Zoos that cover the entire map / has every animal

[BiologicalHorror]

I want to try to build an all animal zoo in franchise mode and after reading this thread I’m debating if I should split the major areas into their own zoo but pretend they are all the same for the sake of performance. Has anyone tried doing this?

I’m worried I’ll get so far in and it will become unplayable. I guess if/when that happens I could split it across multiple zoos then …just thinking out loud lol

 

[Marvinb]

I want to try to build an all animal zoo in franchise mode and after reading this thread I’m debating if I should split the major areas into their own zoo but pretend they are all the same for the sake of performance. Has anyone tried doing this?

I’m worried I’ll get so far in and it will become unplayable. I guess if/when that happens I could split it across multiple zoos then …just thinking out loud lol

Ive seen a couple zoos that are split in two by a river or traintrack, so that could be an option. I think the train track idea especially could work pretty well, make it the border of your zoo and make it elevated so you cant see over it and do a tunnel that leads to the other side of the zoo, or new map in this case

 

[Xrystal]

I think one of the reasons people end up restarting a new build is because with every build we learn more and realise what we can do differently and better?

Definitely the case.
I've learnt that info sales are a good money maker.. but .. only when near the entrance. So I usually place 3 or 4 near the main entrance and watch the money climb before I do anything major.
I've also learnt that transport waits until passengers go through the exit gate before they let those at the entrance gate get on the vehicle.
And this is after playing since the game came out. Always something new to learn.

 

[Captain Callum]

I want to try to build an all animal zoo in franchise mode and after reading this thread I’m debating if I should split the major areas into their own zoo but pretend they are all the same for the sake of performance. Has anyone tried doing this?

I’m worried I’ll get so far in and it will become unplayable. I guess if/when that happens I could split it across multiple zoos then …just thinking out loud lol

I'm going to be splitting my Calgary zoo recreation in half because there is a large river between the north and South sections connected by bridges. The split will be something like half a bridge across the river then I'll continue onwards on the next map, making the other half of the bridge. Each side will have 30 or so habitats allowing for much better performance compared to a 50-60 habitat zoo.

You could do a very similar thing across multiple zoos for an all animals zoo without running into the risk of awful performance.

 

[Xrystal]

Ive seen a couple zoos that are split in two by a river or traintrack, so that could be an option. I think the train track idea especially could work pretty well, make it the border of your zoo and make it elevated so you cant see over it and do a tunnel that leads to the other side of the zoo, or new map in this case

That is a cool idea. *Ponders on the possibility of my world zoo but designed to fit over multiple zoos .. * When I've finished the alphabets and working on the continent/biome zoos I might start planning a 3 x 3 huge multiple zoo .. zoo. Africa bottom centre, Northern Europe top centre, Central America west centre, Australia and New Zealand bottom right. Yes .. it could work. The borders of the zoo could be mountains or oceans/rivers etc.

 

[Tinou97]

I also plan to build a very big zoo with space for all species but I plan to remove the animals of the zones that I will be finished with, one zone after another. I have a good computer but I think the game performance still won't be great that way. And tbh there is a question I'm often asking myself. What do you think impacts the most the performance of the game between terraforming and buildings construction? I asked because I first did a zoo in which I made some kind of mountains and I also put a lot of water (the idea was to make something natural) but the game didn't take it very well. So now I plan to do a classic zoo with less water and very little relief but I plan to have more buildings. Do you think it is better that way? Have you already experienced both?

Plus I plan to upgrade my computer configuration this summer. I don't know much about computers, I don't even know what parts need to be changed to improve a computer's performance, but I'm going to trust my IT friends.

 

[Xrystal]

I also plan to build a very big zoo with space for all species but I plan to remove the animals of the zones that I will be finished with, one zone after another. I have a good computer but I think the game performance still won't be great that way. And tbh there is a question I'm often asking myself. What do you think impacts the most the performance of the game between terraforming and buildings construction? I asked because I first did a zoo in which I made some kind of mountains and I also put a lot of water (the idea was to make something natural) but the game didn't take it very well. So now I plan to do a classic zoo with less water and very little relief but I plan to have more buildings. Do you think it is better that way? Have you already experienced both?

Plus I plan to upgrade my computer configuration this summer. I don't know much about computers, I don't even know what parts need to be changed to improve a computer's performance, but I'm going to trust my IT friends.

Several years back water was a major issue. I think that was the main reason ( outside of sheer numbers ) that was causing my issues. I have got a better computer than I had back then so maybe that's why I am not having as much of an issue now as I was then with similar sized habitats.

 

[Captain Callum]

I also plan to build a very big zoo with space for all species but I plan to remove the animals of the zones that I will be finished with, one zone after another. I have a good computer but I think the game performance still won't be great that way. And tbh there is a question I'm often asking myself. What do you think impacts the most the performance of the game between terraforming and buildings construction? I asked because I first did a zoo in which I made some kind of mountains and I also put a lot of water (the idea was to make something natural) but the game didn't take it very well. So now I plan to do a classic zoo with less water and very little relief but I plan to have more buildings. Do you think it is better that way? Have you already experienced both?

Plus I plan to upgrade my computer configuration this summer. I don't know much about computers, I don't even know what parts need to be changed to improve a computer's performance, but I'm going to trust my IT friends.

I would say terraforming especially when including very large mountains and water can have a larger impact initially. The game does struggle to calculate massive bodies of water but has got better with several patches addressing issues with water calculation. If you can avoid making 100,000m2 + bodies of water then the game will thank you for it. However, once building drags on into the latter stages of the zoo, building construction pieces will be noticeable enough as all the textures and shadows getting processed will slow down performance. I would say having more building but less terrain work is a better plan as a great zoo project always benefits from more realistic looking areas which include lots of buildings and backstage stuff rather than just a massive body of water.

 

[Marvinb]

If you can avoid making 100,000m2 + bodies of water then the game will thank you for it.

Me who wants to build a seaside zoo on the diorama map next:

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

So this is my zoo ive been working on somewhere between 100-200 hours on, not super sure but important is since the europe pack, so ive only been working on and of on only one zoo for the last 2 years.
Id say im an above average builder in detail and not super slow while building and i still have only coverd ~1/5 of the map (i outlined with sand) and i havent even completly filled in all that space i have build on.
My zoo currently has 32 habitats and 7 exhibits, covering 49 Species, so still quite the large zoo.
Nothing close to full map, not even in ambition as my plan is ~1/3 of the map once im done, but it also still runs smooth even with animals.

 

[Xrystal]

I would say terraforming especially when including very large mountains and water can have a larger impact initially. The game does struggle to calculate massive bodies of water but has got better with several patches addressing issues with water calculation. If you can avoid making 100,000m2 + bodies of water then the game will thank you for it. However, once building drags on into the latter stages of the zoo, building construction pieces will be noticeable enough as all the textures and shadows getting processed will slow down performance. I would say having more building but less terrain work is a better plan as a great zoo project always benefits from more realistic looking areas which include lots of buildings and backstage stuff rather than just a massive body of water.

So .. Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean elements of my world zoo .. just show a part of it right ? rofl.
A very rough simple sketch showing what I was thinking of .. my world zoo had africa almost there but then gave up on the rest rofl. Even a 5 x 4 map might not be big enough. Although, some of those grids will be non zoos being just water rofl.

 

[Xrystal]

Well, I just checked the fps for my A zoo as it was feeling sluggish and it is running at 17fps. And that's just habitats for the A animals.

 

[CaprinemasterAT]

So this is my biggest zoo. I don’t think, I will use all this space. Currently it has around 30 habitats, but it goes still pretty well.

 

[Xrystal]

So this is my biggest zoo. I don’t think, I will use all this space. Currently it has around 30 habitats, but it goes still pretty well.View attachment 392231

Yeah, I am wondering if fps is only a factor when something is in view. Maybe having animals spaced out, will mean less fancy animal animations to add to the mix. That's one of the reasons I was planning on expanding my Alphabet Zoos once all the animals were in and money was very high to cater for the cost of expanding out.

So .. Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean elements of my world zoo .. just show a part of it right ? rofl.
A very rough simple sketch showing what I was thinking of .. my world zoo had africa almost there but then gave up on the rest rofl. Even a 5 x 4 map might not be big enough. Although, some of those grids will be non zoos being just water rofl.

Well I found a useful map guide for my world map kind of layout zoo at https://www.surfertoday.com/environment/maps-of-the-world
And tried cutting it up into grids of 200, 100 and finally 50 pixels. Things still didn't look right and tried a freeform 100 pixel segments so that mostly land is inside the square.
Now I play in franchise so the initial entrance point is fixed to a degree. So I would have to use that as one of the connection points between map segments and add more as I go. The entrance/exit portals will just give the impression they are travelling between them.
I have attached them all in case anyone is interested in a similar thing.