The Elephant in the Room

[Coaster4You]

No pun intended, but I think this should be a serious discussion.

Many of us in the community, wish that Planet Zoo was an expansion pack for Planet Coaster, just as we seen in Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Wild.
Unfortunately this is not the case. But we must accept the fact that Frontier is a business, that must make profit (which i'm sure they do), to provide
jobs for there employees. Now this does not mean they are greedy, make no mistake they have done allot to provide the best theme park simulation
they can provide for us in this gaming generation. The creativity people continue to provide from the community continues to grow, and I'm sure for
many years to come. With the Theme Makers Tool Kit, along with the Scenario Editor, imagination is only the limit.

Now yes, it would be amazing to have Planet Zoo be along side with Planet Coaster. If that was the case, the potential sales would not be as great,
thus affecting the outcome of products provided from Frontier. Someone would need to buy Planet Coaster just to play Planet Zoo, and some would
see that as a turn off, thus dropping the potential sale.

I'm sure a good majority would just want to play Planet Zoo alone, and maybe buy Planet Coaster at a later time Now here is the interesting thing.
I guarantee you that every Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster player would think, "huh, why can't these to play together? Why not a zoo section mixed with
a theme park?"

I believe this was a hard decision Frontier had to make. Just imagine, the limitations of the current state of the .exe of Planet Coaster is DirectX 11. That
only utilizes 1 core in the CPU. At the time of release, allot of customers was not using Windows 10 at the time. If we where to throw on a whole new game,
that would only make the engine slow down even more on small parks due to the background programs running for Planet Zoo, being very impractical.

Now yes, Frontier could update the game application to DirectX 12 and still keeping DirectX 11, but as you can see, one player would win the power utilization over
another, and that's not fair.

So I think we should just not complain and take it for what it is, a brand new theme park experience, that I'm sure will be very fun.

And who knows, maybe in the future, Frontier could create some .exe that is DX12 that has Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster together, hopefully.

 

[Sophie]

Personally, I hate zoos that are combined with theme parks and I'm not a Planet Coaster player, so I'm glad it's a seperate game. I'm here for the zoo and the animals .

 

[Ddef12]

I see the original thought but in my opinion, as a player of Planet Coaster, I can see the reason for separating these out as two games that extends more than just a financial decision.

The games look similar and probably have very similar core components. But what I’m thinking (and hoping) is Zoo will dive to different levels of detail in a simulation management aspect than Planet Coaster has or will. Pure speculation here of course. But I see Planet zoo being a successor to Zoo Tycoon as Planet Coaster was to RCT.

 

[Stream]

I just wish they would've finished improving PlanCo before moving onto another IP in the "series". PlanCo still has a LOT of issues that should've been sorted out by now and now probably never will be. I understand that making this its own entity is probably a better choice for Frontier, but it feels a bit like they're abandoning their loyal PC community with this - and it's also now very apparent why they haven't spent as much time working on aspects of PC that should've been fixed by now (Planet Zoo has been in development for 2 years). So I have split opinions about this game even being released at this point.

With that said, I think that they would make a LOT of people happy if you were able to use assets from PC in PZ if you own both games. Maybe not make it a full integration of PC into PZ, but at least make it so that you have access to the rides and scenery items offered in PC when you play PZ if you own both games. Since the engine is very similar it shouldn't take too much for them to make that happen. I doubt it'll happen, but I think that would really make a huge impact on the community as you'll basically have new version of PC with an updated engine and animals.

 

[wowman]

personally, a major PlanCo advocate...because these are not integrated...I will most likely not be purchasing this game. I really don't want to get into the mindframe of "I wish this was in PlanCo"...or "I wish this was in PlanetZoo"...So there is an argument that while sales may be lost because of integration....there may be just as many lost sales because its not integrated.

 

[Stream]

personally, a major PlanCo advocate...because these are not integrated...I will most likely not be purchasing this game. I really don't want to get into the mindframe of "I wish this was in PlanCo"...or "I wish this was in PlanetZoo"...So there is an argument that while sales may be lost because of integration....there may be just as many lost sales because its not integrated.

I'm in the same boat pretty much. Planet Zoo doesn't really interest me as a stand alone game, what does interest me is how they're improving the engine for this game. I just hope they come to their senses and at least lets us use PlanCo assets in PlanZoo, that would make a good compromise to the people who wanted a Zoo expansion, and the people who just want a Zoo game. Own both games? Coasters in the Zoo.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

Or at the very least, items made with the Thememakers Toolkit should be easily portable into Planet Zoo.

 

[JessicaSonnet]

I personally LOVE the idea of having this as a whole new game, it leaves a huge amount of potential to expand on instead of just being a DLC.

(and i also agree with the general.... zoo's are zoo's ..... not themeparks)
either way, i think it'll be a brilliant game and look forward to playing it

 

[FunrirWoulfe]

The problem I see if PlanZoo was part of PlanCo is... you think the game lags bad now... imagine adding another layer of AI too the mix... the animals moving around namely... what the animals want, likes, dislikes, comfort, food, playtime, etc etc etc

Also the weather system, adds more complexity to the mix, and the water seems to not be just a texture this time around, it's almost a whole new version of Cobra, for all we know maybe the parks aren't square anymore ? We won't know 'till it's closer to release

Spine based fences, it's like they took some of the things from PlanCo & some of the things from JWE, put 'em inna blender & presto PlanZoo

 

[Fishook]

The problem I see if PlanZoo was part of PlanCo is... you think the game lags bad now... imagine adding another layer of AI too the mix... the animals moving around namely... what the animals want, likes, dislikes, comfort, food, playtime, etc etc etc

Also the weather system, adds more complexity to the mix, and the water seems to not be just a texture this time around, it's almost a whole new version of Cobra, for all we know maybe the parks aren't square anymore ? We won't know 'till it's closer to release

Spine based fences, it's like they took some of the things from PlanCo & some of the things from JWE, put 'em inna blender & presto PlanZoo

My point exactly, Planet Coaster management/scenarios need a overhaul IMO, There was some nice ideas in JWE but once you got over the initial few hours you can see it's flaws. I a pleased Frontier has gone down this route, as I no longer bother with the management side of Planet Coaster,

Trying to get management and custom building to work together is a tricky task IMO especially on something like PlanCo when dealing with large and complex parks. The best example recently has been Two Point Hospital IMO.

 

[amadeus1171]

They should all be expansions for Elite: Dangerous.

 

[Iron Golem]

Im trying to picture being an elephant in a enclosure that has roller coasters full of screaming people whipping through it.

 

[Stream]

Im trying to picture being an elephant in a enclosure that has roller coasters full of screaming people whipping through it.

Busch Gardens Tampa has entered the chat

 

[Zoocray]

Many of us in the community, wish that Planet Zoo was an expansion pack for Planet Coaster...

I am going to stop you right there, I would like to shed some light with my experience to help bridge understanding as to why Planet Zoo should be its own game. I know that Frontier Developments know what they are doing as they separate Planet Zoo from Planet Coaster. I am sure you are familiar but for the rest of the forum folks here, I would like to explain why this is the case.

Planet Zoo has a lot riding behind it because this game has the most potential into tapping into the previous Zoo Tycoon series. Zoo Tycoon 1 and 2 garnered a very large following, until Zoo Tycoon 2013/2016 when Microsoft "dumbed" down the game to make it very friendly for children. The "tycoon" aspect of that game was gone. Since then there have been no zoo simulator games since.

To this entire forum, I say that Planet Zoo deserves a standalone game because of the large following of Zoo Tycoon fans looking for a reincarnation of what could have been in a Zoo Tycoon 3 series.
Least us not forget that Frontier Developments also helped develop the original Zoo Tycoon 1 & 2 series (edit: and the 2013/2016 version). They know what they are doing, they know their market/fanbase, and know that people want a zoo game, not a coaster game with zoo/animal assets and management

 

[LN]

The Zoo Tycoon from Microsoft was made by Frontier. I never knew of the game because it was primarily promoted for the Xbox. I can see why Microsoft dumbed it down for easier gameplay. Thus I'm also happy that Planet zoo will be PC only. Because that is where JWE was sort of hurt by, the limits on consoles.

I saw some pictures though and for me it has that pre-Planco vibe to me with assets (tree's, rocks,fences and paths etc). The Animal designs from that game can be re-used in this new game I guess.

As for rides, I agree it should be a game about a Zoo, and not a combination. It's not very common. But most zoo's I've been also have side entertainment, like playgrounds, and the occassional carroussel. But I don't need big coasters per se.

Honestly, I'm very glad Frontier is making this game, and not some other studio. Very interested in the released product!

 

[HappyPanda]

Disagree with the OP. Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster being separate games allows them to achieve their gameplay goals much better than if they were jammed together. Imagine making Zoo Tycoon just an expansion pack of Roller Coaster Tycoon 2/3 or something. It simply wouldn't have been the same. And truthfully, the zoo DLC in RCT3 wasn't really the deepest, enriching experience. I'm glad Frontier chose this path.

 

[Paul_Crowther]

We will be revealing more about Planet Zoo as time goes on and it will soon become clear to everyone that Planet Zoo is a fundamentally different experience to Planet Coaster, with a whole game’s worth of content.

 

[UltimateAirtime]

I think integrating the two would be possible, since they seem to have the same artistic style, mechanics, and probably share many scenery items, the question really would be will Frontier do it or not. It could either be really good for planet zoo, since they'll likely get a lot of sales from the supporters of Planet Coaster, but it could also make the game look like just an expansion of Planet Coaster instead of its own entity. I really hope they integrate the two, making a busch gardens/sea world type park would be awesome!

I also think it could help make the simulation aspect more realistic. Maybe they could introduce better financial or management simulation by having an online server where parks from both games (or parks with features from both games) compete for business and visitors. That would be the ultimate combination of the games in my opinion.

 

[Mark Jones]

My point exactly, Planet Coaster management/scenarios need an overhaul IMO, https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/courage/ There was some nice ideas in JWE but once you got over the initial few hours you can see it's flawed. I a pleased Frontier has gone down this route, as I no longer bother with the management side of Planet Coaster,
Trying to get management and custom building to work together is a tricky task IMO especially on something like PlanCo when dealing with large and complex parks. The best example recently has been Two Point Hospital IMO.

Planet Coaster is a great construction and management simulation video game. I also a big FUN of Tycoon Zoo! That is great!

 

[BaconTheDragon]

I am going to stop you right there, I would like to shed some light with my experience to help bridge understanding as to why Planet Zoo should be its own game. I know that Frontier Developments know what they are doing as they separate Planet Zoo from Planet Coaster. I am sure you are familiar but for the rest of the forum folks here, I would like to explain why this is the case.

Planet Zoo has a lot riding behind it because this game has the most potential into tapping into the previous Zoo Tycoon series. Zoo Tycoon 1 and 2 garnered a very large following, until Zoo Tycoon 2013/2016 when Microsoft "dumbed" down the game to make it very friendly for children. The "tycoon" aspect of that game was gone. Since then there have been no zoo simulator games since.

To this entire forum, I say that Planet Zoo deserves a standalone game because of the large following of Zoo Tycoon fans looking for a reincarnation of what could have been in a Zoo Tycoon 3 series.
Least us not forget that Frontier Developments also helped develop the original Zoo Tycoon 1 & 2 series (edit: and the 2013/2016 version). They know what they are doing, they know their market/fanbase, and know that people want a zoo game, not a coaster game with zoo/animal assets and management

Exactly this. The gaming world is in need of a decent zoo simulator game right now. ZT2 came out 15 years ago! I cant even believe that, feels just like yesterday.