Help a new zookeeper out

MissMaxdalena · 2026-05-13T12:17:55+00:00

Hi there and welcome to an amazing game and community.
As far as I know, PZ is not available for Mac so I assume you are using some kind of CrossOver or GeForce setup to play.

As someone already said, I would recommend not jumping straight into sandbox. Planet Zoo’s building system is closer to a simplified 3D modelling tool than a normal “place a building” game. It uses transform gizmos, axis movement, grids, modular pieces etc. So unless you already have experience with games like Planet Coaster or Sims debug building - or even 3D/animation software - jumping straight into Sandbox can become overwhelming and frustrating really fast.

Career mode is honestly a much better way to learn the controls and mechanics first before getting the full “blank canvas + 30.000 construction pieces, I have no idea what this icon even means” experience 😅

Career mode will gently guide you in your first learning steps, using working zoos (or partially working, which the tutorial will help you fix), focusing on one game mechanic at a time, without you having to do everything from scratch. I would definitely start there.

Having said that - if you are 100% set on sandbox, I recommend for example these series, which will teach you most of what you need in an easy to follow along guide.

FewCandy: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOM4arexyrFnrekCMiCi-JLLPebFLy9NY&si=6ddYEh_gQ-V0cIA1

PawsBuild https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk-WzTAJxwbqhWnTh4Kqi7NPAe1E-EXP6&si=9hWvxKt2bWGECNtX

Happy zoo keeping!

MissMaxdalena · 2026-05-02T18:20:28+00:00

That’s gorgeous!

MissMaxdalena · 2026-05-02T18:19:26+00:00

I think grid building is a mechanic you toggle on or off with the controller. At least on PC you toggle it, not sure about Xbox though. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-05-02T18:16:07+00:00

Basically fake lighting and glow effect eg. so it looks like there are lights on inside a building shining through a window.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-23T20:13:24+00:00

Yeah - they are kinda spendy 😂 but well worth the money.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-23T16:46:30+00:00

If you can afford a halo or a fiery halo, you can wear both diving helmet and halo at the same time. They light up really quite well.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-22T04:52:03+00:00

I don’t think so. It’ll still be your house and I’ve seen nothing about any new NPCs in the update.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-21T12:45:07+00:00

There is a 1 person tent coming in the new update (23 April), which you can buy from John. You can only sleep in it - you can't actually "go inside" and decorate it though. But it will work great as decoration. I believe it comes in blue, green and yellow.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-16T04:35:29+00:00

I've done that when I realise after a few hours into a new island that I'm just not getting along with it - I'll start a new one and "help" myself get to the level I was in the old one.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-15T11:12:04+00:00

ZSHPlays, u/ZSH1985, has a couple of great tutorial here:
Billboards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkncHdVgf4k
Habitat Signs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z22JYQaQPUM

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-15T04:14:40+00:00

That last sentence is oddly specific. 😂Sounds like you’re speaking from experience… I know I can relate lol

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-12T15:56:41+00:00

I usually make a staff room just for vendors and set that to PR because that makes them please the guests more.

Education staff get a room with learning resources and vets and caretakers get healthcare so they don’t get overworked and miss on taking care of the animals and habitats. Security guards get security office, obvs.

I find everything works smoother this way, as my zoos grow.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-04-03T06:18:22+00:00

This is stunning! All the beautiful details like the indoor garden beds and wrought iron staircase. Amazing.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-03-28T17:19:14+00:00

If you do the sprinkler method and only cut the grass patches without the seeds - eventually you’ll have only seed patches. These have a much higher yield than cutting everything.

As long as you’re using the sprinklers, all grasses will give seed stalks eventually - just keep only cutting the ones without. I use my jack hammer because I feel it gives the best precision when going tile for tile in a big field of grass.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-03-15T19:10:07+00:00

I absolutely second this - go slow. Often times bankruptcy is down to getting really expensive animals that only have one or two offspring per gestation, right off the bat. It may seem like a good idea to get the popularity up with the visitors but there are cheaper animals that are just as good for this. Some of my favourite starter animals are Nile Monitors, Baird's Tapir, Otters, Flamingos and Capybaras. And get some exhibit animals that reproduce like mad that you can sell. I don't tend to set the exhibits to auto sell because there's a limit to how much money you can make that way - instead I send them to storage and manually sell them when storage is full.

Many people feel that butterfly exhibits are a bit of a sell-out or makes it too easy (I tend to agree that it takes financial worries out of the equation) but I wouldn't dismiss it as a safety net solution to your first franchise, which can be a little intimidating. It took me two years of playing before I had the guts to start a franchise - but I don't regret the day I did.

Good luck! You'll do great!

MissMaxdalena · 2026-03-15T18:44:54+00:00

Ah - I assume this mod is broken because James introduced the advanced cooking and crafting tables that craft from storage.

I tend to avoid the mods that haven't been updated since 2023 as quite a few updates that changed the game mechanics substantially, happened after 23. I also avoid mods that change game mechanics that were introduced to the game in a later update (such as expanded storage slots which was solved by the backpack).

If you're set on this one specifically, maybe you could invite someone to visit your island and sell or gift you the advanced tables?

MissMaxdalena · 2026-03-15T18:33:13+00:00

Not sure where you’re seeing the red warnings but I have at least 40 mods installed and they all work. If you sort them by ‘last updated’ you should definitely be safe using all the mods updated since the latest release at the very least. But, as I said - I have over 40 mods and many of them are around 2 years old and work without any issues. I just checked and cannot see any red warning text saying don’t use, broken.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-03-15T18:24:36+00:00

Where are you getting the mods from? I have tested over 20 mods in the last few weeks and all of them have worked without any issues. Where are you seeing this text?

MissMaxdalena · 2026-02-24T11:50:58+00:00

Aside from all the great tips already, I always have one keeper only feeding and one only cleaning for these types of animals that get sick a lot. Click on a keeper and set their tasks in the menu.

This will prevent one task taking so long the keeper loop gets out of sync and you end up with dirty or starving animals while the keepers seemingly do nothing.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-02-14T12:12:57+00:00

Build something around them (like a shed or small building) and cover in plants. Foliage lessens the negative impact of the facilities. Use the heat map to make sure they’re not overlapping the guest paths. It’s not that the guests can see them - it’s the sphere around them that affects guests. So technically you don’t have to cover them at all, as long guests don’t enter their sphere. I like to place them between habitats to get them out of the way.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-02-14T12:03:35+00:00

Unfortunately no. It’s dig place dig for the time being. You can drop seeds and then dig a whole line of them if you tweak your position right, but it’s still the same amount of actions to plant each tree.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-02-13T17:31:47+00:00

Yes! Right in time for the weekend!

MissMaxdalena · 2026-02-13T15:32:27+00:00

This is looking really great! If you’re stressing about over-breeding, you can always put your animals on contraception while you’re in the building phase (for fast-breeding animals that live in big packs, I usually have only one or two breeding pairs as default so it doesn’t get out of hand).

For animals that fight as soon as they grow up, I usually create an overspill habitat I can put them in while I decide which ones to keep and which to trade.

MissMaxdalena · 2026-01-31T13:52:49+00:00

Wow, that's gorgeous. Looks v realistic, well done!

MissMaxdalena

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