What do you think of an Arabian DLC?

Kamal

Kamal
I have seen a lot of people talking about a North American or European or even African DLCs, but what about an Arabian DLC?!
It would be a DLC where it will focus on the desert biome which I think it has a poor representation in the game.
It could contain some desert plants, more cactus types, and maybe more palm tree types for foliage.
As for the building pieces they can add some old desert ruins, mosaic pieces, arabesque designs, tents, etc.
And finally for the animals which are the stars of the show, there is a big list of iconic animals that Frontier could have chose to represent this DLC.
I will mention some of them below:

  • Dromedary Camel (Yes another camel, and also domesticated, but its a very widespread animal and very iconic to this region and the desert biome, they generally have brown fur but can range from black to nearly white)
  • Arabian Oryx (although its similar to the Gemsbok, but I think it should be in the game since it was brought back from extinction, the Arabian oryx was classified in 1986 as endangered species, and in 2011 it was the first animal to revert to vulnerable status after previously being listed as extinct in the wild, so I think that this animal deserves a spot in game as one of the most successful stories for animals conservations).
  • Scimitar Oryx (It has a unique conservation status which is extinct in the wild, but I think the Arabian Oryx would be a better representative for this DLC)
  • Arabian Leopard (It is the smallest leopard subspecies, its critically endangered, fewer than 200 wild individuals are remaining in the wild, but personally I think that there are other subspecies of Leopards that could reserve a spot in the game and are more iconic such as: the African Leopard, the Clouded Leopard, or the Amur Leopard, but it was worth a mention)
  • Caracal (I think its a better cat representation for this dlc, more unique, and also wide distributed in Africa as well)
  • Striped Hyena (Another Hyena in planet zoo, that is totally different from the spotted Hyena)
  • Fennec Fox (We need a fox species since we lack of any foxes in the game)
  • Ruppell's Sand Fox (Another type of foxes, but not iconic as the Fennec Fox)
  • Arabian Wolf (I don't think that it will be included especially after having the Timber Wolf, Arctic Wolf, and the Dingo already in the game)
  • Egyptian Jackal
  • Arabian Sand Gazelle
  • Dorcas Gazelle
  • Nubian Ibex
  • Barbary Sheep
  • Hamadryas Baboon
  • Barbary Macaque
  • Syrian Brown Bear (another brown bear subspecies, which I doubt it will be included in the game after the Grizzly and the Himalayan Brown Bears, if one day frontier wants to add another brown bear it would be the Eurasian Brown Bear)
  • Sand Cat
  • Honey Badger
  • Desert Jerboa

As for the exhibit animals, here are some options:
  • Spiny-Tailed Lizard
  • Desert Horned Viper
  • Saw-Scaled (Carpet) Viper
  • Veiled Chameleon
  • Arabian Toad

I think such a DLC could drop in a hot summer season if they decided to make it one day.

So what do you think guys?!
 

Kamal

Kamal
For the DLC I would be extremely happy if it was something like this:

  • Dromedary Camel
  • Arabian Oryx
  • Fennec Fox / Striped Hyena
  • Caracal
  • Spiny-Tailed Lizard / Desert Horned Viper (For the Exhibit Animal)
 

Aramar

Aramar
The Dromedary camel and Fennec fox are high on my list of wishes. The scimitar oryx would be a nice addition too.

I agree that we need more desert animals, but I think a more generic desert pack is more likely than a pack only focused on Arabia. I can think of meerkats, armadillos, Przewalski horses or Mojave desert tortoises that would be left out if they limited the desert pack just to Arabia.

Hopefully they change the model of 4 animals, because there are so many options to pick just 4 for a desert pack.
 

Bearcat9948

Bearcat9948
I just thought it was also worth mentioning that despite it's name, the Clouded leopard is not actually a "Leopard", like an African, Arabian or Amur leopard is. Neither are Snow leopards. They're in fact named so because they happen to look like true leopards, and Western explorers and biologists named them that way. Had the Native Americans of Central/South America, namely the Aztecs, not named the Jaguar themselves (in their own language of course) and spread that name so widespread, I'm sure they would also be called some kind of leopard.

Moving on to the topic at hand, I think an Arabian pack would work and sell fine, but again it's one of these niche ideas that I'd rather it come much later in the lifecycle (After more birds and aquatic animals namely). I would also rather it focus on actually adding more animals, rather than several hundred Arabic building pieces. Some would be fine, but I think people have managed to use the Indian themed pieces with a good deal of versatility so far. I think 70 or scenery objects and 6 animals plus an exhibit or 2 would be perfect for something like this. I would personally choose:

  • Arabian leopard: This would be the flagship animal. I would actually prefer this over either the African or Amur species, just for it's more unique coloration and conservation status( though the Amur is also Critically Endangered)
  • Hamadryas baboon: We definitely need more Old-World primates and not having any baboons is pretty noticeable.
  • Scimitar oryx: This could also be the flagship animal, easily. It's a symbol for modern day conservation and would be the games first Extinct in Wild animal.
  • Arabian oryx: I think it would be hard to leave this out if we did get 6 animals. It's similar enough to the Scimitar oryx to lighten a little bit of the load for the dev team, and it's the national symbol of Oman.
  • Fennec fox: Another really big selling point for this dlc, as it's super popular and highly requested. Small canines are definitely lacking as of December 2020.
  • Caracal: We need more small cats, that is all.
    • Veiled Chameleon: If I think about Arabian reptiles, this is the first that comes to mind.
    • Some species of Arabian gecko: There are a lot to choose from, and it's a type of reptile we don't have yet.
 

nutrit

nutrit
I would just love that.
An Arabian DLC would be a dream come true for me but with more than just 4 habitat animals and some Moorish architecture pieces.

I would really like to see:
  • Arabian leopard
  • Stripped hyena
  • Fennec fox
  • Hamadryas baboon
  • Addax
  • Scimitar oryx
  • Arabian oryx
  • Mhorr gazelle
  • Barbary Sheep
  • Barbary Macaque
  • Caracal
  • Dromedary camel
 

iloveyourzoos

I
Would love more animals from the deserts.. both Arabian and the southwest United States. I have a feeling that we may get them too, being as the game has that as an under-utilized biome, and so many are quite iconic.
 

jcp011c

jcp011c
I think i"d love all the animals on your list, but it may be too locale specific to warrant having a full pack devoted to it and I'd say that for any country (minus Australia since it's an entire continent as well that was very lacking in the base game). I agree with the ideas of a desert pack though with some of these animals. I just feel like we may only have 3-9 packs left depending on how long they keep the new content coming (through just 2021 or through 2023- If we're very lucky) and I think it's a better idea to have either an entire biome or broader spectrum of locale represented in those packs.
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
nutrit said:
I would just love that.
An Arabian DLC would be a dream come true for me but with more than just 4 habitat animals and some Moorish architecture pieces.

I would really like to see:
  • Arabian leopard
  • Stripped hyena
  • Fennec fox
  • Hamadryas baboon
  • Addax
  • Scimitar oryx
  • Arabian oryx
  • Mhorr gazelle
  • Barbary Sheep
  • Barbary Macaque
  • Caracal
  • Dromedary camel
Click to expand...

The barbary macaque is not an Arabian animal - they live in scattered populations around North Africa and on the isle of Gibraltar. :)
 

FoxyDee

FoxyDee
I would buy anything that included fennec foxes. :p

I also like honey badgers, caracals, striped hyenas. I am not that interested in these types of ungulates, but I guess the pack would contain at least one, and perhaps a primate too.
 

ElectricMonk

ElectricMonk
Absolutely.... even the Middle East without NA is an ill defined term - including North Africa is certainly odd.. in general, lumping them together is a result of history, politics and religion rather than ecology or biology
 

Kamal

Kamal
Yeah I agree with you guys, then we definitely need a big Desert Biome DLC, 4+1 is for sure not enough at all
 

ElectricMonk

ElectricMonk
True. 4+1 isn’t enough for deserts, but it also wasn’t enough for Arctic, South America, or (especially) Australia.... that’s not necessarily a problem though, since animals from regions or biomes can be included in other packs e.g., the Aquatic pack has two South American species. Just because a (theoretical) pack might have 4+1 species (or subspecies) does not mean that that’s all the Arctic/South American/Australian/Aquatic/Desert/whatever species that will ever be released.
 

nutrit

nutrit
NZFanatic said:
The barbary macaque is not an Arabian animal - they live in scattered populations around North Africa and on the isle of Gibraltar. :)
Click to expand...

Technically Gibraltar is not an isle like you’ve said but the peninsula and Egypt like the rest of North Africa is also not the part of Arabia 🙂

So in that way of thinking we would have to exclude most of the animals listed before since animals of Arabian peninsula (technically Asia) are quite different from those of North Africa.

Anyway most of the people see Arabian region as whole Arabic countries but this is only the way of thinking about it and everyone is entitled to their own opinion about it. But on the other hand as a friend of many Moroccan people I can assure you that majority of them are not Berbers. That’s all. 😃
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom