Hello everyone!
With the release of patch 1.8, jurassic world evolution has gotten quite the upgrade in terrain tools that allowed many players to make some of the coolest and unique exhibits for our parks and dinosaurs. I think we should start having a dedicated thread here to showcase what is capable with the new terrain tools and if there are any tips and ideas we could use for our next park. I have some ideas ready but I would love to see what you all could do, it's time to get inspired!
• Use the rock tool to emulate deeper water
One of my favorite tips is to simply use the rock tool to give an idea of how deep the water it. It could give the illusion of depths for our water based exhibits, perfect for our spinosaurus feeding areas. Likewise, the sand and mud tool could be used to outline the rock to give an idea of how shallow the water is before the sudden drop to the deep end of the body of water.
• Use the rock tool to emphasise steep areas of the exhibit
With the new terrain contour line options, you could see which areas are very steep when playing around with elevation. In those areas, try out the rock tool to give it a sense of added depth, and how it would be too steep for plant growth as the water would just flow downwards from the steep slope.
• The sand and bush tool could be used to create a savannah environment
Some of the maps would allow for the use of the sand tool. Sand has an interesting reaction to the bush tool: Where other terrain options would get covered in the green bush, sand would cover the base green of the bush area but would still allow for plant matter to form. This has become a rather popular terrain option for African, South American, and savannah based exhibits. To add to the savannah look, place down small trees with some distance from each other to give it an arid look.
• Create dunes with the raise terrain tool and rocks
First, play around with the terrain as you like for the desert based exhibits. When you feel like you have a good idea of what you like, start placing down some rock sparingly in your exhibit. Then raise the terrain around the rocky locations. What should happen is that the terrain would swallow the rocks you have placed. This is great to give off the idea of large sand dunes as they are not a permanent raise of land but large piles of sand being raised and lowered by the wind. A subtle tip would be to place trees by the fence next to forested areas or the oasis so that the dinosaurs could get their tree need filled without breaking the large desert visual.
• Use the bush tool downhill for hilly exhibits
One idea I love to play with is the thought of water flow during exhibit design. I like the idea that in hilly exhibits, the water would trickle down from the hills and be stuck on the bottom. With no river to go to, the water would be stuck between the hills, allowing for larger vegetation to grown. This could work for large temperate grassy hills in your park.
• For rocky exhibits, treat the rock tool as a fence for your vegetation
I like to make my rocky exhibits have a bit of vegetation to make it hospitable for our dinosaurs tree needs. So I would use the rock tool and create a near ring of sorts of rock to contain the vegetation of the exhibit.
• Use the big tree to hide tiny bodies of water
This idea is mainly a means to play with perspective. To have the water be underneath the leaves of the tree, you could have a top down perspective where the entire exhibit is green, and then see the body of water when entering a gallery.
• Try to use the species of trees to set the time period of the exhibit
With the 5 tree options we were given, you could play around with the tree's looks to illustrate the time of these dinosaurs. Currently our choices are limited between 2 palm based trees, and 3 leaf trees. It may not be scientifically accurate, but I like to play with the idea of tree species and number of trees to set the time period of these dinosaurs. When building an exhibit set in a cretaceous period and not in a tropical area, I would include more leaf based trees then palms. However, when building a jurassic exhibit, I would apply more palm based trees. Its experimental and may not be scientifically accurate, but it helps define my jurassic exhibits from the cretaceous exhibits.
So far these are the things I do when building exhibits. I hope they prove to be helpful to give ideas in exhibit building. I would love to see what you all could make and share your ideas so that others would be inspired for their future parks.
With the release of patch 1.8, jurassic world evolution has gotten quite the upgrade in terrain tools that allowed many players to make some of the coolest and unique exhibits for our parks and dinosaurs. I think we should start having a dedicated thread here to showcase what is capable with the new terrain tools and if there are any tips and ideas we could use for our next park. I have some ideas ready but I would love to see what you all could do, it's time to get inspired!
• Use the rock tool to emulate deeper water
One of my favorite tips is to simply use the rock tool to give an idea of how deep the water it. It could give the illusion of depths for our water based exhibits, perfect for our spinosaurus feeding areas. Likewise, the sand and mud tool could be used to outline the rock to give an idea of how shallow the water is before the sudden drop to the deep end of the body of water.
• Use the rock tool to emphasise steep areas of the exhibit
With the new terrain contour line options, you could see which areas are very steep when playing around with elevation. In those areas, try out the rock tool to give it a sense of added depth, and how it would be too steep for plant growth as the water would just flow downwards from the steep slope.
• The sand and bush tool could be used to create a savannah environment
Some of the maps would allow for the use of the sand tool. Sand has an interesting reaction to the bush tool: Where other terrain options would get covered in the green bush, sand would cover the base green of the bush area but would still allow for plant matter to form. This has become a rather popular terrain option for African, South American, and savannah based exhibits. To add to the savannah look, place down small trees with some distance from each other to give it an arid look.
• Create dunes with the raise terrain tool and rocks
First, play around with the terrain as you like for the desert based exhibits. When you feel like you have a good idea of what you like, start placing down some rock sparingly in your exhibit. Then raise the terrain around the rocky locations. What should happen is that the terrain would swallow the rocks you have placed. This is great to give off the idea of large sand dunes as they are not a permanent raise of land but large piles of sand being raised and lowered by the wind. A subtle tip would be to place trees by the fence next to forested areas or the oasis so that the dinosaurs could get their tree need filled without breaking the large desert visual.
• Use the bush tool downhill for hilly exhibits
One idea I love to play with is the thought of water flow during exhibit design. I like the idea that in hilly exhibits, the water would trickle down from the hills and be stuck on the bottom. With no river to go to, the water would be stuck between the hills, allowing for larger vegetation to grown. This could work for large temperate grassy hills in your park.
• For rocky exhibits, treat the rock tool as a fence for your vegetation
I like to make my rocky exhibits have a bit of vegetation to make it hospitable for our dinosaurs tree needs. So I would use the rock tool and create a near ring of sorts of rock to contain the vegetation of the exhibit.
• Use the big tree to hide tiny bodies of water
This idea is mainly a means to play with perspective. To have the water be underneath the leaves of the tree, you could have a top down perspective where the entire exhibit is green, and then see the body of water when entering a gallery.
• Try to use the species of trees to set the time period of the exhibit
With the 5 tree options we were given, you could play around with the tree's looks to illustrate the time of these dinosaurs. Currently our choices are limited between 2 palm based trees, and 3 leaf trees. It may not be scientifically accurate, but I like to play with the idea of tree species and number of trees to set the time period of these dinosaurs. When building an exhibit set in a cretaceous period and not in a tropical area, I would include more leaf based trees then palms. However, when building a jurassic exhibit, I would apply more palm based trees. Its experimental and may not be scientifically accurate, but it helps define my jurassic exhibits from the cretaceous exhibits.
So far these are the things I do when building exhibits. I hope they prove to be helpful to give ideas in exhibit building. I would love to see what you all could make and share your ideas so that others would be inspired for their future parks.