Turn off enrichment decay in sandbox

[Swjosdotschka]

As a builder, I do very careful planning with my habitats and embed some toy enrichment and food enrichment items into scenery. For example the mud bath. In real zoos, a mud bath wouldn't be replaced. Maybe just sometimes filled and sometimes not filled.

Long story short: I'd love if we can turn off that enrichment items become boring to the animals over time. I don't want to turn off animal welfare completely, though. (Besides that, the feature is bugged, as we still get protesters)

 

[NZFanatic]

YES.

The only enrichment items real zookeepers replace are things like balls and boxes. The game needs more enrichment along those lines, so mud pools and forage boxes and the like can remain as permanent fixtures of the enclosure.

I mean, zoos will use everything from empty plastic kegs, old tractor and truck tyres, or even simple burlap sacks to keep animals entertained. It doesn't all need to be super complex.

 

[[VR] Deggial]

Maybe a more specific change is necessary - and not limited to sandbox.

The mentioned mud bath and probably also rubbing pads are tools for the animals’ healthcare (skin and fur care) rather than for their entertainment and stimulation. I don’t know, if the code allows to exclude certain “toys” from decaying. If so, at least these items should benefit from such a change.

This would also help for large zoos, where keeping track of decayed toy happiness for all the habitats can be an issue. With at least some “not-decaying” toys, a certain base happiness would be kept and eventual decayed toys would not have such a large impact.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Maybe a more specific change is necessary - and not limited to sandbox.

The mentioned mud bath and probably also rubbing pads are tools for the animals’ healthcare (skin and fur care) rather than for their entertainment and stimulation. I don’t know, if the code allows to exclude certain “toys” from decaying. If so, at least these items should benefit from such a change.

This would also help for large zoos, where keeping track of decayed toy happiness for all the habitats can be an issue. With at least some “not-decaying” toys, a certain base happiness would be kept and eventual decayed toys would not have such a large impact.

This is an awesome idea! I would add a lot of items to the list, though. Mainly all that need to be in the ground to be stable, like the walterfall item, for example. That would also be something that wouldn't be put away but stay in the habitat.

EDIT: Oops, NZFanatic already mentionend something similar.