The great things about Jurassic World Evolution

[IndominusBrexit]

JW:E Has a lot of things I really enjoy. Sure, I think the game needs a lot of work and isn't worth $60 yet. But I definitely wouldn't call it a bad game. This thread is all about the aspects where the game shines such as:

- Dinosaur models. The animals look and feel amazing. Some of the best in the industry and second only to the Isle in my opinion.
- Dinosaur diversity. My favorite dinosaurs in JW:E are the obscure herbivores that are rarely represented outside of journal articles. I was very impressed that beautiful creatures like Pentaceratops, Sauropelta, and Muttaburasaurus finally have a worthy video game form.
- Dinosaur accuracy. Yeah the theropods lack feathers and have pronated wrists but give credit where credit is due. The Majungasaurus has appropriately tiny forelimbs, the central digits on the hadrosaur forelimbs are fused (save for the grasping pinkie), the Kentrosaurus has a proper long neck, etc. Frontier did a great job of bringing Julius Csotonyi's artwork to life and have maintained a great balance between film accuracy and scientific accuracy.
- Dinosaur animation. The animation in this game does have its fair share of issues. But you can tell a lot of love was put into how large carnivores grab hadrosaurs by the neck or how ceratopsians impale their enemies in the eye. It's not the direction I would have wanted, but I admit it's a cinematic experience.
- Genetic Modification. I wasn't really excited for this feature of the game but it's a system that's really grown on me. Being able to customize my dinosaurs' traits, appearance and name gave my JWE experience a lot of unexpected charm. Some find it shallow but I thought gene modification added a lot to the game without going overboard (please don't make the Stegoceratops a thing Frontier).
- Sound Design. The dinosaurs sound amazing. From the T-rex's iconic roar to the whale-like songs of the sauropods. That Suchomimus soundboard [heart].
- Soundtrack. The music in this game is stellar, offering a wide variety of tracks to suit every situation. Things like the playful orchestra score that introduces your first Struthiomimus and the haunting chorus that accompanies your first Tyrannosaurus elevate the Jurassic Park experience to a whole new level.
- Power/Path management. At first I thought power/path management would be a huge annoyance throughout the entire game. Turned out to be one of my favorite aspects of the core gameplay. Strategically placing pylons, substations and power plants to address my parks electricity demands engaged my management skills more than JPOG or Zoo Tycoon ever did. Though I did find constant path connections a hassle, I eventually felt that I was creating an integrated and practical facility.
- Disasters. Chaos is central to the Jurassic Park experience and this game has plenty of it. The dinosaur rampages, sabotage, and tropical storms are a huge change of pace from JPOG. This a game you spend waiting for something to go wrong and fixing it is extremely enjoyable and involved.
- Experiencing your dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are the stars of the show and you get a plethora of ways to get up close to them. You photograph them from jeeps, monitor them using 2 in-game camera angles, ride along side them in a gyrosphere or use Nvidia Ancel to get the perfect shot.
- Jeff Goldblum. Jeff's dialogue and wit are complete gold. Dr. Malcolm was suspiciously absent from JPOG but he's back and boy does he want you to know it. Dr. Malcolm's chaos quips were the perfect encouragement/discouragement for me to make Jurassic World a reality.

What do you guys like about JW:E? It's far from a perfect game but there are plenty of other threads for its problems. This thread is about the great stuff and there's a lot to love in it.

 

[Dorian1334]

That's the annoying thing, though. The game has some good elements, and especially the dinosaur models are great, but you can have all the cool stuff in the world and it won't matter if you have no space to play with them. Sure, the dinosaur AI needs improving, the fences are useless (raptor, struthie etc barrelling through concrete will never make sense lol) and guests are idiots, but I can forgive all that (assuming it's being worked on, to be fixed at a later date). However, the tiny maps have killed the game entirely for me. It's a shame, as the dinosaurs themselves, the basic game mechanics etc are solid.

 

[MarcWP]

That's the annoying thing, though. The game has some good elements, and especially the dinosaur models are great, but you can have all the cool stuff in the world and it won't matter if you have no space to play with them. Sure, the dinosaur AI needs improving, the fences are useless (raptor, struthie etc barrelling through concrete will never make sense lol) and guests are idiots, but I can forgive all that (assuming it's being worked on, to be fixed at a later date). However, the tiny maps have killed the game entirely for me. It's a shame, as the dinosaurs themselves, the basic game mechanics etc are solid.

The small maps are open for debate. I personally love, that the maps aren't too big. Means I have to pan out which dinosaurs to incubate at different islands and also make a blueprint of the park before placing stuff. To me bigger sized maps would ruin the whole challenge, as you could just place stuff however you please... That would be a total downer for personally. Unless they made the economical aspect of running the park harder.

And then there would be no need for different islands as well. Then you would just have one scenario, which also ruins the gaming experience IMO.

 

[Rob At Work]

The biggest thing about JWE is the price!

 

[Winterwalker]

The small maps are open for debate. I personally love, that the maps aren't too big.

I do too actually. Plus if you open up the whole of Matanceros into a single paddock, it's a big one. Helps the game's performance of course and, though I did see one nice idea that maybe each island could have two or three buildable map/areas (so you'd be really swimming in hectares) I'm already tending to see the whole chain of islands as indiviudual areas of one single resort, and I'm liking that.

Agree with the disaster management mechanics .. definitely stock at least 8 Dienonychus for added entertainment! I find both vehicles great and setting up power systems so you can bring critical areas of park, and ranger scheduling back up quickly, all good strategy fun.

 

[GonerMcGoner]

I can't praise the models enough (animals, vehicles, buildings and guests). I've been playing for a month now and I still find myself losing track and just admiring the spectacular work they did - particularly on the dinosaurs. The sound effects are great and the soundtrack is fantastic. The islands look amazing in any weather. The animations may be few, but you can tell how much work was put into every movement. I love driving the jeep with the radio on or flying the helicopter, and I love the tiny details (how the camera shakes when passing through a tornado, the parrots fleeing when you uproot trees, the salt and pepper shakers on the table inside the restaurant that are only visible if the building is damaged...). JWE is a beautiful sight to behold.

 

[Dorian1334]

I do too actually. Plus if you open up the whole of Matanceros into a single paddock, it's a big one. Helps the game's performance of course and, though I did see one nice idea that maybe each island could have two or three buildable map/areas (so you'd be really swimming in hectares) I'm already tending to see the whole chain of islands as indiviudual areas of one single resort, and I'm liking that.

Agree with the disaster management mechanics .. definitely stock at least 8 Dienonychus for added entertainment! I find both vehicles great and setting up power systems so you can bring critical areas of park, and ranger scheduling back up quickly, all good strategy fun.

I'm fine with some maps being small, especially Pena, but at least Nublar should be a decent size. It's only gonna get worse as more content is added, too, and effectively prevents any park design that isn't a mixture of power plant and inner-city zoo.

 

[Docjas18]

The 5 campaign islands I’m good with as far as size. Let’s be real we’d all love bigger spaces so we can cram more Dino goodness into each island, but the layouts were meant to try and invoke creativity. However, nublar, as a sandbox, should be big enough to account for everything in the game and then some. Leave room for future goodies.

I agree with just just about everything TC said. A few minor nitpicks I won’t mention to some of them because they’re personal and do t reflect on the game really. I do however disagree with disaster management being good. For me it’s almost not quite. Storms really don’t cause any severe issues. When I get a storm warning I’m already sending my rangers to different parts of the island on resumption missions, ready to redirect them to fix things. Most of the time by the end of the storm any damage is ordered to be fixed. And any escapees are easy to round up. Not sure how they could expand that to make it more dangerous given the current game design.

 

[FX2K]

I'm fine with some maps being small, especially Pena, but at least Nublar should be a decent size. It's only gonna get worse as more content is added, too, and effectively prevents any park design that isn't a mixture of power plant and inner-city zoo.

Me too... the sandbox map is the only one I would want / expect to be larger, perhaps even a few sandbox maps with slightly different styles, but more importantly better terrain tools to make it my own too.

The terrain tools in Planet Coaster allow for some awesome creations, the tools in this... quite simply, suck.
Okay, so I know the difference is, in PC, guests used paths and in JWE, Dino's free roam on the terrain... but even so.

 

[Dorian1334]

Me too... the sandbox map is the only one I would want / expect to be larger, perhaps even a few sandbox maps with slightly different styles, but more importantly better terrain tools to make it my own too.

The terrain tools in Planet Coaster allow for some awesome creations, the tools in this... quite simply, suck.
Okay, so I know the difference is, in PC, guests used paths and in JWE, Dino's free roam on the terrain... but even so.

Well that's the thing, I understand that future DLC is planned, but unless it comes with more space what's the point? I mean, more stuff you can't fit into your park, fantastic.

 

[MarcWP]

Indeed! Nublar should be much bigger though, since it's sandbox.

 

[Sukribo]

JW:E Has a lot of things I really enjoy. Sure, I think the game needs a lot of work and isn't worth $60 yet. But I definitely wouldn't call it a bad game. This thread is all about the aspects where the game shines such as:

- Dinosaur models. The animals look and feel amazing. Some of the best in the industry and second only to the Isle in my opinion.
- Dinosaur diversity. My favorite dinosaurs in JW:E are the obscure herbivores that are rarely represented outside of journal articles. I was very impressed that beautiful creatures like Pentaceratops, Sauropelta, and Muttaburasaurus finally have a worthy video game form.
- Dinosaur accuracy. Yeah the theropods lack feathers and have pronated wrists but give credit where credit is due. The Majungasaurus has appropriately tiny forelimbs, the central digits on the hadrosaur forelimbs are fused (save for the grasping pinkie), the Kentrosaurus has a proper long neck, etc. Frontier did a great job of bringing Julius Csotonyi's artwork to life and have maintained a great balance between film accuracy and scientific accuracy.
- Dinosaur animation. The animation in this game does have its fair share of issues. But you can tell a lot of love was put into how large carnivores grab hadrosaurs by the neck or how ceratopsians impale their enemies in the eye. It's not the direction I would have wanted, but I admit it's a cinematic experience.
- Genetic Modification. I wasn't really excited for this feature of the game but it's a system that's really grown on me. Being able to customize my dinosaurs' traits, appearance and name gave my JWE experience a lot of unexpected charm. Some find it shallow but I thought gene modification added a lot to the game without going overboard (please don't make the Stegoceratops a thing Frontier).
- Sound Design. The dinosaurs sound amazing. From the T-rex's iconic roar to the whale-like songs of the sauropods. That Suchomimus soundboard [heart].
- Soundtrack. The music in this game is stellar, offering a wide variety of tracks to suit every situation. Things like the playful orchestra score that introduces your first Struthiomimus and the haunting chorus that accompanies your first Tyrannosaurus elevate the Jurassic Park experience to a whole new level.
- Power/Path management. At first I thought power/path management would be a huge annoyance throughout the entire game. Turned out to be one of my favorite aspects of the core gameplay. Strategically placing pylons, substations and power plants to address my parks electricity demands engaged my management skills more than JPOG or Zoo Tycoon ever did. Though I did find constant path connections a hassle, I eventually felt that I was creating an integrated and practical facility.
- Disasters. Chaos is central to the Jurassic Park experience and this game has plenty of it. The dinosaur rampages, sabotage, and tropical storms are a huge change of pace from JPOG. This a game you spend waiting for something to go wrong and fixing it is extremely enjoyable and involved.
- Experiencing your dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are the stars of the show and you get a plethora of ways to get up close to them. You photograph them from jeeps, monitor them using 2 in-game camera angles, ride along side them in a gyrosphere or use Nvidia Ancel to get the perfect shot.
- Jeff Goldblum. Jeff's dialogue and wit are complete gold. Dr. Malcolm was suspiciously absent from JPOG but he's back and boy does he want you to know it. Dr. Malcolm's chaos quips were the perfect encouragement/discouragement for me to make Jurassic World a reality.

What do you guys like about JW:E? It's far from a perfect game but there are plenty of other threads for its problems. This thread is about the great stuff and there's a lot to love in it.

Plus Spinosauridae like Spinosaurus and Baryonyx have more scientifically accurate at their wrist then other theropods but I can't tell about Suchomimus cz i don't have the deluxe editon yet.

 

[Dorian1334]

Plus Spinosauridae like Spinosaurus and Baryonyx have more scientifically accurate at their wrist then other theropods but I can't tell about Suchomimus cz i don't have the deluxe editon yet.

Yeah the Spinosaurids are pretty great in this game.

 

[IndominusBrexit]

I agree with just just about everything TC said. A few minor nitpicks I won’t mention to some of them because they’re personal and do t reflect on the game really. I do however disagree with disaster management being good. For me it’s almost not quite. Storms really don’t cause any severe issues. When I get a storm warning I’m already sending my rangers to different parts of the island on resumption missions, ready to redirect them to fix things. Most of the time by the end of the storm any damage is ordered to be fixed. And any escapees are easy to round up. Not sure how they could expand that to make it more dangerous given the current game design.

I understand your point. Disaster management is only fun for me when I drive the helicopters and jeeps. I guess it really depends on what level you want to engage with the game and that varies a lot from person to person.