Elephas Maximus
Well-Known Member
https://www.facebook.com/ZooTycoonGame/posts/489028274580332
Please complete the poll if you want a realistic Zoo Tycoon game at last, and share with friends!
This is OFFICIAL. And it WILL work, unlike several failed petitions.
1st question should be answered 'yes' (naturally), and last one is an empty form to write something more specific about the potential new game.
Here's my comment, containing features I regarded as important:
Please complete the poll if you want a realistic Zoo Tycoon game at last, and share with friends!
This is OFFICIAL. And it WILL work, unlike several failed petitions.
1st question should be answered 'yes' (naturally), and last one is an empty form to write something more specific about the potential new game.
Here's my comment, containing features I regarded as important:
Here's a wishlist (from a zoologist and dedicated ZT fan) containing features of a complex and realistic zoo game, which will please sophisticated players, not just children (remember that most of existing ZT community consists of teenagers, and there's a certain percent of adults too)
Hope at least something from this list would be implemented in the new game.
Most important and 100% necessary: possibility for user-created content (like in ZT2 and, well, Skyrim) So any of over a million species can be made (based on vanilla animals or modeled, coded & animated from scratch), or a new feature can be added.
For the 1st expansion of PC game, please add as many various species as possible, including less-known ones (to represent various higher taxa). Fish and marine mammals can be delayed for marine expansion.
Please avoid any cartoonishness! ZT Xbox had it, and it looked bad. Compare a tiger from this game and from Far Cry 4.
Exhibit building freedom should be like in ZT2, just with more realism - so we can create zoo exhibits that look like ones in real life. Grid units are better to be 1 meter for large exhibits (and lesser for small ones). Or a non-grid system can be developed?
Aquaria , terraria, aviaria, rainforest complexes with fully customizable size, shape and items position). And small tanks that are fit on tables and house such animals as large invertebrates!
Hybrid exhibits with ground & water (underwater view as well).
High-res ground, detailed grass and small plants.
Advanced landscaping options (including caves, waterfalls, 90-degree slopes for cliffs/pits). Customizing & sculpting of rocks.
Multi-llevel indoor exhibits (built from units), animal passages between indoor/outdoor exhibits. Keeper passages should be also planned.
Larger species should be able to be housed in buildings above 1st floor - there are real life examples in zoos (with big cats, apes, bears)
Realistic keeper interaction with animals. They better shouldn't work in direct contact with dangerous species.
The player can pick up animals to move them of course
Animals' interaction with items in their exhibit to maximum possible level (climbing, moving, playing, destroying), with trees (climbing, browsing, rubbing, uprooting), fences (climbing, shaking, making glass dirty), ground (burrowing species can escape if ground is not secured) and of course with visitors.
Customizable enrichment items and climbing structures (especially for primates!). So a whole unique system of ropes and branches can be installed, for primates or sloths to climb on.
Procedural animation for movements - it's very important! Especially for snakes. Repetitive movements quickly become very boring.
Realistic, anatomically-correct blinking, e.g. with 3rd eyelid if present. Advanced facial expressions. 3d teeth & tongues.
Realistic fur (support for Nvidia hairworks) - at better level than in Xbox game. Don't forget about fur for 'hairless' animals - elephants, hippos, rhinos - they do have noticeable hair! Even whales do!
Realistic quills for prickly mammals.
Bump-mapping
Realistic bird feathers (with animations like puffing up, raising crests), flight & movement (different flight patterns according to species group, perching to trees & exhibit items, catching live food, climbing for parrots, diving & water skimming for waterfowl, nest building, egg incubation, chick raising).
Don't forget about flying & gliding mammals such as bats, colugos, possums, flying squirrels - they deserve to be included in the game too!
Water interaction, rendering of wet skin and fur
Substrate physics, particles clinging to animals' skin (after the take dust or mud bath, or just became dirty without grooming)
Realistic day/night cycle, seasons and weather, animals reaction to the climate change in behavior (molting, hibernation, antler shedding). Indoor exhibits should be required for tropical animals in colder climates.
Species that are active at night should be housed in inverted day exhibits (with special lighting).
Realistic life cycle (physical mating - come on, Wildlife park series has it and nobody complains! And genitals - Schleich toys have them and have 0+ rating! Kids also see all this in real zoos and documentaries!!!), accurate birth, nursing, realistic-looking life stages from newborn to senile, pouches for marsupials.
Hierarchy for social animals, realistic herd/pack/family group behavior, family trees.
Intraspecific aggression between solitary animals (except breeding season).
Basic diseases, injuries and specific animations for them. (WLP3 considered it).
Blood. It's natural, not creepy.
Realistic poop (ZT2 had it
Possibiilties for failed pregnancy, infertility, abandoned offspring (due to lack of maternal instinct or stress).
Nurseries for animal offspring, incubators for eggs, fisheries for fish fries. Possibility of fostering a mammal/bird by conspecific or other suitable species, like it happens in real zoos. Human-raised female animals experience breeding problems in future.
Realistic death and decomposition of bodies (again, Wildlife Park games have this).
Options to have the dead animal to be fed to carnivores/sent for disposal/preserved as museum specimen (many real zoos have taxidermy/skeleton exhibits, and in Zt2 we had skeleotns beside living prehistoric animals)
Human injuries death should be also considered - this would learn kids how NOT to behave in zoo.
Visitors should be attacked by potentially aggressive species if they tease an animal, climb into the exhibit or stick hands through fence (security staff and signage should prevent this for some extent). Non-lethal attacks (camels spit, monkey throwing poop, animals lunging to secure fence/glass etc).
Possibility to sterilize (as in WLP2) or euthanize an animal.
Animals should perform stereotypic behaviors if they're housed in cramped and/or non-enriched environment (and the behavior continues for some time after conditions are improved).
Live food and facilities for breeding it (as well as plant farming)
Possibility for hybridization between subspecies and species (at least at basic level like in ZT2).
If possible, procedural generation of trees, deer antlers, and patterns for spotted/striped animals (so they're asymmetrical and non-repetitive).
Animal shows (educational only, with hand-raised animals, bird shows). Performing marine mammals are OK.
Animals should get a full spectrum of species-appropriate foods (rather than be satisfied with just one type of food, like in ZT2). So a monkey won't live happily eating nothing besides bananas.
Possibility of diseases from wrong diet or public feeding.
As much camera freedom as possible. High level of zooming in.
Ambient animals (birds, insects such as butterflies/bees/bumblebees) appropriate to climate where zoo map is. Flies being attracted by poop & corpses.
Synanthropic species for city zoos (rats, mice, pigeons, crows). They may get into the exhibits for food. and spread diseases (so can be controlled).
Etc...
