Starting a new zoo

[Fortunanovesia]

Hey.

what are you guys doing right after starting a new zoo? I love building habitats and adding them to an existing zoo. But starting from the scratch, seeing the huge map - i dont get any idea how to start and most of the time i quit playing really soon because i dont really know how to start.

Its not like i dont understand how the game works, i mean, ive got more than 1.5k hours in this game. But starting from the scratch overwhelms me all the time, again and again.

So what are you guys doing at the beginning? Are you just building what gets in your mind? Do you have plans? Would be interesting to hear and to get some ideas to get over this huge step at the start.

 

[jcp011c]

Once I start a zoo, I decide what theme I want to go with...I get my Meerkats and Capybara in....then am not sure where to go animal wise and start another zoo....repeat cycle.

I exaggerating a bit there, but I can definitely get overwhelmed with a new zoo as well. I think about how I've designed other zoos, then try to make the new one start out looking different. Try being the operative word, it doesn't always seem to work that well.

But...what I do tend to do is actually get a handful of animals in - usually the Meerkat, Capybara and 2 or 3 more varied animals - and get at least one building basically decorated so I have a plan for unified look and theme among the facilities. The issue then of late is I move on to another zoo after that, and then come back to previous zoos and add in another species once in a while. Thus there's a slow build up of animals in my zoos, but I also have a lot of zoos than are less than 10 years old.

Animal wise, it really depends on the theme of the zoo. Is it region based? Is it biome based? If it's building theme based or some other theme it leaves things more open to me, but I think making some kind of plan as to what this zoo is going to represent is a good starting point. Of course, you can also have zoos that don't have one set theme and are pretty much open to any species, which I have a few like those.

 

[Fortunanovesia]

Very often im not sure where i should create an entrance at first? just starting with an complete random habitat? How should I manage the pathway at the beginning? Already planning something for the future or just creating somethin completely random?

So many questions in my mind and overwhelmed by this i very often quit playing just after starting a complete new zoo.

 

[jcp011c]

To me, the entrance is the hardest part to get past, if you want to design your own from the very beginning of the zoo. Which is why for the most part, I don't. I may add some things here or there but usually keep the entrance mostly as it is. I always want to get to the animals!

Yet, there's a lot of really incredible looking entrances and I admire both the creativity there, but also the fact that some people spend hours and hours and hours just on the entrance or a single habitat alone. That's fantastic and dedicated work and it shows, it's just not my playstyle.

 

[Cocolori]

I'm not much of a builder and can also find it overwhelming. I'm normally playing in franchise or challenge mode, occasionally sandbox. What I tend to do is

a) always have some kind of terraforming, usually just one of the presets or using one of the career maps because I know if I don't then my horrible tendency to keep everything flat and square will kick in

b) make sure my entrance pathing is pretty big and start with a main thoroughfare. In fact for almost all my guest paths I don't get less than 8m unless I know it is going to be a very short path to an extra viewing spot or only one or two habitats.

c) I like to play with some constraints or something that will make me take a particular direction. I don't tend to like themed areas or grouping by continents but I have done one where I wanted to tell an evolutionary story so I had a small path off the entrance which started with the insects and then to amphibians etc. I had my 'dinos' in the large birds nearby and then slowly the zoo spreads out into different evolutionary stories. Sometimes it is about convergent evolution, sometimes looking at a family etc. Other examples - i've used a number randomiser to pick from the zoopedia what my next species needs to be. I've constrained myself in challenge mode to only rescue animals e.g. customs seizures, rescues, ex-pets.

d) because I'm a bad builder and also because I like to see things change I always try to keep the mindset that everything I'm building will be altered in the future. I find that helps me just plonk some stuff down and worry about it less. It can also make for some more interesting zoo design - if I have lemurs near the entrance but they get stressed because it is too busy then that habitat becomes a challenge on what it could be repurposed to be. Rather than just knocking it down I try to retain some elements at least so then there is an evolution (and I'm not having the pressure of starting from scratch each time).

e) I use the workshop a lot especially in the beginning nd don't beat myself up for doing so. There are amazing builders. I often try to be quite specific and decide what I am looking for but the nice thing is if I find something in a style I like then I can use that as a bit of a blueprint for me trying to build around it and copy the style.

No idea if any of that is helpful, my zoos aren't exactly wonderful but I have found I enjoy the process more.

 

[NZFanatic]

I SUCK at starting. My biggest problem is that I always have to start at the beginning, i.e. the entrance, and I hate building, but I also hate using blueprints because it's so difficult to keep it simple. Once I get my entrance in (however long that takes) I'm usually pretty good at starting. Generally my first animals are the small ones - meerkats, otters, binturong, prairie dogs, now the porcupine.

 

[Nioell]

Oh we talking Planet Entrance? I'm very good at that!

I usually have an idea in my head, then get the entrance done and maybe 2-5 habitats. Then I get another idea that doesn't really fit in there and start over xD

What I found helped me for the new zoo I started is create the whole main path layout first and decide what animal goes where. Now what I have to do is go fill in those small habiata fields witht the side paths for viewing and habitat itself. Somehow makes the map feel less empty and daunting and it's fun to see those spaces filled one after the other.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Oh, I'm good at starting! Just not at staying with it and finishing. For me, it hels having a concept and a background story. Is it a low, medium or high budget zoo? The latter is mostly full of theming, the first mentioned has more regional animals that are easy to keep in the enviorment the zoo is in.
Is it a Geo zoo, meaning, does it have geopgraphical sections like africa, asia, etc? Or sorted by biome? Or randomised? If the latter I ask myself why the first animal started in that zoo. How did the founders of the zoo even started to wanting a zoo? Was it a shelter before? Did it start as pet trade?

I had a few times where I started laying path and put signs where which animal should be placed. Never worked out for me yet. Just made me feel pressured.

Speaking of pressure: Currently I build a zoo with a fortune wheel which decides about my animals. Idea is inspired by @Gorobai .

Wheel of Names

Enter names, spin wheel to pick a random winner. Customize look and feel, save and share wheels.

wheelofnames.com

 

[Cocolori]

Oh, I'm good at starting! Just not at staying with it and finishing. For me, it hels having a concept and a background story. Is it a low, medium or high budget zoo? The latter is mostly full of theming, the first mentioned has more regional animals that are easy to keep in the enviorment the zoo is in.
Is it a Geo zoo, meaning, does it have geopgraphical sections like africa, asia, etc? Or sorted by biome? Or randomised? If the latter I ask myself why the first animal started in that zoo. How did the founders of the zoo even started to wanting a zoo? Was it a shelter before? Did it start as pet trade?

I had a few times where I started laying path and put signs where which animal should be placed. Never worked out for me yet. Just made me feel pressured.

Speaking of pressure: Currently I build a zoo with a fortune wheel which decides about my animals. Idea is inspired by @Gorobai .

Wheel of Names

Enter names, spin wheel to pick a random winner. Customize look and feel, save and share wheels.

wheelofnames.com

Oh your wheel of wonder is awesome - I was doing that but with a random number generator and then counting down the zoopedia - this is much better!

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Oh your wheel of wonder is awesome - I was doing that but with a random number generator and then counting down the zoopedia - this is much better!

I'm planning on doing some smaller ones based on biomes and based on regions for future projects / other existing projects.

 

[FlameWizard492]

Here's what I do:

1. Don't feel like you have to cover the whole map. You'll overwhelm yourself. Start small, and if you want to expand, go ahead if you can.
2. Know what you're in the mood to create and then plan for it. It can be sorted by continents, biomes, type of animal, endangerment status, certain animal traits (carnivorous, herbivorous, insectivorous, arboreal, nocturnal, etc.), or any other category.
3. I start the actual building by laying out my Zoo Entrances and Guest Spawners on the building grid, but I hold off on building the entrance until after the habitats are finished.
4. Lay out some wide paths (I usually go with 8m) all over the map. I like to start with a central hub that then branches out into other areas. You can even terraform some hills or mesas if you'd like.
5. Set some mental boundaries (or actually mark them in the game) on where the different areas (if any) border on each other.
6. OPTIONAL: In the hub area, I like to include smaller, more unpopular animals or an exhibit building.
7. Once you've chosen what theme your area shall be, start with smaller, more unpopular animals that fit that theme, and then work your way up to larger, more popular animals (gorillas, elephants, lions, etc.) in the far sides of the areas.
8. IMPORTANT: Leave room for staff areas and guest amenities.
9. Once all of the habitats and buildings are finished, start decorating.

That's pretty much how I do it.

 

[steefy92]

Well here are my two cents. Something I also do when playing Skyline cities or any game that requires planning and creativity (especially if we talk about Sandbox)

I ran into a lot, you should figurate of what theme you want ... wrong. If you came here and asked how would you start with big empty map, because you get overwhelmed without any foundation what's so ever, the last thing you want is to start with "figure out the theme".

This advise is not wrong on it's own or bad but it really is just going to work for people with some degree of creativity developed. If you are like me, you want to build the zoo, nothing fancy, but at least functional and while basic at it's core, not to look like an engineer meshed up the plan where the only thing that matters are cogs of machine and efficiency but outer look, who cares (if I want that I'd play Factorio and similar games where I excel).

Another advice I ran into draw a plan, okay close enough but assumes I have end goal and vision of where each piece of the complete product is going to look like, be placed and etc (even on highlevel overview) - I am one of those that, unless, it's design, implement and execute Software/System architecture, do it on the fly - I know the destination, but methodically planned journey ... yeah xD.

However the above s good plan, for one reason. You can use someone's elses plans or even come up with your own by drawing inspiration from fanfiction/real foundations
(for example, this vector based source - https://www.freepik.com/vectors/zoo-map). TLDR: yes it's cartoonish but that's the best part, it lays out foundation (at least for me) in a way that I know where I want to head, the rest is matter of how I execute it.) And you can find other more sophisticated references, real-world schemas, or even generate it from googlemaps if you so desire.
Point I am trying to make, besides all the advices you already got (start small and etc). Is start from the reference and see where it takes you. If you get stack with props (like I do do, again reference, or use blueprints as starting point or even check out workshop and if you don't want to use those exact lots, well you can always build something inspired by them, again reference)

Because, I speak for myself but it may relate to you as well, the game mechanically is simple (shot me, but from managing stand point of view and simulation, it's really simple and those that find these aspect overwhelming are foreign to complex simulation and management games, sorry - the game has "depth" but it's not hard wrap your head around it and once you go over initial intro to how simulation part of game works, there is no barrier). However, where I struggle is creative aspect of it and for the only way I managed to bridge it is by mostly starting from somewhere and see where it takes me, try it enough time and you actually can even start some mini projects from your head, once you practice long enough from reference - like drawing

 

[Orkan]

Enterances are long and tedious, especially if you want to go for a super detailed one.

Don’t start with them. Go straight to the part you want to do. Whether that be habitats, teraining, or paths.

If you want, make a rough plan on different sections, if your doing different areas.

Start with an animal you really want to do. Once the theme is set, do another in the same theme as that one. Once you get bored of that theme, make another area.

If you ever feel low on inspiration (thanks to @CharlieXGaming for this) look at actual zoo maps, go into a google street view in a zoo, look at other people’s habitats, or maybe just take a break.

If you want the street view list here it is, I made it a while back and haven’t actually done it a lot.

Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia

Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne, Australia

Roger Williams Zoo, Providence, Rhode Island

Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, Illinois

ZooAmerica, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, Bridgeport, Connecticut

Dallas Zoo, Dallas, Texas

North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, North Carolina

San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California

Chester Zoo, Cheshire, England

Prague Zoo, Prague, Czechia

Zoo Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Edinburgh Zoo, Edinburgh, Scotland

Singapore Zoo, Singapore, Singapore

Taipei Zoo, New Taipei, Taiwan

Ueno Zoo, Tokyo, Japan

Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Bang Phra, Thailand

Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore, India

Zoologico Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico

Bio park of Rio, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Quilpue Zoo, Somewhere in Chile (Google Earth Doesn’t Specify)

Zoologico de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, Florida

Bronx Zoo, NYC, New York