Using PlanCo assets in PlanZoo?

[Stream]

I think this is something that a lot of people will be wondering, and hoping for, so I figured I'd ask to see if anyone from Frontier can clear this up. With Planet Zoo using the same engine and aesthetics/animation style as Planet Coaster, will we be seeing the ability of using Planet Coaster assets (i.e. Rides, Scenery, etc) in Planet Zoo if we own both games? It looks like PZ will have an updated version of the engine, but at its core it looks to be the same, we've even seen transport rides being part of PZ, meaning, it does support rides at least in that form.

I really do think that it would make both communities extremely happy if this was possible, and it would redeem a lot of Planet Coaster's flaws if you can basically build theme parks using the improved engine of Planet Zoo. I get that a lot of things that need improvement in PC is probably not possible at this stage of the game because it would break too many things if they tried, but this could be a really nice compromise. Buy Planet Zoo - get an improved version of Planet Coaster at the same time basically.

 

[JessicaSonnet]

As it is two separate games I wouldn't think you'd be able to combine assets (however cool that would be)

 

[Stream]

As it is two separate games I wouldn't think you'd be able to combine assets (however cool that would be)

Two separate games with the same engine and style. It would be extremely easy for Frontier to let us put rides from PC into PZ. It's probably more about not losing money on DLCs and whatnot than capability of doing it.

 

[ChrisDavid]

This would be nice and I'm sure it would be possible. I hope that Planet Coaster benefits from Planet Zoo (and vice versa).

Being that this is a new entry in the 'Planet' series I would like to think that they will both compliment each other with more content and improvements etc.

 

[Chris Simon]

Two separate games with the same engine and style. It would be extremely easy for Frontier to let us put rides from PC into PZ. It's probably more about not losing money on DLCs and whatnot than capability of doing it.

With all due respect, I would strongly hesitate to call anything in the realm of game development "extremely easy".

Star Wars: Republic Commando and Tekken 7 are both Unreal engine games. And it would be extremely hard to transfer any assets between the two.
It's not about losing money per se. It's about intense coding time (and asociated manpower expenses)
The workshop is there. If you want to do the work, I guess feel free to.

 

[Stream]

With all due respect, I would strongly hesitate to call anything in the realm of game development "extremely easy".

Star Wars: Republic Commando and Tekken 7 are both Unreal engine games. And it would be extremely hard to transfer any assets between the two.
It's not about losing money per se. It's about intense coding time (and asociated manpower expenses)
The workshop is there. If you want to do the work, I guess feel free to.

Ok... first of all, don't say "with all due respect" if you're going to use insulting emojis while giving your lecture. Second, your comparison is ridiculous. Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo are VERY similar games, built with the same in-studio engine, using the same tools, models, etc. Star Wars and Tekken 7 are extremely different games. It's not hard for them to import anything from PC into PZ, that's 100% fact. It's just a matter of them doing it.

 

[Zekin]

It would be very much possible to import planco blueprints into planet zoo (I think). First of all, a blueprint is a file that contains the instructions containing location and rotation definitions for each and every building/scenery piece in that blueprint. When you download a blueprint you don't download the whole model, you just download a set of instructions for the game to build that blueprint in-game (kinda like Lego). Besides it's literally in the name "Blue-Print"

Since many of planet coaster assets are being used in planet zoo, maybe there can be a building section with objects tagged as "Planet Zoo compatible". In which we can build with these items in planco. After we're done building we can then go ahead and upload our creation to the workshop. Then we can head into a different site (kinda like the Thememakers toolkit) where we will be able to paste the link to the blueprint on the steam workshop (so any item not compatible will not be accepted). After which the site reads the blueprint information and converts it to one which planet zoo can understand, while still retaining the set of instructions (Kinda like how we convert mp4 videos to web.m for billboards in planet coaster). We can then download the converted files and place them in an assigned folder (Like the user media folder in planco). After this, we would be able to use our blueprints in planet zoo.

But don't take my word for it, this is just my little bit of speculation.

 

[Chris Simon]

Ok... first of all, don't say "with all due respect" if you're going to use insulting emojis while giving your lecture. Second, your comparison is ridiculous. Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo are VERY similar games, built with the same in-studio engine, using the same tools, models, etc. Star Wars and Tekken 7 are extremely different games. It's not hard for them to import anything from PC into PZ, that's 100% fact. It's just a matter of them doing it.

The only one who could state this as a 100% fact is somebody from the development team. You're just stating your wishes.
I also apologize. If you find my winks insulting, they were not meant that way.
I'm just trying to say that though the two games share the same engine and similar visual design, they are NOT, in fact, the same and transferring assets, how ever easier than creating them from scratch, is not easy.

 

[LN]

I would be really excited if it is possible to interchange assets between the games, but my feeling says it won't be possible (unfortunately).

 

[Stream]

The only one who could state this as a 100% fact is somebody from the development team. You're just stating your wishes.
I also apologize. If you find my winks insulting, they were not meant that way.
I'm just trying to say that though the two games share the same engine and similar visual design, they are NOT, in fact, the same and transferring assets, how ever easier than creating them from scratch, is not easy.

Knowing a little bit about game design and development I can safely say that it wouldn't be very difficult. It's like using assets from a prior game in a direct sequel that is using the same engine and art style - just import your characters from the first game into the new game. Hell, it's even easy to do in Planet Coaster RIGHT NOW because the TMTK allows us to import models into the game. You think this would be more difficult for Frontier than that? Definitely not.

And sure, just read your post again and look at your use of emojis, in the context they're extremely belittling... which is why my tone got pretty hostile back.

 

[Chris Simon]

I will remember to not use emotes on you in the future.

And like I said - Steam workshop means the game is open to modding. So yes, in the end it probably will be quite easy to import models.
That still doesn't mean Fdev will do it, though. They may have a different artistic direction in mind and rehashing old assets wouldn't be the way to spend resources.
But I don't know, is the bottom line. And neither does any of us.

 

[Stream]

I will remember to not use emotes on you in the future.

And like I said - Steam workshop means the game is open to modding. So yes, in the end it probably will be quite easy to import models.
That still doesn't mean Fdev will do it, though. They may have a different artistic direction in mind and rehashing old assets wouldn't be the way to spend resources.
But I don't know, is the bottom line. And neither does any of us.

You can use emotes how much you want, but expect a certain type of reply if you do it the way you did to me.

I also never said they would do it, I'm just saying that it would be fairly easy for them to do it and I hope that they will do it because to me it would redeem themselves from the many things they haven't yet fixed with Planet Coaster.

 

[rickreptile]

if you look at the screenshot of the hippo, you can see some of the foilage from planet coaster, i have used them plenty of times in tropical parks so i recognized them instantly, they will propably give them a small graphical upgrade

 

[ArtiX]

As it is two separate games I wouldn't think you'd be able to combine assets (however cool that would be)

They're not gonna be all that separate, i think.

 

[LN]

They're not gonna be all that separate, i think.

Both games accessible through the same launcher?
Sounds good to me. Maybe the updated Cobra Engine can be applied to PlanCo as well. The games look really similar.
That hippo looks familiar too….

 

[ArtiX]

Both games accessible through the same launcher?
Sounds good to me. Maybe the updated Cobra Engine can be applied to PlanCo as well. The games look really similar.
That hippo looks familiar too….

In gaming evolution it's inevitable actually. I had an idea years back about merging different game concepts where everyone could pick and choose,
but obviously i didn't and still don't have the ressources to make a project like that happen. But it's gonna happen sooner or later, as this just makes a lot of sense.
Imagine a city builder with which you build your city, a restaurant manager with which you play inside your built city and when you're in the mood to add a new customer base to your restaurant, why not open the transport "Tycoon" and put a nice Tramstop right in front of your doorstep. Or when you had a bad day, why not go all GTA on you City. ... well your imagination is probably going wild right now.

And i think that's similar to where this is heading. Apart from the Cobra obviously getting a new paintjob.
I'd be happy if the two games had a common denominator, like sharing the same launcher as you say, or at least some interconnectivity.

Maxis will be mad. x)

 

[knowles2]

I think it would be nice for there to Planet DLC packs, packs which have items that can be used in both games, like scenery and new plants, vending machines. Any item which wouldn't look out of place in either a zoo or a theme park. Panzo and Panco receiving unique packs.

My personal feeling is that this is a fairly small and quick project for Frontier. Where they will mostly be using assets and technologies developed for other games with a few touch ups here and there. There probably a fairly small team working on it, certainly no more than 50, probably less. I wouldn't entirely be surprise if all the 3D modeling work is done by contractors they use rather in house teams.

 

[WingardiumLevicoaster]

I think it would be nice for there to Planet DLC packs, packs which have items that can be used in both games, like scenery and new plants, vending machines. Any item which wouldn't look out of place in either a zoo or a theme park. Panzo and Panco receiving unique packs.

My personal feeling is that this is a fairly small and quick project for Frontier. Where they will mostly be using assets and technologies developed for other games with a few touch ups here and there. There probably a fairly small team working on it, certainly no more than 50, probably less. I wouldn't entirely be surprise if all the 3D modeling work is done by contractors they use rather in house teams.

I'm not so sure they would use contractors.. given that Frontier have been expanding for ages and have tons of artists, experienced in the Planet Art style.

 

[gregorburns]

I think from spending a lot of time with frontier devs and knowing how they operate that they definitely do not use external contractors for their art!

What has been shown in the trailer so far is very much in their style, and it's pretty certain that the entire game will be too. They don't cut corners when it comes to art and animation.

 

[Lora Craft69]

I think it would be nice for there to Planet DLC packs, packs which have items that can be used in both games, like scenery and new plants, vending machines. Any item which wouldn't look out of place in either a zoo or a theme park. Panzo and Panco receiving unique packs.

My personal feeling is that this is a fairly small and quick project for Frontier. Where they will mostly be using assets and technologies developed for other games with a few touch ups here and there. There probably a fairly small team working on it, certainly no more than 50, probably less. I wouldn't entirely be surprise if all the 3D modeling work is done by contractors they use rather in house teams.

Do you have any idea how many people work for Frontier?
This game is in development for about two years now and in the meantime they have been working also on JWE and making updates and DLC's for Elite, JWE and PlanCo.
Also in the Xtra livestream last week a few developers talked about the development of the game and some information about the animals.
This certainly isn't a small and quick project.