Spring 2024 DLC Speculation

[Milurian]

Central "America", "New World" all have far more colonial connotations than something like "Latin America." Being part of Latin America is a point of pride for the people living there as their primary square focus is US imperialism, being apart from the US of America. Spanish colonialism is far in the rear mirror, not a part of living history, and the people are pretty much assimilated into a hybrid culture.

I have never heard of anyone from Latin America objecting to its name usage, even among still-existing tribes.

Latin america is iffy because its referring to the latin language based areas of the americas which is a result of colonialism. The only term I actually have a problem with as a concept is old world.

Also what kind of mental gymnastics did you do to determine central america has a more colonial origin than the other 2. It is literally just referencing that the region is at the centre point of the americas which is a defined continental region its no different than saying south east asia and has a much stronger biogeographical connection than latin america.

 

[Fini]

*sign

The problem is that too many important animals are missing. No matter how you twist and turn it, not everything fits into a realistic pack.
Unfortunately, Frontier has made some strange decisions in past packs that we and they cannot undo. The only thing we can all hope for is that they try to bend it halfway straight. But I'm also honest with myself, it's becoming quite unrealistic. In the end it will just feel incomplete. If not for me, then always for someone else.

I've stopped believing that I'll be the lucky one whose favorite animal (walrus, in case anyone hasn't noticed) won't be in the game.
It makes me sad, but it is what it is.

No matter how you twist and turn it, in the end there are simply too many open animals for too few slots.
And to think that they would squeeze 20 animals into one final pack is more than unlikely. Our final pack will simply be a combined Animal and Scenery pack.

We'll see what happens at the end of March, if there's a normal Scenery Pack coming, we can also hope for an Animal Pack in the summer.

 

[Frogstrich]

Easy 2 Packs: Arboreal Animal Pack (Spring) And San Diego Zoo Pack(Summer). Whilst It Won't Have Everyone's Absolute Favorites, But It Could Give Us A Lot Of Species We Are Missing From The META Wishlist. Also Frontier Usually Ends Of There Games With A Media Franchise Based Pack And This Is The Closest A Zoo Game Will (Within Reason) Ever Get.

 

[Marvinb]

*sign

The problem is that too many important animals are missing. No matter how you twist and turn it, not everything fits into a realistic pack.
Unfortunately, Frontier has made some strange decisions in past packs that we and they cannot undo. The only thing we can all hope for is that they try to bend it halfway straight. But I'm also honest with myself, it's becoming quite unrealistic. In the end it will just feel incomplete. If not for me, then always for someone else.

I've stopped believing that I'll be the lucky one whose favorite animal (walrus, in case anyone hasn't noticed) won't be in the game.
It makes me sad, but it is what it is.

No matter how you twist and turn it, in the end there are simply too many open animals for too few slots.
And to think that they would squeeze 20 animals into one final pack is more than unlikely. Our final pack will simply be a combined Animal and Scenery pack.

We'll see what happens at the end of March, if there's a normal Scenery Pack coming, we can also hope for an Animal Pack in the summer.

Very similar to how i feel.
In my opinion PZ can never be "complete" due to the sheer amount of possible animals and to expect it to be is kinda foolish in my eyes.
But you could have the game not feel incomplete if that makes sense?
Currently the game is in a pretty unbalanced spot due to some biased choices and clear favoritism in how the pack where build over the last 4 years. So were in a spot where a final pack cant possibly bring the game to a satisfactory state with any reasonable amount of animals, and i fully expect to be disappointed when it will be revealed ( i know this sounds pessimistic but its how i feel).

 

[RightWhale]

Very similar to how i feel.
In my opinion PZ can never be "complete" due to the sheer amount of possible animals and to expect it to be is kinda foolish in my eyes.
But you could have the game not feel incomplete if that makes sense?
Currently the game is in a pretty unbalanced spot due to some biased choices and clear favoritism in how the pack where build over the last 4 years. So were in a spot where a final pack cant possibly bring the game to a satisfactory state with any reasonable amount of animals, and i fully expect to be disappointed when it will be revealed ( i know this sounds pessimistic but its how i feel).

No that’s how I feel too, I can be hopeful the final pack will be helpful in bridging some of the gaps in the game. But let’s not act like it hasn’t been over 1,000 days (or so) since our last monkey and we got our first waterfowl in 4 years of development. Or simply one of the most diverse areas in the world regarding biodiversity is also the most underrepresented in game.

I want some birds for North America, others don’t want anymore North American animals at all. Some people don’t even care for birds at all, and would rather the final pack have more mammals. Some want a South/ Central American themed pack for the last pack, others would rather it be a worldwide pack. Some want more domestics, others think that would be the biggest waste of time. Some want more unique/ local animals, while others still want the zoo basics covered.

Frontier has followed the meta wishlist, for better or for worse. Though while we frequently got animals we asked for, they also frequently added in unique choices. That would make sense, if they planned to update the game for awhile. It makes me wonder if the financial decision made them want to end support sooner. Or simply put they were always gonna end the game around a certain timeframe, and we were lucky to get this many years of support at all.

I have always believed more than one thing can be true at once, especially regarding emotions. Here is how I am feeling right now (regarding PZ):

1. Planet Zoo is my favorite game of all time
2. The animal diversity is amazing and some of the best looking animals I have ever seen in videogames
3. The animal diversity is severely lacking in some areas and upsets me
4. It’s a zoo game without a number of key species
5. It’s a zoo game with an amazing selection of basic zoo animals
6. Birds are my favorite group of animals (outside whales at #1) and I have been frequently burnt out by Frontiers lack of them. Both from flying species but mostly habitat species.
7. This game has an amazing selection of mammals which gives me a ton of options to choose from
8. Exhibit boxes are great and let smaller animals into the game
9. Exhibit boxes leave a lot to be desired
10. Frontier has done a great job with free updates, and picking animals the community wants
11. Frontier has a clear bias and it’s upsetting
12. Frontier had amazing community managers and do a good job listening to us
13. Frontier is super secretive and it gets annoying, like with the WTE and birds. We most likely will never know but people got their hopes up for over a year with them.
14. Some of the oddball choices are some of the best animals in the game
15. Why did Frontier pick some of these animals????

I don’t blame anyone for being pessimistic, even I don’t know how to feel with this final dlc. How I feel seems to change every day, there is just too much to think.

 

[Marvinb]

1. Planet Zoo is my favorite game of all time
2. The animal diversity is amazing and some of the best looking animals I have ever seen in videogames
3. The animal diversity is severely lacking in some areas and upsets me
4. It’s a zoo game without a number of key species
5. It’s a zoo game with an amazing selection of basic zoo animals
6. Birds are my favorite group of animals (outside whales at #1) and I have been frequently burnt out by Frontiers lack of them. Both from flying species but mostly habitat species.
7. This game has an amazing selection of mammals which gives me a ton of options to choose from
8. Exhibit boxes are great and let smaller animals into the game
9. Exhibit boxes leave a lot to be desired
10. Frontier has done a great job with free updates, and picking animals the community wants
11. Frontier has a clear bias and it’s upsetting
12. Frontier had amazing community managers and do a good job listening to us
13. Frontier is super secretive and it gets annoying, like with the WTE and birds. We most likely will never know but people got their hopes up for over a year with them.
14. Some of the oddball choices are some of the best animals in the game
15. Why did Frontier pick some of these animals????

I don’t blame anyone for being pessimistic, even I don’t know how to feel with this final dlc. How I feel seems to change every day, there is just too much to think.

Yeah i agree with pretty much all of them. But wanna add some.

16. The diversity and variety among some animal groups is amazing and allows for some nice options to make ones zoo stand out from others.
17. Its really stinks that this variety apperently comes at the cost of other groups who in turn are mostly ignored

 

[RightWhale]

Yeah i agree with pretty much all of them. But wanna add some.

16. The diversity and variety among some animal groups is amazing and allows for some nice options to make ones zoo stand out from others.
17. Its really stinks that this variety apperently comes at the cost of other groups who in turn are mostly ignored

Me having to choose between the same crane, flamingo, and ground fowl for every single zoo or I won’t have any at all.

But I have multiple choices for penguins, and ratites.

 

[Captain Callum]

Me having to choose between the same crane, flamingo, and ground fowl for every single zoo or I won’t have any at all.

Frontier coming up with dlc ideas to help you out:

 

[RightWhale]

Frontier coming up with dlc ideas to help you out:

View attachment 383592

TBH I did actually love the little blue penguin, we are so low on birds I’m not picky lmao. Also I loved seeing them at the Bronx zoo, and I was happy Oceania players got a local animal too!

But man, if I could get the American Flamingo, Grey/ Wattled/ Whooping crane, and a capercaillie/ pheasant/ turkey I would be happy. That’s not even mentioning getting more waterfowl out of the new mute swan too.

My hope is modders/ frontier finds a way to add custom sounds to modded animals. Other than exhibit animals I don’t know how many modded animals I will get due to that. The American flamingo can pass, as can the Black Swan. But I can’t use a turkey mod and have it sound like a peacock lmao

 

[Marvinb]

TBH I did actually love the little blue penguin, we are so low on birds I’m not picky lmao. Also I loved seeing them at the Bronx zoo, and I was happy Oceania players got a local animal too!

But man, if I could get the American Flamingo, Grey/ Wattled/ Whooping crane, and a capercaillie/ pheasant/ turkey I would be happy. That’s not even mentioning getting more waterfowl out of the new mute swan too.

My hope is modders/ frontier finds a way to add custom sounds to modded animals. Other than exhibit animals I don’t know how many modded animals I will get due to that. The American flamingo can pass, as can the Black Swan. But I can’t use a turkey mod and have it sound like a peacock lmao

Glad i dont have that problem
I have the volume on 0%

 

[NachoB]

Central "America", "New World" all have far more colonial connotations than something like "Latin America." Being part of Latin America is a point of pride for the people living there as their primary square focus is US imperialism, being apart from the US of America. Spanish colonialism is far in the rear mirror, not a part of living history, and the people are pretty much assimilated into a hybrid culture.

I have never heard of anyone from Latin America objecting to its name usage, even among still-existing tribes.

Central América is just a geographical term so it doesn't really hold any colonial connotation. But as someone from LATAM i can confirm that people from the region use it with pride and don't give it a negative connotation. On the contrary, it is also a term of cultural unity among the different latinamerican countries, a point of similarity and inclusion even with our differences that highlights a contrast with the anglosajon culture of the North. The purely colonial connotation is mostly given by northamericans and Europeans lol

 

[RightWhale]

Glad i dont have that problem
I have the volume on 0%

Yeah that’s one way around the issue lmao

 

[Captain Callum]

Glad i dont have that problem
I have the volume on 0%

I thought i was the only one! Most of the time I play with the sound off mainly because of the staff alerts going off and a certain selection of animals. I can be recovering from a past headache, log into the game and suddenly capuchin monkey, gibbons, timber wolf and indian peafowl all at once scream their lungs out to torture me.

 

[Marvinb]

I thought i was the only one! Most of the time I play with the sound off mainly because of the staff alerts going off and a certain selection of animals. I can be recovering from a past headache, log into the game and suddenly capuchin monkey, gibbons, timber wolf and indian peafowl all at once scream their lungs out to torture me.

Yeah building my first siamang habitat after they came out was my breaking point
I like having something to listen to while playing like music or youtube so the constant animal and staff noises get kinda annyoing

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Yeah building my first siamang habitat after they came out was my breaking point
I like having something to listen to while playing like music or youtube so the constant animal and staff noises get kinda annyoing

Tell me about it, i often play the game while chilling on discord and one of my friends only knows it as the "stupid screaming monkey" game

 

[jcp011c]

*sign

The problem is that too many important animals are missing. No matter how you twist and turn it, not everything fits into a realistic pack.
Unfortunately, Frontier has made some strange decisions in past packs that we and they cannot undo. The only thing we can all hope for is that they try to bend it halfway straight. But I'm also honest with myself, it's becoming quite unrealistic. In the end it will just feel incomplete. If not for me, then always for someone else.

I've stopped believing that I'll be the lucky one whose favorite animal (walrus, in case anyone hasn't noticed) won't be in the game.
It makes me sad, but it is what it is.

No matter how you twist and turn it, in the end there are simply too many open animals for too few slots.
And to think that they would squeeze 20 animals into one final pack is more than unlikely. Our final pack will simply be a combined Animal and Scenery pack.

We'll see what happens at the end of March, if there's a normal Scenery Pack coming, we can also hope for an Animal Pack in the summer.

Maybe Central America scenery pack and 15 animal finale pack in the summer. Could be a little longer than June since it may take a bit longer to make.

Central America - Ocelot, Coati, Howler Monkey, American Flamingo, Hoffman's Two Toed Sloth

Finale - very much around the world representation: Secretary Bird, Scarlet Ibis, Greater Rhea, Wild Turkey, Mandarin Duck, Australian Pelican, Hamadryas Baboon, Markhor, Tree Kangaroo, Spectacled Bear, Muskox, European Otter, as exhibit King Cobra, exhibit Chameleon and WTE Tamarin species

From finale, that's 3 habitat and 1 exhibit species for South America, 2 Habitat species for North America, 1 Habitat Species for Europe, 2 Habitat and 1 exhibit species for Africa, 2 Habitat species from Oceania and 2 habitat/1 exhibit species for Asia.

Maybe it even extends to actually getting a 5th anniversary animal or two - American Black Bear and Nile Crocodile/Masai Giraffe

 

[Swjosdotschka]

And here I am, finding the sound work one of the best things in this game

 

[NachoB]

Aww man i love the animal sounds. I don't think i could play the game with the sound turn off. They can get a bit annoying some times but is part of the magic of the game and helps a lot with inmersion. I guess i also turno them off while building since i build in pause but when i tour the zoo i like to have the sounds on.

I agree with RightWale about the galliforms mods though. The peafowl sound is just to specific to fit the mods even if they look gorgeous in most cases and it is very inmersion breaker.

 

[AndyZoos]

I'm just really perplexed as to how people anticipate support and DLC to continue into June. If that winds up happening that's great but... We have zero evidence that it's going to happen. And a lot of evidence that it's very likely not to be the case.

The Planet Zoo team is significantly smaller than it ever has been (on all fronts), Frontier has a new low-effort source for revenue in the PZ console and DLC starting in March 2024 for a full 12 months. That will net them just as much (if not more) than new DLC for PC would while they get a new game up and running.

You could argue that they could make even more by releasing additional DLC for PC but the ROI for those versus the console DLCs are probably significantly less by comparison...

File this under: I would absolutely love to be wrong but the way the math works out is just not in our favor. Haha.

 

[Birb（｡･ө･｡）]

Me having to choose between the same crane, flamingo, and ground fowl for every single zoo or I won’t have any at all.

But I have multiple choices for penguins, and ratites.

Wholeheartedly agree. Although part of what frustrates me about the games bird roster is that every single one of those penguins and ratites were great additions - hell, I’d even go as far to argue that every one of them was essential. Of course that leaves all the other essential groups (I seriously still don’t understand how we don’t have at least a second ground fowl), but if we were talking about mammals this likely wouldn’t be a problem if that makes sense? I dunno, what bothers me about the game is that the birds Frontier chooses aren’t bad - literally all of them are amazing - we just need a higher quantity of them.

Taking the ungulates of last year for example, sure I get the argument that they were probably easy to make, but I highly doubt that swapping at least one or two of them for a bird would’ve hurt that much. The whole “bird limit” in packs that much of the community talks about - while completely valid based off of the expectations the game has set - is really sad, and I hate that such an underrepresented, essential group has to get maybe 1-3 species a year, leaving the community torn on what should take up those slots. Meanwhile, thats nowhere near an issue for ungulates or carnivorans (despite being less broad groups) where it’s not usually “this canid is important to have, but another cat would be more important and should take that slot”, it’s “yeah sure just throw ‘em’ all in” - sometimes even in the same pack. In a Latin America pack for example, I’d love a rhea and a scarlet ibis, and the fact that isn’t nearly as realistic as getting a spectacled bear, bush dog, and ocelot all in one is kind of ridiculous.

It’s not an issue I’m expecting to be resolved considering how few packs we have left, more so just a frustrating observation about a pattern that I don’t fully understand. I don’t know if birds are just difficult to make or something, but if that’s the case I wish Frontier would communicate about it.