The Zoolympic Games

[Villanelle]

Hi @Villanelle I am using screens, I tend to use the screens which are not lit, I think they look more matte and have less light effecting them in daytime. I am still yet to properly experiment with the billboards. I appreciate your comment as these black unlit screens I thought looked rushed haha! didn't take the time to make them all in proper alignment! If I am spending more time on them then I make them in photoshop, so can use any font on there. But for the savannah build they were made quite rushed on paint and saved as a file. I actually put spaces between the letters on the title to just bring the animal names out a bit clearer from futher away. I think custom signs is really fun to get into! Whats your usual process with signs?

Thanks, that's so helpful Whatever flaws you are noticing are not visible to the naked eye! I am sensing the perfectionist in you and as a Virgo I can absolutely relate!

I am just beginning to explore custom signs and for my last build, the rainforest house, I wasn't too happy with how they turned out. I've got a LOT planned for Nocturnes (name of my build) so I want to make sure they come out looking good. Thanks for the tip about unlit screens - that's super helpful! I've been using just the big billboard and habitat signs, I think I'll explore the squares and tall shapes more because they look so realistic (well yours do anyway!).

I'm using Canva - it's free, super user-friendly and I definitely rate it. I don't have Photoshop; I have used Gimp and Affinity but they both take a lot of learning. Great for pros but more advanced than I really need. I use Affinity when I'm designing board games (casual hobby) and Gimp for more arty stuff. Canva is great for smaller projects like this, or designing cards / posters for friends and events etc.

 

[Purple_Possum]

Apologies for the long reply...
I originally trained as a keeper at a few zoos and also miss being around the animals a lot too! I ended up working at a seal rehabilitation centre which is where I did the education job rather than keeping. That was my favourite because the seals were released after treatment and it was active conservation. I had the little headset mic and would just chat all day about pinnipeds and penguins! you're so right, it is such grounding and joyful work! wow, that's really cool about your volunteer work in Sri Lanka and vietnam, what animals were you involved with there?!

Love your reasons for wanting to do the nocturnal house, there is a buzz about this! "But come winter, put me back in my box please" - this made me laugh! I'm really looking forward to seeing what people submit. I also think that the lighting in planet zoo is really fun in the dark, I'm excited to see how people are creative with lighting and also hoping to get some inspiration from this one as I find lighting quite a challenge on the game. I think this competition is really helping people to grow as builders by having these themed prompts.

I'm not sure how the unlit screens look in the dark but even when I've built indoor areas on PZ I usually still go for the unlit, I think they just look a little better, I think I am put off by the added glow of the lit screens, as long as there is enough light around the sign for the unlit sign to be visible.
Also it might just be my computer being the issue but the image file that I create on my computer never looks the same as it appears on planet zoo (if I am using colour).
The colour appears much much lighter on PZ than it appears on the original image file I created, even on the unlit screens, the colour washes out. This might be an individual issue with my computer but if you experience that then it takes bit of fiddling to get it the way you want it to look. and why I usually go for black and white signs now!
I will see on round 3, no doubt I'll do some experimenting with the lit screens too!
That is so cool you design board games for a hobby... what a complex thing to do! and sounds so virgo at the same time!

 

[Xrystal]

The nocturnal house wasn't anything special to me, over the others. I just marked all the ones that sounded like they could be interesting.
My current version, isn't quite what I had in mind, but ideas put in practise don't always work rofl. But we still have quite a bit of time to go, so if money continues to climb I may make an alternative option and pick the best of them. rofl.

 

[Villanelle]

Apologies for the long reply...
I originally trained as a keeper at a few zoos and also miss being around the animals a lot too! I ended up working at a seal rehabilitation centre which is where I did the education job rather than keeping. That was my favourite because the seals were released after treatment and it was active conservation. I had the little headset mic and would just chat all day about pinnipeds and penguins!

What a dream!

you're so right, it is such grounding and joyful work! wow, that's really cool about your volunteer work in Sri Lanka and vietnam, what animals were you involved with there?!

Elephants in Sri Lanka - it was an orphanage as sadly elephants are sometimes shot there by farmers. There are a lot of problematic elephant "sanctuaries" in South/SE Asia but this was a responsible one (i.e. guest interaction was strictly limited, absolutely no riding and the goal was release where possible). The best part of the job was taking them down to the river and scrubbing behind their ears with coconut shells! One day a tarantula ran out from under the ear we got pooed on a lot but we didn't care! Vietnam was a longer term placement at this amazing conservation/wildlife rescue charity: https://env4wildlife.org/ I worked in the main office on communications and capacity development, but I got to visit behind the scenes at some amazing rescue centers.

Also it might just be my computer being the issue but the image file that I create on my computer never looks the same as it appears on planet zoo (if I am using colour).
The colour appears much much lighter on PZ than it appears on the original image file I created, even on the unlit screens, the colour washes out. This might be an individual issue with my computer but if you experience that then it takes bit of fiddling to get it the way you want it to look. and why I usually go for black and white signs now!

Ahhh yes - that is exactly the problem that I had. It was really washed out and hard to see. I'll think about using less colour and higher contrast. I'll do some testing this evening and see what might be workable.

That is so cool you design board games for a hobby... what a complex thing to do! and sounds so virgo at the same time!

Bahaha that made me laugh! My husband is the real pro (well almost), he has three games out with publishers at the moment, hoping for something to be released soon. He just tested a lovely game about designing snowflakes on me! There is a great board game design group where I live so sometimes I go along just to playtest and have fun, but sometimes I get a flash of inspiration too and try something out. I've definitely gone down the Cones of Dunshire rabbit hole more than once!

 

[Mr-Hyrax 2]

Hello, I think I am going to join this competition

 

[FlameWizard492]

Yeah I'm curious about that too! It was my favourite of all the favourites but I don't think I was expecting it to come out as the most popular pick.

What were everyone's reasons? Mine were:

• I've always wanted to build a big nocturnal house, but haven't done one that I felt was doing it justice yet
• My favourite animals are nocturnal animals
• I am a bit of a nocturnal animal
• My favourite parts of zoos are always the nocturnal houses
• Nocturnal house = lots of blue, purple, black - my favourite colour spectrum!
• It's a little bit more constrained as a concept. Sometimes I think having more constraints leads to more creativity - like having a writing prompt that narrows your focus more.

I think I'd be pretty happy if I were a little beastie in a nocturnal house, living my nocturnal dream life. As long as the food was good, the company was fun, and I could be let out for some fresh air and enjoy some summer sunshine. But come winter, put me back in my box please, I'll sleep all day and run rampant all night

My reasons:

• I wanted to play a little with large indoor multi-habitat buildings. A nocturnal house specifically wasn’t my first choice, but I take what I can get.
• I recently built a small nocturnal house in one of my zoos, and I wasn’t 100% happy with how it turned out. This is my chance to really make a good one!
• I’ll take any excuse to use the crested porcupine. It’s one of my favorites in the game.

 

[FlameWizard492]

Hello, I think I am going to join this competition

Oh, I’m gonna CRUSH you!

 

[Villanelle]

Hello, I think I am going to join this competition

Hooray!

 

[FlameWizard492]

Runner up goes to FlameWizard492 for your African Interspecies Habitat - congratulations! You ALSO win Fan Favourite with the enthusiastic comments you received AND you tied with Frogstrich for speediest build! You scored 123 points and here is your feedback:

"Lovely! Super creative"
"Love the path layout around this habitat and realistic views from the path. Great fence work and rocky watering hole."
"LOVE the indoor building, and habitat layout. Great to see the process shots too!"
"The natural barriers are really well done, using the posts and rocks to create some separation between the animals and guests looks great."

Thank you all for your kind words! It’s nice to hear your encouragement. And congrats to @Purple_Possum on first place. When I saw yours, I thought, “Yep, that’s the clear winner. No question.”

I’m also glad to know that you all appreciated my building style. I mostly use rocks instead of the premade habitat barriers to get more of a natural feel.

 

[Mr-Hyrax 2]

Oh, I’m gonna CRUSH you!

Hooray!

Yep, just started to build, and it's alright, maybe it will start to look better later on, can't wait to see what everyone else makes.

 

[Orkan]

I have two ideas. One I think will work better than the other. One i’ve tried before and it turned out awful so I might do the other one. Or I might try it again. Honestly I don’t know but I’ll do something!

 

[Purple_Possum]

the immediate smack talk on Mr Hyrax who's just here for a good time
apologies mr hyrax, the nocturnal house theme has raised the excitement in us lol.
@FlameWizard492 thankyou for your kind comments thats lovely of you to say deffo appreciated your natural building style and rocky areas.
@Villanelle a tarantula just chilling behind an elephants ear :O What!! that is crazy......! Why do you think it was there in the first place?
sounds like a magical time you spent with the elephants, I will leave a comment in side chat at some point and we can chat more about that if you want, sounds really incredible!

 

[Villanelle]

@Villanelle a tarantula just chilling behind an elephants ear :O What!! that is crazy......! Why do you think it was there in the first place?

Just chilling I guess! Getting some shade? The elephant didn't seem bothered at all!

sounds like a magical time you spent with the elephants, I will leave a comment in side chat at some point and we can chat more about that if you want, sounds really incredible!

Good idea

I just did some testing with custom signs in the game and I realised that I kept referring to 'billboards', when what I meant was the large projection screens (just in case that caused any confusion). Definitely agree that the unlit versions are better. In daylight they looked pretty washed out but they all came out crisper in the dark. I was thinking of shining some spotlights on them but that actually had the undesired effect of making them more washed out again - so darker is better! And lastly, although it may be obvious, the TV screen graphics are just the same as the other lit screens - they are just shaped like TVs.

 

[Marvinb]

aww thankyou so much! really lovely and supportive feedback! I appreciate all your kind words so much
The "breakfast with the giraffes" idea came from my time working at zoos, where the zoos have had experiences that visitors can pay extra for called "breakfast with the...insert animal here". One of my old jobs was doing these breakfast tours!
I'm really excited for the next round, it seems like it is going to be a fun and competitive round with lots of creativity amongst us all. the smack talk comment made me laugh!!Any ideas why are we all so excited about the nocturnal house round? I'm not sure but it seems to be a collective excitement lol!
Thanks again guys! amazing builds and special thanks to @Villanelle for being our awesome competition host!

Can only talk for myself but imo animal houses are always pretty fun to build.
Chosing a couple animals and tying them together in a common theme is a nice challenge.
Also most of these nocturnal house animals are on the smaller side, and small animals are way more fun to build for imo

 

[Xrystal]

Yep, just started to build, and it's alright, maybe it will start to look better later on, can't wait to see what everyone else makes.

Welcome to the fun. You have plenty of time to revise and redo if you catch problems early enough I never expect to win, but it's fun nonetheless ... when I'm not stressing out rofl.

 

[Villanelle]

Hello, I think I am going to join this competition

Lmk if you have any questions Mr Hyrax

 

[Mr-Hyrax 2]

Hope you guys like it, I don't think it's a piece of art, but I'm pretty proud of it, especially the porcupine habitat, not to toot my horn, but I think it pretty good.

edit: will post some images of said porcupine habitat in a bit.

 

[Villanelle]

Hope you guys like it, I don't think it's a piece of art, but I'm pretty proud of it, especially the porcupine habitat, not to toot my horn, but I think it pretty good.

edit: will post some images of said porcupine habitat in a bit.

First in! Great job Mr Hyrax - love the video

 

[Annie_konik]

I love this idea so much! So well thought out and fun! And the theme for this month looks fantastic. I would love to join but I'm in the middle of a project right now and I really want to finish it first. I think I would have too little time to build a nighthouse too!

I'll keep checking this thread and will try to join next time

 

[Villanelle]

I love this idea so much! So well thought out and fun! And the theme for this month looks fantastic. I would love to join but I'm in the middle of a project right now and I really want to finish it first. I think I would have too little time to build a nighthouse too!

I'll keep checking this thread and will try to join next time

Great! It would be lovely to have you on board!

You can help pick the next theme here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1s2Kl_4oi46J5O0T-dsHYpHBMlqypVPv4p0s2Cs3Oq0g/edit?usp=sharing

And lmk if you have any questions