Spring 2024 DLC Speculation

I would be suprised if Frontier doesn't add the tree kangaroo. Between Goodfellow's and Matschie's, doesn't have the most votes of any animal on the meta? I could definitely see it being part of the final pack.
It's definitely the most requested overall. Whether they bother to take that into consideration is another thing. Haha.

I'm with you on this, though... I think the tree kangaroo is pretty likely assuming the final pack theme isn't biome- or region-specific and has more of a "generic" or "worldwide" theme. And, TBH, I really don't think it'll be as tricky to create as people are thinking. They have very strong bases for it and means to create animals fairly quickly so it definitely feels feasible.

The main reason it's not coming up in conversation is folks are assuming (or just wanting) the next pack to be Latin American-based which I understand. But I'm also of the mindset that with a final pack they'll try to cover as much ground and as many requested animals as possible so I'm thinking it'll be more broad than a single biome or region.
 
I would be suprised if Frontier doesn't add the tree kangaroo. Between Goodfellow's and Matschie's, doesn't have the most votes of any animal on the meta? I could definitely see it being part of the final pack.
If they put the tree kangaroo in game, Frontier better find a way to give us the walrus or I'll go crazy.
I still can't believe that there is still some species that were in the zoo tycoon games but are not in PZ :|
 
If they put the tree kangaroo in game, Frontier better find a way to give us the walrus or I'll go crazy.
I still can't believe that there is still some species that were in the zoo tycoon games but are not in PZ :|
Just because they were in ZT doesn't mean they should be in Planet Zoo. For instance i think the ethiopian wolf isn't a necesity at this point. And a lot of animals that were not in ZT should be in game (coati, Palla's cat, mara, rhea, new world monkeys, a lot more birds, etc).
 
Is just that after it was so obviously and intencionally ignored for the Oceania pack i don't see them wanting to work on it. Unless is being saved for the grand worlwide finale.
Tree Kangaroo is arboreal species that requires more work on animation than terrestrial macropods, tat why the Frontier rather make the Quokka with less effort.
On the topic of frogs, I've been working on a PZ2 roster concept with a greatly expanded exhibit roster and I included 4 frogs in the base game:
  1. Australian Green Tree Frog
  2. Cane Toad
  3. Oriental Fire-Bellied Toad
  4. Yellow-and-Black Poison Dart Frog
All four of these are very common in zoos, are visually distinct from each other and represent multiple continents, biomes, and climates. Either way I think all four represent common archetypes in frogs for zoos: tree frog, large toad/bullfrog, temperate species, and poison dart frog. The only other common archetype missing here would be a fully aquatic species like a clawed frog or Lake Titicaca frog, which I would say is the fifth main frog type.
I am curious how many species will be in your PZ2 roster, are you going to make flying birds and fully aquatic species? For the frogs here, replacing the Cane Toad with the African Bullfrog might be better, then all 4 frogs from 4 different continents, let alone Oriental Fire-bellied Toad already represents toads.
 
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Just because they were in ZT doesn't mean they should be in Planet Zoo. For instance i think the ethiopian wolf isn't a necesity at this point. And a lot of animals that were not in ZT should be in game (coati, Palla's cat, mara, rhea, new world monkeys, a lot more birds, etc).
Yeah same opinion here. There are a couple animals from ZT2 that i do want, but the fact that they were in that game has little to no effect on that
 
Just because they were in ZT doesn't mean they should be in Planet Zoo. For instance i think the ethiopian wolf isn't a necesity at this point. And a lot of animals that were not in ZT should be in game (coati, Palla's cat, mara, rhea, new world monkeys, a lot more birds, etc).
True. But I really feel that there were some species in ZT that would be "necessary" in PZ, including a species of baboon and the walrus. But I do agree for the palla's cat, the coati and new world monkeys.
 
Looking forward to the day when we conversations about animal rosters can happen without referencing a game that was released 20 years ago as a comparison and rationale as to why something should be in the game.
I can never understand why we can't just treat planet zoo as it's own game, helps me that I never played any previous zoo games so I'm not missing out on extremely specific animals.
 
Looking forward to the day when we conversations about animal rosters can happen without referencing a game that was released 20 years ago as a comparison and rationale as to why something should be in the game.
Well PZ is still missing some "basic" animals. By basic i mean animals that are very recognizable for everyone: walrus, baboon, pelican, ducks, etc. And some of them we're in ZT and a lot of us used to play ZT so we have a sense of attachment to that game and want some of those animals back because we enjoyed playing with them. In my case those are some of the main reasons why i want the secretary. I used to love playing with it and watching it's animations in ZT. Same goes for other animals like the rockhopper and the sea otter, etc.
 
I can never understand why we can't just treat planet zoo as it's own game, helps me that I never played any previous zoo games so I'm not missing out on extremely specific animals.
I mean, I kinda get it. It's the closest thing to a comparator that we have. But, again, that game was released 20 years ago. A lot has changed around conservation, animal holdings, enrichment, etc. I'm showing my age a bit here but there are so many animals that are currently perceived to be "common" zoo animals in the US now that simply weren't really around much when I was a kid (e.g., tree kangaroos, meerkats, warthogs).

There's obviously some "core" zoo animals that have not changed over time but there's certainly some that have become more popular as time's gone on, others that are less frequently held, etc. And I've found myself wondering recently if, in another 10 years, there might be a similar zoo game where people are saying elephants should be on the roster because they were in Planet Zoo despite barely being held in captivity any more.

It just feels kind of outdated to lean on the ZT roster (even though it's clear that PZ has used it as a guide at times).

Well PZ is still missing some "basic" animals. By basic i mean animals that are very recognizable for everyone: walrus, baboon, pelican, ducks, etc. And some of them we're in ZT and a lot of us used to play ZT so we have a sense of attachment to that game and want some of those animals back because we enjoyed playing with them. In my case those are some of the main reasons why i want the secretary. I used to love playing with it and watching it's animations in ZT. Same goes for other animals like the rockhopper and the sea otter, etc.
I think it all depends on how you're defining "basic" or "essential," to be honest. I think about it more broadly than my own likes/dislikes... Baboons, ducks, tree kangaroos, eagles or hawks, parrots, and new world monkeys all feel "essential" to a zoo game roster for me (because they're pretty common in captivity) even though I personally don't care if baboons make it into the game or not.

In contrast, getting the honey badger, ocelot, or secretary bird would be really awesome but I don't view either as "essential" because they aren't what come front-of-mind when I think about zoo animals from their regions or biomes.

And then there's the proboscis monkey which isn't essential, basic, or even held in captivity all that much... And it's in the game. So whatever, I guess. :LOL:
 
  • Caribbean Flamingo (forgive me)

This is a hill I will be proud to die on, in my opinion of all the “““clones””” (I do hate that term sometimes) the Caribbean/ American flamingo is one of the most important. The absolute beautiful full pink flamingo we all know and love, and opportunity for our first “New World” bird and it’s from the underrepresented Caribbean! Common in Zoos along the Americas it’s a massive staple. Not to mention the base game operated in so many pairs:

  1. Two tigers
  2. Bonobo and chimp
  3. Two elephants
  4. Two brown bears
  5. Two crocodilians
  6. Two tortoises
  7. Two wolves
I don’t see why a second flamingo would be all that bad, especially with all the facts I mentioned:
  1. Adds representation to the Americas, namely the Caribbean islands
  2. Another bird, always a plus
  3. Common in NA zoos
  4. When most people think of a flamingo, they probably think of this one. Not to mention even the emojis more closely resemble them 🦩
  5. Adds onto the working pair theory, with the gibbons being recent examples of them
 
In what world are tree-kangaroos common lol, I'm pretty sure Europe and NA have like 20-30 holders combined.
Ok according to zootierliste there is 57 zoos worldwide with tree-kangaroos, a bit more than I expected but worldwide still definitely not a common group. Per continent the numbers are:
  • Oceania in first with 23, basically a mix of Goodfellow's and Lumholtz's with three zoos having both species with one of those three also being the sole holder of Doria's.
  • North America in second with 16, all of them being Matschie's
  • Europe is next with 10 holders, all of them are Goodfellows's while ZooParc de Beauval in France also has one sole old Matschie's which is the last in Europe and is off show. Worth noting half of all European holders are in Germany.
  • Asia is last with 8, two of these are Goodfellow's meanwhile the rest (all in Indonesia bar one in Thailand) hold Grizzled.
Pretty interesting, so it seems Goodfellow's is by far the most common species overall.
 
Did they tho? I feel like the majority of the animals the 2 games share are basic ABC animals which are nobrainers for any zoo game
I mean, there's no way to know for sure but when you look at the two rosters... You can see the influence. Less so recently but for a looong while there was a whole thing called "Zoo Tycoon theory" that people would reference.
In what world are tree-kangaroos common lol, I'm pretty sure Europe and NA have like 20-30 holders combined.
That's pretty common TBH in contrast to some of the other animals in discussion. Beyond that the zoos that hold them tend to feature them frequently in social media so the general awareness has increased exponentially in recent years...

EDIT: This is also why I used the word "perceived" in my post. They aren't in every zoo but people now think of them as a "zoo animal."
 
This issue with what's essential is that the term is overused. While the metalists are important, if not vital, how the game has progressed, I think it's built a false sense of what species are essential. Having a list of 200, 300+ animals that are all declared essential to someone doesn't actually make them essential. It's not realistic to think otherwise, at least IMO.

Hot take, mammal wise, we're past the point of specific species being essential. I'd say one or two New World Primates are the only thing left that's truly essential (but there again, my own bias on looking at South America as a whole being needed)

Baboons, Muskox, Walrus, Tree Kangaroo, Coati - how many are going to tell me that nearly 4 and a half years ago at game launch those were the animals that popped into your head as "there's no way Frontier can get by without adding these animals"? Sure, some would have had a similar thought, but I daresay it's a small number of people. We were much more concerned about Penguins, Leopards, Meerkats, Kangaroos and African Rhinos at that point.

Birds are a whole other issue. Birds won't be coming due to technical limitations or costs based on overcoming those limitations, rather than actual animal selection. Macaws especially are actually essential for zoo rosters. but we wont' get them, so I mainly stick to mammals at this point.
 
I view "essential" as a goal that shifts based on what is already in the game and technically possible/relevant. Roster size is definitely a factor.

Things can be essential for different reasons.
  • Favorite Zoo Animals that I personally need to build local zoos: Tamarins, ABB, serval (Yes, I was actually wanting these specifically when I saw the base game roster. The ABB and GLT have been my top two pretty much the entire time. They are essential to me, and I think the first two especially are essential in general.)
  • General gaps in Taxonomy: Primates and birds especially fit this on a large scale. Having all but 2 of the bear species is weird for a smaller objective.
  • ABC Animals: Baboon, Walrus, Rabbit, Duck, Pelican
  • Popular Animals with the community: Coati, Markhor, Tree Kangaroo, etc.
  • Underrepresented Regional Picks: South America especially, but also South and East Asia are a bit lacking. I might not need or want a blackbuck too much personally, but I can definitely see that gap in the roster.
 
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