eyes but I can't really tell what it is. The Hair Texture is also a bit weird but except those Things, I think those People look really good. Maybe the Skin Texture could also get some small Details to look less artificial

I'm ok with the style. But I would like to see groups more as individuals and not "one object". I'd like to see kids and strollers.

I want Toddlers running around

Strollers would be a realistic touch though. So would some guests in wheelchairs

The first Wildlife Park had those (love how much Realism they've put into the Game back then)

 

[ChaosMyotismon]

I'd like something like the sims. Not super realistic, but also not super cartoony. Or give people the option to switch between styles for humans. Those who like the cartoony can switch to them, those who want "semi" more realistic can switch to them. Just a thought.

 

[AlexSea]

Unless you have a high-end PC, having hundreds, if not thousands of guests with really detailed faces all at once would seriously lag your computer. That's probably why the guest appearances are so simplified to begin with.

 

[shirandhak]

There is no need for them to have really detailed faces. Something like PlanCo or* JWE2 would be good enough for me.
And the highly praised body language is a bad joke. The body language is also totally cartoony (just like the sound they make) . But if you like watching nothing else but Disney and Pixar, everything else might be "dull and lifeless" for you (someone else might call that "realistic".)


(Edit: Because I really know only the look of JWE2 guests)

 

[Lelka]

There is no need for them to have really detailed faces. Something like PlanCo or JWE2 would be good enough for me.

Huh, wait...Isn't PlanCo guest as about the same as PZ guest?

 

[Frobacca]

Is it not partially a performance thing? I like them though. They’re charming. The way they cluster in big groups, however... But thats a different talk lol

I mean IRL people are going to cluster around points of interest, with a few stragglers in between, so i never though about that being a issue.

they are very charming in their own way, i'm glading coming to this topic i'm not the only one who likes them!

 

[shirandhak]

Huh, wait...Isn't PlanCo guest as about the same as PZ guest?

Don;t really know, because I don't own the game. But a year or two back there was a thread like this and I asked how Placo guests look and they told me analogously, PlanCo is the Frontier cartoony game with realistic looking guests, whereas Planet Zoo is their "realistic" game with cartoony looking guests (or perhaps I simply misunderstood).

As it is, it may have been just a decision of taste or maybe it was made so, to be a "reminder" that Planet Zoo may look realistic, but is still a game. I know, that in JWE2 the guests look realistic (because I own that game). So I think, I probably should edit the passage to "JWE2 guests" .

I understand both reasons, but I don't like the looks anyway. And I wish, we could choose the look of the guests in (sandbox) options.

 

[Cocolori]

Interestingly I don't mind the Planzoo guests (that are the same models as Planco) but really dislike the look of the JWE guests. So although I appreciate you wanting the option to change it, selfishly I wouldn't want Frontier staff to put time into remodelling guests when they could be modelling new animals (and / or remodelling animals the community really wants changed). But that is personal opinion.