I had some time to sit down and play through all the content of the original Jurassic Park Evolution and thought I could make some suggestions as to changes and improvements that might be helpful. I haven’t gone through information about what is coming in Evolution 2, so there may be some things that are already in the game that I am unaware of. This will be a bit wordy, so please bear with me.
1. Research, Fossil, Expedition, and Paleobotany changes- Modifying the system so that each of these buildings can be placed multiple times in the same park. Ideally, the system would be set so that each building has access to an individual team and each team can be assigned to research individual items or the same item if the player wishes. If the player uses 2 teams on the same research then the time needed is reduced by half for every team on a project (i.e. 2 teams on a 10-minute project would take 5, mins, 3 teams on would take 2:30 minutes) Later research projects where the player is expected to have more capital would have the times increased to account for the change. Additionally, to prevent research teams from becoming useless during endgame it would be nice to take a page from Civ games and have “research capstones”. Research capstones would be repeatable long-term research that would give the parks a strong temporary boon to cash flow or reduce damage from storms or reduce stress on the dinosaurs. Each use of these boons could take considerable time in-game to do but last only a few minutes when used. Having the extra science buildings would be useful in another point. (See section 4)
2. Paths with a view and Restricted paths- Paths in the game are one thing that didn’t always make sense to me. In regards to paths that the park visitors use. It may be beneficial to have a view range on them. Not nearly as much as an actual viewing area but at least a number of meters to see through the entirety of smaller cages such as those used for the Compy or other similar animals. Levels of fencing can reduce the visual range where light fences have minimal effect and concrete walls reduce visibility to zero (no one has x-ray vision) Added to this is a modification of travel happiness. Those that are near open areas or lightly fenced ones are less likely to worry about distance traveled. Visitors surrounded by concrete walls are less inclined to travel long distances. This adds a bit higher inclination for using proper fencing in the way of a risk/reward system. Too much in the way of high-security walls will lead to unhappy visitors while too little will result in more park damage.
Secondly are the addition of restricted paths. These would be pathways that can only be used by park staff except when the shelters are opened up. A number of times when playing the original game I found that my ranger teams were blocked from quickly accessing a problem spot due to large crowds of people. It meant that I often had to choose between waiting for the ranger to get to an assigned task while hoping that the situation didn’t get out of hand or taking manual control of the ranger and mowing swaths of visitors down while driving right threw them. Restricted roads would prevent reputation loss when rangers have duties to perform in high-rating parks.
3. Food carts and Shopping Kiosks- Small buildings (similar in size to the restrooms) these buildings minimally fill needs for food, drinks, or shopping in zones with little space for massive buildings and would definitely fit the theme park ascetics. For food might I suggest Cretaceous Churros, Dino Dogs, and Carnotaurus Carnitas. Drinks might be Stegga Soda, Palm Punch, and (insert something witty).
4. Separating park-goer types- This looked like it was at least partially planed with the Innovation, Security, and Science centers in the original game. However, it might be beneficial to make the separations more distinct. The Dinosaurs would still attract visitors as a whole, shopping and fun structures would cater toward entertainment crowds, the various research building (fossil, expedition, research, and greenhouses) would cater to the science crowd, and the security buildings (ranger station, ACU, and storm Defense) would cater to security. As the player reaches various thresholds with the three divisions they would receive appropriate rewards, this might be things such as reduced research time or larger yields in fossil research and expeditions for the science team, a boost in defense ratings on fences, storm damage reductions, or a larger radius on security and shelter buildings for the security forces. Entertainment thresholds would be mostly just increased revenue from buildings but may also include some minor increases to satisfaction radius for buildings.
5. Upgrades and Benefits- There was a mod that tackled part of this from what I saw but it didn’t feel quite right in how it addressed some things. The Innovation, Security, and Science centers are big-ticket items in the parks and don’t really feel like they provide much other than some passive income. It could be useful to provide them with a secondary benefit. The Science center acting as combined research, fossil, and greenhouse would probably be a general direction for it. The Security center doubling as an expanded radius bunker seems to be the best bet for it. As for the Innovation Center, seeing as it seems to be a conference hall/museum, it is probably large enough to have a large capacity of restrooms and shopping inside.
An upgrade that might be beneficial considering point 4 would be to have a boost to science and security ratings for buildings in that category. The best comparison would be where Disney had a program that would allow kids to come into the imaginer offices for a day or two and learn how animation was done. Security and science building could add upgrades that boost rating that canonically offers a “be a ranger for a day” or “be a genetic scientist for a day” to boost attendance with that crowd type.
6. Gyro/jeep tunnel- A minor adjustment so as not to impede foot traffic and better allow the gyrosphere and jeep tour to move between separated enclosures. Using the wall fence as a model for how it would work. The gates would move down into the ground instead of out or away from the vehicle. The path would raise up on either side at an angle and then plateau where the vehicle moves under.
1. Research, Fossil, Expedition, and Paleobotany changes- Modifying the system so that each of these buildings can be placed multiple times in the same park. Ideally, the system would be set so that each building has access to an individual team and each team can be assigned to research individual items or the same item if the player wishes. If the player uses 2 teams on the same research then the time needed is reduced by half for every team on a project (i.e. 2 teams on a 10-minute project would take 5, mins, 3 teams on would take 2:30 minutes) Later research projects where the player is expected to have more capital would have the times increased to account for the change. Additionally, to prevent research teams from becoming useless during endgame it would be nice to take a page from Civ games and have “research capstones”. Research capstones would be repeatable long-term research that would give the parks a strong temporary boon to cash flow or reduce damage from storms or reduce stress on the dinosaurs. Each use of these boons could take considerable time in-game to do but last only a few minutes when used. Having the extra science buildings would be useful in another point. (See section 4)
2. Paths with a view and Restricted paths- Paths in the game are one thing that didn’t always make sense to me. In regards to paths that the park visitors use. It may be beneficial to have a view range on them. Not nearly as much as an actual viewing area but at least a number of meters to see through the entirety of smaller cages such as those used for the Compy or other similar animals. Levels of fencing can reduce the visual range where light fences have minimal effect and concrete walls reduce visibility to zero (no one has x-ray vision) Added to this is a modification of travel happiness. Those that are near open areas or lightly fenced ones are less likely to worry about distance traveled. Visitors surrounded by concrete walls are less inclined to travel long distances. This adds a bit higher inclination for using proper fencing in the way of a risk/reward system. Too much in the way of high-security walls will lead to unhappy visitors while too little will result in more park damage.
Secondly are the addition of restricted paths. These would be pathways that can only be used by park staff except when the shelters are opened up. A number of times when playing the original game I found that my ranger teams were blocked from quickly accessing a problem spot due to large crowds of people. It meant that I often had to choose between waiting for the ranger to get to an assigned task while hoping that the situation didn’t get out of hand or taking manual control of the ranger and mowing swaths of visitors down while driving right threw them. Restricted roads would prevent reputation loss when rangers have duties to perform in high-rating parks.
3. Food carts and Shopping Kiosks- Small buildings (similar in size to the restrooms) these buildings minimally fill needs for food, drinks, or shopping in zones with little space for massive buildings and would definitely fit the theme park ascetics. For food might I suggest Cretaceous Churros, Dino Dogs, and Carnotaurus Carnitas. Drinks might be Stegga Soda, Palm Punch, and (insert something witty).
4. Separating park-goer types- This looked like it was at least partially planed with the Innovation, Security, and Science centers in the original game. However, it might be beneficial to make the separations more distinct. The Dinosaurs would still attract visitors as a whole, shopping and fun structures would cater toward entertainment crowds, the various research building (fossil, expedition, research, and greenhouses) would cater to the science crowd, and the security buildings (ranger station, ACU, and storm Defense) would cater to security. As the player reaches various thresholds with the three divisions they would receive appropriate rewards, this might be things such as reduced research time or larger yields in fossil research and expeditions for the science team, a boost in defense ratings on fences, storm damage reductions, or a larger radius on security and shelter buildings for the security forces. Entertainment thresholds would be mostly just increased revenue from buildings but may also include some minor increases to satisfaction radius for buildings.
5. Upgrades and Benefits- There was a mod that tackled part of this from what I saw but it didn’t feel quite right in how it addressed some things. The Innovation, Security, and Science centers are big-ticket items in the parks and don’t really feel like they provide much other than some passive income. It could be useful to provide them with a secondary benefit. The Science center acting as combined research, fossil, and greenhouse would probably be a general direction for it. The Security center doubling as an expanded radius bunker seems to be the best bet for it. As for the Innovation Center, seeing as it seems to be a conference hall/museum, it is probably large enough to have a large capacity of restrooms and shopping inside.
An upgrade that might be beneficial considering point 4 would be to have a boost to science and security ratings for buildings in that category. The best comparison would be where Disney had a program that would allow kids to come into the imaginer offices for a day or two and learn how animation was done. Security and science building could add upgrades that boost rating that canonically offers a “be a ranger for a day” or “be a genetic scientist for a day” to boost attendance with that crowd type.
6. Gyro/jeep tunnel- A minor adjustment so as not to impede foot traffic and better allow the gyrosphere and jeep tour to move between separated enclosures. Using the wall fence as a model for how it would work. The gates would move down into the ground instead of out or away from the vehicle. The path would raise up on either side at an angle and then plateau where the vehicle moves under.
