It is amazing what some people can accomplish in this game, this all looks great!I've been planning this current zoo I'm making for a while now, since the Southeast Asia pack if I'm not mistaken. It's gone through several different iterations but I figured I'd share my current plan that I'm liking a lot.
It's kind of a huge plan and I'm sure lots of things will change as time goes on
I'm calling it the "San Ramentos Zoo" (subject to change) and it's intended to be based in California, very heavily inspired by the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, but not intended to be a replica or anything like that.
The green labels are things that I already have built, I built the Gibbon exhibit two days ago but I want to go back into the Tiger, Otter, and Babirusa exhibits and change the foliage to look a little nicer. I had a Clouded Leopard exhibit built but I deleted it because it was one of the first things I'd made and I figured it could stand to be updated. I'd also like to add in a third Tiger enclosure (there are already 2) and possibly another large structure with a restaurant nearby.
Once I wrap up fixing the whole Tiger Forest area I'm going to move onto the "Explorer's Basecamp" which will be the sort of Children's Zoo area. I plan on having the Insect Zoo's interior resemble the inside of a fallen log, so it'll appear as if you've shrunken down to the size of a bug! (Who knows if I'll be able to accomplish that, though)
I really wish we had Sumatran Tigers because it would 1) be more accurate to the area I'm building, and 2) the current Tiger models look... questionable... at times.
Additionally the red text saying "Patagonia Trek" and "Southern Swamps" would be areas based on Patagonia and the Everglades respectively, I just haven't found places for them yetFeedback is appreciated!
What do you want to do in Planet Zoo
- Thread starter KönigDerKaffeebohnen
- Start date
Thank you so much! It's the culmination of many, many, many unfinished zoos where I gave up soon after building the entrance and a few habitats, hoping I actually end up finishing this one
Very grateful to ZooChat for having so many reference photos, and all the creators on YouTube with tips and tricks for making more realistic zoos, wouldn't be able to do this without those!
Currently resurrecting my sandbox project that I was stalling on for the last few months due to the classic unsure how to start after I made a parking lot and entrance. It's loosely based off the Bronx Zoo, which houses two species currently (Saki, American Flamingo). So, here's a loose idea of what I have in mind, hopefully it all fits into a single park -
Entrance Hall - frogs, nile monitor, komodo dragon or gift shop, aladabra tortoises outside
Plaza area - Madagascar house: ring tailed lemur/aldabra tortoises mixed, red ruffed lemur, sifaka, fossa, saltie croc (as placeholder for nile croc), exhibits x 2tt
Bird House: kiwi, little penguin
Night House: cuviers caiman, pangolin, sand cat, skunk, aardvark, spiders, egyptian fruit bat
On the outskirts of this central area are some filler spaces until the themed areas -
Capuchin Monkey
Bears - Grizzly Bear, Spectacled Bear
Swan lake
Sea lions
American Flamingo
Ungulate row - Bison, Bactrian Camels, Llamas, Red & fallow deer
Children's Zoo -Saki monkey, Fennec fox, alligator, Prairie dog, anteater
Farm Zone - chickens, tamworth pig, goats, sheep, llamas/alpacas mixed
African forest Trail
African leopard, Mandrill/Red River Hog mixed, okapi, Western lowland gorilla, exhibits (goliath frog & beetle)
African Plains
Mixed #1; ostrich, giraffe, zebra, gazelle
Mixed #2: Ayala, white rhino
Spotted hyena, lions, painted dog, +/- hamadryas baboon
Asia PT 1: Red crowned crane, snow leopard, red panda, siberian tiger
Asia PT 2: Indoor Habitat - JungleDome - komodo dragon (figured this could be an alt location for them vs the entrance hall), asian water monitor, clouded leopard, Malayan Tapir & Proboscis monkey, Lar gibbon & ASCO, binturong, exhibits x 2
Asia PT 3: Outdoor monorail - Bactrian camel/P- horse, markhor/takin, bengal tiger, dhole, indian elephant, indian rhino/wild water buffalo/peafowl, babirusa
Hope you all enjoy, Happy gaming!
Entrance Hall - frogs, nile monitor, komodo dragon or gift shop, aladabra tortoises outside
Plaza area - Madagascar house: ring tailed lemur/aldabra tortoises mixed, red ruffed lemur, sifaka, fossa, saltie croc (as placeholder for nile croc), exhibits x 2tt
Bird House: kiwi, little penguin
Night House: cuviers caiman, pangolin, sand cat, skunk, aardvark, spiders, egyptian fruit bat
On the outskirts of this central area are some filler spaces until the themed areas -
Capuchin Monkey
Bears - Grizzly Bear, Spectacled Bear
Swan lake
Sea lions
American Flamingo
Ungulate row - Bison, Bactrian Camels, Llamas, Red & fallow deer
Children's Zoo -Saki monkey, Fennec fox, alligator, Prairie dog, anteater
Farm Zone - chickens, tamworth pig, goats, sheep, llamas/alpacas mixed
African forest Trail
African leopard, Mandrill/Red River Hog mixed, okapi, Western lowland gorilla, exhibits (goliath frog & beetle)
African Plains
Mixed #1; ostrich, giraffe, zebra, gazelle
Mixed #2: Ayala, white rhino
Spotted hyena, lions, painted dog, +/- hamadryas baboon
Asia PT 1: Red crowned crane, snow leopard, red panda, siberian tiger
Asia PT 2: Indoor Habitat - JungleDome - komodo dragon (figured this could be an alt location for them vs the entrance hall), asian water monitor, clouded leopard, Malayan Tapir & Proboscis monkey, Lar gibbon & ASCO, binturong, exhibits x 2
Asia PT 3: Outdoor monorail - Bactrian camel/P- horse, markhor/takin, bengal tiger, dhole, indian elephant, indian rhino/wild water buffalo/peafowl, babirusa
Hope you all enjoy, Happy gaming!
I visited the Bronx Zoo last autumn, such an amazing park with incredible exhibits. I've contemplated taking inspo from it for my own Planet Zoo projects as well.
You should post some photos here on the forums once you get started on it! Definitely seems like a solid plan I'd be interested in seeing!
I'm not a "creator" but I'll give you one tip a lot of those "realistic" builders miss - multiple habitats for antisocial species, e.g. tigers. Zoos that breed tigers (even some that don't but keep multiple) have a habitat for the male and one for the female, connected via backstage access or skybridges and the like. For some reason a lot of the YouTubers don't do this, or they'll suggest that the animals will be permanently rotated on/off display using the backstage holding pens (not feasible or within acceptable welfare standards).
Most YouTubers that build realistic habitats stick to front stage realistic for multiple reasons, for example time and piece count. Most zoos I have been to actually don't show two seperate enclosures but do have the second enclosure backstage - and those are usually not shown anywhere publicly, most definately because of questionable wellfare standards. Hagenbecks Walruss rotation is one of those horrible examples.
So unless you befriend a zookeeper, are one yourself or have any other way of actually seeing backstage stuff, it's just not feaseable for most people to build backstage-hyper-realistic stuff, even if time and piece count aren't a thing.
Honestly, it would be nice to have this option in PZ2 as a different form of management and contraception. Obviously optional, to not overwhelm players. It would most definately require multiple habitat gates and a "connection gate" for the animals that can be opened and closed.
AND we would have to get rid of the stupid guess thought of "Oh, another tiger, I already have seen one of those."
AND we would have to get rid of the stupid guess thought of "Oh, another tiger, I already have seen one of those."
Funnily enough I’ve already been keeping this in mind! The Sumatran Tiger exhibit I’m making will have 4 separate outdoor areas (one of those off-view to guests) connected by an indoor holding space (which will be pretty low-detail given guests won't see it)
But thank you for the tip, I'd assumed multiple habitats for one species was primarily to avoid male aggression towards young animals in the event breeding took place, as that’s what I’d seen going on at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park's Tiger exhibit (what I’m loosely basing the exhibits off of). I hadn’t fully considered any other reasons for it so this will be a good to keep in mind for other habitats I build.
I'm not talking about backstage areas - modern zoos have whole-ass habitats for off-display animals these days (or should). Sometimes those habitats are behind the scenes, but they still exist. IMO anything that would be visible via Google Maps ought to be in your zoo if you're trying to build a realistic zoo. I don't do interiors because it's a waste of time, but I'll always have at least two habitats if I'm breeding tigers, bears, elephants, and so on.
Edit: In fact, a lot of the creators who don't do what I'm suggesting actually do put a stupid amount of detail into interior backstage areas - they just inexplicably miss the fact that you absolutely should not keep an unrelated male and female tiger together outside of breeding season (or bear or whatever).
I only see what species and subspecies do and will this game feature all together. I never bought and play that game.
Need some inspiration for this area. It is located in my South American (Colombian species only) area. First I wanted to fill it up with the American flamingo, but I find the shelter too small for a big flock. The area can be rebuild, so please don't mind the pond, that can be removed.
Currently I have the following (larges) species already in the area: collared peccary, Colombian white-faced capucin, capybara, Baird's tapir, Cuvier's dwarf caiman, ocelot, nine-banded armadillo. What do you think I could add in this area?
Currently I have the following (larges) species already in the area: collared peccary, Colombian white-faced capucin, capybara, Baird's tapir, Cuvier's dwarf caiman, ocelot, nine-banded armadillo. What do you think I could add in this area?
Going with the previous conversation you could do a secondary exhibit for ocelot.Need some inspiration for this area. It is located in my South American (Colombian species only) area. First I wanted to fill it up with the American flamingo, but I find the shelter too small for a big flock. The area can be rebuild, so please don't mind the pond, that can be removed.
Currently I have the following (larges) species already in the area: collared peccary, Colombian white-faced capucin, capybara, Baird's tapir, Cuvier's dwarf caiman, ocelot, nine-banded armadillo. What do you think I could add in this area?
Or as you seemingly already have all in game animals in that would fit here, you could do an implied exhibit for coati and hope we get them in the next dlc.
Interesting, why is that if I can ask?
What about giant otters? They do live on the Colombian part of the Amazon region and you could even use the water pond then, just make it deeper. Not sure if it's big enough though.Need some inspiration for this area. It is located in my South American (Colombian species only) area. First I wanted to fill it up with the American flamingo, but I find the shelter too small for a big flock. The area can be rebuild, so please don't mind the pond, that can be removed.
Currently I have the following (larges) species already in the area: collared peccary, Colombian white-faced capucin, capybara, Baird's tapir, Cuvier's dwarf caiman, ocelot, nine-banded armadillo. What do you think I could add in this area?
Edit: or like @Marvinb suggested, build a second habitat for the ocelot.
I have to add though that in older zoos or outdated areas, respectively, you often do not find a second (outdoor) habitat for these mentioned species although from a modern point of view they should have.
Berlin for example, both Zoo and Tierpark, still have only one outdoor habitat for their tigers - and the Tierpark even only offers one indoor habitat (despite the fact it was already renovated recently). But they have multiple (probably very small) off-show cages behind the scenes. In Hagenbeck's Tierpark in Hamburg they had to lock a female polar bear with her newborn cub indoor for more than half a year (until the male was moved to another zoo) because they do not have a second polar bear habitat (and the enclosure was newly built 10 years ago). The relatively new tiger enclosure in Hanover Zoo also only offers one outdoor enclosure. And I could think of more examples.
What I want to say: although you are completely right that with modern standards a lot of animals need at least two proper habitats, there are still more than enough examples in reallife zoos which do not keep up with these standards, even unfortunately in some new or renovated habitats. That said you can totaly build an area for e.g. a tiger or leopard with only on proper outdoor habitat in PZ and it's still realistic - if you are adding several backstage/indoor cages (what Cesar Creates for example does). Especially if you want to recreate and old classical zoo.
Yes, the setting of the giant panda in the game is a big mistake.In China, except for a few zoos and institutions, adult giant pandas are generally kept strictly in accordance with the "solitary" standard. But... some institutions do put underage individuals on display together, mainly because tourists like it.
In this regard, the design of the Leipzig Zoo is very interesting. Their tiger exhibition area has four small activity areas of about 100 square meters and the animal house built together, forming the main backstage. This design is really rare.
Maybe it's because of the game settings, or the lack of features, or it's too time-consuming. But when I build a habitat for cats, I usually build multiple outdoor activity areas for them to use.
This is a comprehensive exhibition area with tigers as the star species. I built 9 activity areas for tigers, 7 of which are for tourists to watch, and 2 for tigers with cubs or old age, or for some rotation.
And this is a habitat built for leopards, snow leopards and lynxes. There are a total of 15 activity areas, 10 of which are for tourists to watch, 7 are outdoor, and 3 are indoor. The remaining 5 are for cubs or old individuals, or for some rotation.