Hey everyone, veteran Planet zoo player and longtime Zoo Tycoon fan here with some suggestions/wishes I've both seen from the community and some of my own ideas that could make Planet Zoo even better than it already is! I figured this was a good place to post this and hope that this game and community continues to thrive for a long time. Thanks to Frontier for creating my favorite game of all time, they have done a great job with their additions so far. With that said and done, let's jump right into it..
Pure animal packs. The DLC construction pieces and plants are wonderful, but they also take a lot of development time and effort, and rightly so. Frontier has done an incredible job executing these assets. A big piece of criticism in the community though is to have more animals included in the DLC packs. Therefore, I think it reasonable that a DLC pack which includes 8-10 animals instead of the usual 4 animals and 1 exhibit animal for the same price as the other "themed" DLC would be a very good compromise. These new types of "pure animal packs" could be themed around things like desert animals from all parts of the planet, for example. It would also help address the issues of missing fan-favorite animals from the themed packs such as the arctic fox, capybara, and Tasmanian devil.
Drinking fountains. Vending machines are a superb addition, but I also feel drinking fountains should be included as well to help meet guest's needs. They do get very thirsty after all, especially when visiting zoos in the hotter biomes. And speaking of guests... please fix their erratic thoughts on whether or not the view of the animal is good!!!
Binocular stations for guests to view large habitats.
In the spirit of viewing animals, I would also love an invisible boundary tool like the null barrier to designate a viewing areas for guests so they'll actually use them. I spend waaay too much time designing gorgeous underwater or spacious platforms for guests only to have them instead crowd by trash bins and look through a copse of trees while they complain about their viewing experience. Please, please, please add this feature Frontier!!!
Make guests much more willing to walk and explore to increase foot traffic in the far reaches of your zoo.
Allow Franchise mode to fully delete the standard entrance and place guest spawners like in Sandbox mode.
Allow players to actually visit other real player's Franchise zoos from a first-person perspective as their in-game avatar. Could perhaps connect to them like joining a server when they're online to represent when their zoo is "open."
Make floor board pieces rotatable.
Make triangular wall pieces rotatable.
Make all wall pieces recolorable.
These three fixes alone would absolutely skyrocket creativity in game!
Option to turn off/on water/barrier collusion with paths. The pathing system can be really frustrating at times with how it auto connects and honestly makes people want to quit playing. It should be ironed out in general to allow players to create symmetry and follow along circular paths much more easily than it currently allows. I don't know how this would be done but it should for sure get some attention.
Limit number of guests allowed in habitats at one time. Exhibits shouldn't always be a four lane highway. I'm sick of my Aardvarks pounding Prozac and dying from stress! "Shy" animals are just not currently feasible to interact with guests even if they're allowed to enter the habitat.
Staff vehicles. If you don't want to make a keeper hut or vet center right next to every single habitat, now you can have your staff drive there in a fraction of the time. Greatly expands zoo layout options.
Animal coloration variation is a truly fantastic addition, but I would also like to see texture/pattern variation on animals to differentiate them even further. Doesn't have to be over the moon, this is just a game after all, but just slight pattern variations would be awesome.
A "generate map" button so you don't always have to start a zoo on flat terrain. Could really mix things up a bit and inspire players with a set map to work with.
It'd be great if we could have yellow savanna grass for our African habitats in the same zoo where we can have the dark green grass for a South American habitats. Maybe a toggle where you change the biome type of the terrain before you paint it, aka check 'Savanna' and then paint with that terrain type. LOTS more variety in our zoos!
Most reptiles and birds make nests and lay eggs. This should really be implemented for accuracy. I think animal birth should be a bigger event in general and maybe even involve vets on site? Do some animals need to be taken into the vet facility or quarantine for assistance with difficult births if the mother has a low fertility rating? Would make all the animals bred in your zoo feel A LOT more rewarding.
I don't think we will get whales, dolphins, or sharks due to the controversy surrounding the captivity of these animals in tanks. I think Frontier wants to avoid that, and also the game isn't called Planet Aquarium. I DO, however, absolutely think an "aquatic update" should be included so to speak, which will feature animals like seals, otters and penguins (platypus pretty please?!) as well as increase the animations/ interactions with already existing aquatic animals.
Aviaries for birds like toucans, parrots and cockatoos (second expansion idea?). Bats could also fit under this category. I think this addition would greatly compliment the existing exhibit animal roster. Which also leads into...
A new staff addition, "animal educator," which takes animals out of exhibits and aviaries and allows for guests to view them up close and gives an animal talk on them. Can accept donations for the zoo and allow managers to set showtimes with a new staff facility from which the animal educator can give the talks at. Maybe they could also do talks on big cats like the cheetah?
Petting zoos for children and adults to interact with "friendlier" animals (third expansion?). The "animal educator" could also be expanded to fill this roll.
Feeding times and other special animal events. Allow guests to witness special animal feedings such as the cheetah chasing down prey on a zip line? They do this at the San Diego Zoo with Cheetahs and it is incredible to see firsthand how fast they are. Also, how cool would this be with crocodiles like they do at Australia Zoo?
Right now the Deluxe Edition only includes three animals and is MORE expensive than any of the DLCs. It also doesn't include any special scenery or scenarios, just the soundtrack and digital wallpapers. Instead, I think this is another big opportunity for Frontier to add some fan favorite animals they missed in the Arctic, South America and Australia packs like the arctic fox, sloth, and echidna. Those who purchased the deluxe addition would get these animals for free, and for those who haven't, it would be a great added incentive to purchase it. They could even keep adding something like one animal per paid DLC to the deluxe edition almost like a season pass sort of thing. I would be fine with an increase in price if it meant animals got continuously added between DLC pack releases.
Another option would of course be to add one or two free animals every once in awhile to commemorate certain holidays or have the proceeds go towards increasing animal awareness and global conservation efforts
And that's what I've got. Thanks for reading! Sorry for any typos. I'm excited to hear what people think or if they have any other suggestions instead. Cheers!
Pure animal packs. The DLC construction pieces and plants are wonderful, but they also take a lot of development time and effort, and rightly so. Frontier has done an incredible job executing these assets. A big piece of criticism in the community though is to have more animals included in the DLC packs. Therefore, I think it reasonable that a DLC pack which includes 8-10 animals instead of the usual 4 animals and 1 exhibit animal for the same price as the other "themed" DLC would be a very good compromise. These new types of "pure animal packs" could be themed around things like desert animals from all parts of the planet, for example. It would also help address the issues of missing fan-favorite animals from the themed packs such as the arctic fox, capybara, and Tasmanian devil.
Drinking fountains. Vending machines are a superb addition, but I also feel drinking fountains should be included as well to help meet guest's needs. They do get very thirsty after all, especially when visiting zoos in the hotter biomes. And speaking of guests... please fix their erratic thoughts on whether or not the view of the animal is good!!!
Binocular stations for guests to view large habitats.
In the spirit of viewing animals, I would also love an invisible boundary tool like the null barrier to designate a viewing areas for guests so they'll actually use them. I spend waaay too much time designing gorgeous underwater or spacious platforms for guests only to have them instead crowd by trash bins and look through a copse of trees while they complain about their viewing experience. Please, please, please add this feature Frontier!!!
Make guests much more willing to walk and explore to increase foot traffic in the far reaches of your zoo.
Allow Franchise mode to fully delete the standard entrance and place guest spawners like in Sandbox mode.
Allow players to actually visit other real player's Franchise zoos from a first-person perspective as their in-game avatar. Could perhaps connect to them like joining a server when they're online to represent when their zoo is "open."
Make floor board pieces rotatable.
Make triangular wall pieces rotatable.
Make all wall pieces recolorable.
These three fixes alone would absolutely skyrocket creativity in game!
Option to turn off/on water/barrier collusion with paths. The pathing system can be really frustrating at times with how it auto connects and honestly makes people want to quit playing. It should be ironed out in general to allow players to create symmetry and follow along circular paths much more easily than it currently allows. I don't know how this would be done but it should for sure get some attention.
Limit number of guests allowed in habitats at one time. Exhibits shouldn't always be a four lane highway. I'm sick of my Aardvarks pounding Prozac and dying from stress! "Shy" animals are just not currently feasible to interact with guests even if they're allowed to enter the habitat.
Staff vehicles. If you don't want to make a keeper hut or vet center right next to every single habitat, now you can have your staff drive there in a fraction of the time. Greatly expands zoo layout options.
Animal coloration variation is a truly fantastic addition, but I would also like to see texture/pattern variation on animals to differentiate them even further. Doesn't have to be over the moon, this is just a game after all, but just slight pattern variations would be awesome.
A "generate map" button so you don't always have to start a zoo on flat terrain. Could really mix things up a bit and inspire players with a set map to work with.
It'd be great if we could have yellow savanna grass for our African habitats in the same zoo where we can have the dark green grass for a South American habitats. Maybe a toggle where you change the biome type of the terrain before you paint it, aka check 'Savanna' and then paint with that terrain type. LOTS more variety in our zoos!
Most reptiles and birds make nests and lay eggs. This should really be implemented for accuracy. I think animal birth should be a bigger event in general and maybe even involve vets on site? Do some animals need to be taken into the vet facility or quarantine for assistance with difficult births if the mother has a low fertility rating? Would make all the animals bred in your zoo feel A LOT more rewarding.
I don't think we will get whales, dolphins, or sharks due to the controversy surrounding the captivity of these animals in tanks. I think Frontier wants to avoid that, and also the game isn't called Planet Aquarium. I DO, however, absolutely think an "aquatic update" should be included so to speak, which will feature animals like seals, otters and penguins (platypus pretty please?!) as well as increase the animations/ interactions with already existing aquatic animals.
Aviaries for birds like toucans, parrots and cockatoos (second expansion idea?). Bats could also fit under this category. I think this addition would greatly compliment the existing exhibit animal roster. Which also leads into...
A new staff addition, "animal educator," which takes animals out of exhibits and aviaries and allows for guests to view them up close and gives an animal talk on them. Can accept donations for the zoo and allow managers to set showtimes with a new staff facility from which the animal educator can give the talks at. Maybe they could also do talks on big cats like the cheetah?
Petting zoos for children and adults to interact with "friendlier" animals (third expansion?). The "animal educator" could also be expanded to fill this roll.
Feeding times and other special animal events. Allow guests to witness special animal feedings such as the cheetah chasing down prey on a zip line? They do this at the San Diego Zoo with Cheetahs and it is incredible to see firsthand how fast they are. Also, how cool would this be with crocodiles like they do at Australia Zoo?
Right now the Deluxe Edition only includes three animals and is MORE expensive than any of the DLCs. It also doesn't include any special scenery or scenarios, just the soundtrack and digital wallpapers. Instead, I think this is another big opportunity for Frontier to add some fan favorite animals they missed in the Arctic, South America and Australia packs like the arctic fox, sloth, and echidna. Those who purchased the deluxe addition would get these animals for free, and for those who haven't, it would be a great added incentive to purchase it. They could even keep adding something like one animal per paid DLC to the deluxe edition almost like a season pass sort of thing. I would be fine with an increase in price if it meant animals got continuously added between DLC pack releases.
Another option would of course be to add one or two free animals every once in awhile to commemorate certain holidays or have the proceeds go towards increasing animal awareness and global conservation efforts
And that's what I've got. Thanks for reading! Sorry for any typos. I'm excited to hear what people think or if they have any other suggestions instead. Cheers!
