Let me start off by saying I adore this game. However, there are some things I'd like to see added in. The title says it all, but I want to go into detail. It's a lot to read, but I worked hard on putting everything together nicely, so I'd appreciate any feedback!
-Self Sustaining Ecosystems:
I like to build involved detailed environments for my animals, more like a Nature Reserve instead of a zoo. However, It always bothers me that animals cannot feed themselves within their environment. I spend a lot of time crafting an enclosure that feels natural and accurate for the animals that live in them, and it would be the perfect finishing detail that animals could then forage, hunt and graze in those enclosures.
Now I admit I haven't tried mixing predators in with prey, so meat eating animals might be able to hunt their own prey. But herbivores, insectivores, and anything else can't feed themselves either. Animals don't graze to feed themselves, or forage in their environment. To that end, adding in trees/plants that spawn in bugs, the ability to add small fish into the water, smaller animals like Hares and Rodents that could help tide a predator over, grass actually feeding animals that are grazing...those things would make things feel complete for me. Add in some some water based plants (like water weeds and algae, and herbs and grasses for the small animals) to feed on, and you could create an entire ecosystem that feeds and waters itself. I think this would be the best way to experience the animals in the game, if you decided you didn't want to do a classic zoo.
I think this would really drive home the conservation aspect of the game as well, allowing players to create complete environments and see how the animals behave within them, letting them live their most natural lives. It'd be a great addition to classic zoos as well, a different way for animals to feed themselves takes some of the strain off of the zoo keepers, and adds an interesting feature to any enclosure.
-Family Trees:
The animals in game breed often. Obviously, this is a good thing! We need more offspring to continue our breeding projects, sell on the market, and to release into the wild. But inbreeding is dangerous- breeding too closely negatively impact the animals in game, making them weaker, more susceptible to illness, and short lived. I've been taking careful notes, in a little book by my computer, of each animal. Who gave birth to who, and who would make a good mate. This isn't really sustainable though- as soon as a breeding project gets bigger, or multiple young are born in a litter, or you don't pause as soon as you get the birth notification, it's so easy to loose track of who's who. (My flamingo habitats are a disaster...) The ability to pop open the genealogy panel and see who gave birth to who would be a game changer. It'd be possible to run an actual breeding program, and keep things in order. A grayed out portrait or animal name would indicate death, and a family member could be removed from the tree if they were traded out, reducing bloat. Animals in the trade center would have clean family trees, again, reducing memory usage. I think this is a small but important change, and would make things easier for every person who plays that game, not just breeders. It'd be easier to get better genes, helping us run successful conservation programs in our zoo, and help us feel attached to our animals more. Who wouldn't be delighted to know for sure that the elephant you have in your enclosure is the direct descendant of your first one? It'd help the animals feel even more important, and prominent.
-Baby Stages:
I was slightly bummed out to learn that there were no nesting behavior in game, and that when babies were born they were already old enough to be weaned and roam around on their own. For me, a big part of being attached to an animal and running a breeding program is to see them start out as newborns, or hatch from an egg. I wouldn't expect them to grow gradually, (while that would be awesome, I know it's a lot of work to get that working and looking right) just go from one stage to another. Here's how, if I had the skill to make the program, I'd go about it:
0) All animals would have a nesting behavior- looking for a safe place to have their babies/make their nest. This could be any hard shelter with bedding added in, or somewhere the temperature was just right.
1) The egg laying animals would then build a nest, and lay their eggs. The live birth animals would make a small nest in their shelter, and give birth to their young. Maybe a small nest with the number of babies born 'stuck' there? Newborns wouldn't really leave their nests anyway until they were old enough, and it would be easier than animating individual newborn animals that could wriggle around and get lost. Mammals would nurse their babies (curl up around the nest and the babies would move to her side?) and egg layers would feed their young (grab food from a food source and bring it over to them?).
2) The next stage would be a slightly older animal, eyes just opened/independence just gained. They would then all become individual animals, and not 'stuck' to the nest anymore. They would stick close to a parent or guardian animal, need to sleep a lot, and would eat solid foods. (maybe with the help of a parent?)
3) The next stage would be what we have now in game- the independent energetic young we know and love. Lots of (non wound inducing) scrapping between litter mates to establish the pecking order would be a cool add on!
4) The last stage before adulthood- the 'awkward teen' phase. Animals would be pretty much adults, just slightly out of proportion, and not quite up to their adult size. The one who was at the top of the pecking order is a contender for alpha status.
5) and then- adulthood! Animals are able to reproduce and behave as the adult animals in game do.
-More Coat Variants:
I've seen this mentioned a lot with wolves, and I think it'd be a great addition to all the animals. Not every animal has as much variation as wolves do, but it'd be amazing to see different shades added to the existing coat colors, as well as a few different colors added for each animal. Something as varied as AWD or Wolves would take a bit more work, but adding to say, Bison, would be less. I've already seen that animals with markings mix it up fairly often, and I think just a few more of each thing that makes up an animal's appearance would make a big difference overall. Again, it'd be easier to get attached to an animal if you can easily pick it out of the herd from a distance- "ah, that's the bison with a small white star on it's head!" For example, I adore the freckles on a snow leopards' nose, and think more features like that, along with more coat colors and variation, would have a big impact.
-Slower Time
A slider, or several preset options to allow users to slow down time or animal aging would be great. The patches slowing things down have been helpful, but I think more individualized control would be appreciated. I'd like to slow things down by quite a lot, myself, and really take the time to get to know my animals. I almost never let time advance if i'm tweaking an exhibit or building something, because I end up missing too much. I think this would work out well even in Franchise mode, it would only impact how often someone was able to trade animals, and that could be left up entirely to the player. An animal would just age however the zoo they're living in currently has it set. This would be very helpful for people who want to build while time goes on, to keep making money while not being flooded with notifications and things that need to be fixed.
Thanks for reading all this way! I'd love it if I could get some feedback from anyone interested (or opposed) to these ideas. What do you all think?
-Self Sustaining Ecosystems:
I like to build involved detailed environments for my animals, more like a Nature Reserve instead of a zoo. However, It always bothers me that animals cannot feed themselves within their environment. I spend a lot of time crafting an enclosure that feels natural and accurate for the animals that live in them, and it would be the perfect finishing detail that animals could then forage, hunt and graze in those enclosures.
Now I admit I haven't tried mixing predators in with prey, so meat eating animals might be able to hunt their own prey. But herbivores, insectivores, and anything else can't feed themselves either. Animals don't graze to feed themselves, or forage in their environment. To that end, adding in trees/plants that spawn in bugs, the ability to add small fish into the water, smaller animals like Hares and Rodents that could help tide a predator over, grass actually feeding animals that are grazing...those things would make things feel complete for me. Add in some some water based plants (like water weeds and algae, and herbs and grasses for the small animals) to feed on, and you could create an entire ecosystem that feeds and waters itself. I think this would be the best way to experience the animals in the game, if you decided you didn't want to do a classic zoo.
I think this would really drive home the conservation aspect of the game as well, allowing players to create complete environments and see how the animals behave within them, letting them live their most natural lives. It'd be a great addition to classic zoos as well, a different way for animals to feed themselves takes some of the strain off of the zoo keepers, and adds an interesting feature to any enclosure.
-Family Trees:
The animals in game breed often. Obviously, this is a good thing! We need more offspring to continue our breeding projects, sell on the market, and to release into the wild. But inbreeding is dangerous- breeding too closely negatively impact the animals in game, making them weaker, more susceptible to illness, and short lived. I've been taking careful notes, in a little book by my computer, of each animal. Who gave birth to who, and who would make a good mate. This isn't really sustainable though- as soon as a breeding project gets bigger, or multiple young are born in a litter, or you don't pause as soon as you get the birth notification, it's so easy to loose track of who's who. (My flamingo habitats are a disaster...) The ability to pop open the genealogy panel and see who gave birth to who would be a game changer. It'd be possible to run an actual breeding program, and keep things in order. A grayed out portrait or animal name would indicate death, and a family member could be removed from the tree if they were traded out, reducing bloat. Animals in the trade center would have clean family trees, again, reducing memory usage. I think this is a small but important change, and would make things easier for every person who plays that game, not just breeders. It'd be easier to get better genes, helping us run successful conservation programs in our zoo, and help us feel attached to our animals more. Who wouldn't be delighted to know for sure that the elephant you have in your enclosure is the direct descendant of your first one? It'd help the animals feel even more important, and prominent.
-Baby Stages:
I was slightly bummed out to learn that there were no nesting behavior in game, and that when babies were born they were already old enough to be weaned and roam around on their own. For me, a big part of being attached to an animal and running a breeding program is to see them start out as newborns, or hatch from an egg. I wouldn't expect them to grow gradually, (while that would be awesome, I know it's a lot of work to get that working and looking right) just go from one stage to another. Here's how, if I had the skill to make the program, I'd go about it:
0) All animals would have a nesting behavior- looking for a safe place to have their babies/make their nest. This could be any hard shelter with bedding added in, or somewhere the temperature was just right.
1) The egg laying animals would then build a nest, and lay their eggs. The live birth animals would make a small nest in their shelter, and give birth to their young. Maybe a small nest with the number of babies born 'stuck' there? Newborns wouldn't really leave their nests anyway until they were old enough, and it would be easier than animating individual newborn animals that could wriggle around and get lost. Mammals would nurse their babies (curl up around the nest and the babies would move to her side?) and egg layers would feed their young (grab food from a food source and bring it over to them?).
2) The next stage would be a slightly older animal, eyes just opened/independence just gained. They would then all become individual animals, and not 'stuck' to the nest anymore. They would stick close to a parent or guardian animal, need to sleep a lot, and would eat solid foods. (maybe with the help of a parent?)
3) The next stage would be what we have now in game- the independent energetic young we know and love. Lots of (non wound inducing) scrapping between litter mates to establish the pecking order would be a cool add on!
4) The last stage before adulthood- the 'awkward teen' phase. Animals would be pretty much adults, just slightly out of proportion, and not quite up to their adult size. The one who was at the top of the pecking order is a contender for alpha status.
5) and then- adulthood! Animals are able to reproduce and behave as the adult animals in game do.
-More Coat Variants:
I've seen this mentioned a lot with wolves, and I think it'd be a great addition to all the animals. Not every animal has as much variation as wolves do, but it'd be amazing to see different shades added to the existing coat colors, as well as a few different colors added for each animal. Something as varied as AWD or Wolves would take a bit more work, but adding to say, Bison, would be less. I've already seen that animals with markings mix it up fairly often, and I think just a few more of each thing that makes up an animal's appearance would make a big difference overall. Again, it'd be easier to get attached to an animal if you can easily pick it out of the herd from a distance- "ah, that's the bison with a small white star on it's head!" For example, I adore the freckles on a snow leopards' nose, and think more features like that, along with more coat colors and variation, would have a big impact.
-Slower Time
A slider, or several preset options to allow users to slow down time or animal aging would be great. The patches slowing things down have been helpful, but I think more individualized control would be appreciated. I'd like to slow things down by quite a lot, myself, and really take the time to get to know my animals. I almost never let time advance if i'm tweaking an exhibit or building something, because I end up missing too much. I think this would work out well even in Franchise mode, it would only impact how often someone was able to trade animals, and that could be left up entirely to the player. An animal would just age however the zoo they're living in currently has it set. This would be very helpful for people who want to build while time goes on, to keep making money while not being flooded with notifications and things that need to be fixed.
Thanks for reading all this way! I'd love it if I could get some feedback from anyone interested (or opposed) to these ideas. What do you all think?
