What do people feel about exhibitions overall?
- Thread starter Jester Day
- Start date
My complaint about exhibits is that the animals in them don't actually move , If you move away from it on camera then the game might move them to another part but you do not see them move round the exhibit . I don't know what i have done wrong with my latest build but not 1 single guest goes into the building to look at them
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They need to update exhibits and the creatures in them.. Right now, i have them up like decor.. but would like to actually be able to sell and trade them.. right now the trade is broken on all exhibit animals.. and the amount an exhibit can hold before a welfare issue pops up is nuts.. So right now, they are not worth a whole lot..
I think they're great, and we definitely need more of them. They're a key aspect of any realistic zoo. I think Franchise players tend to forget that they're playing a zoo game sometimes, and treat it like some kind of competition. "This thing isn't worth the return, so I won't use it". What are you playing for, if not to make a realistic zoo? Every zoo has some kind of reptile or invertebrate exhibition with these smaller habitats. They might not add much to overall gameplay but they make the zoo look the part, and I think that's important.
As for what could be added, it really depends on what kinds of DLC's we get. Are they all going to be modeled after the Arctic Pack? If so, we probably won't get much. Australia is a treasure-trove of potential exhibit animals, however, and I'd be downright disgusted if they were neglected in an Australian DLC because the devs decided they weren't worth the effort. Frill-necked lizard, shingleback lizard, thorny devil, goliath stick insect, inland taipan, blue-tongued skink, bearded dragon, social huntsman spider, water dragon, and so on; so many options, so much potential.
I'd support a big DLC just for exhibits. It could include something like four animals for each continent represented in the game (so twenty-four animals) and some more exhibit sizes. I don't think we need such huge terraria for some of the smaller animals, especially the inverts - never seen a zoo with tarantulas in the same size tank as a green iguana. They could do an exhibit that is the same area (i.e. one grid square) but it's got two or three smaller exhibits embedded into it. These could hold a small number of spiders and other inverts, poison frogs, and any smaller lizards we might get in the future (like some of New Zealand's skinks and geckos, all very small, but very precious).
Then there could be an exhibit that is twice the size of the current one, for much larger reptiles (small monitor lizards unsuitable for a habitat, bigger snakes like the king cobra or green anaconda, and bigger lizards like the aforementioned Australian water dragon).
Lots of potential with exhibits, and I sincerely hope we get more of them.
As for what could be added, it really depends on what kinds of DLC's we get. Are they all going to be modeled after the Arctic Pack? If so, we probably won't get much. Australia is a treasure-trove of potential exhibit animals, however, and I'd be downright disgusted if they were neglected in an Australian DLC because the devs decided they weren't worth the effort. Frill-necked lizard, shingleback lizard, thorny devil, goliath stick insect, inland taipan, blue-tongued skink, bearded dragon, social huntsman spider, water dragon, and so on; so many options, so much potential.
I'd support a big DLC just for exhibits. It could include something like four animals for each continent represented in the game (so twenty-four animals) and some more exhibit sizes. I don't think we need such huge terraria for some of the smaller animals, especially the inverts - never seen a zoo with tarantulas in the same size tank as a green iguana. They could do an exhibit that is the same area (i.e. one grid square) but it's got two or three smaller exhibits embedded into it. These could hold a small number of spiders and other inverts, poison frogs, and any smaller lizards we might get in the future (like some of New Zealand's skinks and geckos, all very small, but very precious).
Then there could be an exhibit that is twice the size of the current one, for much larger reptiles (small monitor lizards unsuitable for a habitat, bigger snakes like the king cobra or green anaconda, and bigger lizards like the aforementioned Australian water dragon).
Lots of potential with exhibits, and I sincerely hope we get more of them.
I don't see the connection with this topic and franchise players..
A lot of people don't care that much about exhibits because it's a very basic feature.
You can't create the details of that exhibit and they don't feel 'alive', like the habitat animals.
With the current feature of exhibits, I just don't see much added value of more exhibit animals. I think they need to upgrade exhibits with more customisation options, different sizes, seeing them slowly moving in their exhibit, before adding new exhibit animals.
I don't see many people buying such exhibit DLC in the current state.
I only know a bit about T's but the sizes of these tanks are too big.
I know some people owning a T as a pet, and they require little space. They stress easily and do very well in a small exhibit.
8 spider exhibits (divided & stacked) in 1 grid square is more accurate, imo.
A lot of people don't care that much about exhibits because it's a very basic feature.
You can't create the details of that exhibit and they don't feel 'alive', like the habitat animals.
With the current feature of exhibits, I just don't see much added value of more exhibit animals. I think they need to upgrade exhibits with more customisation options, different sizes, seeing them slowly moving in their exhibit, before adding new exhibit animals.
I don't see many people buying such exhibit DLC in the current state.
I only know a bit about T's but the sizes of these tanks are too big.
I know some people owning a T as a pet, and they require little space. They stress easily and do very well in a small exhibit.
8 spider exhibits (divided & stacked) in 1 grid square is more accurate, imo.
I most often see Franchise players either using them as cash-cows because they reproduce easily or complaining because they cost more to operate with little in the way of return. Sandbox players seem perfectly happy to build some kind of sprawling reptile or insect house however because it's a crucial piece of the zoo.
I agree that closed, short animation loops (like the mini-exhibits in Zoo Tycoon 2013, also made by Frontier, or even the kiosks in Zoo Tycoon 2) would be nice, but I also believe there's a good reason they're so static - everything in the zoo is already dynamic, from the constant flow of guests, to staff doing their work, to the habitat animals always moving around, so it might eat up too much to also have the exhibit animals constantly doing things. Besides which, most of the animals available don't actually move very much in real life. Tarantulas, for example, are ambush predators, and will remain in their hiding spot until food presents itself, so it's not terribly unrealistic for the animals to sit there and not do much. Some of them, though, I agree could use more movement (centipedes don't usually sit in one spot, for example).
I wish I could get a pet tarantula, but sadly New Zealand is excessively strict on the pet trade (the most exotic animal I own is a Japanese fire-bellied newt, but everything else, from my birds to my lizards, is from Australia, and there's even talk of tightening the leash on those kinds of animals, too). We aren't even allowed snakes in zoos here, but luckily most inverts slipped through the cracks.
And yes, that is what I'm talking about, smaller exhibits. Eight might be too much as it needs to be 'playable' but even four I think would be acceptable. Frontier claimed to have put thought and research into every animal, but even pet owners know that smaller animals do better in smaller enclosures as it's easier for them to reach their food and water. Leopard geckos are a good example of this, too.
i use them a lot on franchise they help massively when starting out, get some good sets going and your raking in 10-15k witha couple of sets of offspring. This easily offsets any herbivores food bill. and certainly subsidies any carnivorous food cost.
They either breed as hell or die too fast. But I would do anything for my cute frogs 
Yeah, people use exhibits animals to gain earn $ early on but if they feel more 'alive', people would actually keep them after they have a steady cashflow.
I agree, movement is very different per animal.. Some animals don't move around much and some do..
There just too little animation to make them interesting enough. (for me)
Most of the times, the exhibit feels empty because you can't see the animal..
Maybe 8 exhibits might be a bit unplayable, but you already understand my point.
I'm not against more exhibit DLC but i'd preferred if they expanded the current feature first (wishfull thinking on my part)
To put it in other words: I wouldn't pay money for an exhibit animals DLC in the current state.
I wouldn't mind if they were part of a habitat animals DLC.
I agree, movement is very different per animal.. Some animals don't move around much and some do..
There just too little animation to make them interesting enough. (for me)
Most of the times, the exhibit feels empty because you can't see the animal..
Maybe 8 exhibits might be a bit unplayable, but you already understand my point
.I'm not against more exhibit DLC but i'd preferred if they expanded the current feature first (wishfull thinking on my part)
To put it in other words: I wouldn't pay money for an exhibit animals DLC in the current state.
I wouldn't mind if they were part of a habitat animals DLC.
I'd really like more exhibit animals. I need some kingsnakes. 
Scarlet kingsnake, California kingsnake, California mountain kingsnake ... they're all colorful and gorgeous. They would absolutely be a "must" for a North American pack.
We also need emerald tree boas and chameleons.
Scarlet kingsnake, California kingsnake, California mountain kingsnake ... they're all colorful and gorgeous. They would absolutely be a "must" for a North American pack. We also need emerald tree boas and chameleons.
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I really like the idea and use those a lot, but I believe that the exhibits, as featured in the game right now, could be a starting point for various expansions as:
- more sizes for a more diverse species selection (i.e. 1x2, 2x2, 2x3 etc.; there are a lot of good species ideas in this thread already, that could benefit from larger sized exhibits)
- use as an aquarium (just fill with water and fish, turtles or amphibians)
- use as an aviary for smaller birds (switch glass for steel mesh, maybe with higher variants like 6 or 8 metres tall)
i dont understand why people believe, exhibits are boost to income in the beginning. for me they are not. if you start your zoo with either baers or cats or other attractive animals, your income is way higher and investment is much lower than with exhibits. but i like them as a essential edition to the zoo-fantasy. i would like to see tanks for small fish (fresh and sea with corals or just hard and soft corals).
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I don't really care about them to be honest, and that's a shame, because i'd really love properly implemented exhibits. There are a few points that would have to be changed to make them interesting and worthwhile to me as well as the exhibit animals becoming "proper animals" i'd count and not just scenery objects as they are now.
1. Custom sizing of exhibits
2. Custom building/filling of exhibits with their own components, comparable to habitats (maybe a bit less complex)
3. Proper animations for the exhibit animals
4. and to make 2 and 3 worthwhile: An "Exhibit cam" - a cam mode that displays the exhibit as big as habitats and optimizes camera movement etc. accordingly
I get the most fun out of the game in creating nice habitats and watching the animals in it afterwards enjoying it. Regarding exhibits both is not possible, so for me they are just a scenery object like an elephant statue.
1. Custom sizing of exhibits
2. Custom building/filling of exhibits with their own components, comparable to habitats (maybe a bit less complex)
3. Proper animations for the exhibit animals
4. and to make 2 and 3 worthwhile: An "Exhibit cam" - a cam mode that displays the exhibit as big as habitats and optimizes camera movement etc. accordingly
I get the most fun out of the game in creating nice habitats and watching the animals in it afterwards enjoying it. Regarding exhibits both is not possible, so for me they are just a scenery object like an elephant statue.
I like them, some different options with what to put on the sides and how many to fill in is good. I like the different types of animals you can get which otherwise would not be feasible to put in the game in a standard habitat environment. If they were not included I can imagine a stampede to get them, if you don't like them, don't use them. Many great zoo's have been created already with no Exhibits in.
I have them but did give up breeding in them as they kept getting full every few months and I had to wait before releasing to the wild making the exhibit unhappy with overcrowding. I know I could have a spare backstage one to house them in until they mature but too much hassle for me
I thought I would want not full movement but maybe a slightly increased animation but when you look at these exhibits in real zoo's the animals are very often static, particularly the snakes. I don't want them personally as I am not sure they fit the game but I assume they could be changed to house fish in exactly the same type of design.
One thing I maybe would like to see with them is a double size exhibit box.
I have them but did give up breeding in them as they kept getting full every few months and I had to wait before releasing to the wild making the exhibit unhappy with overcrowding. I know I could have a spare backstage one to house them in until they mature but too much hassle for me
I thought I would want not full movement but maybe a slightly increased animation but when you look at these exhibits in real zoo's the animals are very often static, particularly the snakes. I don't want them personally as I am not sure they fit the game but I assume they could be changed to house fish in exactly the same type of design.
One thing I maybe would like to see with them is a double size exhibit box.
Was there a Update where it was changed? I didn't need to wait to sell them. It also would make no Sense to need to wait because all Animals that are currently available for the Exhibits can survive without their Parents
You never had to wait for them to mature, because they were never babies. When exhibit animals breed the exhibit just gets full of more adults. You can trade them out straight away.
I like the exhibits and would love to have different sizes and aquariums. Small mammals like mice or rats might also work well.
I play in challenge mode and used them as cash cows to generate money when I started my zoo, which was extremely useful. I had 8 exhibits, and after building my first habitat and stabilizing my income, I built a nice indoor area for them, like a microhouse. I kept breeding them for quite a while until I got many habitat animals, now the exhibit animals are all on contraceptives and they cause me very little work, I just replace them every once in a while when they die.
I think having them in a house together is a nice addition to the zoo and they are also good to fill blank spaces or make long walks more interesting. And the guests seem to like them a lot.
I play in challenge mode and used them as cash cows to generate money when I started my zoo, which was extremely useful. I had 8 exhibits, and after building my first habitat and stabilizing my income, I built a nice indoor area for them, like a microhouse. I kept breeding them for quite a while until I got many habitat animals, now the exhibit animals are all on contraceptives and they cause me very little work, I just replace them every once in a while when they die.
I think having them in a house together is a nice addition to the zoo and they are also good to fill blank spaces or make long walks more interesting. And the guests seem to like them a lot.
