With it being less than a week away before the launch of update 1 and the early cretaceous dinosaur pack, I am definitely excited to build parks in the many maps with the Jurassic Park assets. It is super exciting to see the lagoon and aviary come as it gets me thinking of making exhibits with the tylosaurus, pteranodon, and cearadactylus in a Jurassic Park setting.
With that said, there are a few things I would love see get included. Some of this stuff could be part of the upcoming update for all we know, but I do want to draw some attention to these items.
PYLONS
Not the most exciting of additions, but I would love to see the return of the retro looking pylons for the Jurassic Park assets. The one we have is of the Jurassic World/ Dominion era and is too clean and modern looking that I often find it clashing with the retro aesthetic the JP assets were going for. Especially when compared to the JP power stations where it sticks out like a sore thumb when you notice the modern pylons.
Hopefully, these pylons could make it in the game and would substitute the ones used in the JP substations and power stations.
PATHS
Jurassic World Evolution 2 needs more path options in general. Now that parks are buildable in different biomes around the world, we could have paths to reflect those biomes, be it stone, gravel, sand stone, or other colored options. One type I would like are the more rustic paths introduced in RTJP, they also fit the same templates of the facility, Normal, and Fancy paths the game uses now to satisfy guest needs. Some variety in paths would be welcome in my book.
1997 MAMENCHISAURUS & PTERANODON SKINS
I have to give credit to frontier on this one, Jurassic World Evolution 2 did deliver some great movie themed skins to customize your dinosaurs with. The RTJP skins that were faithful made a return, dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Dilophosaurus have models comparable to their movie counterparts, and some like the corythosaurus were given a simple cosmetic skin setup to fit their movie looks. As well as the surprise juvenile gallimimus, Well done!
Which is why I bring up the mamenchisaurus and pteranodon, as they are the only 2 creatures I know of that lack a movie skin (let me know if I have missed an animal). The mamenchisaurus may have a tweak to its posture, but mostly looks to be the same model and design as the one introduced in Jurassic World Evolution.
As for the pteranodon, while we did get the geosternbergia, as well as the recent release of the 2001 pteranodon, I would still love to see the blue hued version of the pterosaur with its iconic long and curved TLW crest. She might make it in the update, she might not, but I think her inclusion would be great.
And a final thing I want to bring up, Jurassic World Evolution did introduce some cool color variants of the legacy skins. Though they were not from the movies themselves, they did introduce some awesome color options that added some variety to the dinosaurs with the updated models. I am unsure how they could be implemented in the game, either as different pattern options for the skins (despite not being patters), or additional skins altogether, I think the return of some of the RTJP skin color options would be great.
HOLDING PEN
This is an asset everyone is talking about wanting to come back, and I could definitely see why. The holding pen is one of the most iconic buildings in the Jurassic Park franchise, be it the velociraptor containment from the novels, the cow feeding scene from the movie, or the dinosaur hatchery model inspiration for JPOG. We did get to see it again in the Return to Jurassic Park DLC for JWE, but my issue with it then was how it lacked any function outside of the dlc campaign mode, mainly being regulated as a large decoration item.
With that being said, I would love for it to make a return, but I would love for it to have a function that compliments the game. It could be used as a decoration item, but I also think it could have a cool gameplay mechanic.
In the Novel and the Movie, the pen mainly had a purpose to contain the raptors that were too troublesome to set in an enclosure. They were not meant to be the intended containment for the raptors, but were used until they could sort things out and properly contain them in enclosures.
What if we use the pens in a similar method in Jurassic World Evolution 2, to contain some of the more troublesome dinosaurs in our parks, not necessarily raptors. One thing the game introduced are traits, aspects that would define a dinosaur's behavior in an environment with other dinosaurs, guests, or staff.
What we could have the holding pen do is contain a dinosaur that has been causing trouble in the park, and have our scientists temper a negative social/psychological trait of the animal. Be it antisocial, aggressive, intolerant, skittish, or needy. It will be a band aid approach for a dinosaur you have incubated, but you are otherwise low on budget to make a replacement or to continuously clean up after the mess they would make.
There are limits though:
Only 1 trait could be tempered. That way players could prioritize what negative trait to cover, as the facility is akin to a band aid, it's not a complete problem solver.
Only dinosaurs that fit in the holding pen could get their traits tempered. So a pack of dilophosaurus could get their aggressive trait tempered, but that T-rex is a problem you have to deal with.
It has been an idea I was thinking of but it could be fleshed out more, I basically think the holding pen could come back as a usable asset instead of it being another decoration.
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And those were some Jurassic Park additions I would like to see in the game. The game has the potential to grow a lot and is looking to be promising in what it is able to deliver at launch, with a few more additions, attractions, and decorations, this game could really deliver a definitive Jurassic Park building experience.
Do let me know what you think and if you have any further ideas to share below.
Until next time, take care!
