This is my ultimate comparison between Zoo Tycoon 2 and Planet Zoo
- Thread starter TaPele
- Start date
Well, not exactly. Or kind of...because bear in mind that I'm not counting extinct animals or fully aquatic animals such as orcas or dolphins. Also, there are some key "green boxes" in ZT2 that PZ lacks and would make the game perfect and extremely more realistic and alive (just imagine having small food trucks or something like that throughout our zoos)
Thank you for doing this. I agree with pretty much all of it. Also shows the truth to (IMO) baffling statements that the Planet Zoo roster is so limited and so few animals. It gave us more animals at base release than any zoo game has done in the past, almost literally twice as much as ZT2. And ZT2 was fantastic. But really before Planet Zoo, 30-40 animals was the norm for base game zoo simulators. "limited" indeed, translates to "they didn't put in the animal that I personally really wanted" and I was fervent in my meerkat want from launch but never called the roster "limited"
"How dare Frontier not put the Somali wild donkey in the game? I've been in 3 zoos and they all had them, and they are endangered! Literally unplayable!!!"
This kind of post is posted nearly daily about different random animals on reddit and the animal section of the forum
My favourite comments are still from the Arctic pack: “How could they do an arctic pack and not include penguins!!!!!”
(also, great job on the comparison!)
(also, great job on the comparison!)
I disagree with the animals feeling alive but. The animals in Zt2 had way more animations and interactions with each other and the guests than PZ has. Gazelles pronted, crocs splashed their tails in water. Mothers in zt2 carry their babies, they nursed and the babies stay around their mothers. Animals move in packs/herds and they interact with the plants in their environment eating them sometimes. Plus you can train them and have shows. They can refuse to go to a show, they can pack hunt animals. The beavers could build dams the birds and reptiles nest. Idk I think zt2 has PZ beat in animal behavior by far
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There's an error in the table - you say that it's ridiculous that the reptiles and birds "give birth", but they don't - none of the animals "give birth". A vague representation of an offspring spawns randomly at a random life stage (for some animals it's close to newborn, for others it's closer to subadult/late juvenile). I'm also pretty tired of "egg-laying" being touted as a "realistic" feature; it wasn't realistic in ZT2, and it wouldn't be in PZ.
To hop on this, here's a list of ZT2 animals which are not in Planet Zoo. Same parameters as @TaPele--no extinct animals, no fully-aquatic animals. Bolded are ones I'd like to see, though some of them I'd only be happy with if they were offered for free or very cheap (and I'll explain why).
1. Dromedary camel--baffling that this isn't in PZ yet given that we have scenery pieces for it, and PZ's Bactrian camel is unfortunately very dromedary-esque and needs a redesign.
2. Nile crocodile--saltie is close enough and we now have representatives of all four subcategories of crocodilians, so this isn't necessary except maybe as free/dirt-cheap DLC.
3. Mountain gorilla--very rare in captivity; Frontier made the wise choice of including the western lowland gorilla instead.
4. Ibex--the first ZT2 animal that PZ really needs, would be great for a European, Eurasian, or mountain/taiga pack.
5. Emperor penguin--again, we have a much more captivity-friendly species in the King penguin, not necessary.
6. Black rhinoceros--would be nice to have, but I'd prefer quite a few other African animals before a second African rhino.
7. Spectacled bear--would have been nice if SA were an animal pack, especially since it's quite distinct from all other bears.
8. Black crested gibbon--we all want a gibbon, but this particular species has little or no captive presence. Lar gibbon or white-cheeked gibbon instead.
9. Przewalski's wild horse--in both ZT games (well, the two people care about) and a must for PZ.
10. Spanish lynx--either this or the Eurasian lynx ought to be in PZ.
11. Markhor--one of the more unique picks in both ZT games, would be nice in PZ though I'd prefer the takin as an Asian caprine.
12. Scimitar-horned oryx--a species which is extinct in the wild--would be nice, though there's another species coming up later which I'd prefer.
13. Florida panther--should I even count this? It's just a Florida population of the cougar.
14. Javan rhinoceros--incredibly rare in the wild (fewer than 100 individuals left) and now completely absent in captivity. The Indian rhino is a better choice.
15. Wolverine--a popular wishlist animal though one which has sometimes struggled in captivity. I wouldn't mind it though.
16. Barbary macaque--identified as the Barbary ape in ZT2, would functionally be a reskin of the Japanese macaque.
17. Secretarybird--my favorite animal and my most wanted for PZ. Hopefully a top contender for a bird or grassland pack.
18. Caracal--Not as popularly requested as the lynx, but I would like to see more small cats.
19. Gelada--would like to see either this or the Hamadryas baboon, but leaning towards the latter. Either would have been welcome in the Africa pack.
20. Gerenuk--a fascinating antelope but very rare in captivity. I'd pick multiple African antelope over this one.
21. Masai giraffe--just a different species/subspecies of giraffe. If Frontier ever releases free clone animals this would be a nice treat along with a couple mentioned above.
22. Striped hyena--quite distinct from the spotted hyena, would be an interesting inclusion for a desert pack.
23. Ratel--similar niche/appeal to the wolverine but with more of a captive presence globally. Potential meme pick?
24. African spurred tortoise--I'd love more reptiles, but this would also remind me that the Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises are too small in PZ as is...
25. Blue wildebeest--More common in captivity than the black wildebeest which we have, but there's no demand and it wouldn't work as a clone.
26. Ethiopian wolf--I think most of us are done with canids. Especially those in the genus Canis, and especially this one with basically no captive presence.
27. Sea otter--doesn't seem to be as popular as the Asian small-clawed otter but would be an enjoyable inclusion, especially for a themed area to go alongside the sea lion.
28. Rockhopper penguin--a third penguin would be nice, especially a distinctive one with a captive presence like this one, but would it go over well in the community? I don't know.
29. Leatherback sea turtle--has never been kept in captivity for extended periods (only tending to injured turtles) and will probably stay that way.
30. Green sea turtle--much more of a captive presence than the above, but without aquariums would feel highly out of place.
31. Pacific walrus--being phased out of captivity outside of Russia; breeding in particular is very difficult. Additionally, captive animals all have their magnificent tusks removed.
32. Addax--alluded to in my blurb on the scimitar-horned oryx. If we get another antelope it ought to be either this beauty or the Indian blackbuck. Big fan.
33. Black leopard--PZ should get leopards, but thankfully Frontier knows how to make animals with more than one color.
34. Musk ox--okay and would beef up tundra representation, but again I'd prefer the takin.
2. Nile crocodile--saltie is close enough and we now have representatives of all four subcategories of crocodilians, so this isn't necessary except maybe as free/dirt-cheap DLC.
3. Mountain gorilla--very rare in captivity; Frontier made the wise choice of including the western lowland gorilla instead.
4. Ibex--the first ZT2 animal that PZ really needs, would be great for a European, Eurasian, or mountain/taiga pack.
5. Emperor penguin--again, we have a much more captivity-friendly species in the King penguin, not necessary.
6. Black rhinoceros--would be nice to have, but I'd prefer quite a few other African animals before a second African rhino.
7. Spectacled bear--would have been nice if SA were an animal pack, especially since it's quite distinct from all other bears.
8. Black crested gibbon--we all want a gibbon, but this particular species has little or no captive presence. Lar gibbon or white-cheeked gibbon instead.
9. Przewalski's wild horse--in both ZT games (well, the two people care about) and a must for PZ.
10. Spanish lynx--either this or the Eurasian lynx ought to be in PZ.
11. Markhor--one of the more unique picks in both ZT games, would be nice in PZ though I'd prefer the takin as an Asian caprine.
12. Scimitar-horned oryx--a species which is extinct in the wild--would be nice, though there's another species coming up later which I'd prefer.
13. Florida panther--should I even count this? It's just a Florida population of the cougar.
14. Javan rhinoceros--incredibly rare in the wild (fewer than 100 individuals left) and now completely absent in captivity. The Indian rhino is a better choice.
15. Wolverine--a popular wishlist animal though one which has sometimes struggled in captivity. I wouldn't mind it though.
16. Barbary macaque--identified as the Barbary ape in ZT2, would functionally be a reskin of the Japanese macaque.
17. Secretarybird--my favorite animal and my most wanted for PZ. Hopefully a top contender for a bird or grassland pack.
18. Caracal--Not as popularly requested as the lynx, but I would like to see more small cats.
19. Gelada--would like to see either this or the Hamadryas baboon, but leaning towards the latter. Either would have been welcome in the Africa pack.
20. Gerenuk--a fascinating antelope but very rare in captivity. I'd pick multiple African antelope over this one.
21. Masai giraffe--just a different species/subspecies of giraffe. If Frontier ever releases free clone animals this would be a nice treat along with a couple mentioned above.
22. Striped hyena--quite distinct from the spotted hyena, would be an interesting inclusion for a desert pack.
23. Ratel--similar niche/appeal to the wolverine but with more of a captive presence globally. Potential meme pick?
24. African spurred tortoise--I'd love more reptiles, but this would also remind me that the Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises are too small in PZ as is...
25. Blue wildebeest--More common in captivity than the black wildebeest which we have, but there's no demand and it wouldn't work as a clone.
26. Ethiopian wolf--I think most of us are done with canids. Especially those in the genus Canis, and especially this one with basically no captive presence.
27. Sea otter--doesn't seem to be as popular as the Asian small-clawed otter but would be an enjoyable inclusion, especially for a themed area to go alongside the sea lion.
28. Rockhopper penguin--a third penguin would be nice, especially a distinctive one with a captive presence like this one, but would it go over well in the community? I don't know.
29. Leatherback sea turtle--has never been kept in captivity for extended periods (only tending to injured turtles) and will probably stay that way.
30. Green sea turtle--much more of a captive presence than the above, but without aquariums would feel highly out of place.
31. Pacific walrus--being phased out of captivity outside of Russia; breeding in particular is very difficult. Additionally, captive animals all have their magnificent tusks removed.
32. Addax--alluded to in my blurb on the scimitar-horned oryx. If we get another antelope it ought to be either this beauty or the Indian blackbuck. Big fan.
33. Black leopard--PZ should get leopards, but thankfully Frontier knows how to make animals with more than one color.
34. Musk ox--okay and would beef up tundra representation, but again I'd prefer the takin.
Although there's far too many left from the expansions, I feel like Frontier could easily add the remaining base game Zoo Tycoon 2 animals. Disregarding the Nile crocodile, mountain gorilla, and emperor penguin because of redundancy, there's only three left- black rhinoceros, dromedary camel, and ibex. All three of these are popular on their own merit, and since Frontier went through the effort of adding all the JPOG dinosaurs to JWE, I'm holding out hope.
The tigers in zt2 had a leucistic variant and Zt2 in general had a ton of variants. always confused me why they just did black leopards
I do have to add here, the ai of the keepers was significantly improved in Extinct Animals. It was one of the features mentioned on the Tuesday Tidbits (or whatever it was called). A lot of people seem to have missed that because there were quite some people who didn't buy EA due to a lack of interest in extinct animals.
Babies stay close around mothers in PZ as well though, just breed an indian rhino and you'll see that they walk everywhere there mother goes. Lion cubs also play with the tails of their parents. I think quite a few behaviours that were in ZT2 aren't in PZ, but quite a few that are in PZ are not in ZT2 as well. The upside that ZT2 had was that you could see what the animal was about to do in its thoughts, which you can't see in PZ. However, I do wish the carrying of babies was brought over too.
But in correction here, birds and reptiles never made nests in ZT2. Dinosarus did, and later modded birds and reptiles did. But not the base game.
Surprisingly... it didn't. The majority of animals didn't have any variants, and due to the way they set it up by using a separate texture for each variant, the ones who did usually only had one or two variants. I've been in the XML files for almost anything in the game during my modding days, so I've seen how many there actually are, and well it wasn't a lot I'm afraid.
Like, I've played ZT2 since the start for almost 2 decades, I love the game. But looking back at it and removing my nostalgia glasses, there's a lot of it that objectively wasn't as good as I remembered it was
I guess I remember the super colorful sea turtles and all the mods that had so many variants and thought the base game shared in that. Looking back I only remember variants for the : moose, elephant, tiger, green sea turtle, Sabre tooth, velociraptor?, there’s probably more but that’s what I remember. Mods really fleshed out the variantsI do have to add here, the ai of the keepers was significantly improved in Extinct Animals. It was one of the features mentioned on the Tuesday Tidbits (or whatever it was called). A lot of people seem to have missed that because there were quite some people who didn't buy EA due to a lack of interest in extinct animals.
Babies stay close around mothers in PZ as well though, just breed an indian rhino and you'll see that they walk everywhere there mother goes. Lion cubs also play with the tails of their parents. I think quite a few behaviours that were in ZT2 aren't in PZ, but quite a few that are in PZ are not in ZT2 as well. The upside that ZT2 had was that you could see what the animal was about to do in its thoughts, which you can't see in PZ. However, I do wish the carrying of babies was brought over too.
But in correction here, birds and reptiles never made nests in ZT2. Dinosarus did, and later modded birds and reptiles did. But not the base game.
Surprisingly... it didn't. The majority of animals didn't have any variants, and due to the way they set it up by using a separate texture for each variant, the ones who did usually only had one or two variants. I've been in the XML files for almost anything in the game during my modding days, so I've seen how many there actually are, and well it wasn't a lot I'm afraid.
Like, I've played ZT2 since the start for almost 2 decades, I love the game. But looking back at it and removing my nostalgia glasses, there's a lot of it that objectively wasn't as good as I remembered it was
The mini games were fun the first time round because of the novelty factor, but quickly became very tedious since they were on a level that even very young children could master plus took a lot of time. So having to go through the same training or fossil digging motions just in order to be able to have shows or breed extinct animals was (and is) IMO a bad idea. I hated the repeated training and fossil hunt - what a waste of time! I wouldn‘t be opposed to certain types of shows in PZ (particularly those that have an educational focus), but please no repetitive, long mini games to unlock them in each new zoo we build.
I loved ZT and played it many hours. But my PZ playtime is easily more than 10 times that much and I enjoy it so much more. ZT2 was one of the first 3D computer games and with it brought a huge “how cool is that” factor which, at least for me, contributed a lot to my enjoyment of the game. But ZT2 is a thing of the past, and PZ is undoubtedly the new standard of zoo simulation games.
I loved ZT and played it many hours. But my PZ playtime is easily more than 10 times that much and I enjoy it so much more. ZT2 was one of the first 3D computer games and with it brought a huge “how cool is that” factor which, at least for me, contributed a lot to my enjoyment of the game. But ZT2 is a thing of the past, and PZ is undoubtedly the new standard of zoo simulation games.
I honestly hope the Frontier Team can implement the positives of ZT2 into PZ. Also the animals, I hope we get some free animals now ZT2 gives from time to time as fan appreciation. (Honestly just from reskin stuff we will be happy)