Yeeeeesssss!!
Although addin even more pieces to your older buildings is gonna explode your PC
San Diego Zoo
- Thread starter Captain Callum
- Start date
Although addin even more pieces to your older buildings is gonna explode your PC
Lol I know but all the animals are in the trade center so the stress is no way near as bad. I'm average 50fps and 35 while building so it's a whole lot better than below 20 which was my last time building. I have no idea if I'll ever really be able to complete the zoo knowing how performance will drop drastically in elephant odyssey with the huge elephant habitat.
With the current performance I'm sure I can include Africa rocks + elephant odyssey and northern frontier thanks to the spaced out animal habitats and sparse foliage in this part of the zoo. The lost forest is another thing, with it's dense jungle theme and huge amount of animal habitats, I currently have no plans for apart from maybe the right side like the orangutan trail, fern canyon trail and monkey trail. But that's a long way away from the looks of it and other zoo projects are just as demanding, I have an equally sized community over on YouTube who value the Houston zoo as much as my existing San Diego community.
Thanks, I'll need all the luck I can get if I am to manage any serious progress with the zoo. If the worst case scenario happens (again) I can easily replace parts now that I have a desktop pc, with my older laptop it was really a death sentence with the overheating since I was told by the computer shop there was nothing they could do.
Asian Passage - Panda Ridge
The newest addition to the zoo is an upgrade of the panda trek area we saw previously. The 2 small overgrown red panda habitats have been replaced by a spacious bamboo forest habitat which allows the giant pandas to roam in a natural space. In reponse to people wanting me to keep the takin habitat, I have altered the real zoo layout of panda ridge and built just 1 giant panda habitat instead of the 2 habitats in the real zoo. Even still, the single habitat is 1600m2 big.
In the middle of the panda ridge/asian leopards area the large stone entrance has now been covered with an attractive panda ridge sign which is all custom built by me (minus the font). Custom built animals on signs that have eyes modelled on them is rather difficult to get right but i'm fairly satisfied with how it turned out.
The panda ridge can be found where the 2 red panda habitats were located, I took the ridge name literally and built the habitat up into the terrain using layers of faux rocks to get the terrain just right.
On the ground, guests see a large giant panda habitat with 2 areas in the habitat which the pandas like to roam around. There is also a large climbing frame which they don't use to no suprise, it is fully accessible but they would rather take the long route to reach the upper area.
On the right side, a pool for drinking water can be found.
And a nice picture of one of the giant pandas.
The newest addition to the zoo is an upgrade of the panda trek area we saw previously. The 2 small overgrown red panda habitats have been replaced by a spacious bamboo forest habitat which allows the giant pandas to roam in a natural space. In reponse to people wanting me to keep the takin habitat, I have altered the real zoo layout of panda ridge and built just 1 giant panda habitat instead of the 2 habitats in the real zoo. Even still, the single habitat is 1600m2 big.
In the middle of the panda ridge/asian leopards area the large stone entrance has now been covered with an attractive panda ridge sign which is all custom built by me (minus the font). Custom built animals on signs that have eyes modelled on them is rather difficult to get right but i'm fairly satisfied with how it turned out.
The panda ridge can be found where the 2 red panda habitats were located, I took the ridge name literally and built the habitat up into the terrain using layers of faux rocks to get the terrain just right.
On the ground, guests see a large giant panda habitat with 2 areas in the habitat which the pandas like to roam around. There is also a large climbing frame which they don't use to no suprise, it is fully accessible but they would rather take the long route to reach the upper area.
On the right side, a pool for drinking water can be found.
And a nice picture of one of the giant pandas.
Real Zoo Overview - Africa Rocks - Ethopian Highlands
We saw a general overview of the entire africa rocks area a year or so ago before I dropped the project, now that the zoo has returned I think a more detailed overview of each section is required because it is a rather complicated area with lots of detailed habitats to build for.
The Ethopian Highlands is the highest section of africa rocks canyon which will slowly descend all the way down to the asian passage. We can find 3 animal habitats here in a rocky grassland theme with baboons as the main attraction here. The zookeepers pack released just in time for this new addition to the zoo as all 3 habitats will have the baboon.
A map of the area also helps us understand the layout, there are lots of viewing areas to see the many baboons of the ethopian highlands.
The first baboon habitat is the largest of all the habitats, lots of rocks and an elevated area in the middle of the habitat. As I don't expect any of the baboons to scale the rocks like in real life, the middle of the habitat will some sloped terrain to allow the large baboon family to gain access to the upper area. Looking at this style of terrain, it will be mix of grassland plants like buffalo grass and shrubs along with the light dirt terrain paint.
The habitat walls of each habitat are not that visually appealing, it's basically just a bland retaning wall so either I stick with this style of wall or get creative with the faux rocks which will likely look so much better. There are also some climbing frames in various parts of the habitat.
The medium baboon habitat follows a similar style but a different layout of the elevated areas. This habitat features some covered rock shelters but apart from that it is similar.
We can see on my map that there are several viewing shelter plaza areas for the guests, each of these provides a large glass window providing great views into the habitat. With both the boardwalk paths and these viewing shelters, guests can get lower and upper views of the habitat hopeful providing great views of the baboons.
The final habitat of the ethopian highlands is a mixed habitat of gelada and nubian ibex, both will be modded animals. This is one of the few gelada habitats in north america although the ibex do not live in the habitat anyone due to some issues with animal fighting. That won't be an issue for my sandbox zoo though. Again a similar kind of grassland baboon habitat but this time we have a more pronoucned cliff theme in this habitat with larger rock shelters.
This area will be the october plan, complete the ethopian highlands as the first major animal addition to the san diego zoo recreation in over a year and vastly different from all previous additions to the zoo. It is neither a small tropical animal habitat or a very outdated grotto that shouldn't exist in one of the top zoos of north america, seeing the start of africa rocks explains why it has been a long favourite with my community wanting to see it recreated ingame.
We saw a general overview of the entire africa rocks area a year or so ago before I dropped the project, now that the zoo has returned I think a more detailed overview of each section is required because it is a rather complicated area with lots of detailed habitats to build for.
The Ethopian Highlands is the highest section of africa rocks canyon which will slowly descend all the way down to the asian passage. We can find 3 animal habitats here in a rocky grassland theme with baboons as the main attraction here. The zookeepers pack released just in time for this new addition to the zoo as all 3 habitats will have the baboon.
- Habitat 1 - Large Hamadryas Baboon habitat
- Habitat 2 - Medium Hamadryas Baboon habitat
- Habitat 3 - Gelada & Nubian Ibex (unmodded - hamadryas baboon and alpine ibex)
A map of the area also helps us understand the layout, there are lots of viewing areas to see the many baboons of the ethopian highlands.
The first baboon habitat is the largest of all the habitats, lots of rocks and an elevated area in the middle of the habitat. As I don't expect any of the baboons to scale the rocks like in real life, the middle of the habitat will some sloped terrain to allow the large baboon family to gain access to the upper area. Looking at this style of terrain, it will be mix of grassland plants like buffalo grass and shrubs along with the light dirt terrain paint.
The habitat walls of each habitat are not that visually appealing, it's basically just a bland retaning wall so either I stick with this style of wall or get creative with the faux rocks which will likely look so much better. There are also some climbing frames in various parts of the habitat.
The medium baboon habitat follows a similar style but a different layout of the elevated areas. This habitat features some covered rock shelters but apart from that it is similar.
We can see on my map that there are several viewing shelter plaza areas for the guests, each of these provides a large glass window providing great views into the habitat. With both the boardwalk paths and these viewing shelters, guests can get lower and upper views of the habitat hopeful providing great views of the baboons.
The final habitat of the ethopian highlands is a mixed habitat of gelada and nubian ibex, both will be modded animals. This is one of the few gelada habitats in north america although the ibex do not live in the habitat anyone due to some issues with animal fighting. That won't be an issue for my sandbox zoo though. Again a similar kind of grassland baboon habitat but this time we have a more pronoucned cliff theme in this habitat with larger rock shelters.
This area will be the october plan, complete the ethopian highlands as the first major animal addition to the san diego zoo recreation in over a year and vastly different from all previous additions to the zoo. It is neither a small tropical animal habitat or a very outdated grotto that shouldn't exist in one of the top zoos of north america, seeing the start of africa rocks explains why it has been a long favourite with my community wanting to see it recreated ingame.
Africa Rocks - Hamadryas Baboons
The first habitat at the top of the africa rocks canyon is the large hamadryas baboon habitat, plans have slighly changed to only include the larger baboon habitat and gelada habitat instead of 2 hamadryas baboon habitats due to scaling issues (as always). If I included the 2nd baboon habitat, I would of likely ran out of room for the leopard habitat which I really do want to include for the next area of Africa Rocks.
We start entering Africa Rocks from the koala house, we are greeted with a large entrance sign for the african area. On the right side of the path, a small loop called the ethopian highlands garden is full of unique arid foliage.
Opposite the ethopian highland garden is the large hamadryas baboon habitat, 15 baboons live in the 2800m2 habitat which is a huge difference compared to the rather small habitats of the urban jungle. There are many viewing areas around the habitat, offering many different views of the habitat.
The first viewing area is called the ethopian highlands plaza although really its just a viewing area next to the main path. It offers a good view down the habitat seeing the baboons on the upper and lower parts of the habitat.
The path then follows around the habitat, an elevated boardwalk viewing area starts to descend as the canyon for africa rocks begins here. Glass barriers provide good views of any baboons below the path and a metal fence helps keeps guests away from the edge.
Once guests reach the middle section of the habitat, they get one of the best views into the baboon habitat. Lots of grass placed here hides the rock wall to give an immersive view into the habitat.
Next, another boardwalk view into the habitat looks down the other side of the habitat, this gives great views of the climbing frame which the baboons use occasionally.
The final view of the habitat is another viewing plaza, a large glass barrier looks into the ground level part of the habitat where we can see the baboons travel from the lower to upper parts of the habitat.
The first habitat at the top of the africa rocks canyon is the large hamadryas baboon habitat, plans have slighly changed to only include the larger baboon habitat and gelada habitat instead of 2 hamadryas baboon habitats due to scaling issues (as always). If I included the 2nd baboon habitat, I would of likely ran out of room for the leopard habitat which I really do want to include for the next area of Africa Rocks.
We start entering Africa Rocks from the koala house, we are greeted with a large entrance sign for the african area. On the right side of the path, a small loop called the ethopian highlands garden is full of unique arid foliage.
Opposite the ethopian highland garden is the large hamadryas baboon habitat, 15 baboons live in the 2800m2 habitat which is a huge difference compared to the rather small habitats of the urban jungle. There are many viewing areas around the habitat, offering many different views of the habitat.
The first viewing area is called the ethopian highlands plaza although really its just a viewing area next to the main path. It offers a good view down the habitat seeing the baboons on the upper and lower parts of the habitat.
The path then follows around the habitat, an elevated boardwalk viewing area starts to descend as the canyon for africa rocks begins here. Glass barriers provide good views of any baboons below the path and a metal fence helps keeps guests away from the edge.
Once guests reach the middle section of the habitat, they get one of the best views into the baboon habitat. Lots of grass placed here hides the rock wall to give an immersive view into the habitat.
Next, another boardwalk view into the habitat looks down the other side of the habitat, this gives great views of the climbing frame which the baboons use occasionally.
The final view of the habitat is another viewing plaza, a large glass barrier looks into the ground level part of the habitat where we can see the baboons travel from the lower to upper parts of the habitat.
Looks great, arguably better than the real habitat because of the more natural looking rock walls. And looking back a couple pages, the bear canyon and urban jungle areas are definitely overdue for a renovation, I think one's coming soon because they've moved several animals out of there recently, including the fennec foxes, most of the remaining monkeys, and the otters.
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