This thread was created after following the Planet Zoo reddit during the months prior to the games arrival, a previous thread I created "Unnecessary Zoo Tycoon 2 Animals", and browsing the Games forum on this site got me thinking, what are animals we expect to have in a zoo-building game? Not want or predict, expect. Imagine if you heard that there was a new zoo building-stimulation game coming soon, what would be the animals that you would expect in that game? I'm curious to see what people may think about this.
Animals that could more or less be guaranteed: Elephant (probably African slightly more often than Asian) Common hippopotamus Gorilla (either western or eastern, despite the later’s lack of representation in RL zoos) Grizzly bear Grey wolf Giraffe (most likely reticulated) Zebra (most likely plains) Lion (usually African rather than Asiatic) Tiger (probably Siberian or Bengal) Black or white rhinoceros Chimpanzee (probably common chimps rather than bonobos) Orangutan (usually Bornean) Ring-tailed lemur Polar bear Giant panda Red panda Common ostrich Indian peafowl Flamingo (most often greater) Penguin (most often emperor, despite this species being uncommon in captivity IRL) Komodo dragon Giant tortoise (Galapagos or Aldabra) Crocodile/ alligator (usually Nile or saltwater crocodiles or American alligators) Thompson’s gazelle Dromedary or Bactrian camel Red kangaroo Animals that can’t be guaranteed but have a high chance of making it in due to popularity: American bison African buffalo African wild dog Spotted hyena Meerkat Common warthog Mandrill Leopard (usually African) Jaguar Snow leopard Cheetah Cougar/puma/mountain lion Moose (despite not being too common in RL zoos) Reindeer/caribou American or Asian black bear Pygmy hippopotamus Asian rhino (most often the Indian) Okapi Wildebeest (usually the blue wildebeest) Koala I realize that the bulk of the animals I listed are mammals, but let’s face it, they tend to run the gamut in these sorts of games with the exception of a few popular (and usually fairly large) birds and reptiles
Evilmonkey's list is pretty accurate. The only time you can expect animals outside of those is through custom content made by players. (Zoo Tycoon 2 is the best example of this.)
Komodo Dragons, yes. But, I don't think Nile Monitors would make it on the list, especially when you compare it to other monitor lizards like Perentie.
Yeah, but it has been featured in the Zoo Tycoon franchise so prominently, and Planet Zoo, it gets up there with Komodo Dragon.
Adding to evilmonkey239's list, which I do largely agree with, most zoo games tend to have some member of the Caprinae family - basically goats, sheep and their closest relatives - without fail. The only issue is that they don't tend to stick with one in particular. Members from that family that I've seen in zoo games include the Markhor, Bighorn Sheep, Dall Sheep, Japanese Serow, Mountain Goat, Takin and Musk Ox. The most common one, however, is the Alpine Ibex.
In an attempt to figure out which animals we tend to see most of in zoo simulation games, I took the entire Zoo Tycoon and Wildlife Park series, as well as Planet Zoo (made by the same people who made the last ZT game) and Zoo Constructor (made by the team behind the Wildlife Park games) and went through their animal rosters...that's eight games BTW. By my calculations.... Eight Games African Bush Elephant Bengal Tiger Chimpanzee Grizzly Bear Hippopotamus Jaguar Lion Polar Bear Red Kangaroo Reticulated Giraffe Seven Games American Bison Black Rhinoceros Bongo Bornean Orangutan Common Ostrich Cougar Gemsbok Giant Panda Grey Wolf Komodo Dragon Okapi Plains Zebra Thomson's Gazelle Six Games African Leopard Asian Elephant California Sea Lion Dromedary Camel Galapagos Giant Tortoise Koala Mandrill Moose Pacific Walrus Red Panda Reindeer Five Games African Buffalo American Flamingo Blue Wildebeest Cheetah Common Warthog Giant Anteater King Penguin Llama Przewalski's Horse Sable Antelope Spotted Hyena Western Lowland Gorilla Four Games Alpine Ibex American Black Bear Asiatic Black Bear Greater Flamingo Indian Peafowl Meerkat Nile Crocodile Nine-Banded Armadillo Snow Leopard Three Games African Wild Dog Arctic Fox Bactrian Camel Baird's Tapir Blackbuck Indian Rhinoceros Javan Rhinoceros Malayan Tapir Nile Monitor Northern Raccoon Platypus Ring-Tailed Lemur Sea Otter Siberian Tiger And then there was a whole batch of animals from two of those eight games, but it'd take a long while to go through them.
So, maybe to compare all the games rosters and give a point to any species of animal that appears in them to see the most common. For example, Reticulated Giraffes have been included in (at least) Planet Zoo, Zoo Tycoon 1, 2, and the console Zoo Tycoons, and Wildlife Park. So that would be 5 points for the Reticulated Giraffe. And whatever animals have the most points are more common to appear, while the animals with the least are not
IMO, this would be an interesting thread to keep updated as PZ gets more DLC I would also recommend throwing Zoo Empire in if that game wasn't so monumentally awful
Not sure if it's an expectation, but I deeply appreciate pathing systems that don't make me wanna blow my brains up. Paths are such an integral part of zoo layouts that I fully expect a great zoo game to have a pathing system that really works.
Mammals Elephant (African?) Rhinoceros of some sort Hippopotamus Giraffe of some sort (likely to be either reticulated or Masai) Lion Siberian Tiger Leopard, cheetah, or jaguar Gray Wolf (Arctic or timber) African Wild Dog (or hyena) Seal/sea lion Polar Bear Grizzly Bear Panda Meerkat/prairie dog Otter/beaver Koala Kangaroo (usually red) Gazelle or antelope of some sort Zebra (plains or grevy) Camel (Bactrian or dromedary) Bison Wildebeest Okapi Some sort of cervid Some sort of caprine (usually Ibex) Western Gorilla Chimpanzee Orangutan (either species) Some sort of new world monkey, usually spider, capuchin, or howler Birds (including flighted species) Ostrich Peafowl Flamingo Penguins (usually king or African, but multiple species could work) Some sort of eagle Owl species Parrot species (macaw probably) Toucan (toco probably) Reptiles Galapagos Tortoise Nile Crocodile Komodo Dragon Large snake (retic or anaconda) Small(er) venomous snakes Small lizards (chameleons, geckos, etc)
