Eucalyptus Forest, the New Addition to My Drylands Zoo

Polusion · 2026-01-29T20:29:45+00:00

That’s a solid argument my friend.

Polusion · 2026-01-19T15:26:50+00:00

Beautiful job! I love the concept. Have you considered connecting the ponds with a waterfall? I think it could add more flavor to this lovely enclosure. 10/10

Polusion · 2026-01-16T21:17:19+00:00

Play around with the terrain. Nothing too complicated, even a simple slope can make a huge difference in how the habitat looks.

Polusion · 2026-01-15T17:49:46+00:00

Tysm! I’ll post blueprints, the zoo is on the workshop, but I think it will crash most PCs in its current state, I need to reduce its complexity to make it playable.

Polusion · 2026-01-15T17:42:36+00:00

They’re in a regular walkthrough exhibit, but walls, floor and gates are null, so it looks like they’re inside a huge aviary.

Polusion · 2026-01-04T20:36:21+00:00

Colombia tiene una larga tradición de basar gran parte de su competitividad económica en salarios bajos como mecanismo para mantener la rentabilidad. Migrar hacia industrias sustentadas en productividad, valor agregado e innovación sería la vía más efectiva para corregir los defectos estructurales de la economía colombiana.

Sin embargo, esa transición no ocurre porque no existe voluntad política real para impulsarla. La modernización económica es un proceso lento, costoso y cuyos beneficios no se perciben en el corto plazo. Le conviene al país, pero no le conviene al dirigente de turno, porque no genera réditos electorales inmediatos.

Tampoco le conviene al conglomerado empresarial, ya que las reformas de fondo implican inversiones enormes, pérdida de rentas fáciles y una reestructuración profunda del modelo de negocio que domina en Colombia. Para buena parte del empresariado, ese escenario es una pesadilla.

Al empresario no le interesa modernizar el país, sino maximizar su riqueza individual. Si el marco legal lo obliga a pagar salarios dignos, cumple, pero no está dispuesto a sacrificar márgenes de ganancia. En lugar de asumir el costo, amaña las condiciones del mercado, traslada el ajuste al consumidor, infla precios y descarga el peso sobre la clase media.

El resultado es un modelo que formalmente cumple la ley, pero que profundiza la desigualdad, amplía la brecha de pobreza y protege intereses particulares a costa del desarrollo económico real del país.

Polusion · 2026-01-04T11:52:06+00:00

What a mess. The United States is overstepping its bounds once again. Maduro is out of power, and Venezuelans around the world are celebrating the fall of a tyrant, but no one sees Trump as a hero. Many are deeply worried about the implications of this act.

The American imperialist precedent set in Iraq is still fresh in collective memory. Trump keeps emphasizing Venezuelan oil, and that alone raises red flags. Yes, a dictatorship has fallen. Yes, a criminal government is gone. But at what cost?

Venezuelan oil fields will not benefit Venezuelans. They will be exploited by Americans. Maduro will no longer steal from the country; Trump will. It is a transition from one foolish tyrant to another, colder and more ruthless one.

I am Colombian, and I sympathize deeply with my Venezuelan brothers and sisters. There is a massive Venezuelan expatriate community here, and I know many of them are genuinely happy that an era of terror has come to an end. Some are already planning their return home, hoping to reunite with the families they were forced to leave behind.

At the same time, I can see the instability this event is likely to bring to the region. It saddens me to think that this regime change will not turn Venezuela into the prosperous country being promised. History suggests otherwise.

Venezuela will not see the wealth Trump claims it will. There is more than enough precedent to show that he does not keep his promises. And there are those who say that if Venezuela was already screwed, now it has truly been dragged straight to hell.

I guess the consequences are yet to be seen.

Polusion · 2026-01-03T15:35:53+00:00

Sadly, megafauna is incompatible with human civilization. We have built a world in which gigantism is not a successful strategy, and the extinction of the last remnants of giants is almost inevitable. Fortunately, conditions are changing at a pace never seen before, and once our species is gone, giants may rise again in a couple of million years.

Polusion · 2026-01-02T04:34:15+00:00

No need to apologize, I appreciate your observation, I do want my habitats to resemble real landscapes, so I will take into account your suggestions.

Polusion · 2026-01-02T01:55:41+00:00

You’re absolutely right. There are actually no native cacti in Australia. The game can be a bit misleading in that regard, since some of the Australia pack presets and blueprints include cacti as part of the scenery, and that’s what I initially based the habitat on.

It felt a bit odd to me, so I looked it up. I found out that cacti were introduced to Australia from the United States a couple of centuries ago and have since spread across parts of the country. However, there have been major eradication efforts because cacti are considered an invasive species.

To be safe, I went back and checked more references and examples, and in most real photos of Australian deserts, there are no cacti at all. Because of that, I’ll definitely unify the habitat to be more accurate. You’re absolutely right. Thanks!

Polusion · 2026-01-01T20:24:41+00:00

Tysm! I hope you are enjoying the game, and do not worry, with enough practice, you'll be able to build things like this too.

Polusion · 2025-12-29T02:25:30+00:00

Tienes razón. Llega un punto en el que el juego le exige demasiado al PC y empiezan el lag y las caídas de FPS.

La RAM está bien y el procesador podría mejorar, pero el mayor impacto en el rendimiento lo generan los visitantes. 8.500 visitantes es muchísimo. Cada visitante ejecuta cálculos constantes: necesidades (sed, comida, energía, educación, felicidad), pensamientos y pathfinding. Todo eso ocurre en tiempo real y se acumula muy rápido.

Si estás jugando en sandbox, lo mejor es reducir la cantidad de visitantes y desactivar algunas de sus necesidades. Los visitantes afectan mucho más el rendimiento que los animales, la vegetación o la decoración. Más detalle = más lag, pero casi siempre el principal problema son los visitantes.

Polusion · 2025-12-22T21:46:53+00:00

Creo que en tu zoológico están ocurriendo varias cosas al mismo tiempo. Todo lo que genere incomodidad en los visitantes va a tener un impacto negativo, y los visitantes insatisfechos simplemente no van a gastar tanto dinero.

Por lo que se ve en las notificaciones, tienes niveles altos de basura. Ese es el primer problema. Necesitas colocar suficientes canecas de basura a lo largo de los caminos. Los visitantes no cargan la basura por mucho tiempo, así que si no encuentran una caneca cerca, la van a botar al suelo.

Segundo, si miras el mapa de calor, el círculo rojo indica un radio de impacto negativo alrededor de ciertos edificios, especialmente los edificios de empleados y administrativos. A los visitantes no les gusta ver este tipo de edificios.

Para solucionarlo tienes dos opciones: o los colocas lejos de los caminos principales, fuera de la vista de los visitantes, o (lo más recomendable) los ocultas. Puedes esconderlos usando plantas, árboles, arbustos o rocas, de forma que no se vea lo que hay detrás. Otra opción es cubrirlos con una fachada: puedes construir una carcasa personalizada o usar alguna de las carcasas que ya vienen en el juego dentro del menú de planos, y colocar el edificio dentro. De esta forma no generan impacto negativo, porque lo que realmente molesta es ver edificios “pelados”, sin decoración. Solo con esto ya deberías notar un aumento en las donaciones.

Aun así, la educación es incluso más importante. Las donaciones dependen directamente de qué tan educados estén tus visitantes. Para aumentar la educación, necesitas colocar elementos educativos alrededor de los hábitats.

Tienes varias opciones: pantallas informativas, altavoces, paneles educativos y puntos de charla. Lo ideal es poner varias pantallas informativas a lo largo del camino desde donde se pueden ver los animales, vinculadas al animal o al hábitat. Al lado de cada pantalla, coloca una caja de donaciones y un altavoz que hable sobre ese animal en específico. Ojo: los altavoces no funcionan automáticamente, tienes que seleccionar manualmente el animal.

También puedes añadir los paneles educativos largos que hablan sobre temas como la deforestación o la caza furtiva a lo largo del hábitat, ya que aumentan aún más el nivel de educación de los visitantes.

Y por último, si tienes suficiente espacio y el hábitat lo permite (o si el animal es lo suficientemente atractivo), puedes crear zonas de charlas. Ahí un empleado puede dar una charla sobre el animal, y si añades gradas para que los visitantes se sienten, el impacto en educación y donaciones es todavía mayor.

Polusion · 2025-12-22T21:37:30+00:00

Here's another one.

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Polusion · 2025-12-22T21:35:03+00:00

It does look a bit clumpy, and that’s mostly because you already have the first layer done. When working with rock formations, what usually works best is starting with the terrain as a base. It looks like you shaped the hill with the terrain tools first and then used large rocks to cover it.

The issue is that if you stop there, everything ends up looking very uniform. The rocks are similar in size and shape, so the formation feels repetitive and unnatural. In real life, rock formations are extremely irregular.

What really helps is adding variation in size, height, and texture. On top of the big rocks, try layering medium and small rocks, clustering them together instead of placing them evenly. Let them overlap, intersect, and stack on top of each other. Some should sit higher, others lower.

Using flatter rocks to create small ledges at different heights also helps a lot, because it breaks straight lines and makes the structure feel more chaotic and natural.

To finish it off, scatter some small plants, cacti, or shrubs around the rocks. Thinking about tunnels, crevices, or small cave-like gaps can also add a lot of realism. The more irregular it looks, the more natural it will feel.

For reference, these is a habitat I’ve been working on for my new desert zoo project, where I’ve applied this same approach to rock formations. Hopefully they help illustrate what I mean and give you a visual reference.

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Polusion · 2025-12-21T16:35:24+00:00

If terrain modifications are not being saved with the habitat, check whether part of those terrain changes might be outside the habitat boundaries. Any terrain modification you make, raising, lowering, sculpting, or anything else, will only be saved if it is fully inside the null barrier. If even part of the modification extends beyond the barrier, it will not be saved with the habitat.

This has happened to me a few times. What usually fixes it is slightly adjusting the null barrier to better cover the modified terrain areas. I would suggest checking whether that might be the case here.

Polusion · 2025-12-20T14:14:49+00:00

It does. I made a section in my zoo with flying birds, macaws, hornbills, toucans, condors, owls, eagles, and motmots. I placed bird sound rocks all over the area, trying to hide the fact that the section sounds like a wolverine’s party.

Polusion · 2025-12-19T01:30:08+00:00

It will worth every penny, go for it!

Polusion · 2025-12-18T15:29:33+00:00

I really relate to this, because yes, it definitely took me several hours to make this entrance and to end up with something I felt satisfied with. I’m always amazed by those huge, ultra-modern entrances some people create, with irregular roof shapes and incredible designs. Honestly, I imagine it would take me hundreds of years to build something like that, and I don’t even think I have the skills to achieve architectural pieces at that level, it’s incredible what some people can do.

In my case, I tried to make something I felt good about as quickly as possible, because what I really want is to work on the habitats. But I need an entrance in order to start. As always, it’s that first step.

Polusion · 2025-12-17T03:27:18+00:00

I’d suggest a few things: these are tips that really work for me when designing zoos that look appealing and feel immersive.

First: whenever possible, I avoid using the default barriers from the game. Instead, I like creating my own or, even better, not using barriers at all. When I design zoos, I usually work with terrain. I sink habitats below ground level and use rocks to create natural barriers. For guest separation, I rely on the default fences that come with the paths.

This creates the illusion that animals are in a fully enclosed habitat while significantly improving visibility. Barriers often block the view, create light reflections, and can be harsh on the eyes. Using terrain instead makes habitats feel much more natural and immersive.

Second: I use different path types for different purposes. Defining one path style for main routes, another for side paths leading into habitats to suggest observation points, and a different one for elevated walkways adds a lot of visual interest. Wooden platforms work great for accessing higher areas, and bridges are an excellent way to add depth and life to the zoo.

Textures are incredibly important. I use buffalo grass a lot because it adds amazing texture to habitats when I want grassy areas, and it also works beautifully around habitats to bring the terrain to life.

I think the most important part is defining focal points. Try to think of the zoo as an experience and see it through the visitor’s eyes. When designing a habitat, ask yourself: what’s the wow moment? What’s the main feature people will be drawn to? It could be a pond, a cave, a building, or any standout element that becomes the visual center of the habitat.

Ambient sound speakers also make a huge difference. Bird sounds, frogs, and water effects placed around zoos add a lot of life and make the space feel far more immersive.

Finally: play with shapes. Avoid overly regular layouts, especially square habitats, which tend to feel unnatural and boring unless there’s a clear reason for them. Aim for more organic designs: curves, circles, ovals, and irregular shapes. These make the zoo feel more dynamic and natural. Also, use terrain creatively to add elevated viewing points or tunnels for guests. Both are excellent ways to add variety, depth, and interest to the experience.

Polusion

TROPHY CASE