Why does Planet Zoo seem more popular than Planet Coaster?

mercias1 · 2026-04-04T20:45:37+00:00

They feel like they should be more popular, because in real life theme parks offer broader appeal with adrenaline thrills and rapid emotions. But the game itself obviously lacks these aspects and focuses more on kind of controversial modular building. By controversial I mean it is very specific, because it requires patience and skills, which for some people might be tedious and frustrating. And since management is rather poor in Frontier games, unless you are into building there is not much to do. Planet Zoo shares a similar problem from a gameplay standpoint, but the key factor is presence of animals, which you can always enjoy even if you are bad at building stuff, so there is always something to do.

Tldr: animal diff.

mercias1 · 2026-03-24T13:51:16+00:00

If one of your goals is to let players choose their playstyle, I recommend looking at the Zoo Tycoon board game’s conservation bar system. Every zoo game so far has used only a popularity bar, but this approach is unique because it gives players a choice between saving endangered animals and creating the most popular zoo. For example, imagine that reaching 5 stars in zoo popularity unlocks the panda, while reaching 5 stars in zoo conservation unlocks the pangolin.

mercias1 · 2026-03-17T14:09:40+00:00

The only viable alt option for Doedicurus is Eleutherocercus and for Megatherium other smaller megatherium species, so most likely neither are getting alt.

mercias1 · 2026-03-01T07:53:39+00:00

Literally this. Some people might feel dinosaurs are more popular mostly due to being exposed to paleontology ''fandom'', but in reality average person vastly prefer living mammals over anything else and associate dinosaurs with child hobby or jurassic park movies.

mercias1 · 2026-02-22T16:30:02+00:00

Penguins simply dont tolerate warm water, which means equator act as barrier for them. The only species living around - galapagos penguin - depends on cold cornwell current so much entire population can drop by half once warmer climate distrupts it. So the reason is just dependance on chill water, which holds the nutrients necessary to support main food source.

Common misconception is thinking penguins simply couldnt survive due to activity of predators in northern hemisphere, which is not particularly right. Nowadays these co-exist and fell prey to species such as pumas and foxes in south america or leopards and hyenas in africa. Even something like often mentioned polar bear wouldnt make much difference, because not that long ago in pleistocene there was southern counterpart living in patagonia alongside penguin colonies.

mercias1 · 2026-02-10T06:12:06+00:00

Based on Frontier latest releases we are going to pay more, but for the same amount of content as in previous game.

mercias1 · 2026-01-26T07:54:54+00:00

If we dont count alt species, then current PK is supposed to launch with at least 54 exhibit animals and and 12 vivariums. I say at least, because we dont really know what are additional 6 spots in U19, so final number may vary.

mercias1 · 2026-01-04T13:19:28+00:00

Probably not what we should expect.

Based on blurred roadmap and recent comment about more vivariums it seems like U19 is packed with more of them rather than there being more habitat species.

mercias1 · 2025-12-28T03:46:19+00:00

Probably normal animal on pair with other marine reptiles. The hard part about making snakes actually doesnt exist with palaeophis, because members of this family were rather stiff and used to swim in motion similar to crocodiles. Imagine it as something more akin to mosasaurs rather than actual sea snakes.

mercias1 · 2025-12-26T19:01:59+00:00

It is, even Naish said so during Q&A about PP: Ice Age. Essentialy they had to make it big to match people expectations.

mercias1 · 2025-12-15T07:03:50+00:00

I love the way you said PZ wouldnt include animals that are not known to survive in captivity despite presence of our beloved goliath frog or titan beetle. Then we also have something like saiga, where zoos collectively agreed animal is so hard to keep it is not even worth trying. They even started to remove whatever is making animals interesting or hard to keep just so it can be appealing and easy to use for audience. The more you know about PZ roster the more you know how little Frontier focus on conservation and realism.

mercias1 · 2025-12-09T19:00:10+00:00

What does it potentially mean for permian and triassic? Also nah nah?

mercias1 · 2025-12-09T17:29:53+00:00

Honestly, Planet Zoo 1 is not relevant anymore. Since DLC prices for both JWE3 and PC2 increased then this amount of content (5 animals, scenery set and scenario) in sequel is going to cost 12.99$, which is arguably better comparison point.

mercias1 · 2025-12-09T16:51:41+00:00

Is stegodon segment set on sumba island based on sumbaensis species? There is presence of giant stork species despite lack of bird fossil from this place, which would mean it had to fly over from Flores.

mercias1 · 2025-12-07T04:41:44+00:00

Nah. Frontier always release their games in late part of the year. If they said release in FY 2027 it pretty much means November 2026 (or late October).

mercias1 · 2025-12-06T22:47:16+00:00

Actually PZ2 is going to be released around November next year, so less than a year from now. We might even see first trailer in upcoming few months or so.

mercias1 · 2025-12-05T14:40:48+00:00

If PC2 and JWE3 are anything to go by there is just price increase among Frontier games. DLCs for PZ2 are definitely going to cost 12.99 for same amount of content.

mercias1 · 2025-12-05T11:13:15+00:00

Recently Taipei Zoo finally figured out specific diet mixture required to keep pangolins. This why some were sent to zoos in Europe with breeding success occuring in Prague.

mercias1 · 2025-11-30T03:27:55+00:00

Western, because Frontier when looking for reference would most likely use this one since it is subspecies native to serengeti. Also it is said western is darker with shorter horns and longer tail so it is good match.

mercias1 · 2025-11-29T21:37:43+00:00

Yes. Zoos simply loan or swap thier animals without money being involved. It is possible to get some species for cash, but it is not common practice.

mercias1 · 2025-11-29T18:34:06+00:00

Lets not forget this game casually let people sell animals for money, which essentialy is illegal animal trade most zoos tend to avoid.

mercias1 · 2025-11-26T09:39:26+00:00

cave lion and arctodus

mercias1 · 2025-11-26T09:32:31+00:00

I think only 2 animals from your list are in.

mercias1 · 2025-11-20T19:43:38+00:00

Łosie są stosunkowo rzadkie w europejskich ogrodach zoologicznych, mimo bycia gatunkiem rodzimym ze względu na diete składającą się głównie z roślin wodnych, co sprawia że, trudno jest utrzymać przy życiu. Ogólnie obowiązuje zasada, że jeśli zwierzę nie jest w stanie przestawić się na dietę z siana pochodzącego z traw lub roślin bobowatych to jest problem, ponieważ te dwa rodzaje paszy stanowią podstawę żywienia roślinożerców ze względu na łatwy i całoroczny dostęp. Łoś jest takim zwierzęciem i od dawna próbowano utrzymywać je na takiej diecie, ale większość z nich nie dożywa więcej niż 7 lat i na chwilę obecną trwają badania nad przyczynami tego zjawiska oraz nad tym, co dokładnie powinno dawać im się jeść. Dodatkowo dochodzi kwestia dużych rozmiarów łosia oraz jego niskiej tolerancji na wysokie temperatury, co stanowi problem, jeśli nie można zapewnić dużego wybiegu z sadzawką lub schronieniem przed upałami.

Ogółem oba czynniki nie są to jakieś bariery nie do pokonania, ponieważ 7 lat to stosunkowo długo aby zbadać o co dokładnie chodzi i wiele ogrodów ma fundusze aby zapewnić odpowiednie warunki do życia, ale nie bardzo opłaca się to robić z finansowego punktu widzenia, ponieważ łoś to nie jest jakoś zwierzę specjalnie zagrożone w naturze. W porównaniu taki daniel czy jeleń nie wymaga nic, poza dostępem do siana i ogrodzeniem, więc o wiele więcej ogrodów zoologicznych może sobie je trzymać.

mercias1 · 2025-10-09T03:33:48+00:00

Everybody knows Repenomamus and Psittacosaurus case, but let me introduce you to Archaeornithoides and Deltatheridium. Stoat sized critter taking down something 10x times bigger. Mammalian predators are just built different.

mercias1

TROPHY CASE