Single Source to Fix All Front-End Globe Biome Issues

[DrBurrito]

As some of us know, last year there had been some complaints about the front-end globe's biome inaccuracies. One particular case, China, was fixed, but the rest remained untouched, with a patch note saying this would be the one and only change made to the front-end globe.

However, since we saw that changes could technically be made, people were not content with the fact that only one section on the globe was fixed and the rest was ignored. I did receive some public and private requests to create a thread that combines multiple threads focusing on separate regions, so that we can have it all in one place, despite the official announcement made by Frontier last year. I did promise those people I would make a comprehensive suggestion to Frontier to fix all known inaccuracies at once, so that they can finally close the case on this topic once and for all.

The game's source map, the main image from the biome article on Wikipedia, was to blame for the inaccuracies. However, there has been a serious effort to fix all known issues on that map since then. Several of my colleagues and I have been working on the corrections for a year now. The review has been completed. Other than several alpine regions (e.g. mountain ranges in Southeastern Australia and New Zealand's South Island), the entire map has been reviewed.

Biome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I urge the developers of Planet Zoo to take this thread seriously, despite the announcement made last year, and fix the map once and for all. For a game that even prioritizes guest education as a game mechanic, I see the front-end globe as a major Achilles' heel. I have even created a custom map for the game, categorizing biomes based on the game's method of classification. No extra work is needed other than using that custom map (second image) to fix the front-end globe.

Up-to-date and accurate version of the Wikipedia map, aka the source map of the game (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):

Custom map made specifically for Planet Zoo, based on the map above (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):

I hope to see this effort to correct Wikipedia's biome article map reflected on the game's front-end globe.

Here are some threads on biome inaccuracies for individual regions. I remember there were a few more, but couldn't find them for the time being, but would be willing to add here if people let me know:

Temperate Biome for Australia

The Biome map for Australia should be modified to reduce the Tropical area along the east coast and limit it to the North East Coast only. Mid and South East coast should be Temperate. (Probably the same deal with New Zealand BTW) I really want to build on a temperate biome in Australia and this...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Tropical=Tundra? Why is Tierra del Fuego tropical on game's map?

I absolutely love the game to pieces. But there are things in the game that ruin the immersion for me that I wish were fixed. Recently I wanted to build a zoo in my hometown in southern Argentina and noticed the biome for it is in the other end of the scale from reality. A subpolar place that is...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Biomes per Continent

Hello Frontier I don't know how frequent this request is, but could there be individual biome varieties per continent, so Australia has its own grassland and tropical biomes, and also an added temperate biome should be on the cards too, tropical forest is in the Northern half of Australia, the...

forums.frontier.co.uk

CHINA

There is no tropical in China! Please change!

forums.frontier.co.uk

Dear Frontier: Please Change the Tropical Biome in New Zealand to Temperate!

I know you said you'd never change the front-end globe again, but this is kind of ridiculous. I've avoided building anything in New Zealand in the game, despite it being my home country. Largely this is because there is no NZ representation so far, so it's hard to build a realistic NZ zoo in...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Biome, Region, Climate Mismatch

I'm not sure about the rest of the worlds climate balance in game, but New Zealand definitely has snow. Yet when I create a game located to New Zealand it will only choose between Grassland for Canterbury or Tropical for the rest. We have the worlds only Alpine Parrot. Makenzie which is...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[horse14t]

Wow the amount of effort put into this new map is amazing! Definitely going to use this for my own projects in the future!
I know this is for mostly PZ but would you possibly include other biomes in the future? Like Alpine and Wetlands?
I can never find a good biome map of wetlands that's not America DX

 

[DrBurrito]

Wow the amount of effort put into this new map is amazing! Definitely going to use this for my own projects in the future!
I know this is for mostly PZ but would you possibly include other biomes in the future? Like Alpine and Wetlands?
I can never find a good biome map of wetlands that's not America DX

For an even more detailed map on biomes, with better scaling, I would recommend the Global 200, which also happens to include wetlands.

Simply switch between the ecoregion and biome tabs for the desired level detail. You can also add a realms overlay to the map, no matter which version you use.

Edit: Although please note that the Global 200 excludes some ecoregions in order to keep the total number at 200, based on the level of how "crucial an ecoregion is to the conservation of global biodiversity". An example would be the exclusion of the South Florida rocklands ecoregion, which is classified under the tropical broadleaf forests biome, being the only true tropical forest on the U.S. mainland. You can see how this differs from the Global 200 and the old version of the PZ source map.

 

[horse14t]

For an even more detailed map on biomes, with better scaling, I would recommend the Global 200, which also happens to include wetlands.

Simply switch between the ecoregion and biome tabs for the desired level detail. You can also add a realms overlay to the map, no matter which version you use.

Oh wow that is incredibly helpful, thank you!

 

[Leaf Productions]

this is very nice, i really do hope frontier integrates this.
as well as more prebuilt sandbox maps <3 xoxo

 

[markun]

It would be great if they did integrate it. However the problem remains that the backgrounds, ie the landscapes surrounding the maps are often exaggerated or limit versatility.

They are beautiful, very impressive, but not especially realistic for all regions.

The tropical map and desert map in particular. They are stunning but look more like something from Star Wars than locations for actual real zoos.

And as I think I have said previously, the temperate map is not much use if you want to build a zoo in a lowland area without hills looming in the background. You can pick a temperate area of the Netherlands on the map but it isn't going to look like the Netherlands when the game loads.

It's good if you want to build a zoo in the English countryside but it doesn't particularly look like many temperate areas of Australia and nothing at all like temperate areas in Japan for example.

And the taiga mountains mean you can't build a realistic zoo in Sweden or Finland because there aren't mountains like that. And of course the snow will melt as soon as it stops snowing...

My main requests relating to biomes are

1) can we have a less dramatic, basically flat version of each biome map?
2) can we have manual temperature controls in sandbox?
3) can we be able to make our own choice of 8 biome textures rather than having the set selection for each map? I know we can't have an unlimited selection but please can we pick which 8 we do have?

I think these things will significantly improve game play for those of us who want to build a realistic zoo in a realistic location.

 

[NZFanatic]

Great thread, and great work Burrito! You truly are a treasure to this forum!

I'm doubtful Frontier will go back on their 1.2 statement but I certainly hope they will, considering you've already done the hard work for them!

 

[sympatrick]

Oh my god.. Yes!! This is what I have been waiting for the entire time. Having to see that inaccurate map each time you launch the game is a real deal breaker... I have been waiting for more than a year now, to be able to build my Australian zoo... I really really hope Frontier will go back on their decision. Amazing work!!

 

[sympatrick]

Great thread, and great work Burrito! You truly are a treasure to this forum!

I agree 100%! I hope they hire you @DrBurrito !

 

[DrBurrito]

Great thread, and great work Burrito! You truly are a treasure to this forum!

I'm doubtful Frontier will go back on their 1.2 statement but I certainly hope they will, considering you've already done the hard work for them!

Oh my god.. Yes!! This is what I have been waiting for the entire time. Having to see that inaccurate map each time you launch the game is a real deal breaker... I have been waiting for more than a year now, to be able to build my Australian zoo... I really really hope Frontier will go back on their decision. Amazing work!!

Thank you for all the humbling comments.

And as I think I have said previously, the temperate map is not much use if you want to build a zoo in a lowland area without hills looming in the background. You can pick a temperate area of the Netherlands on the map but it isn't going to look like the Netherlands when the game loads.

It's good if you want to build a zoo in the English countryside but it doesn't particularly look like many temperate areas of Australia and nothing at all like temperate areas in Japan for example.

More variety in sandbox maps has been something I've always wanted. The step they took towards more variety with the SA and AU DLC's was promising, to at least make each biome map unique for every continent. For a potential NA DLC they could for instance make a tallgrass prairie map and replace the African looking 'Grassland' map with it (for North America and perhaps even Eurasia). Although I would love to have variation even between say the UK and the Netherlands, I think we would never get as much variety, since those are two very close locations (in terms of distance) on the same continent. We would need hundreds of different sandbox maps to cover some of the "major" regions of the world. For instance, the Everglades does not resemble anything like a tallgrass prairie, but even if we get a single 'Grassland' map for NA, I would still be happy.

However, like you said, less dramatic maps could potentially fill that role, as the player can use them technically anywhere. Such "less dramatic" maps could be made to be universal selections (can be picked no matter which continent), while the more "stylized" ones could be continent specific (like Australia's desert map and SA's tropical map) and the player can choose between which map to start with when creating a new zoo. They would have the generic "flat" universal maps available on every continent, and then the more specific ones per continent. This solution would allow Frontier to fix the issue without making too many maps, by just adding a "choose map" feature when creating a new zoo, for you to select between the universal "less dramatic" maps and the region specific ones.

 

[markun]

However, like you said, less dramatic maps could potentially fill that role, as the player can use them technically anywhere.

That is my biggest hope. Just a basic, vanilla map for each biome that you can landscape yourself and set it anywhere without intrusive (even if beautiful) background scenery.

I have to say that I don't worry too much about where it is on the globe as once you are in the game it doesn't really matter but I appreciate that others do care and for educational reasons alone Frontier should get this right so thank you for working on it!

 

[Ushuaia]

As some of us know, last year there had been some complaints about the front end globe's biome inaccuracies. One particular case, China, was fixed, but the rest remained untouched, with a patch note saying this would be the one and only change made to the front end globe.

However, since we saw that changes could technically be made, people were not content with the fact that only one section on the globe was fixed and the rest was ignored. I did receive some public and private requests to create a thread that combines multiple threads focusing on separate regions, so that we can have it all in one place, despite the official announcement made by Frontier last year. I did promise those people I would make one last suggestion to Frontier that would fix all known inaccuracies at once, so that they can finally close the case on this topic once and for all.

The game's source map, the main image from the biome article on Wikipedia, was to blame for the inaccuracies. However, there has been a serious effort to fix all known issues on that map ever since. Several of my colleagues and I have been working on the corrections for a year now. The review has been completed. Other than several alpine tundra regions that couldn't be fixed due to the scale of the map that caused pixelation (e.g. mountain ranges in Southeastern Australia and New Zealand's South Island), the entire map has been fixed, and properly sourced in the description (file history).

Biome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I urge the developers of Planet Zoo to take this thread seriously, despite the announcement made last year, and fix the map once and for all. For a game that even prioritizes guest education as a game mechanic, I see the front end globe as a major Achilles' heel. I have even created a custom map for the game, categorizing biomes based on the game's method of classification. No extra work is needed other than using that custom map (second image) to fix the front end globe.

Up-to-date and accurate version of the Wikipedia map, aka the source map of the game (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):
View attachment 225262
Custom map made specifically for Planet Zoo, based on the map above (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):
View attachment 225265
I hope to see this effort to correct Wikipedia's biome article map reflected on the game's front end globe.

Here are some threads on biome inaccuracies for individual regions. I remember there were a few more, but couldn't find them for the time being, but would be willing to add here if people let me know:

Temperate Biome for Australia

The Biome map for Australia should be modified to reduce the Tropical area along the east coast and limit it to the North East Coast only. Mid and South East coast should be Temperate. (Probably the same deal with New Zealand BTW) I really want to build on a temperate biome in Australia and this...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Tropical=Tundra? Why is Tierra del Fuego tropical on game's map?

I absolutely love the game to pieces. But there are things in the game that ruin the immersion for me that I wish were fixed. Recently I wanted to build a zoo in my hometown in southern Argentina and noticed the biome for it is in the other end of the scale from reality. A subpolar place that is...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Biomes per Continent

Hello Frontier I don't know how frequent this request is, but could there be individual biome varieties per continent, so Australia has its own grassland and tropical biomes, and also an added temperate biome should be on the cards too, tropical forest is in the Northern half of Australia, the...

forums.frontier.co.uk

CHINA

There is no tropical in China! Please change!

forums.frontier.co.uk

I really hope this gets implemented.. It was actually the reason why I had to give a break to the game months ago, hoping it would get fixed.. Can't even start building the two major zoos I've always wanted to build since the game came out. One in Florida, the other in Argentina, my home country...

 

[ElectricMonk]

I would love the changes - I can live with some of the inaccuracies (though I’d prefer not to) but the inconsistency annoys me - for example, the koala (and many other Australian animals and plants) being listed as ‘temperate’ biome when no such biome exists on frontier’s map of Australia.

 

[macronecu]

Yes please! 1000% we need the main map fixed. It creates such a setback for players looking for immersion in a zoo game.

I love the level of detail @DrBurrito has put into the map. I would suggest everyone to download the map and then use full zoom to see the details.

For instance i love how one part of the main island of Hawaii is a dry forest (grassland) and the rest is tropical rainforest. Same with Florida having three different biomes on the main map and 2 different biomes on the PZ version of the map. And different islands in island clusters having different microclimates, like those Caribbean islands. So much accuracy for a pixelated map that doesn't use vectorization. As a student of climatology I am impressed! Respect!!

Let's hope Frontier will hear our cries and make the necessary changes. So much dedication and effort shouldn't go to waste. When one emotional rant by a single user resulted in a change in China, it would be sad to see such constructive feedback go to waste. Something that would also greatly improve our gaming experience.

 

[sympatrick]

the inconsistency annoys me - for example, the koala (and many other Australian animals and plants) being listed as ‘temperate’ biome when no such biome exists on frontier’s map of Australia.

This is another major issue concerning the educational aspect of the game. Such inconsistency will create confusion, especially with the younger crowd. Many plants and animals in the game from the southern hemisphere are listed as temperate, taiga and tundra, yet on the map these biomes are not represented by any continent other than Antarctica.

 

[Ursidae]

I would love to see this map replacing the current one, so that we can finally build more realistic zoos in some parts of the world. Great job Burrito!

 

[MissySanchez]

How did I miss this thread before? Simply amazing!

Much more accurate than the map we currently have in the game, will definitely give players the opportunity to build new and innovative zoos!

@DrBurrito I do have one question if you don't mind. Do you have the old version of the map for comparison?

 

[ReptoMin]

As some of us know, last year there had been some complaints about the front end globe's biome inaccuracies. One particular case, China, was fixed, but the rest remained untouched, with a patch note saying this would be the one and only change made to the front end globe.

However, since we saw that changes could technically be made, people were not content with the fact that only one section on the globe was fixed and the rest was ignored. I did receive some public and private requests to create a thread that combines multiple threads focusing on separate regions, so that we can have it all in one place, despite the official announcement made by Frontier last year. I did promise those people I would make one last suggestion to Frontier that would fix all known inaccuracies at once, so that they can finally close the case on this topic once and for all.

The game's source map, the main image from the biome article on Wikipedia, was to blame for the inaccuracies. However, there has been a serious effort to fix all known issues on that map ever since. Several of my colleagues and I have been working on the corrections for a year now. The review has been completed. Other than several alpine tundra regions that couldn't be fixed due to the scale of the map that caused pixelation (e.g. mountain ranges in Southeastern Australia and New Zealand's South Island), the entire map has been fixed, and properly sourced in the description (file history).

Biome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I urge the developers of Planet Zoo to take this thread seriously, despite the announcement made last year, and fix the map once and for all. For a game that even prioritizes guest education as a game mechanic, I see the front end globe as a major Achilles' heel. I have even created a custom map for the game, categorizing biomes based on the game's method of classification. No extra work is needed other than using that custom map (second image) to fix the front end globe.

Up-to-date and accurate version of the Wikipedia map, aka the source map of the game (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):
View attachment 225262
Custom map made specifically for Planet Zoo, based on the map above (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):
View attachment 225265
I hope to see this effort to correct Wikipedia's biome article map reflected on the game's front end globe.

Here are some threads on biome inaccuracies for individual regions. I remember there were a few more, but couldn't find them for the time being, but would be willing to add here if people let me know:

Temperate Biome for Australia

The Biome map for Australia should be modified to reduce the Tropical area along the east coast and limit it to the North East Coast only. Mid and South East coast should be Temperate. (Probably the same deal with New Zealand BTW) I really want to build on a temperate biome in Australia and this...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Tropical=Tundra? Why is Tierra del Fuego tropical on game's map?

I absolutely love the game to pieces. But there are things in the game that ruin the immersion for me that I wish were fixed. Recently I wanted to build a zoo in my hometown in southern Argentina and noticed the biome for it is in the other end of the scale from reality. A subpolar place that is...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Biomes per Continent

Hello Frontier I don't know how frequent this request is, but could there be individual biome varieties per continent, so Australia has its own grassland and tropical biomes, and also an added temperate biome should be on the cards too, tropical forest is in the Northern half of Australia, the...

forums.frontier.co.uk

CHINA

There is no tropical in China! Please change!

forums.frontier.co.uk

This a fantastic thread and an amazing effort at correcting both the Wikipedia map and in-game map. I really hope it gets the attention it deserves. If I could choose just one feedback thread from this forum, I would probably pick this one to see implemented into the game. It will unlock so many possibilities.

 

[DrBurrito]

Do you have the old version of the map for comparison?

I actually do. I had first converted the original map into its PZ version before I did the same to the accurate up to date version.

The old and inaccurate version of the Wikipedia map used as the source map for the game's front-end globe (level of detail does not include some of the oceanic islands):

Custom map made specifically for Planet Zoo, based on the map above (level of detail does not include some of the oceanic islands, as biome data for them were missing):

 

[macronecu]

I actually do. I had first converted the original map into its PZ version before I did the same to the accurate up to date version.

The old and inaccurate version of the Wikipedia map used as the source map for the game's front-end globe (level of detail does not include some of the oceanic islands):
View attachment 230369
Custom map made specifically for Planet Zoo, based on the map above (level of detail does not include some of the oceanic islands, as biome data for them were missing):
View attachment 230368

As some of us know, last year there had been some complaints about the front end globe's biome inaccuracies. One particular case, China, was fixed, but the rest remained untouched, with a patch note saying this would be the one and only change made to the front end globe.

However, since we saw that changes could technically be made, people were not content with the fact that only one section on the globe was fixed and the rest was ignored. I did receive some public and private requests to create a thread that combines multiple threads focusing on separate regions, so that we can have it all in one place, despite the official announcement made by Frontier last year. I did promise those people I would make one last suggestion to Frontier that would fix all known inaccuracies at once, so that they can finally close the case on this topic once and for all.

The game's source map, the main image from the biome article on Wikipedia, was to blame for the inaccuracies. However, there has been a serious effort to fix all known issues on that map ever since. Several of my colleagues and I have been working on the corrections for a year now. The review has been completed. Other than several alpine tundra regions that couldn't be fixed due to the scale of the map that caused pixelation (e.g. mountain ranges in Southeastern Australia and New Zealand's South Island), the entire map has been fixed, and properly sourced in the description (file history).

Biome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I urge the developers of Planet Zoo to take this thread seriously, despite the announcement made last year, and fix the map once and for all. For a game that even prioritizes guest education as a game mechanic, I see the front end globe as a major Achilles' heel. I have even created a custom map for the game, categorizing biomes based on the game's method of classification. No extra work is needed other than using that custom map (second image) to fix the front end globe.

Up-to-date and accurate version of the Wikipedia map, aka the source map of the game (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):
View attachment 225262
Custom map made specifically for Planet Zoo, based on the map above (level of detail includes oceanic islands the size of a single pixel):
View attachment 225265
I hope to see this effort to correct Wikipedia's biome article map reflected on the game's front end globe.

Here are some threads on biome inaccuracies for individual regions. I remember there were a few more, but couldn't find them for the time being, but would be willing to add here if people let me know:

Temperate Biome for Australia

The Biome map for Australia should be modified to reduce the Tropical area along the east coast and limit it to the North East Coast only. Mid and South East coast should be Temperate. (Probably the same deal with New Zealand BTW) I really want to build on a temperate biome in Australia and this...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Tropical=Tundra? Why is Tierra del Fuego tropical on game's map?

I absolutely love the game to pieces. But there are things in the game that ruin the immersion for me that I wish were fixed. Recently I wanted to build a zoo in my hometown in southern Argentina and noticed the biome for it is in the other end of the scale from reality. A subpolar place that is...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Biomes per Continent

Hello Frontier I don't know how frequent this request is, but could there be individual biome varieties per continent, so Australia has its own grassland and tropical biomes, and also an added temperate biome should be on the cards too, tropical forest is in the Northern half of Australia, the...

forums.frontier.co.uk

CHINA

There is no tropical in China! Please change!

forums.frontier.co.uk

The difference between the two is immense! What a great map it has become after the edits... Damn I really want this in the game...