This game urgently needs a CUSTOM GAME

[Traumschmied]

I'm so glad to read that I'm not the only one who feels the same way.

I finished the game the day before yesterday. I've been playing through the campaign and Chaos Theory a while ago, but now I've finally unlocked all the skins in challenge mode, unlocked all the dinosaurs for sandbox mode, ... those were my main goals for unlocking to enjoy all the freedoms of the game afterwards. ... and now I don't know what to do with the game.

I thought I could now build my park as I wish. Pick a map and era, start small and gradually build my 5-star park according to my ideas..populate it with the dinosaurs I want to see and work hard to earn.

But that mode doesn't exist.
It's even a bit ridiculous when you think about it: You want to build your park on a tropical island in the Jurassic Park era with no guidelines? You can't. Then maybe Jurassic World era? Neither. And this is a Jurassic World Park building game.

And now I'm wondering what I unlocked all this for. I have no reason to continue playing the game or recommend it to anyone. JWE1 has been one of my all-time favorite games. In JWE1, Challenge mode on "Normal" was my favorite mode because it was the closest thing to endless play. I am still very surprised that such a mode is not present in this game.

Sandbox mode is all well and good, but it's just a sandbox mode. It's not supposed to be gameplay at all. It's really nice to be able to creatively unfold, but there's no appeal from a "gameplay" standpoint.

Don't get me wrong, this is (hopefully going to be) a great game. I actually liked the campaign and Chaos Theory mode, even though those were just tutorials. The challenge mode is even more interesting than in JWE1, in my opinion, because the challenges are really unique. The first DLC and the free update were great! Even the buildings from the third faction made it into the game which is amazing and the decorations are awesome!

But once you've played it all there's no reason to do it again. I still have not seen half of the DLC creatures, because the Maps or Modes prevented me from creating them.

I have high trust in Frontier in adding future stuff that makes the Game better and better (which they did for the last game). But this is something that should've been there from the start.

I don't want a Sandbox-Setting for "No Research and Expeditions-Data". I want a big button in the main menu that says "Free-Game mode" and all it does is ->
"Select Era - Select Map - Select Difficulty - Go"

 

[MountainDan]

I'm so glad to read that I'm not the only one who feels the same way.

I finished the game the day before yesterday. I've been playing through the campaign and Chaos Theory a while ago, but now I've finally unlocked all the skins in challenge mode, unlocked all the dinosaurs for sandbox mode, ... those were my main goals for unlocking to enjoy all the freedoms of the game afterwards. ... and now I don't know what to do with the game.

I thought I could now build my park as I wish. Pick a map and era, start small and gradually build my 5-star park according to my ideas..populate it with the dinosaurs I want to see and work hard to earn.

But that mode doesn't exist.
It's even a bit ridiculous when you think about it: You want to build your park on a tropical island in the Jurassic Park era with no guidelines? You can't. Then maybe Jurassic World era? Neither. And this is a Jurassic World Park building game.

And now I'm wondering what I unlocked all this for. I have no reason to continue playing the game or recommend it to anyone. JWE1 has been one of my all-time favorite games. In JWE1, Challenge mode on "Normal" was my favorite mode because it was the closest thing to endless play. I am still very surprised that such a mode is not present in this game.

Sandbox mode is all well and good, but it's just a sandbox mode. It's not supposed to be gameplay at all. It's really nice to be able to creatively unfold, but there's no appeal from a "gameplay" standpoint.

Don't get me wrong, this is (hopefully going to be) a great game. I actually liked the campaign and Chaos Theory mode, even though those were just tutorials. The challenge mode is even more interesting than in JWE1, in my opinion, because the challenges are really unique. The first DLC and the free update were great! Even the buildings from the third faction made it into the game which is amazing and the decorations are awesome!

But once you've played it all there's no reason to do it again. I still have not seen half of the DLC creatures, because the Maps or Modes prevented me from creating them.

I have high trust in Frontier in adding future stuff that makes the Game better and better (which they did for the last game). But this is something that should've been there from the start.

I don't want a Sandbox-Setting for "No Research and Expeditions-Data". I want a big button in the main menu that says "Free-Game mode" and all it does is ->
"Select Era - Select Map - Select Difficulty - Go"

I agree with you but.. Don't you think if we had an option to enable research and expeditions on the sandbox mode it would fit these needs as well?
Cause we already have options in this mode to enable money, contracts, events, hazards and a lot more. With these additional two options we could create our custom game mode anytime. Including progression sense, challenge and freedom.

 

[Traumschmied]

I agree with you but.. Don't you think if we had an option to enable research and expeditions on the sandbox mode it would fit these needs as well?
Cause we already have options in this mode to enable money, contracts, events, hazards and a lot more. With these additional two options we could create our custom game mode anytime. Including progression sense, challenge and freedom.

yes, you are correct, it would technically fit these needs as well and probably would be easier to implement for Frontier. It would be a solution.

The reason why I want this as a seperate mode is that.. well, because it should be a seperate mode and not something you can only achieve by selecting everything carefully through the Sandbox-Menu options first. You know, it's about accessability and design. Something like this is the standart gameplay mode for parkbuilding games and I don't just want the option to simulate it. Don't get me wrong, getting these options in Sandbox should be added, but not only for the sake of getting access to something that should have been there to begin with.

 

[MountainDan]

yes, you are correct, it would technically fit these needs as well and probably would be easier to implement for Frontier. It would be a solution.

The reason why I want this as a seperate mode is that.. well, because it should be a seperate mode and not something you can only achieve by selecting everything carefully through the Sandbox-Menu options first. You know, it's about accessability and design. Something like this is the standart gameplay mode for parkbuilding games and I don't just want the option to simulate it. Don't get me wrong, getting these options in Sandbox should be added, but not only for the sake of getting access to something that should have been there to begin with.

Ah, got it! From this point of view I should totally agree with you mate!

 

[Neoshifters]

yes, you are correct, it would technically fit these needs as well and probably would be easier to implement for Frontier. It would be a solution.

The reason why I want this as a seperate mode is that.. well, because it should be a seperate mode and not something you can only achieve by selecting everything carefully through the Sandbox-Menu options first. You know, it's about accessability and design. Something like this is the standart gameplay mode for parkbuilding games and I don't just want the option to simulate it. Don't get me wrong, getting these options in Sandbox should be added, but not only for the sake of getting access to something that should have been there to begin with.

I also agree that this should be a separate game mode because currently, in order to obtain and unlock buildings and dinosaurs for your sandbox mode, you must play the chaos theory and challenge modes. If expeditions and research were to be implemented in sandbox as a toggle on/off button, playing the other modes to unlock everything would be pointless as you would be able to do that through sandbox mode by itself.. Plus I feel that adding these settings will compromise the main objective of sandbox, which is creative freedom (BTW i don't feel we have accomplished that yet but im positive we will get there).
Therefore sandbox mode and a costume game in JPOG style should be separate and not only some toggles in Sandbox.

 

[Neoshifters]

I also agree that this should be a separate game mode because currently, in order to obtain and unlock buildings and dinosaurs for your sandbox mode, you must play the chaos theory and challenge modes. If expeditions and research were to be implemented in sandbox as a toggle on/off button, playing the other modes to unlock everything would be pointless as you would be able to do that through sandbox mode by itself.. Plus I feel that adding these settings will compromise the main objective of sandbox, which is creative freedom (BTW i don't feel we have accomplished that yet but im positive we will get there).
Therefore sandbox mode and a costume game in JPOG style should be separate and not only some toggles in Sandbox.

Also the name Sandbox, almost in every game, implies that everything is unlocked and we have no restrictions to build... We have control over everything... What we want is game mode that starts with a few millions (depending on difficulty) little research (basic to start operations), little or none dinosaur genome, no control over weather events (set by difficulty) and random digsites (adding the replay ability we all wish for). Making us work our way up to unlock everything and get a 5 star park. Basically just give us JPOG classic mode in Jwe2

 

[Nioell]

I also agree that this should be a separate game mode because currently, in order to obtain and unlock buildings and dinosaurs for your sandbox mode, you must play the chaos theory and challenge modes. If expeditions and research were to be implemented in sandbox as a toggle on/off button, playing the other modes to unlock everything would be pointless as you would be able to do that through sandbox mode by itself.. Plus I feel that adding these settings will compromise the main objective of sandbox, which is creative freedom (BTW i don't feel we have accomplished that yet but im positive we will get there).
Therefore sandbox mode and a costume game in JPOG style should be separate and not only some toggles in Sandbox.

Except adding in those options wouldn't change the way sandbox is currently working like at all. There's no need to make things unlockable in sandbox itself, you'd just be able to only research and dig up whatever you've already unlocked in other modes, just like it is now. And it also won't compromise it in anyway whatsoever since you're not taking anything away from it, you're adding to it, giving the players even more freedom in how they can play.

Creating yet another seperate mode would only mean another restricted park setting where you can't choose the parameters yourself. Like what if I want to build my park in a setting that doesn't have terrible storms but still have the hardest difficulty when it comes to economy? Or if I don't want to deal with power stations but still research and build from the ground up? You can't do that if we get yet another mode with set difficulties and no options to choose from. We can however do all this with the settings we got in sandbox already, so again, the best way to give every player what they want is to add these options to sandbox so we can customize it to our liking in every way.

 

[MountainDan]

Except adding in those options wouldn't change the way sandbox is currently working like at all. There's no need to make things unlockable in sandbox itself, you'd just be able to only research and dig up whatever you've already unlocked in other modes, just like it is now. And it also won't compromise it in anyway whatsoever since you're not taking anything away from it, you're adding to it, giving the players even more freedom in how they can play.

Creating yet another seperate mode would only mean another restricted park setting where you can't choose the parameters yourself. Like what if I want to build my park in a setting that doesn't have terrible storms but still have the hardest difficulty when it comes to economy? Or if I don't want to deal with power stations but still research and build from the ground up? You can't do that if we get yet another mode with set difficulties and no options to choose from. We can however do all this with the settings we got in sandbox already, so again, the best way to give every player what they want is to add these options to sandbox so we can customize it to our liking in every way.

I recognize the point of the users that would prefer a different mode. However, what you exposed is exactly my biggest fear when we talk about a separate game mode instead of adding these research and expedition options to sandbox.
Currently, we have options to customize the game in terms of weather, money, time/day, injuries, fights, contracts, scenarios and so on... So, I don't want to lose all those customisation settings in a new game mode. I would prefer to get these missing options into the current sandbox mode in order to be able to create my total customized game play.
Moreover, I think it would involve less development effort so it should be more feasible.

 

[Neoshifters]

I recognize the point of the users that would prefer a different mode. However, what you exposed is exactly my biggest fear when we talk about a separate game mode instead of adding these research and expedition options to sandbox.
Currently, we have options to customize the game in terms of weather, money, time/day, injuries, fights, contracts, scenarios and so on... So, I don't want to lose all those customisation settings in a new game mode. I would prefer to get these missing options into the current sandbox mode in order to be able to create my total customized game play.
Moreover, I think it would involve less development effort so it should be more feasible.

I understand and agree with you in the way that i wouldn't like the current settings to be removed or stagnate in a way that would prevent creative freedom.. But getting these settings in sandbox means that you have to unlock the dinosaurs first in the other game modes and then you'd be able to research them in sandbox. At least that was my interpretation of this. I think that most people want a similar game mode as Jpog had, with the ability to unlock every single species, building, genetic and research in a game mode that doesn't require you to play the others to make them available.. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying xD

 

[MountainDan]

I understand and agree with you in the way that i wouldn't like the current settings to be removed or stagnate in a way that would prevent creative freedom.. But getting these settings in sandbox means that you have to unlock the dinosaurs first in the other game modes and then you'd be able to research them in sandbox. At least that was my interpretation of this. I think that most people want a similar game mode as Jpog had, with the ability to unlock every single species, building, genetic and research in a game mode that doesn't require you to play the others to make them available.. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying xD

These are two different things for me.
Imho, this strange idea frontiers had to force us to unlock everything in other game modes before making them available on sandbox has not any sense and should be changed too.
But, at the end, we are missing the same features that would allow us to play the game without restrictions

 

[Traumschmied]

I recognize the point of the users that would prefer a different mode. However, what you exposed is exactly my biggest fear when we talk about a separate game mode instead of adding these research and expedition options to sandbox.
Currently, we have options to customize the game in terms of weather, money, time/day, injuries, fights, contracts, scenarios and so on... So, I don't want to lose all those customisation settings in a new game mode. I would prefer to get these missing options into the current sandbox mode in order to be able to create my total customized game play.
Moreover, I think it would involve less development effort so it should be more feasible.

They should add both:

1. The seperate "Normal Game"-Mode
2. the settings for expiditions and research for the Sandbox.

this gives the Sandbox mode the option to turn the desired settings on whenever you please, like it should be. But the seperate mode for the standart game is still needed. I know that it's technically not necessary anymore once you get the settings in Sandbox, but like I said above: this is about accessability and design. I don't want to have to go first into sandbox mode, select every single option available to make it play like the standart-mode that should have been there in the first place.

 

[Neoshifters]

They should add both:

1. The seperate "Normal Game"-Mode
2. the settings for expiditions and research for the Sandbox.

this gives the Sandbox mode the option to turn the desired settings on whenever you please, like it should be. But the seperate mode for the standart game is still needed. I know that it's technically not necessary anymore once you get the settings in Sandbox, but like I said above: this is about accessability and design. I don't want to have to go first into sandbox mode, select every single option available to make it play like the standart-mode that should have been there in the first place.

Yup, completely agree with this

 

[Traumschmied]

I understand and agree with you in the way that i wouldn't like the current settings to be removed or stagnate in a way that would prevent creative freedom.. But getting these settings in sandbox means that you have to unlock the dinosaurs first in the other game modes and then you'd be able to research them in sandbox. At least that was my interpretation of this. I think that most people want a similar game mode as Jpog had, with the ability to unlock every single species, building, genetic and research in a game mode that doesn't require you to play the others to make them available.. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying xD

Agreed. While I understand the intentions of locking certain things away from .. this should not be for the sandbox. xD ... I miss JPOG so much because of this (i get why we don't get randomized islands, this would be a little over the top. Btw this is something where JWE2 already does a good job. There are so many random events that affect your playthrough and can have massive impacts. I'll never forget this criminal offer of 15million Dollars ... and dealing with the consequences, but hey that was a great situation.

Yup, completely agree with this

Nice! since I'm definitely not alone with this: Is there somehow a poll or a way to vote for something like this? I would like to do more so that the desire for these changes is better noticed.

 

[Neoshifters]

Agreed. While I understand the intentions of locking certain things away from .. this should not be for the sandbox. xD ... I miss JPOG so much because of this (i get why we don't get randomized islands, this would be a little over the top. Btw this is something where JWE2 already does a good job. There are so many random events that affect your playthrough and can have massive impacts. I'll never forget this criminal offer of 15million Dollars ... and dealing with the consequences, but hey that was a great situation.


Nice! since I'm definitely not alone with this: Is there somehow a poll or a way to vote for something like this? I would like to do more so that the desire for these changes is better noticed.

I don't think that there's a pool anywhere, cause this is just for debating ideias, a pool would probably imply that the devs would implement this right away and are asking for a vote on the way to do that.. The best we can hope is that @JensErik sees this thread and gives the feedback to the devs so that they can think about this and find the best way to please us all.. After all this game is for us, players

 

[FrylockStar]

I would just like to add, I totally get where people are coming from with the "I don't want to have to unlock stuff." You should be able to play the game how you want it. I agree.

That being said, I think that's a separate issue from what the point is here. Should they change that too? Sure. But this thread is about being able to play in a free mode that enables the research and expedition mechanics. If we convolute that, we are going to make it harder for anyone to get what they want.

 

[GodrikUnderscore]

I agree wholeheartedly! I am not sure how this even qualifies as "strategy" when you have no tech to research.

 

[Kaddahn]

This needs at least a custom setting, where i may select, to start from 0 in sandbox.

 

[MjnMixael]

Came from Steam to say this. Sandbox is bland without goals to strive towards. Give me custom games!

 

[MightySandvitch]

maybe we just need 2 new options in the sandbox;
All expedition unlocked (on/off)
All research unlocked (on/off)

I'm 100% into this. Random starting dinosaurs / digsites (like in the first game) would also be great.

 

[Jyork]

I agree