Generally yes, having large groups will generate lag much more than individual groups. Or something that I refuse to do but lowering piece count helps with performance. Other things like disabling climbing surfaces using the new selection tool for non climbing areas helps with nature areas and even selling animals from areas you have completed that you don't mind without animals.
What did you do in Planet Zoo today?
- Thread starter Indoraptor27
- Start date
Or a New England zoo
K here’s everything I’ve done so far:
- All animals are out of the zoo (i only put them in for videos then take them out immediately)
- Climbing has been turned off for literally everything except my three enclosures for climbing animals (gibbon, binturong and red pandas)
- I’ve split up a few really big piece groups that were over like 7,000 pieces. I’ll see if there’s anymore big groups I can split.
- I always save the game from far away at a distance, idk why this works but it does lol
- I’ve deleted enclosures and stuff I was planning to delete anyway.
Yeah I’ll pass lol
Yeah that sounds like a good bulk of the performance saving tips I know, but I'll run through them anyway:
- 0 Guests in the zoo - zoo shut completely
- Minimal staff for the zoo to function as necessary
- Play in pause, only unpausing for videos and animal deliveries/traverse area checks
- Try to not build a dense zoo, the more habitats spread out between nature areas, the better. This is obviously difficult if it is an urban zoo or a zoo with lots of indoor spaces
- Limit the amount of custom media especially videos inside the usermedia folder
- Number of habitats should reflect the power of your computer. This may anywhere from 15 to 50-70. On average I will start to see noticeable lag after 20 habitats, with bad performance occurring after 35 ... doesn't stop me going to around 60 which is my maximum - beware of overheating your computer hardware which I have done... twice
- Build SMART, learn how to build custom pieces with the least amount of pieces you need. This is something I have built as a skill since 2019. Using hundreds to thousands of tiny brackets or primitive blocks for custom signs or whatever is bad in the long run
- Limit use of workshop blueprints. Custom static birds, vehicles, buildings, signs etc are often made of hundreds if not multiple thousands of pieces. The average custom car for a parking lot can consist of 5000 pieces for one car!
- Thankfully the gift shops tip is now solved thanks to the upcoming update, often gift shops would be very piece heavy
- Limit use of special effects, especially running water including the aquatic pack waterfalls
- Limit use of lights, custom lights help indoor lighting but will hurt performance. If possible stick to the spotlights as these hurt performance the least but are the brightest option Funnily enough (just make the shade darker)
- Watch habitat size, the larger habitat size will involve much more calculations than a smaller habitat such as a realistic elephant, polar bear or hippo habitat
Thank you so much
Alright on with the show. I love regional packs as much as the next guy but boy do I have a lot to build considering Eurasia barely has anything in my zoo so far lol. You're up first nosey
I was really productive today and now I can proudly present you the Tasmanian Garden!
Welcome to the Tasmanian Garden!
This new section of Jardim Zoologico da Madeira will lead you deep into a Tasmanian tree fern forest. Tree ferns are very interesting and ancient plants typical to Tasmania and other Oceanian islands. But be quiet and careful, the elusive Tasmanian devil may just be around the corner...
(note: font made by Rycie, I think)
Welcome to the Tasmanian Garden!
This new section of Jardim Zoologico da Madeira will lead you deep into a Tasmanian tree fern forest. Tree ferns are very interesting and ancient plants typical to Tasmania and other Oceanian islands. But be quiet and careful, the elusive Tasmanian devil may just be around the corner...
(note: font made by Rycie, I think)
I haven't had the time to play much PZ recently, and when I do have time I've found myself extremely indecisive on what my next project should be. So, given I had some free tonight, I decided to flex my building muscles by doing a one-off build, in this case for the kiwi. They're the one animal from the Oceania Pack I hadn't built for yet given they don't fit into any of my current zoos (though I do want to get around to building a zoo set in New Zealand eventually, maybe after I visit NZ in the upcoming years), and so I was keen to smash out a nocturnal house for them. Mostly happy with the final product - I could definitely have spent some more time detailing, especially in the interior, but this was just meant to be a one-night build so I didn't want to go too overboard.
(NZ map by ZZ: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2767926168)
I thought the kiwi house might be a bit plain with just kiwis, so I also built a small implied habitat for the ruru, a small owl found across New Zealand. They're a common species in NZ zoos, and often kept in kiwi houses like this one.
(NZ map by ZZ: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2767926168)
I thought the kiwi house might be a bit plain with just kiwis, so I also built a small implied habitat for the ruru, a small owl found across New Zealand. They're a common species in NZ zoos, and often kept in kiwi houses like this one.
Wait a second... Is it really true that splitting groups helps with performance? Is that a proven thing? I would have thought it would be the opposite...
Yes it does, I have tested it extensively over multiple zoos. My theory is that the game tries to highlight and process items by group so the larger the group, the more strain on performance. For piece heavy areas such as entrances, ride stations, gift shops or restaurants it is highly recommended to split up groups into several smaller groups over one huge group.
A quick test for this is to highlight your entire zoo and you will suddenly realise why one single group can ruin performance.
I had a scare today and got the blue screen of death.
But, fortunately we got the PC up and running again. I'm doing a disc cleanup, scanning the disc, and I'm gonna do a backup, too
But, fortunately we got the PC up and running again. I'm doing a disc cleanup, scanning the disc, and I'm gonna do a backup, too
I always open the command prompt, right click open as open as administrator, and run the command: sfc /scannowI had a scare today and got the blue screen of death.
But, fortunately we got the PC up and running again. I'm doing a disc cleanup, scanning the disc, and I'm gonna do a backup, too
This runs a check for any corrupted files and will repair them.
Oh OK. I actually thought it would be easier for the game to process 1,000 pieces as a group than as 1,000 individual pieces. This doesn't really make sense to me but of you've tested it, I believe you. Thanks for the tip.
I'm sprucing up Moonshine Ranch while eating pizza in my pajamas after a long week of work.
Anybody got a brown llama? I can never find them
After 3 hours, I have made my most complicated detailed building ever. Oakwood Zoo; Eurasia Wilds begins with the European Wildlife Trail, featuring several european treasures, including 3 iconic recent additions, one of which is the amazing Wisent.
(The build isn't done yet, still have a lot to go, but the shelter is my main accomplishment tonight)
(The build isn't done yet, still have a lot to go, but the shelter is my main accomplishment tonight)
Finished up my kiwi nocturnal house reroofed my armadillos shelter then spent the rest of the day building hating and then rebuilding a sloth / butterfly green house for my mini zoo also mapped out where my two bat houses are going. Been dealing with some pretty bad burnout recently so building has been a bit slow.
Last edited:
Holy
I cant put into words how amazing this looks, absolutly stunning!
I love the way you spaced out things, it feels very good in an odd way, it feels just right