What did you do in Planet Zoo today?

[PlanetJameson]

Whenever I feel happy with my zoos I look at this thread and remember what a great zoo actually looks like.

One thing I have to constantly remind myself is to not compare my builds to that of other players. We’re all at different stages of learning with this game. There are people creating things I know I’ll probably never be able to achieve, CaptainCallum’s aviaries come to mind, and that’s okay.

Just play for you. If you’re enjoying yourself, that’s all that matters.

Also, thank you for the compliment.

 

[NachoB]

One thing I have to constantly remind myself is to not compare my builds to that of other players. We’re all at different stages of learning with this game. There are people creating things I know I’ll probably never be able to achieve, CaptainCallum’s aviaries come to mind, and that’s okay.

Just play for you. If you’re enjoying yourself, that’s all that matters.

Also, thank you for the compliment.

Yeah that is one of the main reasons i get drained of inspiration and I just stop building. I'm good at doing terrain and foliage work but not so much at building so i get frustrated. But i also have to remind My self that most of amazing builds i see take thousands of pieces to get all those details and my computer can't handle that much.

 

[Leaf Productions]

i just zoo'd in my pants

 

[PlanetJameson]

Yeah that is one of the main reasons i get drained of inspiration and I just stop building. I'm good at doing terrain and foliage work but not so much at building so i get frustrated. But i also have to remind My self that most of amazing builds i see take thousands of pieces to get all those details and my computer can't handle that much.

Yeah, same here regarding terrain and foliage. I swear some of these big creators are architects IRL when I see their buildings. And speaking as a console player, I have to keep everything detailed-lite. My new zoo only has 3 habitats and it’s already at 22% on the meter. So, it’s definitely a challenge to take builds to the next level if you want to have a moderately sized zoo.

 

[DarthQuell]

Alrighty then, all y'all! Next update to Montego Bay Zoo. Not a big chapter, but it's still nice to share progress:


First up, a little behind the scenes of the food plaza. It's not much but adds some nice detail:

I also finished the staff center building for the Wild Desert:

Ok, now to the much more interesting stuff. Welcome to WIP The Congo! A smallish area, but with popular species. Here's how it looks so far:

(Ignore the random rock wall and those mesh fences at the bottom). The 3 species on display so far are bongos, red river hogs, and pygmy hippos. Here's the awesome view for the bongos and hogs:

A nice shade structure to keep the sun away and give a nice, elevated view of the river habitat. While the habitat is lush and tropical, the animals still need to hide. So, here's the rest structure:

Not sure if I should add anything else. I'll see. But moving on, right across this habitat are the pygmy hippos:

Guests are able to look and see these water loving mammals play and swim in the water (I may lower the glass later on). Here's an up-close shot of the hippo:

Eventually, my plan is to add African leopards and chimpanzees. I have them already, just didn't have time to do them today.

Now, what should I place in this spot? It is right at the entrance of the zoo:

I'm debating between flamingos or a gift shop, but y'all help me decide.

And finally, who's that handsome guy?! Hello, 911 emergency? There's a handsome guy in my zoo and-

Oh, wait a sec. It's only me...

 

[Fini]

Finished the Hippo House.

 

[yoav_r]

Finished the Hippo House.
View attachment 433259
View attachment 433258
View attachment 433260View attachment 433261
View attachment 433262

Wow. How did you manae to make such a roun auditorium?

 

[Fini]

I'm doing it using the clay pillar method.
First, always make a full circle with the path, then place the clay pillar in the middle of the circle and experiment until the pillar is really in the middle. The clay pillar has to be exactly in the middle, otherwise it looks like crap.
I always work with full circles and delete the part I don't need.
I have to work on that again, but I'm not sure yet whether I want a roof for the grandstand or not. Bird arenas are usually always open.

 

[Veah]

Alrighty then, all y'all! Next update to Montego Bay Zoo. Not a big chapter, but it's still nice to share progress:


First up, a little behind the scenes of the food plaza. It's not much but adds some nice detail:
View attachment 433187
I also finished the staff center building for the Wild Desert:
View attachment 433188

Ok, now to the much more interesting stuff. Welcome to WIP The Congo! A smallish area, but with popular species. Here's how it looks so far:
View attachment 433189
(Ignore the random rock wall and those mesh fences at the bottom). The 3 species on display so far are bongos, red river hogs, and pygmy hippos. Here's the awesome view for the bongos and hogs:
View attachment 433190
A nice shade structure to keep the sun away and give a nice, elevated view of the river habitat. While the habitat is lush and tropical, the animals still need to hide. So, here's the rest structure:
View attachment 433191
Not sure if I should add anything else. I'll see. But moving on, right across this habitat are the pygmy hippos:
View attachment 433192
Guests are able to look and see these water loving mammals play and swim in the water (I may lower the glass later on). Here's an up-close shot of the hippo:
View attachment 433193

Eventually, my plan is to add African leopards and chimpanzees. I have them already, just didn't have time to do them today.

Now, what should I place in this spot? It is right at the entrance of the zoo:
View attachment 433194
I'm debating between flamingos or a gift shop, but y'all help me decide.

And finally, who's that handsome guy?! Hello, 911 emergency? There's a handsome guy in my zoo and-
View attachment 433186
Oh, wait a sec. It's only me...

I'm voting for a gift shop, if it's so near the entrance and there is going to be a lot of visitors around.

 

[Fabian]

Isn't this a dream come true
This is a habitat I built two or three years ago specifically for an Indian Savannah with rhinos, blackbucks, nilgai and one peafowl roaming around. And now I finally got to fill it in! The habitat extends to the right into a smaller section that the rhinos and adult nilgai can't access, and there's another section to the left of the animal stables with a big plain for the animals to use, including a mud bath section for the rhinos (and nilgai, now that they can also use it).
The guest path leads through a tunnel below the connection between the two habitat halves into another section of the zoo that focuses on Australasia.
The entire habitat was built long before we got a lot of the grasses we have now, so I might have to redo and update the foliage at some point (if only it didn't take a minute to place a single plant with my overtaxed computer).

 

[DarthQuell]

I'm voting for a gift shop, if it's so near the entrance and there is going to be a lot of visitors around.

I was thinking the same thing. Perfect, that's what I'll do next

View attachment 433287
Isn't this a dream come true
This is a habitat I built two or three years ago specifically for an Indian Savannah with rhinos, blackbucks, nilgai and one peafowl roaming around. And now I finally got to fill it in! The habitat extends to the right into a smaller section that the rhinos and adult nilgai can't access, and there's another section to the left of the animal stables with a big plain for the animals to use, including a mud bath section for the rhinos (and nilgai, now that they can also use it).
The guest path leads through a tunnel below the connection between the two habitat halves into another section of the zoo that focuses on Australasia.
The entire habitat was built long before we got a lot of the grasses we have now, so I might have to redo and update the foliage at some point (if only it didn't take a minute to place a single plant with my overtaxed computer).

View attachment 433294View attachment 433295

I feel ya. Sometimes I lower the graphics from Ultra to Medium just to build. I also found that combining different pieces unto a single blueprint helps to make everything run smoother

 

[Fabian]

I was thinking the same thing. Perfect, that's what I'll do next

I feel ya. So.etimes I lower the graphics from Ultra to Medium just to build. I also found that coming different pieces unto a single blueprint helps to make everything run smoother

Absolutely! And removing the climbability of pieces if you don't need it.

But to be fair, I'm far beyond testing the game's limitations with my zoo. I have 49 habitats at the moment, each with at least one animal (I got rid of a few to boost performance, but I still have 189 animals tota in my park).
This is what it looks like from above:

Most of the center and bottom sections are complete, but the part to the right of the road is still a work in progress, the South America section to the left is a major WIP, and I still haven't even started the Africa section that I originally was so bullish to want to have in the top left. All the finished parts are almost entirely focused on Asia and pretty much finished at this point.

 

[markun]

I played for an hour or so but always feel a bit overwhelmed when a new DLC comes out. Plus trying to figure out how I feel about the probable end of support.

Made some changes to the zoo in preparation for the release. Moved the flamingos to an aviary and the Père David's deer now have a paddock on that site.

The aviary is based on this from the workshop. Actually I just realised I left a tree in the middle of the path. Will have to move that...

 

[DarthQuell]

Yet another update. I'm on a roll for honor roll!
So, to finish up with The Congo, we've introduce the Chimp Gallery, which I based off of the Houston Zoo Great Ape Gallery:

A large building allows guests to escape the heat and view the chimpanzees in total comfort.

There's also a giant tiger land snail terrarium in case somebody doesn't care about chimps. The building also has an indoor rest area to allow the chimps to escape the weather:

The habitat itself is pretty spacious and has a ton of places for the apes to play. Unfortunately, they require more foliage than I would've liked, but I made it work:

Next up, the final habitat:

African leopards! Again, I had to slowly apply mesh on top to keep them from escaping:

The inside is a nice, covered area to allow guests to view them in shade:

And here is one of our leopards. Isn't she a doll:

I feel like my leopard habitat is lacking, so any feedback is welcome. And finally, an overview:

So for the final big area, imma do India with the new DLC! And if I have space, maybe a small Japanese section. Not sure yet

 

[Captain Callum]

Getting started with the new dlc

 

[CaprinemasterAT]

Built a habitat for Indian Rhinos, peafowl, Nilgai and Blackbuck in a Zoo setting in the rainforest in South America. Some thoughts?

 

[Fabian]

I feel like my leopard habitat is lacking, so any feedback is welcome.

Maybe a bit more ground coverage with rock pebbles, a few grasses and tropical leaves on top of the tropical terrain paint? Might look more filled in then.

But either way, it looks really good! Reminds me that I've never built for the African Leopard before. And also reminds me how much I dislike enclosing habitats with mesh. This game desperately needs a modular mesh set...

 

[DarthQuell]

Wow, Montego Bay Zoo is expanding. Soon, we'll take over the world!

1st, @Fabian, tell me whatchu think of the new and improved leopard habitat:

I used the awesome faux tree set provided by @Leaf Productions (thanks, Leaf. You're a lifesaver)

Ok, so with the habitats of The Congo done, I went ahead and began building the next area. I can always spruce up things later. Next to the leopards is the Insectorium, which I based off of the Zoo Tycoon 1 insect house:

You can sorta see where it comes from, right?
So, you go in. To the left, scarabs and desert scorpions:

To the right, red knee tarantulas and leaf insects:

(I'll decorate the interior better later)
And now, for the jewel of the Insectorium, the butterfly center:

It houses all 6 butterfly species, and I finally managed to make it look lush, more than I usually do!

Now, here's the next (and final) section of the zoo. I call it India Unleashed:

Yeah, not much to see. It's gonna be smallish, with only 3, maybe 4, habitats. The big one there houses nilgais and 4 male peafowl:

I have 1 white peafowl to add some striking variety. I was also hoping for the melanistic nilgai, but there weren't any.

My plan is to add a blackbuck and rhino habitat and finally a macaque habitta. Not sure if imma add ratels or not (not with the macaques, ok?)

And finally, the beginnings of my parking lot (wow, that sounded super boring):

I put my rainforest stamp to give the immersion that the road continues...

Ok, I'm done with PlanZo for the day. Let's see what I can cook up this weekend!