What species are left to be added?

bhoefert · Sep 15, 2021

Frontier has consistently said that the base game will release with 75+ species. I'm assuming that this means the base game (without the Deluxe edition) will have between 76-79 species (otherwise they would just say 80 species).

From the gameplay footage of the development build, it appears that the Dr. Wu hybrids are returning. I think it is therefore safe to say that every dinosaur from JWE 1 will be returning for the base game, expect Huayangosaurus, which will be available only with the Deluxe edition. There were 68 species in JWE 1, minus Huayangosaurus, so 67.

The new base game species which have been confirmed are:

Amargasaurus
Coelophysis
Qianzhousaurus
Dimorphodon
Cearadactylus
Tropeognathus
Mosasaurus
Plesiosaurus
Ichthyosaurus

This brings the total of base game species to 76.

There are 8 weeks left until release. Frontier has been releasing species field guides in a new species then returning species then new species pattern. This would leave ample time for 3 more new species to be introduced.

Do you think new species are yet to be introduced? If so, what do you think they will be? I think there will be at least one new marine reptile because there are 4 base game pterosaurs but only 3 base game marine reptiles so far announced. My money is on Liopleorodon.

What do all of you think?

UPDATE:

The three new species are Tylosaurus (maybe?), Liopleurodon, and Elasmosaurus. This would bring the base game roster to 79, and the deluxe version to 84. I think these are the final 3 species.

Dark_Ansem · Sep 15, 2021

I wish we got 2 species field guide per week

DragonNTiger · Sep 15, 2021

A lot if assumptions in this topic; still nothing concrete that says every animal is returning or that the Wu hybrids are coming back.

Pretty sure we're getting one more aquatic animal, not just to make them equal to the fliers, but because there's a medium aquatic class and from the looks of it, none of the revealed animals conform to it... I'm gonna guess a pliosaur, maybe Kronosaurus.

Dark_Ansem said:
I wish we got 2 species field guide per week

I just wish they'd focus on unrevealed animals... seeing T-rex in action was nice, but we knew it was included before the game was even announced.

Dark_Ansem · Sep 15, 2021

DragonNTiger said:
A lot if assumptions in this topic; still nothing concrete that says every animal is returning or that the Wu hybrids are coming back.

Pretty sure we're getting one more aquatic animal, not just to make them equal to the fliers, but because there's a medium aquatic class and from the looks of it, none of the revealed animals conform to it... I'm gonna guess a pliosaur, maybe Kronosaurus.

I just wish they'd focus on unrevealed animals... seeing T-rex in action was nice, but we knew it was included before the game was even announced.

But not that she would be able to pair up

bhoefert · Sep 15, 2021

DragonNTiger said:
A lot if assumptions in this topic; still nothing concrete that says every animal is returning or that the Wu hybrids are coming back.

Yes a lot of assumptions, but solid evidence behind all of them.

One of the gameplay videos on YouTube showed that the Struthiomimus disliked "Dr. Wu Hybrids." There were other references in the gameplay video to the Indominus Rex so I'm assuming that the Dr. Wu hybrids refers to Ankylodocus and Stegaceratops and not just the Indominus Rex and Indoraptor (and why would Struthiomimus be housed with them anyway.)

With the Dr. Wu hybrids (a JWE 1 DLC addition) coming back, I think it's extremely likely this means all the dinosaurs are returning. All the models are already made, it wouldn't make sense not to use them again.

Also, there's the fact that the number of JWE 1 species minus Huayangosauru (67) plus the revealed new species (9) just so happens to equal the number of species Frontier has been saying JWE 2 would have (76, or "more than 75" as Frontier has been saying).

DragonNTiger · Sep 15, 2021

If I recall correctly, the Indominus leak comes from an Amargasaurus; keeping an Amargasaurus away from an Indominus (or any reasonably large carnivore) is something that shouldn't need to be said, but there it is. With that in mind, the phrase "Dr. Wu hybrids" could easily mean Indominus and Indoraptor and nothing else.

The fact that the Huayangosaurus is DLC could be a hint that other previous animals will be DLC as well.

The fact that 9 new animals on top of all the old ones fits nicely into the number of animals they said will be in the game could be a coincidence... it's definitely an assumption.

Thylaco · Sep 16, 2021

In terms of animals revealed before launch, the maximum seems like 4 more new ones, I'd consider 1 the minimum.

It's pretty much guaranteed we won't know at least a few species before release (minimum 2 I think), nothing to explore on that front would leave most people following disappointed for sure. (It's also the reason we'll likely not know the final biome either)

In terms of JWE1 species returning, it looks like the intention is to save a chunk to be "easy" DLC additions in future, I'd think maybe 5 or 6 species won't be at launch.

bhoefert · Sep 16, 2021

Thylaco said:
It's pretty much guaranteed we won't know at least a few species before release (minimum 2 I think), nothing to explore on that front would leave most people following disappointed for sure. (It's also the reason we'll likely not know the final biome either)

In terms of JWE1 species returning, it looks like the intention is to save a chunk to be "easy" DLC additions in future, I'd think maybe 5 or 6 species won't be at launch.

True, that is another possibility. Reserving the least popular dinosaurs from JWE 1 for paid DLC seems like an odd choice though, since the goal of DLC is to sell it.

The final biome is going to be Pacific West Coast / Redwood forest. That's the only biome that makes any sense. Giant conifers look great next to dinosaurs, and the Pacific Northwest is where all of the dinosaurs escaped at the end of Fallen Kingdom. It's also the filming location for most of JP 2.

Xplodenator · Sep 16, 2021

bhoefert said:
True, that is another possibility. Reserving the least popular dinosaurs from JWE 1 for paid DLC seems like an odd choice though, since the goal of DLC is to sell it.

The final biome is going to be Pacific West Coast / Redwood forest. That's the only biome that makes any sense. Giant conifers look great next to dinosaurs, and the Pacific Northwest is where all of the dinosaurs escaped at the end of Fallen Kingdom. It's also the filming location for most of JP 2.

Isnt that the Taiga biome we already have?

bhoefert · Sep 16, 2021

Xplodenator said:
Isnt that the Taiga biome we already have?

No. The Pacific West Coast is a coastal temperate biome where it doesn't snow. The taiga is in Canada and Alaska. They both have conifer trees but the conifers in the taiga are pine and spruce. Redwood and sequoia are found in the temperate rainforests of the west coast.

dinoman9877 · Sep 16, 2021

bhoefert said:
Yes a lot of assumptions, but solid evidence behind all of them.

One of the gameplay videos on YouTube showed that the Struthiomimus disliked "Dr. Wu Hybrids." There were other references in the gameplay video to the Indominus Rex so I'm assuming that the Dr. Wu hybrids refers to Ankylodocus and Stegaceratops and not just the Indominus Rex and Indoraptor (and why would Struthiomimus be housed with them anyway.)

With the Dr. Wu hybrids (a JWE 1 DLC addition) coming back, I think it's extremely likely this means all the dinosaurs are returning. All the models are already made, it wouldn't make sense not to use them again.

Also, there's the fact that the number of JWE 1 species minus Huayangosauru (67) plus the revealed new species (9) just so happens to equal the number of species Frontier has been saying JWE 2 would have (76, or "more than 75" as Frontier has been saying).

The Huayango is unfortunately the best evidence we have not all species are returning from JWE 1. Arbitrarily adding in something from the previous game as DLC is already nonsensical, but it would be blatantly greedy to do so if all the other species are returning.

I find it most likely that they've cut several species and are gonna try to shoehorn them into future DLCs.

bhoefert · Sep 16, 2021

I thought maybe the Huayangosaurus was the least-released dinosaur from JWE 1 and maybe that is why they were doing that. I did think it was a little unnecessary that JWE 1 included three Jurassic stegosaurids from East Asia (Gigantospinosaurus, Chunkingosaurus, and Huayangosaurus) when probably one would have been fine. Personally, Huayangosaurus was my favorite of the three.

It just seems highly unlikely to me that we would get the Dr. Wu hybrids and, at least when purchasing the Deluxe Edition, we wouldn't have every other dinosaur returning. Personally, I would have preferred if they would have gotten rid of Ankylodocus, Spinoraptor, and Stegoceratops to allow room for more real dinosaurs.

Gondwana · Sep 16, 2021

bhoefert said:
Also, there's the fact that the number of JWE 1 species minus Huayangosauru (67) plus the revealed new species (9) just so happens to equal the number of species Frontier has been saying JWE 2 would have (76, or "more than 75" as Frontier has been saying).

We already know that there will be at least one more entirely new species (probably more than one). This is from Jens in the T. Rex SFG thread:

Jens Erik said:
There are more dinosaurs for us to show you in the coming weeks and months. Be prepared to see both new and familiar faces as we highlight a small portion of the ancient animals you will be able to bioengineer in Jurassic World Evolution 2. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all things Jurassic World Evolution 2!

So if all JWE1 dinos indeed come back, then that means there will be more than 76 in total (Deluxe dinos excluded)

bhoefert · Sep 16, 2021

Gondwana said:
We already know that there will be at least one more entirely new species (probably more than one). This is from Jens in the T. Rex SFG thread:

True, good catch! As DragonNTiger said above, there was the icon of a medium-sized marine reptile shown during the development build playthroughs that none of the current species seem to match. So I think it's almost guaranteed we will have 77 species. DragonNTiger suspected Kronosaurus and I suspected Liopleurodon. Either is as likely as the other I suppose. Either way I suspect a medium-sized pliosaur of some variety.

Also, JWE 1 released with 37 species for the non-deluxe edition so maybe JWE 2 goes with 77? Hopefully there are a few more!

Gondwana · Sep 16, 2021

I hope so too. I believe that we'll end up with 78 or 79. That's the possible maximum for the base game excluding Deluxe. Hopefully some of the "older" ones will get cut, like the hybrids you mentioned, so we get some brand new and unique species.

Thylaco · Sep 17, 2021

bhoefert said:
True, that is another possibility. Reserving the least popular dinosaurs from JWE 1 for paid DLC seems like an odd choice though, since the goal of DLC is to sell it.

The final biome is going to be Pacific West Coast / Redwood forest. That's the only biome that makes any sense. Giant conifers look great next to dinosaurs, and the Pacific Northwest is where all of the dinosaurs escaped at the end of Fallen Kingdom. It's also the filming location for most of JP 2.

I'd say Huayangosaurus is probably one of the more popular stegos (Chunkingosaurus has people mad at it for not being Tuojiangosaurus & Gigantspinosaurus is just a forgettable face in my opinion).

In the dino data thread, there's a clear bias towards early unlocks and how many were made (the top 5 except Velociraptor are from the first island), if those stats were used without any adjustment, Huayangosaurus probably looks like the most popular Stegosaurid.

Struthiomimus is number one, so that's the main reason the stat might not be influential, but Edmontosaurus was the only other DLC-able in the top 5, so I'd keep an eye out.

As to biome, I'd argue a yellow grass savanna has potential, the terrain is more distinctly different from the others and it's found in Texas. I do see the point though, you can't really do 1997 Sorna without something, but I do feel like it could be approximated pretty well with Taiga minus the snow, at least the game trail scene.

DragonNTiger · Sep 17, 2021

Thylaco said:
Gigantspinosaurus is just a forgettable face in my opinion.

I fail to see what's forgettable about those massive shoulder spikes and unique plate arrangement...

Thylaco · Sep 17, 2021

DragonNTiger said:
I fail to see what's forgettable about those massive shoulder spikes and unique plate arrangement...

That should be enough, but it just didn't leave much of an impression on me, I even forgot it was in the game for a while.

Part of that might be the context of being the third stegosaur in a site, part of it might be the similar skin pattern to Huayangosaurus.

DragonNTiger · Sep 17, 2021

Thylaco said:
Part of that might be the context of being the third stegosaur in a site

Putting Huayangosaurus into the same dig site as Gigantspino and Chungkingo was dumb; in life they were found in different layers of rock and from what we know didn't co-exist... then again, they added Dilophosaurus to the same site, which isn't true to life either...

bhoefert · Sep 17, 2021

Thylaco said:
As to biome, I'd argue a yellow grass savanna has potential, the terrain is more distinctly different from the others and it's found in Texas. I do see the point though, you can't really do 1997 Sorna without something, but I do feel like it could be approximated pretty well with Taiga minus the snow, at least the game trail scene.

Savanna would definitely be a possibility for worldwide biomes. But as I understand it, the campaign is in North America. Tall-grass prairie would be a possibility, but all of the dinosaurs have at least some forest need, so a grass prairie biome wouldn't make much sense. I'm telling you, the only option I can see left is Pacific/coastal/whatever you want to call it, but it will be on the West Coast and it will have redwood trees. Can't have a dinosaur game without giant redwood trees.