Making species plans. I’ve got spreadsheets, PowerPoints, Pinterest boards and screenshot folders and notes on my phone. I also have a planning save full of blueprints and templates. My husband bought me a whiteboard for design sketches.
I have a spreadsheet that maps out my geographical sections, then breaks those into biomes, then into my individual habitats. That links to another sheet with a breakdown of species in the habitat. They’re all colour coded to see which animals I will have breeding, on contraception or rotated to share a habitat to breed. Other colours show which animals have keeper talks, and which ones need multiple yards for realism. I have PowerPoints with the same info, but using the animal icons so that I can see how the animal combinations look together and how they look as a section.
I build templates with 100m squares and label them (e.g. Lions 1:3:12) to know that the space is designed for a male, 3 females and up to 12 cubs. I built back of house facilities to fit extra small, small, medium and large animals, of different types (carnivores, climbing, hoofstock, aquatic, ground) so that I can attach those to my habitats as shelter and realism.
It’s a bit insane, but it’s so satisfying. I love having a plan to work to.