Suggestion: Use colour variants in place of sub-species (habitat animals).
- Thread starter Jeminyne
- Start date
TBH, I'm really not a fan of that idea. I personally don't understand this approach, a subspecies isn't "the same animal but it just visually looks different"; many subspecies have their own needs, behaviors, sizes and many other parameters. It wouldn't make much sense to me tbh 
And from the looks of it, Frontier does not work with this approach either, given that we have multiple subspecies in the game already. I don't think it's a good idea as a whole because of that.
We've seen 3 pictures of the variants so far. It seems like a huge stretch to me to already assume that Frontier just "quick quick no effort" did it like quite a few people seem to imply on the forums. Maybe we should just wait until we got a bit more information?
And from the looks of it, Frontier does not work with this approach either, given that we have multiple subspecies in the game already. I don't think it's a good idea as a whole because of that.We've seen 3 pictures of the variants so far. It seems like a huge stretch to me to already assume that Frontier just "quick quick no effort" did it like quite a few people seem to imply on the forums. Maybe we should just wait until we got a bit more information?
TBH, I'm really not a fan of that idea. I personally don't understand this approach, a subspecies isn't "the same animal but it just visually looks different"; many subspecies have their own needs, behaviors, sizes and many other parameters. It wouldn't make much sense to me tbh
We've seen 3 pictures of the variants so far. It seems like a huge stretch to me to already assume that Frontier just "quick quick no effort" did it like quite a few people seem to imply on the forums. Maybe we should just wait until we got a bit more information?
That's a good point, it would be strange to have Indian and African elephants mashed together, for instance. Maybe just some animals and not all. But I agree, I don't want to get ahead of myself and assume they rushed anything. There's just so much potential for variety. (And it would be a shame if they wasted more DLC slots with subspecies like they did with the Arctic wolf.) Maybe this tactic would work for birds/aviary animals if they ever included them, but they could find other solutions too.
Not a great example here, as red (scarlet) macaw and blue and gold macaw are in fact separate species (not subspecies). I also agree with Iben, subspecies aren't simply variation in colour or pattern, but have their own unique ecology. To include them as the same animal would go against the realism that PZ strives for (you can't just breed timber wolves and randomly get an arctic wolf, biologically that is not possible).
Why should they do it like that?
I don't want Zebras that some Zoo Employee colored with grey Paint and call it a Donkey and similar Stuff. I want separate Species instead of this weird Solution.
I hope my Words aren't too hard for the Forum but it would be absolutely stupid to include different Species and Subspecies just as Variations of another Animal. I would absolutely hate it and I think a lot of People would feel the same about it.
I don't want Zebras that some Zoo Employee colored with grey Paint and call it a Donkey and similar Stuff. I want separate Species instead of this weird Solution.
I hope my Words aren't too hard for the Forum but it would be absolutely stupid to include different Species and Subspecies just as Variations of another Animal. I would absolutely hate it and I think a lot of People would feel the same about it.
whilst I think it’s best to avoid words like ‘stupid’, I otherwise agree.
Didn't knew which other Word I could've used in that Sentence. Normally I'm also trying to avoid it
I am not opposed to this solution in select cases, but it would only ever work for SUBspecies. @haleymills I suggest looking up taxonomy as most of the examples you site are not subspecies. As has already been pointed out scarlet macaws and blue-and-gold macaws are separate species. African and Asian elephants are not closely related; they are not even in the same genus, let alone species. Just because the English common names are similar doesn't imply genetic relation. That would be like saying red pandas are just a red recolor of giant (black-and-white) pandas.
Subspecies with distinct geographic ranges, biomes, size, or body build (such as the Bengal vs. Siberian tiger, or Grizzly bear vs. Himalayan brown bear) should absolutely be treated as separate animals in game. If we we ever to get Bighorn sheep, in my mind it would inappropriate to treat the Desert bighorn sheep subspecies as a simple recolor, as it would require a different model and habitat needs. However there are animals in the game that Frontier has shown zero inclination to specify a subspecies, despite great visual variation within the species. I think adding a spectrum of colors for the Plains zebra (as posted here https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/animal-variants.552477/post-8641082) would be a great substitute for adding actual Grant's and Burchell's subspecies. Not all zoos (even within EAZA or AZA) bother to specify subspecies or breed "pure" subspecies.
Also if this suggestion is ever implemented it would be helpful if we could actually edit the education signage in game to represent whatever we are pretending to display.
Subspecies with distinct geographic ranges, biomes, size, or body build (such as the Bengal vs. Siberian tiger, or Grizzly bear vs. Himalayan brown bear) should absolutely be treated as separate animals in game. If we we ever to get Bighorn sheep, in my mind it would inappropriate to treat the Desert bighorn sheep subspecies as a simple recolor, as it would require a different model and habitat needs. However there are animals in the game that Frontier has shown zero inclination to specify a subspecies, despite great visual variation within the species. I think adding a spectrum of colors for the Plains zebra (as posted here https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/animal-variants.552477/post-8641082) would be a great substitute for adding actual Grant's and Burchell's subspecies. Not all zoos (even within EAZA or AZA) bother to specify subspecies or breed "pure" subspecies.
Also if this suggestion is ever implemented it would be helpful if we could actually edit the education signage in game to represent whatever we are pretending to display.
Last edited: