Planet Zoo is ??a very good game for very go?od people, but disaster can strike at any moment.

If you've played the original Zoo Tycoon series and Frontier's previous sim title, Planet Coaster, you'll have a decent idea of what to expect from Planet Zoo. That said, this game has its own quirks.

To help you cut it as a zoo manager, I've assembled tips �/span> from keyboard shortcuts to obscure menus to financial advice �/span> that would've made life easier for me. Hopefully, they'll work wonders for you too??.

General tips for Planet Zoo

Here are the best general tips for Planet Zoo:

• From time to time, other players' avatars will come visit your zoo. Big tip: this isn't just for show! It's super easy to overlook, but you can actually earn conservation credits â€?/span> a coveted resource used to get new animals from the Animal Market â€?just by saying hi to these VIPs. Whenever you see a "visiting player" alert on the left-hand side of the UI, click it, and then you'll get a prompt to greet them. Your reward? 20 credits!
• Note: you'll need to have an online connection to see visiting players, and there's a daily limit on how many conservation credits you can pile up this way. It's worth the trouble.
• You can also get credits from daily logins. Click "Franchise" from the main menu.
• If it seems like there's a way to visit other zoos, well, there isn't â€?not really. Your best bet is to take a look at the Steam Workshop where users can upload their custom-made items, many of which are as detailed as the official assets. I'd love for Frontier Developments to implement a hassle-free system that lets players tour zoos up-close.

• To earn more conservation credits (and to feel better about yourself), consider breeding and releasing critically endangered species: the Bornean orangutan, Chinese pangolin, gharial, Himalayan brown bear, Lehmann's poison frog, Lesser Antillean iguana, red ruffed lemur, West African lion, western chimpanzee, and western lowland gorilla.
• It's possible to breed an albino baby, but it's up to chance. There's even an achievement.

Best building tips for Planet Zoo

Here are the best tips for build??ing in Planet Zoo:

• You can add cool-looking windows to your wood, brick, and concrete walls (just to name a few). To do so, click on a wall or habitat, then hit "edit barrier," and look near the bottom right of your screen for a "Window" option. From here, you can toggle glass windows on and off, and â€?/span> once researched by Mechanics â€?/span> even use one-way glass.

• As for making barriers climb-proof, many walls are inherently resistant to would-be climbers (you can hover your mouse over a barrier type to see this info). But for habitat barriers like Wood Logs, one of my personal favorite designs, you can stop animals from climbing out by heading into the "edit barrier" menu, clicking on the right-hand tab found toward the bottom of your screen, and selecting one of the "Climb Proof" options. Just be sure to choose the correct direction (pick "both" if you're unsure).

• Do you prefer building paths on a grid? Same! And there's a way to do in Planet Zoo. First, with the path-laying tool open, you'll want to click "Align to Grid" at the bottom of your screen â€?doing so wil??l give your cursor a blue grid. You'll then need to click on an existing path or building in your zoo to sample it as a point of reference. Once you do that, you're free to plop down perfectly-spaced paths to your heart's content.

• Want a more believable-looking zoo? You can make elevated pathways and stairs using the keyboard shortcuts "u" and "j" to raise/lower a pathway while the path building tool is active. Alternatively, you can click to lay down a path, continue holding the left mouse button down, and drag your mouse up to raise the walkway.

• Okay, so say you made an ugly walkway. Say you want to get rid of all the evidence and take out the witnesses. How do you go about that? To delete a path, open up the path tool (from the bottom) and just click "Delete Path" â€?you can then erase by clicking.
• Bonus tip: you can remove water much th??e same way (or by clicking your scroll wheel).

• Are you getting a "terrain modification failed" error when you try to place paths? This was driving me nuts too. Try turning off the "Flatten Terrain" and "Tunneling" toggles inside the path-laying menu. If you still can't make new paths that connect to your existing ones, try deleting the original path and starting again with those options off.

• There's a trick to get your barriers/fences to sit nicely near your paths. The toggle is called "Snap Alongside Barriers" and it's located in the path tool, so open that up. You'll then need to click the right-hand tab and scroll down the list to find the option.
  

• Okay, just a few more control tips: you can painlessly decrease/in?crease the size of the terrain painter and the terrain sculptor using the bracket keys, [ ??and ] respectively.
• You can also raise/lower objects by holding the shift key while moving them around. This is so helpful for larger ??structures that are comprised of multiple smaller pieces (like? caves made of rocks) or getting trees to sit in your zoo at variable heights.
• Also, if you want fine control over objects when rotating them, hold the Z key.
  

• There's a vital HUD element that'll be way too easily overlooked by anyone who skips the tutorial in Planet Zoo's Career mode. See the radar button in the bottom left-hand corner? Learn it. Love it. Clicking the radar?? will give you access to lots of valuable info. You can see temperature heat maps, water quality, areas with (and without) electricity, details on how your staff buildings are negatively impacting guests, and more.

• If it seems as if items like education boards, speakers, and benches are constantly breaking down, hire more Security guards. (Also, you'll need to replace them.) I discovered this tidbit after watching a teen stomp on one of my benches. The little jerk!

• If you're the type of person who reads guides before buying a game to get a feel for it, first: me too! Second: here's an image of all the animals in Planet Zoo. (Note: the pygmy hippo, Thomson's gazelle, and Komodo dragon are Deluxe Edition exclusives.)

Best tips for making money in Planet Zoo

Here are the best tips for money-mak??ing in Planet Zoo:

• How do you make more money? Well, if you're just starting out, don't bite off more than you can chew. Mak?e a single habitat, get your animals situated, and have your Veterinarians research the species so that you can add the appropriate enrichment toys and feeders.
• Education matters too. Vet research goes hand in hand with increasing your education rating and your gue??sts' willingness to donate money (the primary source of income).
• You'll want to make ample use of the Conservation Education Board (throughout your zoo), the Exhibit Education Board (near exhibits), the Habitat Education Stand (near habitats), and Educational Speakers (all over). And Donation Boxes, of course.
• I'd also strongly discourage building Food and Drink stalls while your zoo is still getting off the ground. They're pricey to construct, and Vendor wages quickly add up. That said, I would consider building an Information Center â€?they sell umbrellas and audio guides.
  

Best habitat tips for Planet Zoo

Here are the habitat best tips for Planet Zoo:

• If you're wondering what size a habitat should be, it depends on the species. Find their Zoopedia file and click the "Natural Habitat" tab for exact details about their land, water, climbing, and temperature needs. (Speaking of, don't forget heaters and coolers.)
• To figure out the size of a habitat before you transfer any animals, click on the habitat you want to inspect and tab over to "Terrain" â€?/span> you'll see the land and water area.

• How do you know which plants to use in a habitat? Click on an animal, switch to their "Environment" tab, and note the specific Continents and Biomes listed here. Now, go into the "Nature" menu (found at the bottom of the screen) and use the filter button to show only those Continents and Biomes. Note: this isn't 100% foolproof.
• If a plant is ill-suited, after you plop it down, you'll see a little red warning symbol in your animal's "Environment" tab. You can remove them right from this menu by clicking the red X.

• What about food, water, and enrichment items? The latter require Vet research for each species (though certain items overlap). Once again, filtering is your best bet.
• Click on the "Habitat" button at the bottom of the screen, then filter by species. Done!

• Don't neglect habitat walls! They'll deteriorate over time â€?/span> especially if you play Planet Zoo at high speed â€?/span> a?nd your critters will cause a ru??ckus. Here are a few pointers.
• If?? you select a habitat, you can then click "Call Mechanic" ??to fix it up. Easy peasy.
• Or you can click on a habitat, swap to the right-most tab ("Maintenance"), and change the "Routine Visits" option from "Once a year" to something more regu??lar.
• If you have a bunch of habitats, you might want a summary. Click the "Zoo" button on the bottom left of the screen, then mouse over to the "Animals" page, then swit??ch to the "Habitats" tab. Got me? Good. From here, you'll see how every habitat barrier is doing, and you can click on the little destination icon to pull u??p individual habitat pages.

• Is an animal's Nutrition rating lower than you'd like? You may want to bump up your food quality. The more you research a species (with Vets), the better food you'll be able to produce, but there's more to it â€?you have to manually change the meal plan.
• Click on a habitat, then switch to the "Animals" tab, and change the food quality from Grade 1 to Grade?? 2 or Grade 3. If you don't have these options yet, you need to do more research. The higher the grade, the pricier the food, so don't go bankrupting yourself.

• Unlike other tycoon games, you can't manually feed animals or clean habitats.
• If your keepers aren't feeding animals properly, it's worth explaining their behavior, because it can seem nonsensical. "Keepers will work out how much food they need to prepare for a habitat based on how many animals are in the habitat. They will then prioritize filling enrichment feeders before standard feeders. This can mean that if all of the prepared food is placed in enr??ichment feeders, the standard feeders won't be filled."
• If keepers aren't cleaning habitats well enough, you may want to promote your existing staff or bring on some fresh faces to help out. You can increase a staff member's rating by opening the Zoo menu (at the bottom of the screen), going to the "Staff" tab, and putting your cursor next to an employee's star rating. You'll see a little arrow appear.
   

• Too many bundles of joy? Take a chill pill. You can give your animals contraceptives. Click on the "Zoo" button at the bottom, then head to the "Animals" tab. On the far right, there's a "Contraception" toggle. Note: you can reverse this at any time.
  

• There's a Zoopedia shortcut to save you from having to scroll down the usual list. Click on an animal in your zoo to bring up their welfare summary. Now, look for this icon:

• Selling and trading animals in Planet Zoo is a two-step process. First, locate the animal, click on them to bring up their summary, and look for a "Send animal to storage in Trade Centre" button below the "Call Vet" and "Call Keeper" buttons. Click it!

• Next, open up the Animal Trading menu (it's on the bottom of the screen, right above your zoo's money) and head to the "Animal Storage" tab. From here, you'll be able to trade or release to the wild for conservation credits, or quick trade for cold hard cash.
• Note: you can't ditch your juveniles/infants. You'll need to raise your animals until they reach adulthood/sexual maturity before selling them off. Good luck!

• If you've started exploring other players' blueprints and you can't figure out why they're locked, you may be missing upgrades. Remember: vets and mechanics can research.
• To take nice screenshots, press the G key to hide the interface and then hit F12.

What? You want more Planet Zoo tips? I'm spent! This Himalayan brown bear breeding program doesn't run itself. For more inspiration, go hit up the subreddit and see what other keepers are up to.

The post Planet Zoo guide: Tips I wish I would’ve known sooner appeared first on Destructoid.

Frontier Developments has announced on Twitter that Planet Zoo is coming to consoles. What consoles? I?? don’t know. When? I don’t know that, either.

It’s happening, though! Frontier ?Developments dropped a teaser that shows a controller sitting on a breakroom coffee table (I think) while something unrelated goes on in the background. That’s it. You now know everything that I know.

That is unless you haven’t played Planet Zoo. Initially released in 2019 as a companion (spin-off?) of 2016’s Planet Coaster, it’s a management sim about building and running your own zoo. The Planet games are all about filling the gap left by games like Roller Coaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon. Howe??ver, I feel they have their own distinct flavor.

What I mean by that is that Planet Zoo feels like it’s more about customization and bu??ilding your dream zoo than it is about challenging you to keep it profitable and successful. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some of that. You do need to keep your zoo profitable and successful, but it just feels so easy. Or maybe it’s just easy for me because I grew up on a hearty diet of tycoon games. I can’t tell anymore.

However, to me, it felt more like it gave you a tonne of tools and assets to allow you to customize your habitats at a very granular level. This would have really appealed to young Zoey, but old Zoey doesn’t have the same free time or attention sp??an. I do have to wonder how the UI and all those tools will translate to a controller, but w??e’ll have to wait and see.

For now, you can grab Planet Zoo on PC. Having spent a few paragraphs talking about it, I think I'm going?? to reinstal?l.

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Exhibit A: This capybara family relaxing under a hot water tap is too pure for our world

Planet Zoo has grown far beyond its initial roster of animals, and while everyone surely has their favorite picked out, I don't see any other DLC topping the Wetlands Animal Pack.

What's so great about it? Well, ??it's adding the most wholesome of trios. DLC players can make room in their zoos for species like the capybara, platypus, and Asian sm?all-clawed otter �as well as the Nile lechwe, red-crowned crane, spectacled caiman, wild water buffalo, and Danube crested newt; that last one that looks like a real-life Pokémon.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV-DC2aWs70

I died when the baby otter rolled around at 1:18 in the Wetlands trailer. I mean it. This isn't a bit �there's now a Goosebumps-lo??okin' skeleton typing out the rest o?f this blog.

A big part of Planet Zoo's appeal is carefully constructing an ideal environment for t??he zoo's critters and guests (from a practical and aesthetic standpoint), and when that work is done, there's some passive joy to be had in just watching everyone go about their business. These videos usually do a good job of conveying that vibe, but th?is one nails it.

Aside from the eight new species, the Wetlands DLC also has scenery pieces like the submarine buoy enrichment item and a hot water tap (wonderfully depicted above with some chilled-out capybaras), as well as a timed scenario set in Brazil. I've seen some Planet Zoo fans pine for less stressful missions that are s?till challenging to figure out, and I feel that. I don't personally like to rush, as I ultimately end u?p cutting corners.

We got an otter species before with the Aquatic Pack, but this one's cuter.

//www.reddit.com/r/PlanetZoo/comments/u1xu51/theyre_both_cute_in_their_own_??way_but_still/

There's a free update, too

Separate from the Planet Zoo Wetlands Animal Pack (which costs $9.99 out of the gate), there's also update 1.9 today. Here are the patch notes from Frontier Developments:

• NEW - Roaming Educators
  • Educators now have access to a new task, enabled by default: Roaming Talks
  • Educators who are assigned to hold Roaming Talks will wander the zoo, occasionally stopping to hold a short informative talk about nearby species, or a random conservation topic, as long as they have enough energy and aren't due to hold an Animal Talk
  • Guests who don't have higher priority destinations will stop and listen to nearby Roaming Talks, gaining small boosts to happiness and education, based on the educator's level
• NEW - Small Burrows
  • A small version of the burrows is available for the following species:
    • Meerkat
    • Prairie dog
    • Platypus
  • Small burrows share the large burrows' functionalities - suitable animals will attempt to seek shelter, sleep and give birth in them
  • Small burrows are equipped with an integrated habitat webcam, which can be linked up to billboard screens
• NEW - Audio And Billboard Management Screen
  • A new management UI has been added for an easier overview of all customisable audio-visual items
    • Audio: lists all speakers with their currently set track or educational content
    • Billboards: lists all screens with their size, type of content and currently set image
    • Cameras: lists all camera items, with an option to enter their view, and info on any potentially linked habitats
• NEW - Explore Camera
  • The new Explore camera mode is available via the Camera Modes widget in the main HUD, allowing you to place the camera on any surface in the park
  • The Explore camera is controlled with the WASD keys and follows the terrain at a fixed height, allowing you to enjoy the views in your zoo the same way your guests would
  • The tegidcam cheat has been retired

[caption id="attachment_316482" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{The Danube crested newt is a new Exhibit animal.}[/caption]

• NEW - Customisable Exhibit Water
  • Exhibits containing water can now be customised for colour and transparency values
  • The 'Windows' tab in the exhibit info panel has been renamed to 'Customise', and contains the water settings for the exhibit
• NEW - Expanded Water Customisation
  • Water in the zoo can now be customised with mist and bubble vfx, to add more detail to larger bodies or surfaces of water
  • The 'Colour' tab of a body of water has been rebranded to 'Customise', and contains new sliders for mist and bubble density
• NEW - Flatten to Terrace Terrain Brush
  • The new Flatten to Terrace terrain sculpting mode creates distinctively levelled areas when applied over an area of raised terrain
  • The height of these terraces can be defined via a slider in the sculpting settings
  • If checked, the 'Shallow Pool Offset' setting indents the terrain slightly below the next level of the voxel terrain, which can then be filled to create wading-height water features for animals (we recommend using this mode to create areas for Japanese Macaques and Capybaras to bathe in!)
• NEW - Foliage
  • Water Tupelo Trees x3
  • Bald Cypress Trees x3
  • Bald Cypress Knees x2
• NEW - Scenery
  • Small underwater feeder enrichment
  • Natural water jet enrichment

You might not even notice these additions naturally, but knowing that the developers are putting in this kind of work for free content updates is still reassuring, all the same.

One last parting note: as of Planet Zoo update 1.9, Japanese macaque can also soak.

The post Planet Zoo: Wetlands is the coz?iest Animal Pack yet appeared first on Destructoid.

Restaurants are another big addition in update 1.8

It warms my heart to see Frontier Developments come out with consistent free updates for Planet Zoo alongside the paid DLC packs. Next up on December 14, the management sim is getting a little of Column A, a little of Column B �update 1.8 is adding animal memorials, burrows, and full-on restaurants to Planet Zoo, while the Europe Pack is bringing in new species like the Eurasian lynx, European badger, a??nd Alpine ibex.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=h162xg-fh9o

Between the update and DLC, there's something to latch onto for different player types, whether they care more about animals and their behaviors, the wider guest experience, or meticulous building. The $10 pack? has 250+ scenery items "inspired by some of Europe's most idyllic destinations, including France, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands."

The new species coming to Planet Zoo with the Europe Pack are the Eurasian lynx, Alpine ibex, European badger, European fallow deer, and the fire salamander �the latter of which is a more co?nfined and static "exhib??it animal." There's an alpine zoo scenario, too.

Really though, I'm more interested in update 1.8 �there's a lot of potential with customization. Indoor and outdoor restaurants, with the ability to "link up to 20 tables to create a functional venue" as the grand zoo overseer, sounds promising. And for a smaller footprint, there are shop counters:?? "counter-only version for an assortment of shops."

Animal memorials are exactly what you might expect: a way to pay tribute to your beloved animals. That said, the tracked list of deceased animals caps out at 200, so you may need to mark some "favorites" so certain entries aren't overwritten. (What kind of zoo are you running?) According to the developers, "guests in your zoos will interact with your memo??rials by viewing them if they are close by, stopping to read the dedication, and then receiving a small mood boost due to appreciation of fond memories wi?th the animal."

As for burrows, you'll be able to manually place them where you want in a habitat. They're basically an extra bit of immersion to soak up �select species can use burrows to "seek shelter, sleep, adjust to the correct temperature, or even give birth." There's an internal camera, s??o you can see what's going on, and you can link it up to screens for your guests.

Definitely snatch this game up the next time it's on sale. It's in a great s?pot.

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The second-anniversary update also includes a community challenge with boosted animals

Fans have a reason to revisit Planet Zoo on its second birthday, as there's a free update that adds the black and white ruffed ??lemur as well as Bernie's ??Bakes, a new cake shop.

You gotta love lemurs, and this particular species is pretty iconic �you can never have too many animal options in a zoo management game, especially primates. Planet Zoo already had the ring-tailed lemur and red ruffed lemur, so the black and white ruffed lemur is more like a bonus,?? which makes total sense as a free second-anniversary update.

As for the new snack stand, Bernie's Bakes sells cupcakes. If my guests don't run out to get a sugar rush, I will. Both the lemur and cake shop are live in-game with update 1.7.2.

Frontier Developments is also rolling out a limited-time community challenge that will run in Planet Zoo from November 5�, 2021. The goal i??s to release animals back into the wild (a running theme), and for every five animals you set free, "you'll get ?a boosted animal in return that has an 80%+ in any gene, and a 1/50 chance of being a color morph. On top of this, every 20 animals released will award an avatar outfit! (Please note: this caps at ~600 animals per user, which is when you will have unlocked all released costumes, etc.)."

If I'm being honest, even at the height of my interest in Planet Zoo, I n??ever got too obsessed with chasing the "albino" dream, bu?t high-rated animals are appreciated.

Whenever an anniversary update drops for a game, I like to check in on the community of players who are still hanging in there. In this case, folks are happy about the free animal drop, and want to see more of it in the future �especially given how prevalent the paid DLC has been for Planet Zoo. Most recently, we got the North America Animal Pack.

"Please Frontier get into the habit of adding free animals, it can be animals that are really close to ones that are in the game already like this one, but I want Nile crocs and American black bears and I don’t know how else they’d be added officially," said TheThagomizer.

Another player on the Planet Zoo subreddit, AvovaDynasty, echoed that sentiment.

"I'd love just quick little reskins to flesh out the roster �American Black Bears, ?Sumatran Orangutans, Caribbean/American Flamingoes, Barbary/Rhesus Macaques, the Drill, Brown Capuchins, Grey Kangaroos, etc."

This is how we get our hopes up! (But I'm right there w?ith you.)

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Beavers, sea lions, moose, and more

Planet Zoo is still going �not just in terms of animal-roster-boosting DLC, but also free quality-of-life updates, too. We've got a little from Column A and a little from Column B today with the Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack and Update 1.7 rolling out on Steam.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLAiSE84Mw4

On the paid DLC front, this is another $10 add-on with seven fully roaming "habitat" animals �including one of my absolute favorites to?? watch swim around, the North American beaver �plus one new amphibian for stationary exhibits. The list:

• American beaver
• Moose
• California sea lion
• Cougar
• American alligator
• Black-tailed prairie dog
• Arctic fox
• American bullfrog

This is one of the game's most compelling DLC list??s, for s??ure.

Aside from the wildlife, the Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack also has a new scenario near the Blue Ridge Mount??ains, so if you're the type of player (unlike me) who prioritizes custom zoo builds, you might be disappointed by th??e lack of new structures and plants.

What about the free stuff? Update 1.7, which also launched today, adds a height mapping tool used to "create your own custom Heightmaps via image files," and here's an example. There's also a Terrain Type setting for the different biomes �look for the "sculpted" option if you want those pre-made Planet Zoo maps to have more dimension.

Other 1.7 features: the ability to play Scenario Zoo maps in Sand?box Mode (including a just-include-the-terrain-and-nothing-else toggle), more "deep swimming" animals (j?aguar, Bengal tiger, and Siberian tiger), seating areas for your guests attending educational Animal Talks, path barriers to better corral everyone, and a randomization option for placing scenery items to make things look more natural. Frontier also snuck in some UX improvements like quick trading in the Animal Management screen.

It's a nice feeling knowing that the next time I go hard with an overly ambitious zoo built from scratch, I'll have a bunch of these touch-ups waiting for me �and beavers!

The post Planet Zoo’s North America Animal Pack adds fan-favorite critters appeared first on Destructoid.

Oh my goodness, these fennec foxes

On any given weekend, I'm one step away from burning a few (okay more than "a few") hours away with a fresh, built-from-the-ground-up zoo in Planet Zoo. That feeling is even stronger when there are new DLCs and free updates that go hand in hand. Today, it's the Planet Zoo: Africa Pack DLC and Update 1.6 �they're both out on Steam.

On the DLC front, it's more of the same, not that players are expecting anything different by now. For $10, the Africa Pack adds five new critters �the m??eerkat??, southern white rhino, African penguin, fennec fox, and sacred scarab beetle �along with 180 pieces of themed scenery, "from thatch and mudbrick, to rocky canyon getaways."

What's that? You're going for more of an anach?ronistic zoo th?eme? You do you!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0hrswZCWR8

The paid DLC also comes with a desert-based challenge zoo, and Update 1.6 has a free timed scenario with?? animals rescued from Guatemala. Instead of picking and choosing what you want in the trade center, you'll get shipments "on a timer," so you might be left scrambling if you don't have physical space (or managerial band?width) to spare.

Highlights from the 1.6 patch notes:

• Polar bears, grizzly bears, Formosan black bears, and sun bears can swim down to deeper depths.
• Settings like social welfare and water quality deterioration are now off by default in Sandbox mode.
• Webcams can be placed in habitats, and there's a night-vision option, too. You'll need a power supply, though.
• You can manage crowd congestion by creating Vista Points that act like custom focal points for specific buildings, scenery, enrichment items, or habitats.
• Animal storage locations increased from 50 to 200.
• The ability to set prices by number rather than a slider.
• You can add your own custom sounds and music to all in-game speakers

If needed, check out the full 1.6 breakdown on Reddit.

Also, to the Planet Zoo player who preemptively built a fennec fox enclosure nine months ago, I ??hope you're living it up. I'm still reeling from the cuteness.

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Teach your zoo-goers some animal facts so they'll feel guilty about the state of things and donate money

Whether you're here for the penguins (please read that in Benedict Cumberbatch's voice) or you're just sticking to the ongoing free content updates, December 8 will be a busy day for Planet Zoo players.

The next slice of DLC for Planet Zoo is the Aquatic Pack, and in terms of new species, it's adding the king penguin, giant otter, diamondback terrapin, Cuvier's dwarf caiman, and grey seal (please sing that like Elton John). For $1?0, you're also getting 170-ish scenery customization pieces (these numbers always sound inflated) and a challenge scenario set in Oregon that revolves around a "drained riverbed."

On the free-content front, Planet Zoo is getting update 1.4 on December 8. Apart from access to the new Water Temperature Regulator and Underwater?? Feeder (to coincide with the DLC theme), the update will add a summary screen for transport rides, informational "animal talks" that you can organize with newly-hired Educator staff members, and a multi-select option for anim?al storage in Franchise mode.

The submersible feeding station will only be compatible with the saltwater crocodile at first, but Frontier Developments says it "will be adding [support for]? more animals in the future."

Beyond those free-for-everyone quality-of-life features, there's also a free challenge scenario tucked into update 1.4 – it's?? set in the Philippines, and you'll design your zoo around "disused rice terraces."

The Aquatic Pack might not go far enough for marine-loving players who have been plotting out the aquarium of their dreams, but I'm here for baby otters and penguins any day of the week.

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Kangaroos and koalas are in the $10 DLC

Planet Zoo is adding several new animals with the Australia Pack on August 25, 2020.

The koala, red kangaroo, dingo, southern cassowary, and eastern blue-tongued lizard – choose your beast. Cassowaries are intimidating and their eggs are a wild shade of green, so that's my pick.

In line with the game's prior DLC packs, this one will cost $9.99 and it's arriving on the same day as a free update – in this case, the 1.3 update – to round o??ut the zoo-m??anaging experience for all players.

One of? the coolest features in the patch is alternate colors and patterns to help differentiate your critters. "The team researched animal color and pattern variation, and found that documentation was rare and highly variable in quality depending on the species," according to Frontier Developments. "We've done o??ur absolute best to stick to research photo reference, and do them justice."

Other up??grades include an all-in-one page for animal feeding, more efficient staff management, a Sandbox map, a Timed Scenario in Estonia, vending machines for your park guests, and more foliage.

Look out for "?plants and smaller sapling trees to complement their larger cousins." Thank goodness.

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That's a lot of hungry animals

Frontier Developments has reported over a million sales for Planet Zoo as of "early May 2020."

That pace – a million Steam copies sold in about six months on the market – puts Planet Zoo "several months ahead of any of Frontier's previous game releases on PC," according to the company.

For comparison, Elite Dangerous is at 3.5 million base copies sold (as of April), Jurassic World Evolution passed 3 million sales (in March), and Planet Coaster cleared 2.5 million (back in January).

The game's early financial success doesn't come as much of a surprise. Simulation fans were long overdue a modern take on the classic Zoo Tycoon formula, Frontier had a proven-enough track record with Planet Coaster, and Planet Zoo's November launch felt like the perfect ??timing for the genre.

"We continue to be delighted by the engagement, passion, and feedback from our players, and look forward to a bright future post-lockdown, as we believe many of our new players will stay with us for the long term," said Frontier CEO David Braben. The free content updates haven't stopped yet.

I'm happy for Frontier, and I'm glad Planet Zoo exists. I?'ll be even happier if we get a full expa?nsion.

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Counterpoint: the new animals are precious

As much as I adore Planet Zoo, I? can't say I'm loving Frontier Developments' piecemeal approach to DLC.

The first add-on, the Arctic Pack, had its place – but I worried about diminishing returns, and sure enough, here they are. This week's South America Pack also costs $10, but it doesn't have any new story scenarios. Instead, it's?? nothing but animals and sc??enery pieces for building out your ideal zoo.

That caveat might be fine if meticulous construction is your main draw to this game – I check the Planet Zoo subreddit every week to see people's imaginations come to life, and I'm always bl??own away by what's possible – but for me, it's a letdown. I need scenarios to keep me engaged at this point.

?If you're still on the fence, let me run through the South America Pack con??tent.

The anima?ls are definitely the highlight. Even though the process of fine-tuning habitats remains the same, I still had fun building new homes in one of my existing Franchise zoos for a majestic jaguar, a pair of floofy llamas, a giant anteater (my spirit animal), and a barrel of mischievous capuchin monkeys.

There's also a lone new exhibit animal, the r?ed-eyed tree frog. It's a gorge?ous, iconic creature, but as with the other stationary exhibit animals, the tree frog is not exactly dynamic. It just chills all day.

So much of the Planet Zoo experience is learning all of the tools at your disposal and figuring out how to juggle the nitty-gritty simulation systems. Once you've manag??ed that – I'm like 70 hours into this game b?y now – then it's a matter of going through your efficient routine. That can be relaxing in its own right.

On the zoo construction side of the South America Pack, there are "250 new building, scenery, and foliage pieces," but there's more overlap with the existing content than I would've liked. That said, in the right hands, this stuff can be put to good use – particularly the ruins a??nd bamboo pieces.

For those of us who aren't ready to commit to a painstakingly cohesive built-from-the-ground-u?p themed zoo, the prefab Aztec-inspired decorations are right there for the taking. I won't tell if you won't.

Here's a partial look at the DL??C's new trees, structures,? signs, and building blocks:

Separate from this paid DLC pack, the developers have also released a subst?a??ntial free update.

There's too much to rattle off here, but as you can glean from the update 1.2 patch notes, they're still striving to shore up the fundamental gameplay loop, which is partially why I don't mind the less-than-generous DLC. I'm most fond of the info panel for Guest Education (that mechanic can be weirdly elusive) and better genealogy information for folks who want to breed superstars. Other tidbits – like a sear??ch option in the Zoopedia, and shared research across all Franchise zoos – are much appreciated.

Amusingly, they're still changing up keepers' feeding dynamics. One of these day??s it'll get there.

My best-case scenario is that Frontier will "save up" a big batch of animals and go all out with a true expansion to Planet Zoo rather than check?ing off a list with fleeting DLC packs here and there. I feel like that could happen eventually, but for now, I'm expecting more mini packs. (And I'll keep playing 'em.)

_{[This impr??essions piece is base??d on a retail build of the DLC provided by the publisher.]}

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I'm making a beeline for the giant anteater

By now, we know exactly what to expect from Planet Zoo DLC – several new animals to care for and a whole lot of building, scenery, and foliage pieces wit??h which to craft an extravagant themed zoo.

Planet Zoo's next DLC, the South America Pack, is coming to Steam on April 7, 2020, for $10.

Today's trailer isn't exactly forthcoming, so here's the rundown. The new habitat animals are the capuchin monkey, jaguar, llama, and giant anteater, the latter of which I'm already o?bsessed with. It looks magnifice??nt. The South America Pack will also add the iconic red-eyed tree frog for exhibits.

Even if you're planning to sit this one out (it might be best to wait for an eventual DLC bundle), April 7 is a date worth remembering. Frontier is also releasing update 1.2 on the same day. The free update overhauls the genealogy interface, at?tempts to stamp out the keeper feeding issues once and ??for all, and makes guest management and education more sensible, among other fan-requested changes.

I'm a?lso gla??d to see that research will be shared across all zoos in Franchise mode.

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Mini-review: You may want to wait for an eventual bundle

Yesterday, Planet Zoo got the first of surely many DLC packs to come. This first paid add-on – the Arctic Pack – makes a great impression up front.?? There's just one problem: ??it's over before you know it.

Fans have been clamoring for more animals, and polar bears were a big bullet point on the wishlist. The DLC also adds three other habitat species – the Dall sheep, Arctic wolf, and reindeer – along with a couple hundred bits of scenery and two new story scena?rios that tie the whole frigid theme together.

On paper, th??ere's a lot to love. The scenarios continue a story thread from the main campaign involv??ing Bernard Goodwin, so they're once again fully voiced. The first zoo is set in Norway, and it's a delightful little winter wonderland; the second is in Mexico, and it's a challenge to beat the heat with solar panels.

Both scenarios prominently feature the four new Arctic species, and if you're going for full completion (Planet Zoo has bronze, silver, and gold goals, but you only need to meet the basic tier to unlock the next stage), then that'll take at least a few hours. There's a lot of breeding and researching to be done. Unlike the main Planet Zoo cam??paign, ??which acts as a gradual tutorial, you're mostly free to just have at it.

About those animals – they're terrific, expressive, and a joy to watch. They behave in the game as you'd expect, aside from the polar bears, which have surprisingly massive land requirements (a rework is underway). I just wish there were more of 'em. The Arctic Pack is an interesting value proposition. Unless you're expecting to ma?ke full use of the Arctic scenery items, this DLC can be a hard sell at $10.

Apart from the Scandinavian buildings and some festive decorations, a lot of the items ?blur together.

Knowing full well that the Arctic Pack is just the start of Frontier's plans for Planet Zoo DLC, I can't help but feel like we're going to be inundated over the next year. I'm excited for more animals and other reasons to continu??e spending time in this wonderful game, but I worry about diminishing returns.

I'll happily pay $10 this time – but ?again and again? We'll see. The cub?s are cute as hell, though.

_{[This impressions piece is ba?sed on a retail build of the DLC purchased by the author.]}

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Plus two new story scenarios

Frontier Developments is checking a few more species off Planet Zoo's most-wanted-animals list.

The first of surely many DLC packs to come is the Arctic Pack, a $10 add-on launching December 17, 2019. Along with two zoo scenarios, we're getting more types of foliage and scenery, and four new animals: the polar bear, reindeer, Arctic wolf, and Dall sheep. You might not recognize that last one by name, but you've probably seen these big-horned boys before if you watch nature shows.

_{[Polar bears]}

_[Reindeer]

_{[Arctic wolves]}

_{[Dall sheep]}

One?? of the story missions is based in Norway, while the other is situated in Mexico.

This format is exactly what I wanted out of Planet Zoo DLC – a blend of challenging scenarios that force me to overcome limitations, and more species to fall in love with. The game needed polar bears.

DLC aside, the developers are also prepping the 1.1.0 update for Dec. 17. It'll include a "slow animal aging" option, more realistic canine pack behavior, heat maps for garbage a?nd crime, a news feed, and more data about each animal's "pare?ntage, siblings, and direct descendants" in their social tab.

I know what I'm doing over the holiday break.

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By turning off aging, predation, and power consumption

Money can't buy everything – not even in Planet Zoo's Sandbox Mode.

There are a lot of nitty-gritty management details to juggle in the game, and although you can bail yourself out to some extent with unlimited money? and Conservation Credits, some Sandbox Mode players have been wanting a more care-free experience. That's where update 1.0.3 comes into play.

Frontier Developments added a bunch of toggles that are accessible f??rom the Setting??s menu.

Animals

• Disable animal aging and birth
• Disable animal death
• Disable animal fights
• Disable animal illness
• Disable death through aging
• Disable animal welfare
• Disable animal predation and fear

Guests

• Limit number of guests (you can go as low as 500 or as high as 10,000)
• Maximize guest happiness and hold it there
• Maximize guest energy and hold it there
• Maximize guest education
• Stops guests from becoming hungry
• Stop guests from becoming thirsty
• Stop guests from needing the toilet

Economy

• Disable staff choosing to quit
• Disable staff happiness degradation
• Disable staff energy degradation
• Disable barrier dilapidation
• Power everything
• Keep water clean

And with that, San??dbox Mode now lives up to its name.

I especially like th?e idea of having a huge exhibit with species that wouldn't normally get along.

This week's Planet Zoo patch also includes "over 400 updates and fixes." Some are funny ("Balanced exhibit animal defecation rates"), some were sor??ely needed ("Fixed crash on front-end"), and some are things I didn't even know I wanted ("Added option to hide blueprints in b??????????????????????????rowser categories").

Planet Zoo - Update 1.0.3 [Steam]

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Do it for Matt Damon

Planet Zoo captures the spirit of Zoo Tycoon in a way I've only dreamed of until now. It's the zoo simulation I've waited 15 years for someone, anyone, to nail. Frontier Developments pulled it off.

I wasn't necessarily the target audience for Planet Coaster, the studio's last major sim game, but I'm so thankful the developers were able to get it made, listen to players' concerns, and work out some of those kinks; Planet Zoo is undoubtedly a better management game for it. This isn't a hasty animal-themed version of Planet Coaster, but there's clear o??verl?ap between the projects. Lessons were learned.

If you've longed for a video game that lets you imagine and then build your own international zoo from the ground up – from "painting" terrain, to researching species, to orchestrating breeding programs and conservation efforts, to custom-designing cave shelters rock by rock – then you're in the right hands.

I c?an't stress enough how happy I am thi??s game even exists.

Planet Zoo (PC)
Developer: Frontier Developments
Publisher: Frontier Developments
Released: November 5, 2019
MSRP: $44.99

It's worth noting up front that you don't need to have prior knowledge of Planet Coaster to enjoy Planet Zoo, but if you do, y??ou're going to have a smoother early-game experience. For everyone else: don't gloss over the campaign. You might be tempted to toy around in the Sandbox mode and spend infinite cash creating the most decadent zoo the world has ever known, but you'll soon learn success comes gradual??ly, and deep-seated problems can stay hidden for decades before bubbling to the surface.

The story – the thing I was most concerned about coming into Planet Zoo – is worth playing. Matter of fact, it's probably my favorite part of the game. That, in?? and of itself, is an accomplishment.

There are 12 Career missions, complete with voiced characters, plot development, and varied gameplay objectives and map types to teach you the ins and outs of zoo management (and also entertain you while you're learning). As you fix up parks across the world, you'll eventually have to deal with a new boss: an evil hedge fund manager. This may be a simulation game, but it knows when to get cheeky.

Each mission has its own bronze, silver, and gold goals to clear. Sometimes, you'll strictly need to? worry about animal welfare. Other times, funding, guest satisfaction, and education are your most pressing metrics. While you only ever need to earn bronze to unlock the next area, you're still looking at a good hour-or-two investment just to sat??isfy the bare-minimum requirements. Career mode rides a fine line between forcing you to stay vigilant as a manager and not overwhelming you with too many demands.

If you tend to ??prefer stru??ctured campaigns in sim games, you'll have plenty to latch onto here.

Aside from the Career and Sandbox modes, there's also an online-only Franchise mode – in which you run a whole suite of interconnected zoos and trade animals with others – plus the offline equivalent, Challenge mode, in which you can try to meet ongoing goals. Planet Zoo is pretty well-rounded.

What goes into designing a typical zoo, though? What's it actually like to play Planet Zoo? No matter how many habitats and exhibits I build, I always seem t?o neglect something on my mental to-do list.

Before I even think of building a single wall, I like to see what animals are available right here, right now. I also like to read up on their Zoopedia file for clues on their specific needs – including land, water, climbable surfaces, temperature, terrain, foliage, and group size – as well as their conservation status.

If you're familiar with Zoo Tycoon, imagine that same general gameplay structure – plopping down appropriate plants, raising and lowering the elevation, painting the terrain just right so animals aren't stressed out – but with modern graphics, more sim elements, and piece-by-piece customization. In the interest of getting this review done on time, I tended to go with utilitarian designs, but it's possible to mimic complex real-world zoos if you have patience and aren't afraid to dig into sub-menus. You can even save groups of objects as blueprints that can be shared and downloaded on Steam Workshop.

There are ??a bunch of other considerations to keep track of, too. You'll organize a staff of caretakers, keepers, mechanics, security guards, vendors, and ??vets to, among other things, help make sure:

• Your animals don't bust through walls (even though that's fun in its own right).
• People have enough to eat and drink, and don't litter or vandalize.
• Protestors don't show up to raise hell because you absentmindedly forgot to build a water purifier and, oh god, that saltwater crocodile is not doing so hot.
• You're constantly researching – not just disease prevention and fancier buildings, but species data to help you enrich your animals' lives with toys and interactive feeders.
  

The list of Management Stuff stretches on and on, but I should also highlight education, as that's a surprisingly integral part of Planet Zoo. To earn money, you'll need donations, and to get your guests? to care enough to empty their pockets, ??you'll have to teach them about the animals they've come to visit.

Television screens, conservation boards, and speakers all play a role in your zoo's education rating. They can quickly (and rather painlessly) be hooked up to display info about a particular species, but figuring out where best to place these items – especially donation boxes – takes a lot of experimentation.

Let??'s get back to that point about needing to check on animal availability.

Planet Zoo uses an Animal Market – a list of species that's constantly in flux as animals come and go. And there's more: age, gender, and genetics are factors. One bonobo might be big, robust, and immune to disease, but if it has a dreadful fertility rating, I'm swiping past. I know, I know – I'm a monster.

In the marketplace, you'll spend either in-game money or conservation credits, the latter of which can be accumulated in a few ways, like rel??easing heal?thy animals back into the wild. The better the specimen, the higher the price tag it'll fetch on the Animal Market. The more critically endangered a species, the more credits you'll earn for releasing them. You're not meant to be a psycho hoarder.

At one point, I decided I had to build a Himalayan brown bear habitat, because, well, they're cute – but I couldn't for the life of me find a suitable male. So I left my female in storage indefinitely, worked on another enclosure, and kept checking back in to refresh the market list. If you're playing online, you'll see animals th??at other players decided to trade away. Otherwise?, you're at the mercy of the algorithm.

This system can be frustrating when, for instance, you want a pangolin right this second, but it's in service of a larger feedback loop, and I can't argue with the re?sults. (I just wish the UI was a little snappier.) The idea is to discourage players from building an ideal habitat, raising their animals' var?ious welfare stats high enough so they'll want to breed, and running the game on fast-forwarded autopilot forever. That approach might work in the early years, but long-term, you'll run into genetic issues.

At this point, I've sunk a good 40 hours into Planet Zoo, and I've reached that point in every simulation game where you know the common pitfalls and how to deal with them, but you still have some time-saving tips and tricks to pick up. With that heightened awareness, the experience isn't as fresh as it was while I was still exploring, but it's also not rote, either. A major part of that success can be credited to the animals, which look, sound, and behave authentically enough to be mesmerizing. Well, most of 'em.

There are 73 species in the base game, with three extras – the Thomson's gazelle, Komodo dragon, and (precious) pygmy hippo – limited to the Deluxe Edition of Planet Zoo. Here's the full list of animals.

Of those species, 23 are classified under the "exhibit" moniker, which is one of the few big letdowns in this game. Unlike "habitat" species – red pandas, aardvarks, gharials, grizzlies, and the bulk of the Planet Zoo roster – exhibit species don't run, climb, slither, swim, or do much of anything, really. You put them in a glass cube, the game auto-populates a suitable environment, and you tweak the temperature and humidity until they're cozy. That's it. There's little animation, and even if they have offspring, you won't feel an impact. Species like the Gila monster, goliath frog, and puff adder essentially live inside menus.

It's not enough to wreck the whole game, obviously, but when so much of Planet Zoo feels intricate, believable, and immersive, any lesser element will pull you out. Some of my other qualms with the game – ornery zookeeper AI, trouble laying down paths and walkways, nonsensical zoo guests, and wonky graphical bugs – will likely be patched before long. But the exhibit stuff? I wouldn't count on it.

Even with occasional design quirks and bugs holding it back, I adore this game as is. Similar to Planet Coaster, I think it'll get better over time, and Frontier will surely flesh out the species list with DLC packs. But even if that doesn't happen, I'll be satisfied. Some of us have been waiting decades for a game like Planet Zoo to come along and scratch our Zoo Tycoon itch. Now that it's here, I can't get enough.

_{[This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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An answer to complaints about the online-only Franchise mode

The Planet Zoo beta is up and running as of this week.? There's a lot to love (and s??ome issues).

The piece-by-piece habitat customization is really rewarding, particularly if you decide to build intricate caves rock by rock, or climbable s?tructures platform by platform. There's a sense of ownership.

The animals – that is, all of the free-roaming species, not the smaller "exhibit" critters like frogs and scorpions that are far more confined – are realistic-looking and expressive. It's to the point that I feel emotionally invested in their well-being. One of my beloved tapirs died of starvation (due to a poorly-timed zookeeper feeding bug??; I swear I'm not a monster!), and I was genuinely distraught over the incident. I didn't expect to have that kind of reaction, but it hit me out of nowhere. And it auto-saved!

Beyond construction, there's also enough Management Stuff to pull you in a bunch of directions while you're trying your best to meet the needs of your animals, staff, guests, bank loans, and conservation efforts. You have to stay vigilant, or it can all go to hell. Time moves fast in Planet Zoo. Maybe too fast.

The game is generally what I was hoping for, and even with visual, p??erformance, and AI behavior bugs in the beta, I'm having a blast so far. It's enthralling. I've somehow racked up nine hours already.

Frontier rolled out a pair of beta updates, the second of which has two big-ticket items – "Improved some issues with enrichment feeder capacities leading to other feeders not being filled by the keeper," and "Fixed animal birth and death notifications" – along with numerous stability improvements.

The main point of contention, however, has to do with Franchise mode. Like other players, that's where most of my time in the Planet Zoo ??beta has gone. It's an online-only mode in which you start a zoo empire from scratch, trade animals with other players in a marketplace, and earn a special in-game currency (Conservation Credits) for clearing challenges and releasing animals into the wild.

Franchise mode has its own unique vibe. It's different from what we'll get in the story-centric Career and the care-free, just-have-fun Sandbox. As such, some players are understandably disappointed they can't play Franchise offline. That's going to remain the case in the final version of Planet Zoo, but Frontier is now p?lanning to meet players halfway by offering a fourth game mo?de at launch.

"This all-new, currently unnamed, mode will allow you to enjoy much of the Franchise experience, without the online requirements," Frontier Developments said in a Steam post. "This new mode will still include a full economy with both dollars and Conservation Credits, guest needs, Research, Education, animals and more all with the ability to create your zoo, with y??our vision from the ground up. Naturally, with this being an offline game mode, there are cert??ain features that will only be available in Franchise Mode. These include: Trading between players, Leaderboards, and Community Challenges."

That change of heart is great to see, and I hope it's an indication of what's to come. Planet Zoo is sh??aping up to be a very special game. I feel like I've been waiting ?15 years for someone to make this.

Planet Zoo - Franchise Mode Feedback [Steam]

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The tapir family just melted my heart

I'm counting the days until I can bundle up with a cup of coffee, kick on my little space heater, and spend a whole cozy weekend with the Planet Zoo beta. It won't be much longer now. Frontier is only offering beta access to Deluxe Edition purchasers from September 24 to October 8, and aside from whipping up another trailer – I love that smug rhino in the opening – the studio also explained what's playable.

In short: not too much content, but enough. The Planet Zoo beta includes the first scenario in Career Mode (a temperate biome with tutorials), a taste of Franchise Mode (a savanna biome, starting from scratch), and a mix of buildings, themes, rides, and staff members. You can create and even share habitat blueprints through Steam Workshop, but there's a disclaimer that they might not make it over to the final launch version of the game – and the same goes for beta save files, which won?'t carry over.

The freewheeling Sandbox Mode is skipping the Planet Zoo beta, but Frontier says it's possible to "replay both maps as ??ofte?n as you like, with the available in-game mechanics and economies."

I'm curious how simulation fans will take to this game. We can be a picky bunch. If you're holding out hope for a particular species to make it into Planet Zoo, keep an eye on this running list of animals.

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This game is going to hit the spot

Planet Zoo looks like a dream for those of us still clinging onto fond old memories of Zoo Tycoon. Frontier's latest management simulation game is starting to feel more and more real with each passing video, and today's is substantial – it's a slice of an ea??rly zoo-building scenario from the campaign.

The story will touch on real-world topics like welfare and conservation, but the developers are striving to keep things "lighthearted." Bernie, on??e of the first characters in the campaign, is a walking ??dad joke.

"Planet Coaster had so many great features that were quite difficult to discover, so for Planet Zoo, we're teaching you how to build the zoo [in the story] because ther??e's just so much depth and s??o much to learn," said principal designer Jim Stimpson. A much-needed step, but I bet I'll still lean on the wiki.

Even just from this abbreviated gameplay footage, you can tell there's going to be a ton of little details to keep track of, from habitat layout to clean water to temperature, foliage, and enrichment. I wouldn't have it any other way. The joy of zoo games lies in continuously refining your park's? exhibits.

Planet Zoo isn't out until November 5, 2019 on Stea??m, but there will be a beta test for Deluxe Edition owners from September 24 to October 8. Something tells me I won't be able to resist.

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My breath of fresh air at E3

We've gone entirely too long without a new PC game that captures the magic of the original Zoo Tycoon, but with Planet Zoo this year, Frontier Developments is looking to set things right for neglected fans. It's a management sim in which you'll learn about a range of real-world species, design their enclosures piece-by-piece, and strive to meet their specific needs to keep them happy and healthy. I'm so in.

According to senior artist Liesa Bauwens – the narrator of my animal-fact-filled hands-off demo at E3 – Planet Zoo is a game about conservation and education. It was the most precious thing I saw at the show, bar none. I came in thinking that Frontier was probably in a good place to handle a modern-day zoo game off the heels of Planet Coaster, and the E3?? showcase left me feeling eve??n more confident.

There were a lot of standout moments, but one in particular absolutely had to make the cut for this recap article. Minutes into my Planet Zoo demo, Bauwens introduced the game's African savann??a biome ??and a zoo geared around conserving local species and releasing them back into the wild.

"This is the home of our tallest and possibly one of our most majestic animals, the reticul?ated giraffe," she said, setting herself up to drop a nugget of insight about the beautifully-rendered creature.

"Oh... Right on cue!"

"Every demo we've run today,?? they've taken a dump right as we get into it."

The timing couldn't have been funnier. Frontier is working to make animals in Planet Zoo as "authentic as possible," a?nd that approach doesn't lend itself well to meticulously scripted press dem?onstrations.

They'll have unique fur patterns and behaviors – one particular cheetah was called out as the "fussiest" animal in the demo – and, in essence, come with their own "genetic print." This variability will affect factors like their size, longevity, fertility, and immunity to disease. It's not enough to figure out what general land, water, and foliage requirements each species has – you're caring for individuals.

"We hav??e a whole pile of mechanisms in the game that when it's running, you can't just walk away and leave it on fast-forward," explained?? game director Piers Jackson. "It'll collapse."

One major concern is animal inbreeding. You also ??have to keep your zookeepers and other staff happy and motivated. "If you have a population explosion, you will [need to] deal with a sudden welfare crisis. You can't just put the zoo down and hope it runs itself; you're gonna be busy keeping this thing going."

It's the exact answer I was hoping for. Aside from the usual zoo guest concerns like hunger, thirst, and having plenty of bathrooms, Planet Zoo's park-goers care about being educated. Bauwens used education boards as an example. Not unlike a real zoo, you'll be able to place placards with factoids. "How much information is available will depend on how much research you've done into the ?animal. And this information will also display on these boards, so you'll get more filled as time goes along."

As for figuring out how best to meet the criteria for each species with the structure and scope of your exhibits, some clues ??will re?side in the Zoopedia, while other needs can only be gleaned on the fly after you've situated the animal in question. "We're not just gonna give you all the information."

I also wondered about the campaign. "We have a number of scenarios – they're in a line – and we have a narrative that makes them cohesive," said Jackson. He added that beyond the "fairly lighthearted story" and sandbox mode, "maybe we have other things t??o talk about at a later point as well."

A few other assorted highlights from the E3 demo:

• Zookeepers make the rounds between habitats and when they need to prepare food, they'll duck inside a hut. You can follow them to their cluttered workspaces, too. They aren't hidden out of sight.
• To keep your guests in good spirits, you'll want to cordon off sections of your zoo with paths that only staff members can walk through. Keeping certain aspects of zoo management behind the scenes is important, and Planet Zoo will offer ways to make that feasible.
• Bringing in money? One example Frontier showed was an off-road 4x4 vehicle bound to a winding track that you, as the player, get to lay out. You could have the tour cut through a habitat for a safari experience and set the ride's price accordingly.
• Climbing frames can also be custom-made. You'll place down beams and platforms, and if your structure is soundly built, your chimps will climb it. Bauwens said they've "had a team of coders working on this [feature] for over a year now." It shows!
• Planet Zoo has indoor exhibit animals. We saw a lesser Antillean iguana whose enclosure was temperature and humidity controlled. "Even though these creatures are usually the smallest in your zoo, they can still be a very important part of it," Bauwens said. "It's not because they're small that they don't matter. We've done the same things for them as we have for any of the others. If they are happy and well taken care of, they will breed, so you will have to manage their population."
• At one point, I saw a baby zebra go for a swim. My heart melted.

"Because of all of these systems – our animal AI, new staff, new guest behaviors, and a large economic rebalance – we've made Planet Zoo a standalone game rather than an addition to Planet Coaster," said Bauwens. "If we would not have done that we would've not been able to go through the same?? depths of simulation, so we're really happy that we've managed to take it separately and take our time with this."

I'm stoked for Planet Zoo. I really am. I'?ve been waiting for this type of detail-oriented experie??nce for years, and seeing even a sliver of the game at E3 warmed my heart. I need November to get here soon.

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Exclusively on PC

Zoo Tycoon is dead. Long live Zoo Tycoon. Planet Zoo lives. Long live Planet Zoo.

As Jordan said recently, this sort of thing is extremely my jam. Frontier ?Developments is handling both development and publishing duties, and it's set to de??but on November 5 exclusively on PC.

We haven't had a real good look at ??it though..until today. Get a load of the official gameplay trailer by way of the PC Gaming Sh??ow below.

The post Planet Zoo is still so d?ang who??lesome, out in November appeared first on Destructoid.

AT THE ZOO

Frontier Development (the developer behind Planet Coaster and Jurassic World Evolution) has announced that Planet Zoo will be its next project. Continuing the trend of resurrecting our childhood past times, this latest title will be another management sim, just in the vein of Zoo Tycoon instead of RollerCoaster Tycoon. T??he title ?is scheduled for a Fall 2019 release on PC.

Planet Zoo is said to have "the most authentic animals in videogame history." Apparently, each animal will be an individual with its own thoughts and feelings that wants to explore the pens you build for them. Players will be able to nurture these creatures throughout thei??r entire lives, helping them grow from wild beasts into disciplined friends. You'll even be able to breed the animals and pass their traits onto new generations, creating a self-sustaining circle of life for your park.

Frontier CEO, Jonny Watts, said, "This is the zoo management game we've wanted to make for many years. We've challenged ourselves to build on the games we've made before and to carry the great legacy of classics like the Zoo Tycoon series forward. We're taking everything we've learned from our past work and focusing on modern values – incredible authenticity, rich management, limitless creativity, and community sharing – to make our best-eve??r simulation game."

Frontier Announces Planet Zoo [Frontier Development]

The post Planet Zoo will let you create ??your perfect fantasy zoo appeared first on Destructoid.