Alright, Excavation seems like a clear winner.
The Dig.
(https://i.imgur.com/tIMe22m.png)
January, Year One.
287 Drogman Lane has always had a reputation for unfortunate events. Every business founded here before has failed. The previous owners of the land were the Marsh & Sons construction company. Officially, their lease indicated that they intended to build a skyscraper here and lease it out to businesses to improve the struggling neighborhood's economy. However, it was not to be. After the construction had made it a few hundred feet down, OSHA complaints from Marsh & Sons' workers resulted in an FBI investigation of Marsh & Sons that ultimately shut down the project. Shortly thereafter, the EPA had the entire site filled with concrete, stating that it was necessary to control toxic material Marsh & Sons had leaked into the ground.
The excavation site has now stood empty for several years. Recently, the city conducted tests of the underlying soil and rock and has declared that all of the material left behind by Marsh & Sons is finally gone. In response, Mayor Mason commissions a new project to beautify the area. Calling the jagged and bare pit of Drogman Lane an eyesore, Mason calls to "fill that old pit with life."
That's where we begin. Per King Zultan's suggestion, our first exhibit will be a combination of Thomson's gazelles and plains zebras. I'll make sure to leave room for this exhibit to grow. If we're doing a multispecies Savannah enclosure, there's several herbivores who will live together happily.
I'll normally just do before-and-after pictures, since construction looks about the same every time. This time though, I thought it'd be fun to show the process.
I started by expanding our path a little and then building a large enclosure. This is much bigger than they usually need to be, but I expect there'll be a lot of animals in here soon.
(https://i.imgur.com/gtWd7rm.png)
Placing the first two gazellas, along with the necessary savannah grass and fences quickly wiped out our starting money. Thankfully then the emergency funding drive event gives us an extra $5000 $10000 dollars. Like I said before, this only happens once.
(https://i.imgur.com/0AOG8JC.png)
Our first guests arrived as I planted umbrella acacia trees for our gazelles. Both gazelles and zebras prefer tall grass to trees, but we don't have that plant yet.
(https://i.imgur.com/JSKQ6AB.png)
After the two gazelles were happy, I put in the first two zebras. The zebras were happy with the same conditions as the gazelles, so I didn't have to change anything for them. Our first exhibit is now complete.
(https://i.imgur.com/JoXH3Cg.png)
Once that was done, I added some early necessities to our zoo. Before anything else, I hired our first zookeeper to keep the animals fed and healthy. "Dorfings" are now open, on a first come first served basis. I can give you a requested job, or just whatever we need. I've also built a rainforest-themed restaurant. This will be one of our most important buildings. Smaller food stands are actually unnecessary liabilities. All trash is produced by food stands, so building only restaurants erases garbage collection as a gameplay mechanic. Restaurants also generate enormous amount of money while fulfilling every guest need, including resting and needing to visit the restroom. We'll need to build more later on, as our guest count grows too large for this one to handle on its own.
We do still need maintenance workers though, or the fences will eventually break down and the animals will escape.
(https://i.imgur.com/NRXqIVC.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/0jbWR1W.png)
We're very low on money now, but we're turning a profit. Within days of completing the exhibit, the gazelles had our zoo's first baby.
(https://i.imgur.com/TyZvJmJ.png)
What would you like to do next?
A gazelle prancing cheerfully before onlookers.
(https://i.imgur.com/IVjFLP5.png)
After the dorf-themed start, I'm thinking about what animals would go along with that.
Most if not all the non-dino species are in DF, of course. But some are more resonant than others.
Elephants
Most things fanciful: Unicorn, Yeti, Loch Ness Monster, (Mermaid)
Things with "Giant": Giant ground sloth, (Giant Anteater), (Giant Panda), (Giant Tortoise)
Those all seem large and expensive, though. I'm not sure how many we can fit in, or afford. And several (in parentheses) I pulled off a wiki and aren't on the available list yet.
-----
My personal fave dinosaur forgotten beast from a time before time is triceratops, which is savannah at least. But still big and expensive.
Perhaps more usefully, with our steep terrain we can consider a Highlands exhibit space? Mountain lions look to be a reasonably priced predator.
Looks like the votes are 3.5 for Boatmurdered, 1 for Underground Utopia, and 1 for Genericville Zoo. We are now the Boatmurdered Zoo!
As for the votes for our next animal, looks like we have 3 votes for giraffes, 2 for sable antelopes, 2 votes for predators and 1 against, (one of the pro-votes being specifically for a mountain lion), and 2 for elephants. Giraffes and sable antelopes are easiest since we have a savanna enclosure already, so I'll start with that.
As for the restaurant, I think I'll let IronyOwl have the name this time. Not only did he ask first, there's also an actual nacho stand we can build. I'll put the suggestion for "Juainos's Nacho Shack" on that one. I wouldn't normally build a picnic area, but it should be fine. Sorry EuchreJack, but restaurants don't actually have workers. The internal management is only reflected in a monthly upkeep cost. If you like, I could name the next restaurant after you.
After the dorf-themed start, I'm thinking about what animals would go along with that.
Most if not all the non-dino species are in DF, of course. But some are more resonant than others.
Elephants
Most things fanciful: Unicorn, Yeti, Loch Ness Monster, (Mermaid)
Things with "Giant": Giant ground sloth, (Giant Anteater), (Giant Panda), (Giant Tortoise)
Those all seem large and expensive, though. I'm not sure how many we can fit in, or afford. And several (in parentheses) I pulled off a wiki and aren't on the available list yet.
-----
My personal fave dinosaur forgotten beast from a time before time is triceratops, which is savannah at least. But still big and expensive.
Perhaps more usefully, with our steep terrain we can consider a Highlands exhibit space? Mountain lions look to be a reasonably priced predator.
I can keep these suggestions in mind, but I'd estimate that all those animals together represent approximately $150,000 worth of enclosures. That's well outside our current price range, but the unicorn, Triceratops, and giant anteater should all be doable in the near future. We will need a scientist and upgraded fencing for the savanna enclosure, if we get a Triceratops. Giant anteaters aren't actually huge, they're just "giant" in comparison to regular anteaters. They're roughly six feet long on average.
Is it possible to name animals?
We can do that, yes.
Finally, I wanted to let everyone know that we have a channel on the Bay12 forum games discord. (https://discord.gg/BSscjg)
The Boatmurdered Zoo
(https://i.imgur.com/K9Z0ESf.png)
Late January-June, Year One
Construction began quickly on the Boatmurdered Zoo. The project was severely underfunded, and the new zoo nearly went under as soon as it was founded. Thankfully, the community's generosity came through, and another $10,000 was raised to keep the zoo running. Life returned to the construction site as gazelles and zebras moved into the first enclosure and the faux-ziggurat of Banana Dan's Flin and Flan was raised to feed the first guests. Soon enough, a baby gazelle was born.
First off, I took care of the requested renamings. Banana Dan's Flin & Flan just brushes up against the character limit, but I was able to make it fit.
(https://i.imgur.com/bbhwuGO.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pJgKmjg.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/XxqGuCU.png)
On the last day of January through the beginning of February, I set up a picnic area for King Zultan's soda machine and Juainos' Nacho Shack. I had to take a short break from construction at this point as the bills and our zookeeper's salary briefly put us into the red, but we quickly recovered. I put the picnic area a short walk away from the restaurant, just to give the vendors there a chance to survive Banana Dan's presence.
(https://i.imgur.com/QHCTyAC.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/M0hDCqn.png)
In the spirit of Boatmurdered, I added some decorations to our entrance.
(https://i.imgur.com/qWcylbv.png)
As for actual elephants, there are three different species in the game. There's the African elephant, the Asian elephant, and the woolly mammoth. The Asian elephant is available now and the mammoth could be unlocked with a bit of funding to genetic research, but they'll require new enclosures. The African elephant would most likely fit in with the savanna exhibit, but isn't unlocked yet. I'll try to make sure we collect them all when we get the chance.
Otherwise, February passed without much incident. At the beginning of March, we got the first wave of unlocks. We'll be getting these every three months until the first year is over.
(https://i.imgur.com/Sb2uWry.png)
New animals:
Savannah:Olive baboon(900), Common Wildebeest(1000).
Deciduous forest:Black bear(850), Siberian tiger(1000), Gray wolf(900), Camptosaurus(2500).
Tropical Rainforest:Caudipteryx(1500).
Highland:American bighorn sheep(600).
Tundra:Emperor penguin(1100).
Saltwater:Saltwater crocodile(1500), Elephant seal(1500).
Aquatic:Tiger shark(1800).
New buildings:
Sea Dawg's stand
Hot dog stand
Drink stand
Tree swing
New scenery:
Exhibit sign
Street lamp
Lion statue
Wooden observation area
T. rex statue
Velociraptor statue
Metal grate observation area
Triceratops skeleton
Lava archway
Small geyser
Turtle fountain
(Plants)
Flowerbed 3
Flowerbed 4
Giraffe topiary
Surprisingly, we managed to gain a profit on payday. Nine of our zoo guests had been impressed enough to become benefactors at that point. Alongside the regular guest's donations, we earned $2,628 in total donation income that month.
(https://i.imgur.com/cZLD7Rd.png)
March and the first half of April were spent dealing with our next new animal, the giraffes. The first one I put into the savanna/Giraffe embassy enclosure wasn't happy, finding various objections to the terrain. Thankfully, the zebras and gazelles were tolerant enough of the various changes the giraffe required that I was still able to keep everything in the same pen. We lost more than half our donation income for the month as the guests watched the unhappy giraffe while I worked things out, however.
(https://i.imgur.com/X71hBQK.png)
Unfortunately, the sable antelopes didn't work out. Their environmental needs proved too different from the other animals in the enclosure and I ultimately had to sell them again when the cost of pleasing everything proved too high. At least the attempt to work out a compromise ultimately resulted in an upgraded enclosure for the other savanna animals.
(https://i.imgur.com/XSkekEN.png)
Our zoo was apparently inspected just after they were removed and I cleaned up the evidence of their presence, as Boatmurdered Zoo won the Blue Ribbon for Quality Animal Care award just afterward.
(https://i.imgur.com/aXWEwJT.png)
The Quality Animal Care award comes with a $5,000 prize, which was just enough to add a small new exhibit. Since the savanna exhibit requires a very careful balance right now, I used IronyOwl and Mightymushroom's suggestions and added a mountain lion enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/R1LhYxQ.png)
It's on the opposite side of the main path from the savanna animals, but shifted down a bit to encourage people to go over to the snack vendors. Finally, the gazelles had another baby and I've hired our first maintenance worker, Old Mate.
(https://i.imgur.com/Qcf9QQ3.png)
The gazelles' new baby.
(https://i.imgur.com/UzzN2By.png)
This may be a little cheesy, but I remember that "small" plants that only took up 1/4 of a tile could be used to fill up an entire tile, which effectively quadruples the vegetation cap of the animals in an exhibit. It doesn't really look good with anything but savanna grass, but it's more space efficient and it helps to balance out happiness for multi-species exhibits once you get to more finicky animals than zebra and gazelle.
That's right, it's extremely helpful with the more difficult animals. If you look closely at the screenshots from before, I've been quietly doing that from time to time to try and boost the animal's exhibit suitability. It's particularly obvious with the mountain lion.
The new savanna
(https://i.imgur.com/9Q08AWp.png)
June-September, Year One
Financial difficulties continued to plague the Boatmurdered Zoo over the first six months of its existence. The main path was expanded to add a second food court, while giraffes and a mountain lion joined the zoo's growing collection of wildlife. Unfortunately, an early attempt at adding sable antelopes to the main exhibit went poorly and ultimately failed. The zoo was undeterred by this setback, and soon began to draw up new plans...
I spent the rest of June through August gathering money and preparing for our second savanna exhibit. I also bought a gift shop to go next to Banana Dan's, since we weren't selling any souvenirs yet.
(https://i.imgur.com/VjZ90b2.png)
I also spent $462 to complete the necessary genetic research for woolly mammoths so we can have a full set of elephants someday and added observation areas to the original savanna exhibit per Mightymushroom's suggestion.
(https://i.imgur.com/Er6SSNi.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/0RmYQwq.png)
By the beginning of August, I had the area for the new exhibit constructed with elevated paths. I began to gradually build the exhibit, funded mostly by the roughly $3000 a month in donations we're getting.
(https://i.imgur.com/HR1AEKP.png)
Along the way, the next two waves of unlocks arrived.
(https://i.imgur.com/zLQWmng.png)
New animals:
Savannah:Black rhino(1200), Hippopotamus(1200), Leopard(1100), African warthog(600), African elephant(2500), Cheetah(1600), Spotted hyena(1200), ostrich(1100).
Grassland:American bison(1500).
Deciduous forest:Iguanodon(3700).
Coniferous forest:Stegosaurus(4000), Lambeosaurus(3000).
Tropical rainforest:Jaguar(1100), Mandrill(1300).
Highland:Ibex(625).
Tundra:Polar bear(1500), Arctic wolf(1150).
Desert:Gemsbok(900), Dromedary camel(900).
Saltwater:California Sea Lion(700), Pacific walrus(1250).
Aquatic:Manta ray(850), Green sea turtle(600), Pacific octopus(900), Bottlenose dolphin(1000), Beluga(850), West Indian Manatee(1100).
New buildings:
Polly's popcorn cart
Ice cream stand
Crushed ice cart
Swim shack
Ring toss
Bronto burger
Shark tunnel
Gift shop
Dinosaur gift shop
Aquatic gift shop
Mammoth cones
Fancy ice cream stand
Hamburger stand
Family restroom
Aquatic restroom
Fancy hot dog stand
Pizza stand
Fancy drink stand
Swim with dolphins ride
Petting zoo
Elephant ride (1200)
Animal theater (1300)
Stego Putt golf (1200)
Scenery
Stage backdrop
Stage end
Stage door
Metal observation area
Jumping fountain
White observation area
Treasure chest
Wood observation area
Small fossil wall
Water well
Reinforced concrete observation area
Wishing fountain
Zoo map
Ice age observation area
Velociraptor skeleton
Stone archway
Elephant fountain
Bighorn statue
Large geyser
Woolly mammoth fountain
Fancy backdrop
Metal picnic table
Large stone torch
T. rex skeleton
Medium fossil wall
Duck pond
Bone bed
Tar pit (1200)
Small volcano (3500)
Iron bar observation area
Jack o' Lantern (Can only be bought on Halloween.)
(Plants)
Large flowerbed
Large flowerbed 2
Elephant topiary
Rhinoceros topiary
Soon enough, I was able to move the giraffes over to their new embassy. We won both the Silver and Gold plaques for Excellence in Exhibit Design for their new enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/5wQ5XfB.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/C1etzkL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/XSKAoe7.png)
The Gold Plaque came with a $15,000 prize. I used the first $5,000 on adding the sable antelopes back into the main savanna exhibit. They fit in easily, once I could prioritize their needs rather than balancing them with the giraffes'.
(https://i.imgur.com/MbPWL8x.png)
We've got a bit over $10,000 and rising now. I think we need a new animal keeper if we plan to keep expanding. At three exhibits that aren't particularly close together, we're at about the limit for what our current one can handle on his own. We could hire another regular zookeeper, but if you want to try dinosaurs or marine animals, now might be a good time to hire a scientist or marine specialist since we need to pay a new employee anyway.
Old Mate averts disaster.
(https://i.imgur.com/S5rp2oT.png)
The Lazarus Exhibits
(https://i.imgur.com/oledSO1.png)
September-Early January, Year One and Two.
Things looked bright for the Boatmurdered Zoo as it adjusted its savanna animals. An award-winning new enclosure was added as a new home for the giraffes, and sable antelopes returned to the main enclosure. Boatmurdered was quickly becoming a popular fixture of the community, and the stage was set for the zoo to make history.
I finished off September by hiring our newest staff member, Ssarscel the scientist.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZdBRu28.png)
Since the requested animals are mammoths, a giant sloth/Macrauchenia exhibit, and Velociraptors, I'll work on them in that order. The mammoth fits Boatmurdered's elephant theme, and the Velociraptor will require both a forest environment and more research. We will also need a $2,000 a month DRT helicopter soon, so we can stop potential escapes.
I also decided to spend a bit of time on our zoo's decorations to slightly boost guest happiness, in order to unlock the Highest Customer Satisfaction award and the attached $25,000 prize.
(https://i.imgur.com/bDiGl95.png)
Some awards are useful, but they're all one time only. Here's the full list, if anyone was curious what's left. (http://users.skynet.be/wisco/zoo_awards.html) That list isn't completely accurate, but it's close enough. I don't think you actually need a lion's lane jellyfish for the Excellence in Arctic Construction awards.
Now that we were at $38,000+, I built the mammoth exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/9kaey6z.png)
After the mammoths were complete, I immediately began construction on the giant sloth/Macrauchenia exhibit. It took a while, given the cost of the fencing required to contain extremely strong animals.
December arrived as I waited for funds to finish the expensive prehistoric exhibit. With it came our last wave of automatic unlocks.
(https://i.imgur.com/Wag7oTM.png)
New animals:
Savannah:African buffalo(1200), Greater flamingo(750), Red kangaroo(650).
Tropical rainforest:Clouded leopard(1800), Giant anteater(600), Herrerasaurus(2000).
Highland:Markhor(1400).
Saltwater:Southern sea otter(800).
Aquatic:Sperm whale(3000), Giant squid(6000), Mermaid(2000).
New buildings:
Boat rental shack
Fancy family restroom
Fancy pizza stand
Carousel (800)
Compost building (1500)
Japanese garden (1900)
Dinosaur cinema (2000)
Restaurant (2200)
Lobby's restaurant (2000)
New scenery:
Mermaid statue (2000)
Large volcano (4500)
Large fossil wall
Snowman (Only on Christmas)
(Plants)
Large flowerbed 3
Christmas tree (Only on Christmas)
I feel like calling attention to the fact that we can now place volcanos and lava pits.
As Halloween and Christmas came and went, special guests stopped by for flyovers.
(https://i.imgur.com/OJC4YZ7.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/98gyNpG.png)
By New Years, I completed the giant sloth/Macrauchenia exhibit and named it South American Past. Good call on combining those two animals, Chaoskl21. I didn't actually think it would work, but they seem to be getting along fine.
(https://i.imgur.com/3EPBgVb.png)
The Velociraptor pen still isn't done, but I figured enough had changed to post an update.
*Oh yeah, one last thing I forgot to mention. The giraffes had a baby.
(https://i.imgur.com/GfxessC.png)
Ssarscel feeds the first resurrected mammoths.
(https://i.imgur.com/SNEomae.png)
Small volcano it is.
The Magma Sea
(https://i.imgur.com/NwMMkSE.png)
January-May, Year Two
By the end of its first year, Boatmurdered Zoo became the site of something miraculous. In late September, Boatmurdered added a scientist by the name of Ssarscel to its staff. Through an amazing feat of genetics, Ssarscel invented a reliable means of resurrecting extinct animals from fossils. The Boatmurdered Zoo was soon home to woolly mammoths, giant sloths, and Macrauchenias. Press coverage and zoo attendance upon the announcement of this feat and conspiracy theories quickly spread about how Ssarscel had managed to make the discovery. Mayor Mason gave a speech congratulating the zoo, sounding overjoyed at how well the project was going.
Shortly after the prehistoric mammals settled in, unusual phenomena began to be reported on zoo grounds. Strange figures were allegedly sighted flying over the zoo, and geologists reported odd findings in the nearby playground.
Our first generation of gazelles and zebras died of old age, so I added a few more to provide mates for their surviving adult children. A third generation was quickly born afterwards.
(https://i.imgur.com/kiHZvtb.png)
I also added an extension and reinforced the giraffe embassy in preparation for adding elephants.
(https://i.imgur.com/IutoXMD.png)
The Macrauchenias also had a baby.
(https://i.imgur.com/f7tzcf1.png)
Also, there was actually one last wave of unlocks I had forgotten about. It doesn't give much though. The only new thing I could find was a "fancy" variant of the hamburger stand.
(https://i.imgur.com/ysq8ASf.png)
New buildings:Fancy hamburger stand.
I know you all wanted a volcano, but I looked at our finances and decided not to buy one.
I instead bought two volcanoes, a lava pit, and some steam vents for good measure.
(https://i.imgur.com/nZvHABJ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/O4z4DIN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xHTQy37.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/1OtRX3C.png)
In other news, I had to hire an assistant for Old Mate, as the zoo was starting to strain his ability to keep all the fences up and the garbage cleaned.
(https://i.imgur.com/noXxTIR.png)
Once all that was done, I made some long-awaited additions to the giraffe pen.
(https://i.imgur.com/vYtDmmj.png)
Our zoo is now safe from any dinosaur or giant mug related threats.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ei1nvAV.png)
Finally, since we already had mammoths and African elephants, I decided to go ahead and finish the set by adding an Asian elephant exhibit on the level above the African elephants. We have one for now, I'll add the second when we can afford it.
(https://i.imgur.com/GcSS9a1.png)
Well, it appears I've underestimated our ability to build and fund new things.
Here's our financial report for the past few months, if it's of interest.
(https://i.imgur.com/50Yfjlh.png)
Guest 677 has a wise idea.
(https://i.imgur.com/hoK0hth.png)
Punish Guest 677 for blasphemy against Armok!
I would have, but Guest 677 left the zoo already.
Into the ocean
(https://i.imgur.com/qPYG7UE.png)
May-November, Year Two
The Boatmurdered Zoo's second year began with a chaotic series of explosions. While the zoo was closed for the night, the neighborhood was suddenly awoken by a cacophony of animal cries and the sound of cracking earth and shattering concrete. Onlookers soon discovered that the zoo was now the site of several new volcanoes and underground lava flows. Miraculously, nothing was hurt despite the damage and the rising cones. Lava freely bled from the new formations, but the zoo quickly adjusted its architecture to safely contain the flows. Speculation quickly arose as to just what Marsh & Sons had been doing here before the arrests.
I've adjusted the admission price per Naturegirl and Kilojoule Proton's suggestion, and the guests quickly expressed their approval.
(https://i.imgur.com/GO2FYOR.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/u5YP69S.png)
Per Kilojouleproton and Mightymushroom's suggestions, I began working on moving our mountain lion to a new enclosure and using the old space for barracudas. I got a slightly improved copy of the original exhibit built, but then our mountain lion died of old age the moment it was complete. I wasn't sure if you all wanted another mountain lion or something else, so I've left the cage empty for now. Just to be clear, while this is a small map, we do have a lot of currently unused space. I can easily carve the cliffs down to ground level to make more room if need be. I'd estimate it would cost about $30,000 to get rid of them completely, though I think we'd probably prefer not to do that.
(https://i.imgur.com/2DxAY44.png)
We then got the barracuda tank done fairly easily, since it was a small tank and barracudas are fairly cheap. It's hard to see them when they aren't moving, but there's three of them in there at the moment.
(https://i.imgur.com/d23ldww.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/R0odic8.png)
Once our first tank was done, I began preparing for the Velociraptors and AT-STs. The Velociraptors require research, so I funded the Genetic Research line. We also needed a new zookeeper and marine specialist, so those have been hired. In the process of unlocking the Velociraptor, we also unlocked Coelophysis, Plesiosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Apatosaurus. While waiting, I bought another Asian elephant, thus finishing our elephant collection.
(https://i.imgur.com/HTQCP8o.png)
I've trimmed back the cliffs on our northeast corner to make more room. Hopefully it doesn't ruin the look of our pit too much.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZtvWb1N.png)
By early August, we unlocked Velociraptor. Since it was the second to last animal on Genetic Research, I went ahead and funded it a bit more to unlock the T. rex. Ssarscel's been a bit overworked lately with walking back and forth across the zoo to take care of both our prehistoric exhibits, so I hired a new scientist. AT-STs and Velociraptors both like coniferous forests in this game, so I'm adding the Velociraptors first. Once I know the Velociraptors are satisfied with their enclosure, I can see if we can combine them.
The Raptor Walker pen, under construction.
(https://i.imgur.com/MqldK0j.png)
While I was building the enclosure, our marine specialist decided to wander in and look around for some reason.
(https://i.imgur.com/cu3wqjL.png)
On October 1st, $18,000 worth of donations allowed us to create our first real dinosaurs. Unlike almost everything else, dinosaurs are born as eggs that need to be monitored by a scientist. For the sake of efficiency, I assigned Ssarscel to take care of our Velociraptor eggs and South American creatures while the new scientist was assigned to the mammoths.
(https://i.imgur.com/AF0gL8Z.png)
Not long after that, they hatched.
(https://i.imgur.com/oL0oo7U.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LQiO3oL.png)
I helped the Velociraptors settle in, and then carefully added the walkers. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that yes, AT-STs and Velociraptors do make friendly neighbors.
(https://i.imgur.com/SoHh6fv.png)
The Velociraptors are particularly hard to see for now, but they'll soon grow into their full Jurassic Park size. Uniquely, this is our only enclosure that requires two keepers to manage. Ssarscel takes care of the raptors, while a zookeeper is assigned to the walkers.
Next time, unless there are any objections, I'd like to expand the original savanna enclosure and experiment with adding more animals. There's been interest in doing that for a while, and I think we can fit a good few more animals in there. I also think we need more entertainment buildings, so I'll work on those.
We could also use more work for our new scientist and marine specialist, so maybe we should add more prehistoric animals and fish.
A rare sighting of a giant ground sloth walking on its hind legs, dwarfing a Macrauchenia.
(https://i.imgur.com/yqx0IzC.png)
The Dolphin Show
(https://i.imgur.com/Ef5FfP3.png)
November-(Save breaking), Year Two and Three
On October 12th of Boatmurdered's second year, dinosaurs once again walked the Earth.
I removed the empty mountain lion exhibit to make room for our dolphin and show tank. We needed the space, and if we want it back we can always put it behind the picnic area. The dolphins and their show tank went in well. I had to leave out two of the more elaborate tricks to save space, but the show's good enough without them.
(https://i.imgur.com/DJQuzOj.png)
Per Mightymushroom's suggestion from a while back, I also added another animal to the dolphin tank.
Mermaids are actually a unique Easter egg animal. To get them, you place a mermaid statue underwater. It then shakes, bursts, and an actual mermaid pops out with a musical chime. To this day, Zoo Tycoon's mermaids remain my favorite Easter egg that I've ever found on my own.
(https://i.imgur.com/wJQYifA.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/uxmCaZf.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KtBw5nz.png)
Unfortunately, only female mermaids are available, so we can't breed them for their lucrative skeletons.
The addition of the dolphins and mermaid boosted our rating to 90, granting the silver trophy for Best Zoo. If you recall from the OP, our goal is to achieve a rating of 95 and get the golden Best Zoo award. Five points left. I also gave us the goal of getting a million dollars, but I think I'll skip that one if you all don't mind. We could easily get a million if we waited long enough, but it would require that I stop adding anything new and just put out fires for a couple days. Just wouldn't be exciting for the LP.
(https://i.imgur.com/cPHt9nM.png)
Our first dolphin show sold out the stands.
(https://i.imgur.com/LtYQR8j.png)
It only made $330, but it definitely makes the guests happy. The added workload of running the show on top of maintaining the two tanks puts our marine specialist at about her maximum capacity, I think.
Some say these shows are unethical. I say, in for a penny, in for a pound.
(https://i.imgur.com/jwD6wdM.png)
Around this time, our Velociraptors reached maturity and laid two eggs of their own.
(Trees filtered out for visibility.)
(https://i.imgur.com/80yf5Uc.png)
After that, I built the Coelophysis/Herrerasaurus exhibit. Nobody asked for it, but I've been wanting to put an insect house in this particular section of the zoo for a while, so I did so. The primate house, reptile house, and aviary have also been unlocked in the process.
(https://i.imgur.com/Uzh1s9a.png)
Duckman was correct in that we'll need to keep the eggs of other species separate. This has been proven by the unfortunate fate that Herrerasaurus 1 suffered when Coelophysis 1 hatched first.
(https://i.imgur.com/gSK9vta.png)
Rather than build a tiny new exhibit for them, I just put the replacement Herrerasaurus eggs into the Asian elephants' enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/HbdBrbB.png)
The Herrerasaurus immediately attempted to kill their elephant hosts upon hatching, but I had them safely moved back to the appropriate enclosure in time. The Coelophysis and Herrerasaurus seem to be getting along for now.
(https://i.imgur.com/qvhi4cv.png)
Santa Claus flies over the nearby rooftops while ancient mammals look on.
(https://i.imgur.com/eqR4SW9.png)
Zoo rating:91/95 needed to get Best Zoo.
I'm sorry to report that I've messed around with various methods to try and fix the save, but it looks like it isn't going to work. If it's any consolation, we were nearly done anyway. I've reset the OP to its initial list of available content.
How about every time we reach our quality conditions (and are happy with the state of the zoo, of course), we move up to the next game? Eventually we get to Planet Zoo, and then we start really making weird stuff. :)
That's the plan, pretty much. I don't actually have Planet Zoo yet, though, so I can't promise we'll play that one. I don't know if my computer can actually run it, and I don't know if it plays well with a screenshot LP like this. We'll also be skipping the Xbox reboot. I do own that one, and it's probably the most consistently disappointing video game I've ever played. It's not even bad enough to be entertaining, just constantly disappointing in comparison to the original games or Planet Zoo. For now, I was planning to run Zoo Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon 2, and then maybe Jurassic Park:Operation Genesis. There are a lot of zoo builder games out there, so we could potentially do this for a while if we wanted to. These three are easily the ones I know best, though.
At least our next map will be bigger. I'm upgrading from Small to Medium. I could set it to Large, but Medium should give us more than enough room to build as much as we want. More importantly, I thought you'd all like the map choices for Medium better.
Reclaim
(https://i.imgur.com/4JlF9co.png)
(Just to be clear, this map only has two volcanoes and a lava pit to start with, although it also has geysers and other related features. Of course, we can always "upgrade" the landscape later once we get the ability to place lava ourselves.)
(https://i.imgur.com/iAXQ8rz.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/cc00WXR.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/oOzeHGf.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/eFNeUpv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/WVZh2FQ.png)
Before we start, I'll let you all see the map, pick a name, and decide on what we should do first.
Lunar Facility is divided into four massive chambers, each roughly around the size of Excavation, with a small central hub. Chamber One is noticeably smaller, but still big enough to build a zoo in on its own. We can also use the central gaps between chambers.
(https://i.imgur.com/mqjhdN1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LYLYAyh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hjyekqM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/C8q5Mdk.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SQvkncO.png)
With four votes for Headshoots, two for Cheeseball, one for Cheesemaker, and one for Yilocaf Ranul, we are now the Headshoots Facility.
The Headshoots Facility
(From here on out, I'll just show the parts of the zoo we've used.)
(https://i.imgur.com/mqjhdN1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LYLYAyh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hjyekqM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/C8q5Mdk.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SQvkncO.png)
January, Year One.
It is the year 2120, and mankind is engaged in the titanic effort of establishing colonies throughout the solar system. On Earth's Moon, a massive storage facility has been repurposed for use in teaching the citizens of the Moon about the wildlife of their homeworld. This is the story of the Headshoots Facility and the first wild animals on the Moon.
I like the sections plan. I'll keep it in mind when adding exhibits. For now, I've blocked off the other sections and begun construction of the "normal animals" segment in Chamber 4. I'll save Chamber 1 for the savanna safari exhibit when we have more money. Just so we can get started, I've taken the liberty of picking a tiger for our first animal, buying a Mexican restaurant to take care of our guest's needs, and hiring a zookeeper. I also added a flower garden and a koi pond for decoration.
(https://i.imgur.com/jEHuGlP.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/T8vjL8n.png)
I picked the tigers because their enjoyment of plants would make it easy to get the Excellence in Exhibit Design award. After spending our starting $10,000, getting the award and fundraiser, and doing a few more tweaks, we currently have $21,965. What should we do next?
Also, what do you all want to do with that central hub? It's the first thing guests see when they walk in, so I figure we could do something cool with that.
Carefree Moon Birds flying through the lunar sky.
(https://i.imgur.com/5gLiFdA.png)
I'll keep the lava pit in mind for the hub.
The Yellow Brick Road
(https://i.imgur.com/jEHuGlP.png)
January to February, Year One
Work began on the Headshoots Facility. Chamber 4 saw the first construction, and was dedicated to showcasing Earth's modern land animals. The other chambers were set aside for prehistoric life, an aquarium, and a safari hike in a naturalistic savanna environment. Two tigers and a school of koi were shuttled up from the surface, becoming the first animals in the zoo's collection.
A short update, since the requests were mostly easy.
I started by adding a pair of lions.
(https://i.imgur.com/DJZoEnn.png)
They do need a larger pride, but I decided to leave them with just two for now. Lions breed quickly in this game.
Next up was King Zultan's suggestion. Since gray and arctic wolves haven't been unlocked yet, I made an exhibit for the critically endangered Mexican wolf. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_wolf) Apparently there were only 383 left in the world as of 2017.
(https://i.imgur.com/hZY1HVQ.png)
Similar to the lions, I'll let the wolves breed a pack.
Finally, I spent nearly all of February following the yellow brick road.
(https://i.imgur.com/nxuDj0B.png)
The yellow brick path is fairly expensive at $100 a grid space, (4x more than our usual concrete) so I'm leaving our hub area untouched for now. I'll upgrade it when we've got more reliable income. I think we should be good using the yellow brick for future construction, I just won't build it in double widths like I normally do.
Usage hint for the yellow brick path.
(https://i.imgur.com/Cd5wHzy.png)
The Unicorn and Jellyfish Show
(https://i.imgur.com/cX4c7lS.png)
March-October, Year One.
Lions and Mexican wolves soon joined the tigers and koi in Headshoot's collection. Some questions were raised about the zoo's financial wisdom when the paths were paved with gold.
It took from March until June for us to earn enough money for a $6,000 unicorn and the roughly $8,000 exhibit. In the meantime, our lions and tigers had cubs and two waves of unlocks arrived. I tried not to build too much, but I did add a gift shop and some decorations while waiting.
(https://i.imgur.com/KSlFYmS.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/eEn2U3W.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/qaJHVYt.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hLvPAcU.png)
New animals:
Savannah:Olive baboon(900), Common Wildebeest(1000).
Deciduous forest:Black bear(850), Siberian tiger(1000), Gray wolf(900), Camptosaurus(2500).
Tropical Rainforest:Caudipteryx(1500).
Highland:American bighorn sheep(600).
Tundra:Emperor penguin(1100).
Saltwater:Saltwater crocodile(1500), Elephant seal(1500).
Aquatic:Tiger shark(1800).
New buildings:
Sea Dawg's stand
Hot dog stand
Drink stand
Tree swing
New scenery:
Exhibit sign
Street lamp
Lion statue
Wooden observation area
T. rex statue
Velociraptor statue
Metal grate observation area
Triceratops skeleton
Lava archway
Small geyser
Turtle fountain
(Plants)
Flowerbed 3
Flowerbed 4
Giraffe topiaryAnimals:
Savannah:Black rhino(1200), Hippopotamus(1200), Leopard(1100), African warthog(600).
Grassland:American bison(1500).
Deciduous forest:Iguanodon(3700).
Coniferous forest:Stegosaurus(4000).
Tropical rainforest:Jaguar(1100).
Tundra:Polar bear(1500).
Desert:Gemsbok(900), Dromedary camel(900).
Aquatic:Manta ray(850), Green sea turtle(600), Pacific octopus(900), Bottlenose dolphin(1000).
Buildings:
Polly's popcorn cart
Ice cream stand
Crushed ice cart
Swim shack
Ring toss
Bronto burger
Shark tunnel
Gift shop
Dinosaur gift shop
Aquatic gift shop
Scenery:
Stage backdrop
Stage end
Stage door
Metal observation area
Jumping fountain
White observation area
Treasure chest
Wood observation area
Small fossil wall
Water well
Reinforced concrete observation area
Wishing fountain
Zoo map
Ice age observation area
Velociraptor skeleton
Stone archway
Elephant fountain
Bighorn statue
Large geyser
Woolly mammoth fountain
(Plants)
Large flowerbed
Finally, our new unicorn was ready. We just have the one for now, but we could probably expand the enclosure later with more unicorns or other deciduous forest herbivores like the moose or serow.
(https://i.imgur.com/99rXBDI.png)
Looks like there's interest in getting started with the aquarium animals and our zookeeper has enough work as it is, so let's open up Chamber 2. Convenient timing, as we have just won the Quality Animal Care award with its accompanying $5,000 prize.
(https://i.imgur.com/eSsTiqc.png)
Before we begin, I added these archways leading into our themed sections.
(https://i.imgur.com/NXu7oXK.png)
By July 4th, we had the beginnings of our aquarium section with a collection of harbor porpoises. I hope you don't mind my variation from the golden path in here, but I thought the "Atlantean" path design was appropriate for the theme.
(https://i.imgur.com/lMvh6kV.png)
We then started on our lion's mane jellyfish exhibit and show tank. Along the way, we reached the September unlocks.
(https://i.imgur.com/udBpD3G.png)
Animals:
Savannah:African elephant(2500), Cheetah(1600), Spotted hyena(1200), ostrich(1100).
Coniferous forest:Lambeosaurus(3000).
Tropical rainforest:Mandrill(1300).
Highland:Ibex(625).
Tundra:Arctic wolf(1150).
Saltwater:California Sea Lion(700), Pacific walrus(1250).
Aquatic:Beluga(850), West Indian Manatee(1100).
Buildings:
---3rd unlock---
Mammoth cones
Fancy ice cream stand
Hamburger stand
Family restroom
Aquatic restroom
Fancy hot dog stand
Pizza stand
Fancy drink stand
Swim with dolphins ride
Petting zoo
Elephant ride (1200)
Animal theater (1300)
Stego Putt golf (1200)
Scenery unlocks:
---3rd unlock---
Fancy backdrop
Metal picnic table
Large stone torch
T. rex skeleton
Medium fossil wall
Duck pond
Bone bed
Tar pit (1200)
Small volcano (3500)
Iron bar observation area
Jack o' Lantern (Can only be bought on Halloween.)
(Plants)
Large flowerbed 2
Elephant topiary
Rhinoceros topiary
Along with the witches and Santa, this plane does an annual flyover to celebrate Zoo Tycoon's release date.
(https://i.imgur.com/Kn5JIep.png)
After a surprising amount of effort and expense, we got our jellyfish.
(https://i.imgur.com/lNTCev5.png)
It's now October 17th, and we've started work on 2/4 of the available sections.
The newly opened aquatic chamber of the Headshoots Facility.
(https://i.imgur.com/XtbPG9i.png)
The end of Year One
(https://i.imgur.com/9CViyiG.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/PzQ1qj0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/q7mnjHC.png)
October-February, Year One and Two
Before October ended, we hired two new staff members. Maria the tour guide is now wandering the zoo, teaching crowds of guests about animals. We also needed a maintenance worker, so I got one of those.
(https://i.imgur.com/dqBH5At.png)
The jellyfish show had a disastrous first performance. The jellyfish hated being in the show tank, and nobody showed up to watch since the "tricks" are just two (somehow) miserable jellyfish floating aimlessly around a tank. I cancelled the show and slightly rebuilt the show tank to make it as deep as the jellyfish prefer.
(https://i.imgur.com/70lixB6.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/q8JRhUR.png)
They still seemed to hate doing shows, even after their show tank was adjusted. Apparently the shows were taking too long and causing them to get angry. I cut their routine down from 8 "tricks" to 3. Hopefully they can tolerate that.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZAKLBp8.png)
On Christmas Eve, I finished building the bear exhibit that King Zultan suggested. I picked a grizzly bear so I wouldn't have to keep getting a new one to reset the yellow brick road Easter egg.
(https://i.imgur.com/fgu5HUw.png)
We've reached December's unlocks, and as such have acquired nearly everything that doesn't require research.
(https://i.imgur.com/RWvj56n.png)
Animals:
Savannah:African buffalo(1200), Greater flamingo(750), Red kangaroo(650).
Tropical rainforest:Clouded leopard(1800),Giant anteater(600),Herrerasaurus(2000).
Highland:Markhor(1400).
Saltwater:Southern sea otter(800).
Aquatic:Sperm whale(3000), Giant squid(6000), Mermaid(2000).
Buildings:
Boat rental shack
Fancy family restroom
Fancy pizza stand
Carousel (800)
Compost building (1500)
Japanese garden (1900)
Dinosaur cinema (2000)
Restaurant (2200)
Lobby's restaurant (2000)
Scenery:
Mermaid statue (2000)
Large volcano (4500)
Large fossil wall
Snowman (Only on Christmas)
(Plants)
Large flowerbed 3
Christmas tree (Only on Christmas)
Out of necessity, I sold some of our overcrowded lions and used the money to build a Lobby's Restaurant in the aquatic section to take care of some unfulfilled guest needs.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZgzVnDe.png)
Per a suggestion from CABL on the Discord, we got a small saltwater crocodile exhibit installed in February.
(https://i.imgur.com/f8Q5F8E.png)
Shortly thereafter, the jellyfish show managed to successfully draw a crowd for the first time in its seven months of existence, right before I was about to recommend its destruction. It even got applause after the show was over.
(https://i.imgur.com/E8oCWA2.png)
I still haven't built the hammerhead shark or swordfish exhibits, but I thought Mightymushroom might want a different animal first now that we have the new unlocks. We could also get a great white with a bit of time and research. I'll also redecorate the hub with our newly acquired scenery (and lava pit) later.
Santa Claus flies over a unicorn on the Moon.
(https://i.imgur.com/G4djzsh.png)
Just a heads up, there won't be an update tomorrow.
It gave them hop
(https://i.imgur.com/aTcNBJS.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pmbvOlP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/kFYXHRc.jpg)
February-June, Year Two
The Headshoots Facility continued to grow slowly. An endangered unicorn was added to the collection, and a chamber was opened up to house all sorts of aquatic life.
To be blunt, we went into this part with financial and guest satisfaction problems, mostly stemming from the aquatic section. For some reason, the people weren't going to the restaurant in sufficient numbers. I'll experiment and see if I can find a fix. On an unrelated note, I've cut the price of the jellyfish show to one dollar.
By April, we got our hammerhead exhibit and passed the last few non-research unlocks.
(https://i.imgur.com/YVyYPXu.png)
I temporarily turned off the jellyfish show and noticed immediate improvements. By my guess, the show was going on so long, even with only three tricks, that people were getting hungry to the point of anger. Our rating shot up five points and our income went up by a couple thousand dollars a month, enough that I was able to hire a new zookeeper, marine specialist, and maintenance worker. I've shortened the show to two tricks and a less frequent schedule. It still seems to have an noticeable negative affect, but a more survivable one now.
We won two awards for adding our 10th animal, the Atlantic swordfish.
(https://i.imgur.com/M1PjqNJ.png)
Not long after that, a pair of red kangaroos joined our collection.
(https://i.imgur.com/GcJI4Ru.png)
Per a suggestion by Prophet, I gave one of our crocodiles a custom name.
(https://i.imgur.com/ItmfoHN.png)
Sadly, our unicorn died of old age shortly thereafter. We'll get another one soon, but for now I think we need the money for the entrance hub.
I had some fun setting up our improved hub. I went ahead and prepared the entrance to the savanna safari, even though it's still closed. I also added a playground for children in one corner.
(https://i.imgur.com/zg2fgTa.png)
Finally, we also won a certificate to celebrate our 500th guest.
(https://i.imgur.com/YvyWpvN.png)
Headshoot's thriving tiger pack.
(https://i.imgur.com/MTnkolH.png)
The walkers were extremely expensive to buy and house, so not much else happened in this update despite the long time that passed.
Imperial walkers on the north ridge
(https://i.imgur.com/rQAkBo4.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/EJQ7kJy.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/qfP0MeL.jpg)
June-early March, Year Two and Three
To start off, we scattered a pair of new restrooms and four new benches around the zoo. Hopefully that'll relieve some guest needs. After that, I mostly focused on earning the money we'll need for the walker enclosures and resolving our guest issues. Per Glass's old suggestion (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=176736.msg8160568#msg8160568), I'll make the gaps between our sections into the walker enclosures. There's three usable gaps and three different models of walker, so that worked out nicely.
I'm really noticing dramatic improvements in the zoo every time I turn off the jellyfish show. Leaving it off now virtually erased our angry guest problem. If there are no objections, I'd like to finally get rid of it. It's seriously handicapping everything else we do. I'll keep the jellyfish themselves, but we'd be a lot better off without the show.
I didn't want to set us back too much by spending the $12,000 it would take to set up a breeding unicorn population, so we've temporarily repurposed their enclosure for a pair of cheap moose.
(https://i.imgur.com/sCrcUg8.png)
Also, I just wanted to mention a brief glitch I saw that resulted in a porpoise floating above its pool.
(https://i.imgur.com/AlENml9.png)
Since we had AT-STs already in the Boatmurdered Zoo, and the gray stone of the Moon can be reused to simulate Hoth's rocks, we'll start with the AT-ATs. To begin, we reinforced the walls around one of the gaps. Thankfully we got it for about 50% off by selling the preexisting walls. We also made about $8,000 by selling off some of our lions and tigers that had become overcrowded by excessive breeding.
(https://i.imgur.com/BUa10Se.png)
Finally, after eight months of construction and gathering donations, we were able to afford a breeding pair of AT-ATs.
(https://i.imgur.com/WMqYFiE.png)
I feel like we could really use some regular-sized combined exhibits for normal animals and aquatics after building that. Those and some more guest entertainment buildings would likely do a lot for our ratings, guest happiness, and (most importantly) donation income.
A majestic Imperial walker drinks from a pool.
(https://i.imgur.com/FsoSUmH.png)
I'd recommend against a single big show tank with multiple connections, since animals tend to wind up in the wrong exhibit tank at the end of the show.
I didn't know that, I guess we won't do it then.
Ups and downs
(https://i.imgur.com/0lNWsRb.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Cvxakbq.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ziV4tdL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/cktE0W1.png)
March-August, Year Three
We don't really have the funds to start on the savanna enclosure, so we'll focus on building the rainforest and dolphin exhibits.
We've got our jellyfish show active again on the lowest possible settings, to give them one more chance to not cripple the zoo.
(https://i.imgur.com/b69VaB5.png)
Notably, their young finally matured enough to perform alongside the original pair.
(https://i.imgur.com/ecoi23f.png)
The guests seem to approve of the new show.
(https://i.imgur.com/gJhzmqY.png)
Also, I experimented with reducing the admission price to $18 and we got universally positive results. Our rating and guest happiness promptly bumped up a few points upon the price reduction, and the higher number of ticket sales meant we actually gained money with the reduced price. We were turning a decent profit at this point, so I hired a new marine specialist and began building the dolphin area.
Unfortunately, the guest problems started up again after letting the jellyfish show run again, resulting in an over 20% drop in guest happiness and nearly as much in ratings. I had a theory though that the problem is that the guests overwhelm the aquatic section's restaurant after the show, resulting in an overflow of hungry people. I built a second restaurant near the shows to test the theory after we recovered.
(https://i.imgur.com/91E80bB.png)
We quickly ended up about $3,000 dollars in debt when I overextended our spending at the same time that the jellyfish show crippled our donations again. At this point, I realized that the AT-ATs were getting angry and running aggressively around their enclosure. Thankfully, their walls were strong enough to keep them in for the moment as I worked to figure out what was wrong with them. It turned out that the overworked zookeeper assigned to their cage had let their poop accumulate too much and the smell was upsetting them. I ordered the keeper to clean up the poop and tweaked the enclosure a little to make them happier. That seems to have solved the issue. We also had issues with overcrowded tigers and lions, but that was resolved easily enough by selling a few.
The laser-spitting threat display of a stressed AT-AT.
(https://i.imgur.com/aFwmgWM.png)
We had a peak of about 80 angry guests before recovering from the jellyfish's trick. We're making enough money now that we were able to complete the dolphin show tank anyway. It's massive, but the extra size was needed to hold all the props so the dolphins could do every trick. The show's "happiness bonus" is +62. In comparison, a fully upgraded animal house might give +15. The jellyfish show provides +2.
(https://i.imgur.com/pAIJmoz.png)
The dolphin show went well. I'm thinking we could probably stand to raise the price, given that it's currently selling out the stands. Aside from the one stand with a bad view. That one was sold shortly after the first show. I experimented with $10 tickets and we're still selling out.
(https://i.imgur.com/mLgdRXD.png)
After that, we built the rainforest exhibit Mightymushroom suggested. It was a bit difficult to get the three different species from as many different continents to live together, but I was able to get them to tolerate each other's company through using two different foliage bugs. We now have bongos, anteaters, and Malaysian tapirs. We hired a new zookeeper to manage the enclosure, and reworked the staff assignments in that chamber for greater efficiency.
(https://i.imgur.com/l4mldU0.png)
Finally, we've achieved the silver trophy for Best Zoo for briefly hitting a rating of 90.
(https://i.imgur.com/oxQVLHu.png)
Our grizzly bear roars happily in its enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/pZ4BSzY.png)
Zoo Rating:89/95 needed for Best Zoo.
Life finds a way
(https://i.imgur.com/3S1z92u.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/196j9AJ.png)
August-December, Year Three
Before we begin on the penguins and opening the dinosaur chamber, I'd like to do some experiments on the dolphin show. I feel like there's quite a bit of money left there that we haven't tapped into yet. I started by drastically increasing the number of seats available.
(https://i.imgur.com/kyUAF2m.png)
While waiting for the show to end so I could adjust the ticket prices to the maximum of $12 and remove a couple weaker tricks that made the show a bit too long, I finally dismantled the jellyfish show. Sorry to their fans, but it finally had to go. If anyone wants a new marine animal, we've got an underworked marine specialist and a good spot for a tank.
(https://i.imgur.com/csxAIkW.png)
During the next show, we finally won the Highest Customer Satisfaction award. This gave us a $25,000 prize, perfect for funding our new chamber.
(https://i.imgur.com/OG6GLxq.png)
The new grandstands didn't manage to sell out, but we more than doubled the profit from the show with the changes. I'll tweak it a bit more, but we're now making abut $1600 a show.
(https://i.imgur.com/qi48Rts.png)
Before breaking ground on the dinosaur chamber, we built the penguin exhibit that CABL, King Zultan, and Duckman requested.
(https://i.imgur.com/igH1jbv.png)
Since there were no specific dinosaur requests, I went with personal preference and chose an Allosaurus. I also went with cobblestone paths, a rainforest restaurant, a dinosaur gift shop, and a central large volcano. I can show you all that later, since we have to discuss something else at the moment.
Houston, we have a two-ton problem.
(https://i.imgur.com/uFjx9Kl.png)
Immediately upon hatching, our baby Allosaurus decided he didn't like his enclosure. What's worse, he also near-instantly discovered that the cage walls weren't actually strong enough to contain him. The Allosaurus broke free.
We had to move some plans around to afford it, but we immediately brought in a DRT chopper to contain the problem.
(https://i.imgur.com/XXb6fLa.png)
Thankfully, nobody was nearby at the time, the helicopter was close by, and the Allosaurus chose to break free on the side of the cage facing away from the expensive constructions. The breakout was handled with no serious property damage or injuries.
(https://i.imgur.com/746j4Ou.png)
Once the dinosaur was safely tranquilized, his keeper loaded him into a crate to await the reconstruction of his pen.
(https://i.imgur.com/eSagant.png)
We did take a serious financial hit from the incident, however. Donation income dropped for that month, we had to pay $2,000 for the helicopter, and we effectively had to build the exhibit twice. Our rating also plummeted for the moment, but we easily recovered without any ongoing crises. I sold all the rocks in our inner gaps where the AT-TE and AT-ST exhibits are eventually planned to go to compensate for the losses. We would have had to get rid of most of them eventually anyway when we move the walkers in.
With the money from the sold Moon rocks and the dolphin show, we rebuilt the fence with stronger electrified chain link. Iron bars would be stronger, but more expensive. We could upgrade later, but the Allosaurus is happy for now. The picket layer is there to protect tourists from touching the electric fence.
(https://i.imgur.com/QM51crT.png)
The Prehistoric Chamber, open for business.
(https://i.imgur.com/aUQg6PI.png)
Zoo rating:91/95
It looks like I won't have a good chance to write the update later, but I still want to play Zoo Tycoon. I'll go ahead and update now with the suggestions already posted.
Zoo of the Year
(https://i.imgur.com/oJNw5sN.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Ps6waSm.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/uILvoGw.jpg)
December-June, Year Three and Four
To start, I built an "Iceberg Lounge" behind the penguin exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/xJo6AQS.png)
Hopefully helping with Mr. Cobblepot's "legitimate business" will encourage him to help us in turn.
(https://i.imgur.com/JjZ8c5M.png)
I feel like we'll get along nicely.
After that, I went to work on adding new animals to the Aquatic Section's tanks. A pair of belugas fit in easily with the dolphins.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ty1XN5r.png)
I also expanded the jellyfish tank, in preparation for adding a giant squid.
(https://i.imgur.com/LatHNOP.png)
In the process, I made a potentially profitable discovery. I had to earn money quickly to get the jellyfish tank back to their preferred depth, so I sold some of our saltwater crocodiles. Turns out they breed quickly, don't care if we sell their young, and are worth over $1,100 each. I've expanded their enclosure and bought a second breeding pair to see if we can earn some more money this way.
(https://i.imgur.com/VwJKBU1.png)
We received a bit over $17,000 dollars from our benefactors at the beginning of February, so I tried adding a giant squid to our jellyfish tank. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. The squid immediately attacked and ate a jellyfish, so we quickly returned it for a refund. Maybe we can build a giant squid tank somewhere else later.
(https://i.imgur.com/TETR3yP.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/joEMpt4.png)
Since the squid didn't work out, I tried a pair of giant Pacific octopuses. The octopuses and jellyfish were willing to tolerate each other.
(https://i.imgur.com/oOtnXJk.png)
We are now reliably earning $20,000 or more a month from our benefactors. Using this, we are now able to easily build large exhibits. Starting off, we built the giant sloth enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/UbWEy5p.png)
After that, we started on the multispecies dinosaur herd. I made it a coniferous forest, since that biome has a decent number of herbivorous dinosaurs. To start, we bought two Stegosaurus and two Gallimimus.
(https://i.imgur.com/cO8X1PT.png)
As per usual, we had to wait for the eggs to hatch to get a better idea of what they'd want. Before they even hatched, we won a major award. I didn't actually expect to get this one.
(https://i.imgur.com/CLMpcza.png)
The elephant seal statue was given a prominent place at the entrance to the aquatic section. I look forward to seeing what you all want to do with the prize money. For now, I've begun funding all of our research and conservation programs. Among other upgrades, we unlocked the crustacean house and the tropical aquarium.
Our success was admittedly slightly undercut when I forgot that Gallimimus are omnivores and one of them promptly ate a Stegosaurus egg upon hatching. At least I was able to save the other one and buy a replacement.
(https://i.imgur.com/Wd7ZGKr.png)
After that misstep though, the Prehistoric Forest was opened for the public.
(https://i.imgur.com/4p3pWHO.png)
We now have $161,044 in the bank. For context, this is roughly enough to build the savanna safari, the remaining two walker exhibits, and possibly still have some money left over. What do you want to do with it?
The Headshoots Facility's collection of awards.
(https://i.imgur.com/JwC6OoP.png)
Zoo Rating:92/95
The Moon Safari
(https://i.imgur.com/nG76f4R.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/XHDOa6G.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iuFtKDg.jpg)
Woolly Mammoth
Ankylosaurus
Kentrosaurus
Lowland Gorilla
June-August, Year Four
Time to open Chamber One. Building an exhibit with an up to $160,000 budget will be fun.
(https://i.imgur.com/zIGGHhm.png)
With our massive recent windfall, it only took two months to construct the entire safari section.
(https://i.imgur.com/yWhBmFg.png)
The main area contains every broadly compatible savanna species in the game, notably mixing dinosaurs in with the regular animals.
Main exhibit animals:African elephant, black rhinoceros, Thomson's gazelle, plains zebra, sable antelope, ostrich, Ankylosaurus, Triceratops, African buffalo, olive baboon, giraffe, common wildebeest.
(https://i.imgur.com/ycOvg5v.png)
This exhibit, the first one seen by guests entering from the hub, contains lions and cheetahs.
(https://i.imgur.com/MKXcLCI.png)
A pair of warthogs live across from the main exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/NQXWCQC.png)
The central hill contains a restaurant for guests tired by the walk, a snake pit, a well, many savanna flowers, and a statue of a Masai warrior.
(https://i.imgur.com/9PQDgce.png)
Leaving the hill, the guests find an alternate view of the lions and a pair of leopards.
(https://i.imgur.com/l5fH9Bx.png)
The next exhibit is a mixed pack of spotted hyenas and African wild dogs.
(https://i.imgur.com/Lp0j3dH.png)
To finish the tour, (or begin, if they enter through the aquatic section) the guests circle around two exhibits, one devoted to kangaroos and blackbucks, and the other a pool inhabited by hippos and flamingos.
(https://i.imgur.com/rCBb1Hh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xYSjlTm.png)
I hope you're all satisfied with the safari chamber! We now own every single savanna animal in the game. We have $26,697 remaining in the bank, and are rapidly replenishing our income. What should we build next?
Also, some other points that came up during this turn:Since I moved our lions and kangaroo here, those two exhibits in the normal wildlife area are now empty. We should probably put something new in there. We also won the Gold Plaque for Diverse Species while building the safari. Unfortunately, I partially blocked the award text while taking the screenshot and didn't come back in time to get a new one before the message disappeared.
(https://i.imgur.com/iMb4rbP.png)
A sable antelope watches the scientist responsible for keeping giant lizards in its home.
(https://i.imgur.com/gIrIXhg.png)
Zoo rating:89/95 (I expect this to improve quickly, since I'm pretty sure unlocked research contributes to the zoo rating and it's currently down a bit due to all the safari animals that became annoyed as I worked out the compromises necessary for them to live together.)
I wasn't satisfied with some of the fences inside the safari section, so I changed them to ones that would blend better with the terrain. You can see the results in the zoo map.
T. rex
(https://i.imgur.com/wjaEyWb.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hpbxHWc.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Vq6dzH3.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/82suYkH.png)
Coelophysis
Plesiosaurus
Velociraptor
Spinosaurus
Apatosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Narwhal
Shortfin Mako Shark
Great White Shark
Humpback Whale
August-January, Year Four and Five
Before we can handle any of the new suggestions, we have to deal with some problems that have emerged since the safari opened. The Triceratops and baboons in the main valley seem unhappy with their environment. Although the others seem willing to compromise, all the little things they don't like are really bothering those two species. We might be able to work it out, but the Triceratops in particular keep knocking down trees out of frustration, and we need those trees to keep all the other species happy. For now, I'll move the baboons to the lions' empty enclosure in the normal wildlife section and build a new exhibit for the Triceratops. Meanwhile, The lion's mane jellyfish and octopuses keep filling their tank with waste faster than their marine specialist can handle, making them angry. I'll try selling a few to cull their numbers, that might solve their problem. The hippos were also angry, but I'm guessing that might just be because they had too much poop at the moment and were hungry.
(https://i.imgur.com/UtUHr0m.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/kOFfTGv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/vLw6VUS.png)
After that, we just waited a while to ensure our finances were in order and then went back to work on the other sections.
We've added another perfectly innocent ice cream stand. This one is placed in an area that's been empty for a while, lying in wait for the often hungry guests leaving the dolphin show. Crushed ice is also available.
(https://i.imgur.com/Wzc6X7R.png)
Though I liked combining the dinosaurs with the other safari animals, the ankylosaurs started getting upset with their environment too. I responded by dividing the main enclosure, giving the dinosaurs their own piece of the exhibit. I've moved the Triceratops back into the safari area, now with a better environment for them than either of their previous homes.
(https://i.imgur.com/bgeJcd1.png)
The cheetahs also didn't like sharing space with the lions after a while, so they've been moved out to the kangaroos' old exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZTG8yM7.png)
For a few other updates before we move on, we've won the award for the "Best Dolphin Show in the Country", our Allosaurus became the first adult dinosaur on the Moon, and our Gallimimus mysteriously disappeared immediately after the Stegosaurus achieved maturity. Apparently they held a serious grudge over that lost egg.
(https://i.imgur.com/2fpMREo.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/r07OOiO.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/DLoRR6Z.png)
Next up is King Zultan's request for sharks and "some big meat eating dinosaurs". There are three big meat eaters among the dinosaurs in this game, and thanks to our massive donation income, we now have them all.
Allosaurus
(https://i.imgur.com/rwe7yUZ.png)
Spinosaurus
(https://i.imgur.com/9n3z5C8.png)
And, finally, Tyrannosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/odwK8lF.png)
Next time, we'll add some shark tanks.
An award for our dolphin show.
(https://i.imgur.com/7qqXnDs.png)
Zoo Rating:92/95
Shark tank
(https://i.imgur.com/pmFI1ui.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Om5xDmh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/VfsY6aH.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/OszERCP.png)
January-September, Year Five
Before we start on sharks, we've got to work on some problems that have emerged with guest satisfaction. While donations are still pouring in, we have more angry guests than I'd like. Since we're almost completely dependent on the donation flow to survive our massive upkeep costs, this could become a problem later on.
Fun fact, we won an award for our 500th guest back in Year Two. That means that these four guests, along with many of our others, haven't left the zoo in at least three years.
(https://i.imgur.com/zfh6eS1.png)
I've added restaurants to areas with too many unsatisfied guests that don't already have a nearby restaurant. One along the main tunnel to the aquatic section, and another in the hub. Sorry to lose one of the lava pits, but it's for the Greater Good.
(https://i.imgur.com/0bhui1b.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/b1JK4Yp.png)
Our aquatic section has always been the most popular guest area, but the safari hike has quickly grown to compete with it.
(https://i.imgur.com/Zk9puVx.png)
I was in the aquatic section considering how to boost the popularity of our undervisited normal and prehistoric sections when an alert went off.
(https://i.imgur.com/NKeD5YL.png)
An under-maintained fence on the Allosaurus exhibit weakened enough that the dinosaur was able to break through.
(https://i.imgur.com/EBjmanB.png)
The DRT responded quickly, but this time the Allosaurus wasn't in a mostly deserted construction site. Guest 2096 was just outside the enclosure when the breakout occurred.
(Buildings filtered out for visibility.)
(https://i.imgur.com/EFnotUl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hB9io6d.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/5WqRR32.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/GLDdYMt.png)
At least Guest 2097 getting stomped on flung around like a toy delayed the Allosaurus' rampage long enough for the DRT to get into position and recapture the dinosaur. The Allosaurus has been returned to his cage and given the strongest fencing available. Guest 2097 survived the attack, but is very angry with the Headshoots Zoo. At last report, he was leaving the Moon to visit an amusement park instead.
(https://i.imgur.com/qgmhrJZ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/jRlFivy.png)
Excellent suggestion on the compost building, Duckman! Our animals collectively produce an enormous amount of poop, and this building will let us turn it into an asset. The building paid itself off within minutes of its construction.
(https://i.imgur.com/YP7EJTT.png)
That one compost building easily blew our admission and dolphin show profits out of the water and is singlehandedly competing with the concession sales of every restaurant and gift shop in the zoo. It is, by far, the single most valuable object in the zoo.
I don't think there's much reason to build another one though, since the one building is enough to handle our dung supply. We've put the building itself in the back of the prehistoric section, as far away from people as possible. Along with reducing our dependence on the often fickle donations, we were able to use the money to hire more keepers to solve a problem with the amount of poop in the safari section bothering guests.
By February, our T. rex achieved full size.
(https://i.imgur.com/hPSwUla.png)
Over the next several months, we began building the whale tank. Progress was slow as we recovered from about 30 donors pulling their funding after Guest 2097's "unfortunate incident."
(https://i.imgur.com/kmZlRNv.jpg)
We also expanded the hammerhead tank, in anticipation of adding more sharks later.
(https://i.imgur.com/hsZA14x.png)
Construction was then put briefly on hold due to an interruption.
(https://i.imgur.com/W7RbrSl.png)
A little girl fled down the yellow brick road as a maintenance worker rushed past, fixing the hole in the fence as the grizzly bear chased her.
(https://i.imgur.com/hyhJsSS.png)
Nobody was hurt in the breakout, as a zookeeper was able to tranquilize the bear before he got very far.
(https://i.imgur.com/29mszZB.png)
At least the bear wasn't all that stressed by his brief taste of freedom. Once the tranquilizers wore off, he promptly decided to take a nap again by his pond.
(https://i.imgur.com/B6ibjW0.png)
Our Spinosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Triceratops are all adults by now.
(https://i.imgur.com/HrQClqi.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/qCJ3o2g.png)
After that brief incident of terror was over, we bought and housed our whale shark.
(https://i.imgur.com/IuPfr9B.jpg)
Not long after, two humpback whales were added to the mix.
(https://i.imgur.com/KLao9KH.jpg)
Two pairs of mako and tiger sharks fit in happily with the hammerheads.
(https://i.imgur.com/at1VBo1.png)
Some months after that, we added the yeti exhibit Happerry suggested.
(https://i.imgur.com/u6nkBYY.jpg)
The yeti exhibit and our concentrated effort to gather up all the lucrative poops won us the Highest Quality Exhibits award, with a $40,000 prize.
(https://i.imgur.com/aePozv4.png)
That money was very helpful in funding our last shark exhibit, a pair of great whites.
(https://i.imgur.com/nKkX1oT.jpg)
With the rest of our prize money, we were able to afford the second walker pen.
Please welcome the AT-TE to the park!
(https://i.imgur.com/mUBRp3A.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/iPatFEH.png)
A humpback whale mother breaches as her calf swims nearby.
(https://i.imgur.com/ATrnoaW.png)
92/95, and often spiking to 94.
Moon of the Apes
(https://i.imgur.com/0ip3sJA.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/nVH0ES4.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/XPEjE8k.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/lxAGCij.png)
Primate house (1100)
Aviary (1600)
Insect house
September-January, Year Five and Six
Have we been designating staff to exhibits? It would probably cut down on the number of keepers we need if the ones taking care of the safari area don't keep trying to walk halfway across the zoo to take care of the regular exhibits and vice-versa.
We have, yes. This is our collection of staff at the start of this update. I like to name them after the animals they're assigned to, to help me keep track. You can't see it in the picture, but MooseCrocTiger is also responsible for the Yeti. RooPeng's name was outdated, he's actually responsible for the cheetahs rather than the kangaroos now. We could really use more keepers, particularly for the main safari area, but we do need to consider their $800 a month price tag. Per Zultan's suggestion, we hired two more maintenance workers just after the image was made. We also went ahead and tried a new zookeeper for the main safari area. The poop in there is a major issue.
(https://i.imgur.com/xKzkxOJ.png)
A minor tweak to the shark tank's foliage won us an award.
(https://i.imgur.com/CemDChc.png)
The prize money plus a bit of our reserve funded the return of unicorns to Headshoots.
(https://i.imgur.com/j8f1jcR.png)
We've hired a new zookeeper to care for both our walker exhibits, taking some weight off JungleCheetahPeng.
(https://i.imgur.com/ayuI4Ov.png)
As I waited for money to build the multispecies ape exhibit, our unicorns produced a foal.
(https://i.imgur.com/sTVu1On.png)
By the end of Year 5, we were able to build a primate wing with a multispecies exhibit housing gorillas, chimps, mandrills, and orangutans. I took the liberty of adding one of our newly researched animal houses next door to display smaller primates.
(https://i.imgur.com/vkOSLvK.png)
At a rating of 94, we are inches away from being declared Best Zoo. With the prize money we'll earn, I'll buy a bunch of penguins and get us an award for that. That'll get us to 15 awards, winning us the Best Zoo in the World award as well. That'll give us $100,000, which will allow us to easily afford the AT-ST enclosure and complete our walker collection. If you've got any other suggestions, I'd be happy to try and add them in before we're done.
Once we're done, I'll take a break for a little bit and then we can start on Zoo Tycoon 2.
Our Spinosaurus happily roars over its home.
(https://i.imgur.com/Q8sGoCl.png)
Zoo Rating:94/95
The Best Zoo in the World
January-July, Year 6
(https://i.imgur.com/KGwVll4.png)
"Hi! I'm Maria, and I'll be your tour guide today at the Headshoots Zoo!"
(https://i.imgur.com/BJ21xec.png)
"Starting our tour with the safari hike, our first encounter is Headshoots' collection of Triceratops and Ankylosaurus. These giants provide us a glimpse into the ancient life of our homeworld. We'll encounter more like them later."
(https://i.imgur.com/QWDMSTG.png)
"If you'll look to your left, you'll see our lion pride. The lion is one of Earth's most iconic beasts, and has been a symbol of royalty for millennia."
(https://i.imgur.com/kra3RZP.png)
"One of my personal favorite exhibits, this massive valley recreates the African savanna."
(https://i.imgur.com/dNdQihj.png)
"The muddy exhibit here houses a large family of warthogs."
(https://i.imgur.com/gG2clrp.png)
"Crossing the central hill, we can observe leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs."
(https://i.imgur.com/DSLqCqF.png)
"Not all savannas are in Africa. This exhibit houses the Indian blackbuck and the Australian kangaroo."
(https://i.imgur.com/vNcPiRP.png)
"Finishing our safari, we hope you enjoy this lagoon as much as its hippopotamus and flamingo residents do."
(https://i.imgur.com/YD9pCG8.png)
"Before we move on to the aquatic sector, fans of mechanized wildlife will be pleased to see our collection of walkers in their giant enclosures. Colossal AT-ATs, swift AT-STs, and classic AT-TEs have all found a home here alongside the more conventional animals, free of the tripwires and Ewok poachers plaguing their natural habitats."
(https://i.imgur.com/jyKcExc.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/F5GLUGR.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/zWYV4Qe.png)
"Here to welcome us to the aquatic sector are our pair of great white sharks."
(https://i.imgur.com/bu55VsO.png)
"Accompanying them are the largest animals in the zoo, a pod of humpback whales and their whale shark friend. These gentle giants feed exclusively on tiny krill."
(https://i.imgur.com/ouJAYGz.png)
"At our crustacean house, many of these undersea arthropods are available for your observation and education."
(https://i.imgur.com/YZun5dE.png)
"A frightening school of mako, hammerhead, and tiger sharks looms above us on the right, while lightning-fast marlins swim and leap on our left."
(https://i.imgur.com/qOMdn2j.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/RYikP0k.png)
"Entering the main area of the aquatic sector, we travel past the many tentacles of our Pacific octopuses and lion's mane jellyfish."
(https://i.imgur.com/w911qgt.png)
"Make sure not to miss out on our award-winning dolphin show! While you're here, check out our pod of belugas and the tropical aquarium."
(https://i.imgur.com/q9jAyBd.png)
"The harbor porpoise completes our tour of the aquatic sector. These are some of the smallest of all marine mammals."
(https://i.imgur.com/AearYJz.png)
"Looping back through the central hub, olive baboons and the endangered Mexican gray wolf introduce us to the golden paths of the land animals' chamber."
(https://i.imgur.com/pXzfipe.png)
"A grizzly bear watches over the way down the western half of this chamber."
(https://i.imgur.com/6lGBjSg.png)
"A Himalayan yeti can be spotted here, at the intersection before our reptile house and aviary. If you're hungry, one of Headshoots' many restaurants is here to assist you."
(https://i.imgur.com/5OnTwMU.png)
"Reindeer, saltwater crocodiles, cheetahs, and Bengal tigers occupy the center of this chamber."
(https://i.imgur.com/XVoSEgc.png)
"A herd of Canadian moose and unicorns provides a truly mythical viewing experience."
(https://i.imgur.com/oM1Lmsb.png)
"Africa, Malaysia, and South America come together here for our herd of bongos, giant anteaters, and Malaysian tapirs."
(https://i.imgur.com/2LmOmMp.png)
"Next door, our insect house provides a safe haven to a wide variety of exotic bugs."
(https://i.imgur.com/TEzxwGm.png)
"Please be quiet here so as not to disturb our special guest from the Greater Republic of Hong Kong, Winnie the baby panda."
(https://i.imgur.com/yOccoCC.png)
"At the far end of this chamber, Headshoots houses the Moon's largest collection of nonhuman primates."
(https://i.imgur.com/Q1DTyOF.png)
"Up next is our famous Iceberg Lou-...(Huh, that's new. The tour program isn't even updated yet.) Uh, um, please enjoy our penguin colony, before ascending the steps to see a collection of bats generously donated by...the Wayne Foundation?"
(https://i.imgur.com/9yDdh60.png)
"The last area on our tour is the prehistoric sector. Here, we can view Headshoots' diverse array of Earth's most ancient life, resurrected by the Ssarscel Method. To begin, our Pterodactyl and lepospondyl houses showcase many species of pterosaurs and primordial tetrapods."
(https://i.imgur.com/dIE6ZCp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Rz0DWEA.png)
"Here we see our feisty Allosaurus and lumbering family of Megatherium, or giant sloths. Careful not to touch the electric fence!"
(https://i.imgur.com/k1lxKwT.png)
"The well-armored Stegosaurus was once a common sight in North America."
(https://i.imgur.com/4ZpYZTE.png)
"The Spinosaurus is the largest of all carnivorous dinosaurs."
(https://i.imgur.com/WmfLbEQ.png)
"Finally, I'd like you to meet our unforgettable king of the dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex himself!"
(https://i.imgur.com/oQsepaX.png)
"We hope you had fun on your visit to the Headshoots Zoo! Please come again soon! Souvenirs are available at any of our several gift shops."
(https://i.imgur.com/2caXsZ1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/J37r20G.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/HjByarb.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/p2vM4bN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/lkfKiei.png)
I hope everyone enjoyed building the Headshoots Lunar Facility! I had a great time putting together all of your suggestions. After I added the reindeer and animal houses for King Zultan, all we had to do was tweak things to get that last 1% boost in zoo rating. It was surprisingly difficult, but we eventually made it over the line in a string of awards. We earned "Most Popular Zoo" for reaching the guest cap, which meant we were at 14 awards when we finally earned Best Zoo. As a result, we won Best Zoo and Best Zoo in the World simultaneously. Best Zoo in the World came with a free baby panda, which triggered an additional reward for having one.
(https://i.imgur.com/xcQVKjh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/3pfpINT.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pCTmiuK.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SIwp1xJ.png)
I'm going to take a break for a week or two, while I prepare to rework the OP for Zoo Tycoon 2 and maybe work on a Dwarf Fortress mod. I'd prefer to keep using this thread, rather than start several more for subsequent tycoon games. I'll rename it when we start Zoo Tycoon 2.
Zoo Tycoon 2 plays much like this one, with its largest change being that we can now go into 1st-person mode and take care of the animals ourselves. The Dinosaur Digs and Marine Mania expansions were both remade for the sequel, Dinosaur Digs being renamed Extinct Animals. Along with those, the new Endangered Species and African Adventure expansions were released. African Adventure adds a collection of new African animals, as the name would suggest. Endangered Species also adds a bunch of endangered animals, but more importantly it adds elevated paths, sky trams, and jeeps so we can set up an actual safari ride this time. Extinct Animals also allows us to build a lab and dig up fossils to clone dinosaurs ourselves. If there are no objections, I'd also like to include the excellent Paranoia expansion mod by Z-Studio. This mod adds cryptids and mythical creatures, such as chupacabras and unicorns. It also includes a few outright fictional animals, such as graboids.
Alright, I've finished my break. Who's ready for Zoo Tycoon 2?
(https://i.imgur.com/9QS5YrV.png)
This time, our goal is to achieve a 5-star zoo rating. Like the Best Zoo award we earned last time, this requires a successful zoo, well cared for and diverse animals, and happy guests. We'll also be doing various side challenges the game gives us for the prizes, which include boosts to rating, money, and free animals. We can also boost our fame by releasing animals to the wild, to a point.
Gameplay in the sequel is largely similar to the original, but there have been a few important changes I should let you know about. Exhibits are far simpler and cheaper than they used to be, but the animals themselves are now the primary expense. Awards are much less important now, since challenges have replaced them. However, easily the biggest change is that we can now go into 1st person mode and take care of the zoo ourselves. This will save us a lot of money, although we will eventually need employees so I'm not constantly stuck raking poo instead of building.
Along with the normal animals of the vanilla game, Zoo Tycoon 2 has four expansions. The first two were Endangered Animals and African Adventure. As you probably guessed, these add more endangered and African wildlife to the game. Endangered Animals also adds structures that allow us to build elevated paths and vehicle tours with jeeps and sky trams. Those two were followed up by Marine Mania and Extinct Animals. Returning from the original game, these add Sea World and Jurassic Park-inspired content to the game. Marine Mania brings back the aquatic shows from the original game, while Extinct Animals adds the ability to build an Extinct Research Lab and clone animals ourselves for free. That'll be a major help once we can afford it, given the high cost of animals in this game. There were also a few bits of free DLC, adding Christmas themed content and a few new animals and items. Finally, I've added two mods. The first is Z-studio's popular Paranoia (https://thezt2roundtable.com/paranoia-t11577.html) mod. This mod adds cryptids, mythical creatures, and a few outright fictional animals to the game. It also adds various objects that allow us to build museum-themed indoor exhibits. Despite having "official" biomes, anything from Paranoia is actually fine in any biome, aside from the ones that require water to live. The other is Crocodylia (https://www.nexusmods.com/zootycoon2/mods/60), a small pack of crocodilians.
Before we begin, we need to choose a map. Sadly, the Moon is no longer available. In exchange, we'll be playing on a large map this time.
(https://i.imgur.com/lcFxdyR.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/OkQzU7Z.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hb5LQ2c.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/y6O3fIg.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/tSeIN3Z.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LxGqvK1.png)
The OP's been updated for the new game.
(Unfortunately, I never did get around to making that Spongebob mod I mentioned before. I started it, but I got distracted reading Worm (https://parahumans.wordpress.com/).)
Looks like we have a winner. Our next zoo will be in a swamp. Glad we grabbed those extra crocodilians!
Welcome to the forum, Luke!
Opening Day
Zoo fame:0.5 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/YJQ2Fb7.png)
January 1st, Year One
The zoo is open.
(https://i.imgur.com/VPIUptw.png)
We've got a large swamp to build in with some jumbled paths, many plants, and a bit of damp wooden furniture scattered about. Lots of flat land aside from the water, so we have plenty of space for building.
(https://i.imgur.com/2meaqOF.png)
Our first challenge has been given by Animal Care Quarterly, requesting that we take a photo of an African buffalo being viewed by a guest. In exchange, they'll give us $1,500 dollars. This effectively means that they're offering to cover the costs of our first animal, as long as it's an African buffalo. Fittingly enough, those are swamp animals. I think it's a good offer, but I'll leave it up to you to decide what we do first.
(https://i.imgur.com/NJtuZrT.png)
By the way, what should our zoo's name be?
The parking lot and landscape outside our as-yet unnamed zoo.
(https://i.imgur.com/BWpP6VJ.png)
Sorry about that, CABL. I would have waited longer, but the swamp seemed to have a clear lead. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised Antarctica didn't win.
To Mightymushroom, the Paranoia museum is really a collection of walls, windows, paths, elevated paths, fences, and a few more decorative parts. Putting them together allows for custom buildings and interior exhibits, similar to Planet Zoo. There's no practical reason to use them, it's expensive and I don't think the guests care. At least, no more than they do about flowerbeds? I haven't tested them for that. Still, it looks cool. It's easier to show what it does than it is to explain it, so here's an example of a museum I built with the parts in freeform mode with unlimited money.
(https://i.imgur.com/IuJBsJE.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/MzOVcvF.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/QFeU2JE.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/IYT280z.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/gXwOERo.png)
Everybody's got a water buffalo
Zoo fame:0.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/kJ4ZPKT.png)
January-February, Year One
We are now the HellCannon Gardens.
(https://i.imgur.com/fAI5Aki.png)
With our initial $5,000, we set up our first buildings and bought an African buffalo, per the request from Animal Care Quarterly. I also sold some trees, unnecessary paths, and furniture to get us some extra money.
(https://i.imgur.com/sb3RmC3.png)
I tried to make the buildings fit our "swamp" theme. Slowly, but surely, guests began to wander in. We quickly completed our first challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/M09ZDD3.png)
Our guests have actual names now. Our first customer was the one shown here, Tracy Piaseczny.
Using the profits from the photograph, we were able to afford a second buffalo and our first donation box.
(https://i.imgur.com/QYpwKUP.png)
While waiting for the money to build a dwarf crocodile exhibit, we were given an exciting opportunity to cripple our income for months by a local venture capitalist.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZHqNGrl.png)
I went ahead and rejected the offer. We'll get it again later, if you all really want to go for it eventually.
I also turned down an offer from a matching donation program, for now. It would normally be a good deal, but our buffalos aren't drawing enough donations yet and it would have stopped us from getting a better challenge for a while.
(https://i.imgur.com/3bC6E45.png)
By early February, we got a really good challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/yTDxn63.png)
Our admission fees are trivial at the moment anyway, and it'll be easy to keep our buffalos healthy for a month. We've accepted the challenge, and the upfront money paid for our first dwarf crocodile.
(https://i.imgur.com/yFYtk8J.png)
There's a day/night cycle now, making for some fun opportunities for screenshots.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZyxHHQx.png)
A frog wanders through the grounds of the HellCannon Gardens.
(https://i.imgur.com/tpfnxYJ.png)
Moving the map and fame section to the end of the update, since they're meant to represent where we are at the end of the post.
Construction
February-June, Year One.
The rest of February was largely uneventful. Our zoo carried on as we waited for the challenge to officially complete, and we gave our dwarf crocodile a treat.
(https://i.imgur.com/sUS70Fj.png)
It wasn't too long until we reached our first full star.
(https://i.imgur.com/eaH0RpV.png)
New buildings:
Gift cart (Normal, marine, and extinct themes)
Discovery kiosk
Aquarium with sea horses($1,200)
Play dig pit
More food stands and carts.
New scenery:
Various themed viewing canopies and arches, binoculars, an elephant fountain, a decorative mineral deposit, snow machine, and treasure chest bubbler.
By the beginning of March, the city council announced that they were pleased with our results.
(https://i.imgur.com/z2ZkoH4.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/grLAG9Y.png)
With the proceeds, I bought a mate for our crocodile and built a version of King Zultan's request. I wasn't entirely sure what you were going for, but hopefully this is close. I left it open so the guests can actually use the ATM. I'll add more graves later as our budget permits.
(https://i.imgur.com/8hNYFiU.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/OLtfH7z.png)
Over the next couple months, we completed another challenge and our first baby animal was born.
(https://i.imgur.com/Jd3koXi.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/sBgzhmq.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/M4UlC1O.png)
We picked up a gift cart to help the guests empty out any money they'd rather not spend on hot dogs or donations.
(https://i.imgur.com/fu55Pev.png)
By May, we won our first award.
(https://i.imgur.com/iJGrm7E.png)
Finally, we finished up another $5,000 challenge in June.
(https://i.imgur.com/qdmS1ID.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/mbxBC1o.png)
I think we made good use of the prize money.
If not for the challenge I'd say to see if we could shove a bongo in there but I get the feeling at least one of them might not like it at first.
(https://i.imgur.com/E1GjL0m.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/bj6r4V4.png)
That exhibit now contains two bongos and two dwarf crocodiles. It required a good deal of expansion to create sufficient land area for the bongos, but I think it'll work out, since the bongos don't bother the crocodiles and the crocodiles are too small to hurt them.
Doing the dirty work.
(https://i.imgur.com/8cC1rcP.png)
Zoo fame:1 star
(https://i.imgur.com/ECLiCvV.png)
June-July, Year One.
So I have good news and bad news to start off June. The good news is that we were promptly offered an easy challenge for a lot of money, and the bad news is that the dwarf crocodiles and bongos proved incompatible in the long run. A dwarf crocodile was somehow able to kill an adult bongo. Thankfully, an (actual) fortuitously timed crash eliminated the bongo-slaying incident while sparing the challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/nRjejuv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/8liZeld.png)
This time, we've kept our bongos safe from their improbable assailants by splitting the rainforest exhibit in two. In the process, I learned something new about the game. Before, I was taking aerial screenshots by simply switching into 1st-person camera mode in midair and taking the shot quickly. However, just now I realized I can just save the game and take a normal screenshot while the UI is briefly removed. Wish I'd noticed that earlier.
(https://i.imgur.com/37audem.png)
By late July, we had won the challenge. Getting the enrichment object photo was trivial, since we were able to fulfill the condition with a picture of a bongo just looking at a salt lick. The baby took longer, since the African buffalo's first calf had already grown up. Fortunately, the mother buffalo was pregnant again.
(https://i.imgur.com/aBm8mPN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xIz4sbd.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/bS0WpqT.png)
We used the prize money to build the peafowl exhibit that Mightymushroom requested. I would also have added Mr. Cobblepot's ice cream stand, but we haven't unlocked those just yet.
(https://i.imgur.com/RiH1pau.png)
(The giant mushroom is one of several fictional plants added by Paranoia.)
The rest of the money went to adding a whole bunch more graves to King Zultan's ATM. No idea who they all are, but I'm guessing they weren't very popular based on the tendency of our guests to regularly visit and applaud the graves.
(https://i.imgur.com/OHCbmUp.png)
Next up is the killer penguin. That one's going to have to wait for next time, I think. To get the killer penguin, we're going to need an Extinct Research lab. The lab will cost us $8,000 and require $1,250 a month from our budget. It'll be difficult to afford that, but it will mean that we can start cloning extinct animals for free by gathering fossils.
*Whoops, nearly forgot Mightymushroom's elephant fountain.
(https://i.imgur.com/YrzwQOL.png)
The HellCannon Gardens, as seen from above.
(https://i.imgur.com/c087mjg.png)
Zoo fame:1 star
(https://i.imgur.com/SRQrFeA.png)
Short update for today. I didn't get everything done, but I think we need to focus on getting the lab for now if we're going to get that killer penguin. I'll keep the other suggestions in mind for after we build it.
Baby animals
August-October, Year One.
First, I took a challenge to boost our fame. I probably shouldn't have, since it slowed getting your suggestions done, but it'll help us in the long run.
(https://i.imgur.com/X2mgA3D.png)
Before completing it, we reached 1-1/2 stars, unlocking new animals and a few more scenery objects.
(https://i.imgur.com/FvwXN01.png)
New scenery:
Will-o-the-wisp
Marine statue
Small fountain
Drinking fountain
Recycling bin
Per Naturegirl's request, a flock of will-o-the-wisps has been released into the Gardens. We should see them around in the background from time to time.
(https://i.imgur.com/ajs8HjC.png)
A detail I appreciate in this game is that guests buy souvenirs based on the animals they've seen. For example, these kids have an African buffalo hip pack and a peacock backpack.
(https://i.imgur.com/ISZxEaR.png)
Zultan's graveyard-ATM near singlehandedly won us the entertainment challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/nlSqdeD.png)
Near the end though, our growing guest numbers forced us to add a new fountain to keep them happy. Only so many people can applaud the graves at once, after all.
(https://i.imgur.com/OFP4SOW.png)
4/5 allowed guests reached critical boredom levels, but we barely made it over the line and were rewarded with a permanent boost to zoo fame.
(https://i.imgur.com/My8bruT.png)
Something this game improves upon in comparison to the original is that it's much more clear what goes into our rating. There's a chart in the menus.
(https://i.imgur.com/4cWbnyM.png)
At this point, every species in the park has had babies.
(https://i.imgur.com/IE3ycW0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pWRBMbF.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KcVNv3o.png)
At 10 months in, our first animal has died of old age.
(https://i.imgur.com/cFGaHYd.png)
I was disappointed by how our "swamp" had so little mud and plant life, so I ran the biome brush tool over it.
(https://i.imgur.com/A6d8jY4.png)
I think our zoo looks more like an actual swamp now.
We have the profit rates to allow it and it was getting a bit difficult to do all the work myself, so we've hired our first two staff members.
(https://i.imgur.com/LUgTVwH.png)
While we wait to attract Mr. Cobblepot's attention, our guests were complaining about the lack of desserts. We've added a popcorn cart to tide them over.
(https://i.imgur.com/Y1cBYTp.png)
A duck flies through the skies of our swamp.
(https://i.imgur.com/Zsq7QHp.png)
Zoo fame:1-1/2 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/YJElHFy.png)
October-February, Year One and Two.
Last push toward getting that penguin. We've reached two stars and earned more unlocks.
(https://i.imgur.com/3FQtJOh.png)
New buildings:
Family restroom
Insect house
Octopus house
Animal photo booth
More food stands, including the ice cream cart.
New scenery:
Beluga splash fountain/arch
Lamp posts(In normal, gothic, tundra, savanna, and jungle themes.)
Crashed UFO
Statue(Polar bear, jungle, savanna, gothic, tundra, and littoral themes.)
Music rock(Normal, jungle, savanna, tundra, gothic, and marine themes.)
Hippo bouncy ride
Gorilla climbing bars
Geyser($1,200)
Bat cave($1,000)
Along with the boost to fame, we now have an upgraded zoo gate. We'll get a new gate for every full star, and if we ever get a million dollars.
(https://i.imgur.com/LcbBImG.png)
Our collection of animal butts has been replaced by a more appropriate, albeit less funny, goodbye.
(https://i.imgur.com/gVZPy6B.png)
Since we now have the ice cream cart, I've replaced our popcorn cart with Mr. Cobblepot's Confectionaries. A mechanical monkey points a hose of snow at visitors.
(https://i.imgur.com/Oua2gCI.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/v5b2sqP.png)
We completed a quick challenge to boost our fame by taking pictures of guests drinking soda and sitting on a bench for a PR flyer.
(https://i.imgur.com/PilmccU.png)
The Animal Hygiene Association is back, offering us money for keeping our animals clean.
(https://i.imgur.com/fEA6OJ5.png)
Our first-generation African buffaloes have died, so we bought a new one to keep the bloodline of their young going.
(https://i.imgur.com/8F8bSvJ.png)
We've upgraded our restrooms with our new family-sized models. It should be a long time before we have any more complaints on that.
(https://i.imgur.com/BU5QsEh.png)
Just wanted to give credit to the Crocodylia modders here. Even though it's a small modpack, and the animals themselves are so tiny you can barely see them without the camera's zoom feature, they took the time to give baby dwarf crocodiles a unique model.
(https://i.imgur.com/IyC3sgd.png)
Our guests are enjoying the Gardens!
(https://i.imgur.com/nnrEuEk.png)
Going into the end of our first year, we won the challenge and earned the $4,550 prize. With that and the money we had recently accumulated, we were now over $11,000. Our profit has skyrocketed in the past couple months.
(https://i.imgur.com/xnVeRP2.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/RHZRpqf.png)
With that, we were finally able to afford our Extinct Research lab. No reason to give our guests access, so we built out at the far end of the swamp.
(https://i.imgur.com/TQ4aiwK.png)
Our killer penguin will be acquired by deliberately failing the prehistoric animal creation process, so I think this is a good time to show the minigame.
With the lab, we can now enter a fossil-hunting mode. This gives us a metal detector-esque gun that finds fossils underground.
(https://i.imgur.com/PbPyOSp.png)
Each fossil is in several pieces, and sometimes we get a joke item instead of a fossil. The block of ice had apples in it, so we gave it to the bongos as a treat.
(https://i.imgur.com/Hm00I7D.png)
After we gather all the bones for a particular species, we assemble it in a quick jigsaw puzzle.
(https://i.imgur.com/OWWVVSf.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/phDnrdy.png)
Then there's a quick time event in the genetics lab, where we have to hit arrow keys and clicks in the right pattern. Later on more and more of the prompts are blacked out, turning it into a memory challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/Pljwoh4.png)
When we fail, one of several joke animals are created. Usually they're squirrels, jerboas, giant frogs, or giant butterflies. Unfortunately only the killer penguin counts as a real animal in its own right. I'll release the others into the swamp. Our first creation was a giant butterfly.
(https://i.imgur.com/epw68Gu.png)
I'm sure the ecosystem will be ok with a few dozen of these roaming around.
(https://i.imgur.com/hU7MOVY.png)
I'll admit I made a mistake here. During the attempts to make a killer penguin, I got distracted, forgot what I was doing, and absentmindedly made this bluebuck correctly. I didn't want to get rid of her, so now we have bluebucks. I made another shortly thereafter to keep her company.
(https://i.imgur.com/RLZ0ouB.png)
Adding the bluebuck resulted in us gaining another 1/2 star, raising us to the halfway mark.
New buildings:
Compost building
Touch pool
New scenery:
Pirate shipwreck ($1,200)
Pirate mast
Umbrella table (Normal, jungle, savanna, littoral, tundra, and gothic themes.)
Wooden arch
While we were working on that, we were offered a new chance at the donation matching challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/uDw54sH.png)
We hired an educator to help encourage donations and hopefully reach the goal.
(https://i.imgur.com/SbvZhgQ.png)
Our bongos bred again and decided they were overcrowded. To make room, we released their first, now adult, child into the wild for a permanent minor bonus to fame.
(https://i.imgur.com/hyZXgpv.png)
Unfortunately, we narrowly failed the donation challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/eDTHEZV.png)
We'll try and make it up with a repeat of the stress reduction challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/9GiVXee.png)
Finally, after way more time and effort than I expected it to take, we created a killer penguin egg. While we wait for it to hatch, we built a whole Penguin area just to the side of our entrance. Cobblepot's Confectioneries was moved into the area, along with a new table for the guests to eat their ice cream.
Glad we should be done with the penguin shortly, aside from any danger it causes. That took a while, but I'll circle back and deal with the requests we had to put on the back burner for its sake next time.
A giant frog, created by the unnatural science of the Gardens.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZptL9LZ.png)
Zoo fame:2-1/2 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/G4YBv40.png)
February-August, Year Two.
Time to take care of the unfinished requests. We started by adding flamingoes to the African buffalo exhibit, as Lukerules and Mightymushroom suggested.
(https://i.imgur.com/j0hemO1.png)
The buffalo exhibit has been slightly expanded to make room.
Our new multispecies exhibit quickly resulted in boosting us to three stars. Some good unlocks this time.
(https://i.imgur.com/DF2yWL2.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/gIDn4Yg.png)
New buildings:
Family restaurant
Cave painting hall ($1,200)
Gift shop
Shark photo booth
Shetland pony ride ($1,400)
Tropical fish aquarium ($1,200)
More food stands and carts.
New scenery:
Pirate cannon($1,200)
Zoo map
Littoral music rock
Lion and rhino bouncy rides
Tortoise trampoline
Fog machine
Our new shipwreck makes an impressive decoration for our swamp.
(https://i.imgur.com/aW3LDqA.png)
It was at this point that our killer penguin hatched.
(https://i.imgur.com/vndCnC9.png)
We completed the stress reduction challenge without incident, fueling more expansion.
(https://i.imgur.com/EAvjztD.png)
This is a potentially lucrative offer. To be clear, I'm pretty sure it specifically wants us to breed animals from the African Adventure expansion. We already have two species from the expansion, and we were already working on a large savanna exhibit for Zultan's zebras and Luke's dromedaries. Dromedary camels are actually desert animals, but animals often tolerate biomes similar to the "correct" one.
(https://i.imgur.com/hPR2cVu.png)
In the meantime, I added a pair of Masai giraffes to the future zebra enclosure to fulfill the challenge's conditions. They were among the few animals from the African Adventure expansion that were also cheap enough that buying two wouldn't render the challenge reward moot. The savanna exhibit was built large and with room to grow, since I figured you'll ultimately be putting a lot of animals in there if Headshoots was any indication.
(https://i.imgur.com/IBgNJSz.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/G4MIhdS.png)
We then reached 3-1/2 stars. We're moving along quickly, but I expect it'll take a while to get the full five stars at the end. Hopefully this won't be too quick.
(https://i.imgur.com/faGIkOO.png)
New scenery:
Tiger statue
Rhino statue
Gazebo
Crystal tunnel ($1,200)
On June 21st, we added Zultan's zebras to our collection.
(https://i.imgur.com/x8p5ZnF.png)
Unfortunately, we failed the challenge to breed three different African animals. We did get the pregnancies, but the babies hadn't actually been born yet by the time the challenge ended. We were immediately offered a new challenge to earn $8,000 in donations, but that one ultimately didn't work out either.
(https://i.imgur.com/bxwyzUC.png)
Not long after, we were able to afford our dromedary camels. To accommodate the guests now herding into this area, we added a restaurant and a new educator. Our first educator was personally responsible for $17,228 worth of donations at this point.
(https://i.imgur.com/7keCtlo.png)
Almost impressively even by the exaggeratedly short lifespans of Zoo Tycoon animals, our flamingos produced a new generation and died within 6 months of our buying them. I'll keep an eye on that population to make sure they don't die out.
King Zultan suggested a Jeep tour, but I wanted to ask about that. As you can see on the map lower down, none of our exhibits are really big enough yet to ride a car through them. We could run the cars along the outside edge, but that seems disappointing. An alternative might be to build a sky tram. Then the guests can see the whole zoo from above.
One request left to handle:King Zultan's "dangerous playground". We started construction, and before we were even finished we reached four stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/UNU8ufj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/RXfzerI.png)
New buildings:
Jellyfish aquarium ($1,200)
Reptile house ($1,200)
New scenery:
Gothic fountain
Splash fountain
Rock pool ($1,500)
Volcano($1,750)
Giraffe slide
Tropical bounce house
Took a bit, but the playground's finished.
(https://i.imgur.com/rVQ4LDv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/sGYi4Op.png)
It's got a music rock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVACDBuEngA&list=PL-RRSgfBeVyt-Ry0E34-SCKa9tTUO01Bh&index=5&t=0s), gorilla climbing bars, a turtle trampoline, and a black cat bouncy ride. It's also got a nice stone floor bursting with giant venus flytraps and mythical* man eating trees, a Yateveo and an umdlebe. The umdlebe even gives off poisonous vapors.
*The umdlebe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbia_cupularis) is actually a real poisonous tree, but is also the focus of various myths.
Killer penguins can be useful for motivating donations.
(https://i.imgur.com/03cAKe6.png)
Zoo fame:4 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/xWdW2jE.png)
Swamp Jaws
August-October, Year Two
An extremely frustrating bug in this game is that guests occasionally panic at the sight of animals that are still contained in their exhibits. They then run around screaming, which triggers other guests to run. At least it's usually possible to determine why they think the animal is "escaped" and fix the issue. In this case, a kid clipped into the dwarf crocodile exhibit when I loaded in and triggered a fear-plague. Luckily, I was able to contain the affected crowd and move them a bit into the swamp to calm down.
(https://i.imgur.com/r0LhMcR.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Mxz8Z4A.png)
Last time this happened, I think it was because the donation box was too close to the fence and guests were technically "inside" the enclosure when they put money in. Nearly all of our guests were affected by the time I fixed it then.
We got an easy challenge for a free animal. Six small restrooms (that were immediately demolished as soon as the challenge was over) got us an American beaver.
(https://i.imgur.com/vwcOSMS.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/FyNp4dB.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/1eEHgs5.png)
Another easy challenge, since we could just undo buying those animals after getting the pictures.
(https://i.imgur.com/smlw3AY.png)(https://i.imgur.com/bpU3vUG.png)
For earning $5,000 in marine animal donations, we unlocked the dolphin arch.
(https://i.imgur.com/rc9KLiO.png)
This is one of my favorite challenges. Even if you don't have the appropriate exhibits, you can just make a tiny patch of appropriately-colored grass to for it to count.
(https://i.imgur.com/s9eqqi6.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/u5NK2bN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/JP1soAn.png)
It's basically just a free $4,000. The money first paid for finishing the fences of our crocodile area. We've cordoned off almost an entire quarter of the zoo grounds for this. It'll be an ongoing project, and we'll separate areas as needed to keep the crocodiles from eating each other. We used themed swamp fencing for this area, which you can see in the distance.
(https://i.imgur.com/Et8yN2J.png)
The rest of the money paid for the animal houses Zultan suggested. We picked sea horses, jellyfish, reptiles, and bugs for the purpose.
(https://i.imgur.com/XIAQVfU.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/qxhIxvy.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/skcaPBI.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d7L9X5l.png)
Easy enough.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ok1AUst.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/VdSCgY6.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NtpOMzN.png)
Next, we built our actual hell cannon, per Luke's suggestion.
(https://i.imgur.com/ixQvJuZ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NNZK6lh.png)
Next time, we can start on adding actual crocodiles to the swamp. We can also build a unicorn exhibit, but I wasn't certain Luke meant it as an actual suggestion.
The Killer Penguin's Zoopedia entry.
(https://i.imgur.com/JZvps1z.png)
Zoo fame:4 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/yR5pPzX.png)
August-January, Year Two and Three
We started this month taking care of basic construction and waiting for the money to add the new suggestions. Without changing anything substantial, we reached 4.5 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/3MHVwwi.png)
New buildings:
Restaurant
Fancy restaurant ($1,200)
New scenery:
Gorilla statue
We tried the African donation challenge again.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZRA1jDx.png)
In the meantime, we were able to open up our swamp ride with a pair of Cuban crocodiles. I was hoping we'd use these at some point, this species in particular is one of my favorite animals.
(https://i.imgur.com/H3VbMVA.png)
Since it is a Bay 12-built ride, I figured it'd be appropriate to add a volcano to the tour route. On the practical side, tour objects like these boost the rating and donation profits of our ride.
(https://i.imgur.com/BORhn2L.png)
We failed the donation challenge, but no matter. The swamp ride was a resounding success, quickly beginning to generate thousands of dollars in donations even with only the two crocodiles. We added a bat cave and fog machines to further impress the visitors.
(https://i.imgur.com/VaGhdO9.png)
A long line of guests quickly formed outside the station, so we own a small fleet of jeeps to carry all the visitors through.
Our zoo has grown to the point I needed a second keeper to help out.
(https://i.imgur.com/jY8ELLX.png)
We took an easy challenge for a free Diprotodon genome.
(https://i.imgur.com/2T4lza0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/YlpcLSl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/U11CHSv.png)
Per King Zultan's request for fish, we built a large tank and added a pair of blue marlins. We should be able to fit plenty more sea creatures in there in the future. Short-finned pilot whales and leatherback sea turtles would make a good match, I think. There was also a good spot for a decoration just outside the tank, so I took the liberty of adding a splash fountain.
(https://i.imgur.com/EH8RWUy.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/sdHuzSY.png)
The female marlin immediately got out of the tank somehow, but we returned it promptly. Maybe it jumped out.
(https://i.imgur.com/f3NQRE1.png)
Our beaver built two lodges out of some provided sticks.
(https://i.imgur.com/FXKdT0s.png)
Got a good challenge. $2,000 and an award for a very easy photograph.
(https://i.imgur.com/cOUMsOd.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/2KsR51x.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LsF545h.png)
This was the $2,000 photo, by the way.
(https://i.imgur.com/thBd8jg.png)
It's not really an important detail, but I like how every guest has a personal favorite animal. Not sure what causes the patterns, but nearly half the guests currently in our zoo have either Unhcegila/Unktehila (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unhcegila) or sea lions as their favorite animal.
(https://i.imgur.com/Idf9B6A.png)
This was a mild surprise. We used to only have three bongos at most, but I had stopped really paying attention to their habitat for a while. Now we have eight of them and climbing.
(https://i.imgur.com/fmbijrP.png)
Finally, we got our first unicorn in mid-January. Although nominally an alpine animal, our unicorn was perfectly content to share the grassland exhibit with our surviving bluebuck.
(https://i.imgur.com/5ejE843.png)
A Cuban crocodile watches a passing jeep.
(https://i.imgur.com/7xYqDWO.png)
Zoo fame:4.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/v9PAmoU.png)
January-March, Year 3.
Today, I started out mostly just fossil hunting and saving money for the things we have planned, such as the dolphin show and expanded crocodile population. Not very interesting, but we'll be able to do more fun stuff later.
We got upgraded jeeps as a reward for the $15,000 the tour had earned us. We adjusted the vehicles on the tour accordingly.
(https://i.imgur.com/YuX4whA.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/3hLTcCZ.png)
I don't know if I've ever seen that marine zoo gate. It says it requires $200,000 in marine animal donations.
Our Cuban crocodiles bred, building a nest at the foot of the volcano.
(https://i.imgur.com/39uqRWt.png)
As a reward, we received a balloon bouquet. We'll get one of these every time we successfully breed an endangered or extinct animal.
(https://i.imgur.com/Pd1RFan.png)
I was surprised to find out about this mechanic. I got a message that our first dwarf crocodiles were "about to reach full size" and went to check up on them. Turns out Crocodylia's crocodilians get significantly larger after a few years.
(https://i.imgur.com/pIl1P2i.png)
We've got a good challenge to make three different exceptional animals within 2 months for $7,500. That shouldn't be too difficult, as long as we're picking the one-star animals.
(https://i.imgur.com/bYEyuWr.png)
We had an unusual guest in the lab while creating a new bluebuck to fit into the preexisting exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/40S7Emc.png)
After the bluebuck, a pair of baby Sivatherium were added to our savanna enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/LAbILUf.png)
Dodos joined the bongo exhibit, completing our set of easy to care for animals torn from Death's clutches.
(https://i.imgur.com/0nzuJLh.png)
The $7,500 was a pretty good reward for whatever untamable genetic power we may or may not have unleashed. We used it to buy a second unicorn to establish a breeding population.
(https://i.imgur.com/upW8VHx.png)
We had to release some of our bongos to the wild to make room in the enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/H7z9jhZ.png)
Our peafowl died out, so we replaced them with four new ones. Two males and two females, so this investment should last a while.
(https://i.imgur.com/m51IzuA.png)
While fossil hunting, we hit one of the few mandatory challenges in the game. A power surge burnt out "all" our aquarium filters.
(https://i.imgur.com/XsUSXo1.png)
We only had a single filter to clean the marlin tank. It cost us $1,000 to replace it, but we can make that back very quickly and waiting for insurance would block us from getting any better challenges in the two months it takes them to process the claim.
It took us a while to find all the 1-star fossils. Although a bigger map is generally better, it does make it a lot harder to find fossils, and you need to find every fossil from the lower levels before you can find better ones. In the end though, we did it and the fossil finder was upgraded for the 2-star set.
(https://i.imgur.com/N9u1ee8.png)
Our namesake cannon apparently contained a quagga fossil.
(https://i.imgur.com/eQxqCpr.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/tvOneYE.png)
The Sivatherium reached adulthood after one month.
(https://i.imgur.com/TwggqlL.png)
We had to deal with a disease breaking out in the park in mid-March.
(https://i.imgur.com/7zedMnV.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/nvd5ok9.png)
The way the disease treatment minigame works is that we get a series of clues to find the animal, cause, and cure for a disease. The fewer hints we use, the better our reward for curing the disease.
Super Bluebuck 2 proved to be the animal afflicted with "digestive difficulties". "Super" animals are created by scoring 90% or better on the creation minigame. They're a bit bigger than normal and get a variety of minor bonuses. They have a chance to pass the bonus on to their offspring, but the genetic improvements usually fade out after a few generations.
(https://i.imgur.com/a6lZzLW.png)
Surprisingly, poop turned out to be the cause of the disease. I just guessed it randomly based on proximity, so that will save us some money.
(https://i.imgur.com/8qoE3on.png)
The hints are usually more subtle than this, but the first hint we got basically told us we needed a compost building.
(https://i.imgur.com/3ZyReWF.png)
While we worked on that, we got a new challenge. Three executives are visiting our zoo, and if they see enough endangered species we'll get a $10,000 grant. Tragically, this isn't the setup to a Three Stooges short.
(https://i.imgur.com/ypalStm.png)
Before dealing with anything else, all other concerns were briefly put on hold.
(https://i.imgur.com/VMybf3z.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/1vMLC40.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/aYDpLKo.png)
New scenery:
Sequoia tunnel ($2,000)
I feel like we're just getting started, so we'll stick around for a while. This swamp's still got plenty to offer us.
(By the way, Super Bluebuck 2 was cured. We received $4,899 for curing the disease with only one hint, bringing us to a current total of $22,289.)
An impressed visitor from the crocodile ride.
(https://i.imgur.com/pD6b98k.png)
Zoo fame:5 stars!
(https://i.imgur.com/jeDXYGG.png)
March-July, Year 3
We've hired a pair of paleontologists to help us locate all the remaining fossils. They cost $1,000 a month between them, but it'll save a lot of time that would otherwise be spent searching.
(https://i.imgur.com/RNycgJm.png)
We've won the Exemplary Entertainment award for earning $100,000 in animal donations, and our beaver died of old age.
(https://i.imgur.com/2py0vDU.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/cwTStj8.png)
Our dodos have reached adulthood.
(https://i.imgur.com/C10nXC2.png)
$25,000 in donations for the jeep tour resulted in another upgrade.
(https://i.imgur.com/QkGJZqK.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LVSNLrx.png)
This baby camel was able to find a way to slip through the fence and enter the rainforest exhibit, briefly upsetting the delicate balance of the bongo/super dodo ecosystem before being returned to her correct enclosure.
Based on our financial reports over the past couple months, we switched our admission price to free. I'm pretty sure the $20 tickets were actually hurting us, since entrance tickets are such a trivial amount of our income in comparison to donations, and to a lesser extent food sales. People can't spend money on those things if they don't visit, after all.
(https://i.imgur.com/Feq9nOa.png)
(We were down half a star when this picture was taken. Our rating fluctuates depending on what's going on in the zoo, and it usually takes a while until we manage a stable five stars.)
(https://i.imgur.com/JpokLmC.png)
Since extinct animals technically count as endangered, we impressed the three Stooges executives and won the $10,000 grant.
(https://i.imgur.com/0X6Ror2.png)
The first $3,000 worth of the money went into hiring a new keeper and getting two more Cuban crocodiles. There were already seven of them in the swamp through the original pair breeding, but this male and female should allow the population to survive for generations to come.
(https://i.imgur.com/C1tqvp9.png)
Checking up on our original wetlands exhibit, the flamingos have died out as well and the African buffaloes have declined down to two sisters. We could revive the exhibit by adding more of its original species, but I thought I'd ask the thread if you want to do that or replace it with something new.
We got a challenge offering to charge us $2,750 for a Sivatherium with several conditions, which is an animal we can manufacture a limitless supply of for free whenever we want. I went ahead and declined the offer.
(https://i.imgur.com/4vgaxaL.png)
Sometimes when looking for fossils, you come across a "joke prize" like a food dish or a treat for the animals. Just wanted to show off the bowl of berries now sitting impossibly at the bottom of the marlin tank as a result.
(https://i.imgur.com/DZq7aMj.png)
Hopefully the update wasn't too boring today, I just worked out that our current plans will require a huge amount of fossil hunting and about $50,000+, so I've been trying to get that done. We've got $54,048 now and the fossil finder is upgraded to the level required to dig up giant warthog bones, so we should be done with this waiting and digging shortly. Giant warthogs apparently require at least a 4-star fossil finder, so we may as well find all the fossils before we move on. I did try to find a literal golden path mod per King Zultan's suggestion, but I couldn't find anything like that. We do have a "tropical ruin" path that would fit the theme of our fences, and I did find a modded path based on the ones in Hell (https://zt2downloadlibrary.fandom.com/wiki/Afterlife%27s_Hell_Path_(Panrex)) from the LucasArts Afterlife game, if we want to use that. Seems like it'd fit our name.
A baby zebra.
(https://i.imgur.com/IUSWXeL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/TNsQsJd.png)
July-August, Year 3.
At the beginning of July, we started on our dolphin area.
(https://i.imgur.com/CSrJ5dV.png)
I'd have added the dolphins immediately, but we have to deal with a rather frustrating random animal supply. We can reroll an unlimited number of times, but it takes a while to get anything specific. Thankfully, cloning bypasses this whole system.
(https://i.imgur.com/WlGPLz3.png)
We had to suppress another "fear plague" when reloading teleported a guest into the bongo jungle. We sent all the guests who were affected at the moment we intervened to the cannon to calm down.
(https://i.imgur.com/iEYNaBP.png)
While we wait for dolphins to become available, (I had them earlier, but accidentally rerolled) we restored the African buffaloes per the 2-1 vote. The new flamingos can be added once they become available.
(https://i.imgur.com/kkqcDj9.png)
Our unicorns had a foal.
(https://i.imgur.com/x4co7k2.png)
We've been offered a challenge to help heal an injured manatee and return it to the wild. There isn't much practical reason to do it, but I feel like we'd be a pretty poor zoo if we refused to help with this despite being able to do so effortlessly.
(https://i.imgur.com/UrQSOgj.png)
Conveniently enough, the manatee fit right into our dolphin tank.
(https://i.imgur.com/KHsYp02.png)
We cleaned the manatee, healed her, gave her some time to rest and eat, and then released her back to the wild. Just in case you all want to make manatees a permanent exhibit at our zoo, I've kept some available on the animal menu for now.
(https://i.imgur.com/B5pf144.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/apPQpiM.png)
Our new pilot whale fit in easily with the marlins.
(https://i.imgur.com/TVFmZRP.png)
On that note, we continue to have occasional problems with the marlins escaping their tank, but we can simply put them back whenever they do.
(https://i.imgur.com/AnMhLqT.png)
While still waiting for the requested animals, I decided to run some tests. Creating a small cage, I bought (and reloaded afterwards, just to spare us all the misery of waiting around the animal supply again) various species of crocodilian and tested their response to being presented with a young Cuban crocodile. An American alligator immediately tried to eat it. Less predictably, a gharial also attacked the baby. I had thought it might not, given that real ones are heavily specialized for fishing. The Nile crocodile also went for it. I tried that one since it's the vanilla crocodile, and I hoped the mod's code might block it. Even a Chinese alligator immediately attacked, despite being the same size as the crocodile.
Surprisingly, our original dwarf crocodile was willing to spare the juvenile when tested.
(https://i.imgur.com/jyBWZge.png)
I checked the reverse situation, and offered a baby dwarf crocodile to a Cuban. That too resulted in no aggression, so we moved our entire swarm of dwarf crocodiles over to the swamp along with their toys and food. Unfortunately, the crocodiles quickly began to attack each other at this point. There wasn't really any rhyme or reason to the attacks, and smaller crocodiles showed the ability to attack larger ones. Since they were unable to coexist, we had to move the dwarf crocodiles back to their original enclosure. Still, it was nice for the few minutes it lasted.
(https://i.imgur.com/W2OlxUg.png)
What should be the final form of our crocodile swamp, since different species evidently can't be trusted together? A large grid of individually small exhibits containing a wide variety of species, or an open area with a giant swarm of Cuban crocodiles?
We participated in, and won, a charity raffle to benefit farm animals.
(https://i.imgur.com/mrAycIW.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/vnwMP48.png)
After a while, we eventually managed to get a new flock of flamingos.
(https://i.imgur.com/1bpXhAs.png)
Although it raised the possibility of delaying our dolphin show a bit, we went ahead and took this gamble.
(https://i.imgur.com/rDQh8EG.png)
It paid off.
(https://i.imgur.com/SFWn2h3.png)
I'd like to officially welcome our first dinosaur to the park.
(https://i.imgur.com/2NkH9rv.png)
He almost immediately went on a rampage, but we stopped him with a tranquilizer gun. Rampages are a concern with the larger dinosaurs, but solid fencing usually if not always keeps them in their enclosures long enough to subdue them without any real damage.
(https://i.imgur.com/7V8sIFF.png)
In any event, he soon woke up better behaved. We've provided him with dinosaur-shaped meat, which he seems to enjoy.
(https://i.imgur.com/R43S6uF.png)
Once the tyrannosaur was settled in, we got our first bottlenose dolphin. We'll get another one soon, once we can afford it.
(https://i.imgur.com/BA3u091.png)
We hired a trainer for the dolphin so I don't have to play the minigame.
(https://i.imgur.com/Hg6xUAd.png)
One of our new flamingos, enjoying the swamp.
(https://i.imgur.com/t3XplrX.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/6632GSk.png)
Big pig
August-October, Year 3
Another quiet day, as we gathered fossils and saved for future plans. After much digging, we finally found all the giant warthog bones.
(https://i.imgur.com/kB84J2O.png)
The cloning process nearly failed, because I was distracted by the scientist inexplicably "swimming" through the air towards me and then hovering in the creation area.
(https://i.imgur.com/o80nXZ0.png)
Nevertheless, we were able to salvage the situation and create a baby giant warthog. Housing the animal proved much easier than its creation, since we could just move him into the savanna exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/CC0AstM.png)
Our next attempt went much better, and we made a super animal.
(https://i.imgur.com/fMSVhhB.png)
As we finished moving in the giant piglet, we received an interesting offer to test an animal exchange program with another zoo.
(https://i.imgur.com/FQOfjp9.png)
We agreed, and our Masai giraffes were temporarily removed. In return, we were given a collection of four mythical Japanese snakes called Tsuchinoko. We had one month to earn $500 in donations for them, if we wanted to keep them.
To that end, the Tsuchinoko needed a temperate forest exhibit with a good flow of guests. To give them the best odds of success, they were given the peafowl's exhibit and the peafowl themselves were moved into the unicorn/bluebuck area along with their food. A slight expansion was needed to make room, but they don't mind the grassland much.
(https://i.imgur.com/oaWPdzX.png)
The snakes were released into their new enclosure. An educator was already posted outside, so it's up to our guests now to decide if we get to keep this $80,000 worth of animals.
(https://i.imgur.com/GvlTskg.png)
We had to release a bunch of our dwarf crocodiles to the wild. There were so many of them at this point that taking care of them was taking a disproportionate amount of effort on our zookeeper's part. We got an award for doing so.
(https://i.imgur.com/mc17Dfl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/FjfFCoj.png)
Our blue marlins are improving their skills, it seems. One of them managed to escape the tank and end up in the swamp water. Although she could survive in there, until she starved at least, the water wasn't deep enough to keep her happy. We returned her to the tank.
(https://i.imgur.com/lJ1jNbz.png)
Although we couldn't directly "pave the roads with gold" as Zultan suggested, we do have a pair of gold statues we can place.
(https://i.imgur.com/XeNPlFN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/V4G5p5h.png)
We also added a gold-plated drinking fountain to the danger playground.
(https://i.imgur.com/WePWad0.png)
We had to move the pilot whale to the dolphin tank after he killed and ate one of the blue marlins. He doesn't mind the coastal biome, so that'll save us money on a new tank unless you really want them separate.
(https://i.imgur.com/FMXyuHE.png)
Poor Blue Marlin 4.
(https://i.imgur.com/ME4e8hX.png)
Sadly, the Tsuchinoko only raised about $100 in donations, resulting in their being taken back to their original zoo. We could put the peafowl back into their original enclosure, but they seem to fit in well with the bluebucks and unicorns. Should we return them to the original exhibit, or put something else in there?
More bad news to start October. We're having a bit of difficulty with money at the moment, as our donations have decreased sharply in the past couple months. Next time, I'll look over the zoo and see what we can change to improve things. We might have to change the content of some of the exhibits and delay plans, but those donations are crucial to everything else we do.
A mature giant warthog grazing in the savanna.
(https://i.imgur.com/Jvi5BRp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/bsmdEhY.png)
October-December, Year Three
We're working on repairing the zoo's finances, trying different things and seeing what works. We started off by drastically reducing the population of our dwarf crocodiles, by releasing the adults and adolescents to the wild and allowing other facilities to adopt the young. We still have our original pair and a nest of remaining eggs, but that should drastically reduce the amount of work our keepers have to do. Our guests' primary complaint seems to be fatigue due to a lack of benches and gazebos. We'll work on rectifying that as well. Finally, tickets now cost $20 again.
In the meantime, we're still fossil hunting and doing challenges. A particularly good challenge appeared at the end of October.
(https://i.imgur.com/5ToL8lc.png)
Fossil hunting was put on hold for a bit, as we made sure to carefully keep every animal clean. By the end of November, we won the challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/zscKVQV.png)
The prize money allowed us to afford to get back to working on our plans, so we bought the promised second dolphin and a pair of manatees.
(https://i.imgur.com/Jd2198S.png)
(As a sidenote, that screenshot rescued this update. The game crashed moments later, but the fact that I had just saved to remove the UI for that shot prevented us from losing any progress.)
With our remaining funds, we split the crocodile swamp in two and added our first new species. A pair of American alligators have joined the swamp. I tried to make the new fence as unobtrusive as possible.
(https://i.imgur.com/G9w0cKw.png)
Some good news, our donation income seems to be climbing again. We reached $9,280 in November, up from $7,428 in October. Looks like the main problem may have just been the lack of benches, and we've largely fixed that. I don't have to time to verify that we're safe now, but things are looking better for us. No way of knowing if changing the dwarf crocodile exhibit helped with the donations, but it certainly helps my sanity to not hear constant pings about issues to fix there.
Finally, we got an interesting challenge and received an award for our marine donations.
(https://i.imgur.com/xlUax7Q.png)
Since we needed more educators anyway, that's basically just a free whale shark in two months.
The award unlocked a seahorse bouncy ride.
(https://i.imgur.com/o6fXyoe.png)
The ultimate fossil finder, as the Gardens search for the last of their prehistoric remains.
(https://i.imgur.com/aVCOfXr.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d9oz3mO.png)
December-February, Year Three & Four
We still have some mastodon fossils to find, so we'll take care of that before we build the exhibit. Gives us time to earn the necessary money for the high security fencing anyway.
(https://i.imgur.com/lD8nYI8.png)
The donation crisis seems to be officially over. We'll need to keep an eye out for future problems like that. Our donations still aren't close to our record numbers, but they're climbing quickly and there's enough to turn a profit.
(https://i.imgur.com/5EPJujj.png)
By February, we had the fossils we needed and were looking for a place to put the enclosure. Our architecture makes it difficult to place the exhibit in a decent location, so we used a new strategy to work around it. We've built our first elevated path.
(https://i.imgur.com/w1hbgQ1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KA08Cp4.png)
For the moment, it allows guests to get a better vantage point on the exhibits below and bridges the divide into the unused section of the swamp. I look forward to seeing what else you all want to put up there, we have a lot of freedom for building on elevated paths. (With the notable exception of exhibits. Those have to be on the ground.)
We won the challenge to retain two extra educators and received a baby whale shark in return. I put her with the marlins, and the biome difference didn't bother her much.
(https://i.imgur.com/tjlojYh.png)
By this point, we've trained our dolphins and pilot whale enough that our marine show is finally open.
(https://i.imgur.com/qEGgxjI.png)
On the far end of the elevated path, the American mastodon and woolly rhino have been officially brought back from extinction.
(https://i.imgur.com/AYco4SE.png)
As a side effect, we now have a large boreal forest exhibit we can add to later.
(https://i.imgur.com/5RmMeHd.png)
While we were waiting for the lab to reset for the rhino after cloning the mastodon, we added a restaurant, gift shop, and binoculars to the elevated path to encourage guests to go up there.
(https://i.imgur.com/8wR56T7.png)
Three final notes for today. We're going to need a lot more room if we're going to get as many species as possible into the crocodile swamp, so we've extended it significantly.
(https://i.imgur.com/Xj5tGEx.png)
May need to make it even bigger later, depending on how many species we add. Deinosuchus will be the next addition, after we locate the last few fossils. Only 10 of those left to find.
We've been offered a challenge to breed our Masai giraffes within four months to receive a free pair of white rhinos. That should be easy to do, so we can expect to have normal rhinoceroses soon in addition to the woolly variety.
Lastly, moving the peafowl to the grassland area has left an opening for a new small or medium sized animal. Don't worry about biome, that's extremely easy to change.
De-extinction.
(https://i.imgur.com/37AcLPq.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/MGm4kh9.png)
February-May, Year Four
Our fossil collection is finally complete! We can now produce any of the available prehistoric animals on demand. We'll also save $1,000 a month, since we don't need to pay our paleontologists anymore.
(https://i.imgur.com/iashAGg.png)
We've also made the requested additions to the elevated path.
(https://i.imgur.com/NVzw0X8.png)
On a less positive note, the donation crisis is back with a vengeance and we're poised to be trapped in a debt loop if we don't solve it immediately.
(https://i.imgur.com/AD0ppa1.png)
Looking through the minds of our guests, it seems like the problem is benches again, in addition to not having enough restrooms. If we're careful, we should be able to buy enough of these to resolve the issue before our bills and salaries come due at the end of March.
The adjustments seem to have improved the situation. We're still not doing as well as our peak, but we were able to reach May with about $2,500 left in the bank after expenses. Sorry for the lack of major improvements this update, but the new emergency had to be resolved.
A new friend for our T. rex.
(https://i.imgur.com/z2bP0ig.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ccX3iAJ.png)
May-July, Year Four
We've added benches and restrooms all over the zoo to hopefully ensure that this particular donation issue goes away and never returns. We also bought a geyser for the woolly rhino/mastodon exhibit, as Mightymushroom requested. The rhino didn't like it inside the cage, so we've put it just outside.
(https://i.imgur.com/9CyvZ4x.png)
Speaking of those animals, both have reached maturity. The rhino is a super animal, boosting its size relative to the normal mastodon.
(https://i.imgur.com/ItxvGCa.png)
Through our cloning lab, we've introduced a new species to the crocodilian tour. Please welcome our new baby Deinosuchus!
(https://i.imgur.com/j1nJfvR.png)
There's no limit to the number of tasks you can do simultaneously while doing chores yourself, so here's a picture of us Fantasia-ing a bunch of crocodile poop.
(https://i.imgur.com/qnne3Yr.png)
We were then saving money to buy the vampire beast that Luke requested when we were interrupted by a report of trouble at the coastal tank. Turns out one of our bottlenose dolphins killed and ate the manatees' baby.
(https://i.imgur.com/ESHlT8d.png)
Even carrying around a chunk of baby chum, they still look cute. We'll need to build a new exhibit for the manatees, and quickly. Both to save money and for variety, we didn't put them in a tank this time. Instead, our manatees now live in a natural-looking pool between the Tyrannosaurus exhibit and the show tank.
(https://i.imgur.com/SCMe1dm.png)
We succeeded at breeding our Masai giraffes and won a pair of white rhinos for the savanna area.
(https://i.imgur.com/lfOUG8z.png)
In hopes of compensating for our lowered donation income, we've started using the extra free time granted by not having to hunt for fossils anymore to personally train Bottlenose Dolphin 3.
(https://i.imgur.com/e8tVAO6.png)
Getting the white rhinos got us an award for officially having 10 African species and unlocked a cosmetic upgrade for the jeeps. The crocodile ride is now sitting at 4.5 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/THknXVj.png)
Another award was won for recording our 1000th visitor.
(https://i.imgur.com/sgyyFoY.png)
Another zoo asked to buy one of our many Cuban crocodiles.
(https://i.imgur.com/nwWKYRO.png)
We agreed, and the money allowed us to finish June by getting a vampire beast (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_of_Bladenboro) to haunt the peafowl's old exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/5M6a6eu.png)
The killer at rest.
(https://i.imgur.com/KmYSf8y.png)
(Hey, just wanted to say, let me know if you'd like to check up on any of our old animals. I generally choose these pictures based on which animal sounds interesting to me at the moment.)
(https://i.imgur.com/kTNfQXW.png)
Also, we've suddenly developed a crashing problem. It seems to happen when I enter 1st person mode, but that could be a coincidence. If I can't fix it, we might have to revert the save to the backup from last Wednesday, just before the debt crisis.
Revisiting the collection.
July, Year Four
Per Zultan's suggestion, we'll spend today checking up on all the animals in the zoo.
Let's start off with the wetlands exhibit. The African buffaloes are carrying on as they always have, while the flamingo population is down to two individuals. It's a bit hard to keep them alive, since they have extremely short lifespans and replacing them requires going through the animal randomizer. We've got flamingos on offer at the moment though, so we'll replenish the group as soon as we have enough money. We're currently in debt from buying the vampire beast, but it should be resolved very soon.
(https://i.imgur.com/hDunUwy.png)
The dwarf crocodiles are now down to four individuals, significantly more manageable than their pre-donation crisis numbers.
(https://i.imgur.com/Yn1Zsd8.png)
Our rainforest exhibit contains two families of bongos and dodos. The dodos have gradually become the more common animal. This exhibit, the Cuban crocodile area, the savanna, and the T.rex are responsible for most of the "dirty exhibit" alerts around the zoo due to all the poop they produce.
(https://i.imgur.com/CIqyxfa.png)
Our savanna enclosure is a busy place, inhabited by numerous species. The giraffes are surprisingly numerous here.
(https://i.imgur.com/dYyZrLQ.png)
Our grassland is fine for now, but will require attention later. The bluebucks and peafowl are easy to replace when necessary, but our original two unicorns have died. They left three children behind, but we'll need to provide at least one mate if we want to keep the herd.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZVdFugc.png)
There's wasn't much to say about the vampire beast, since he was brand new.
(https://i.imgur.com/qSlYNEY.png)
Our dolphins and pilot whale spend most of their time on training or performing, but also have time to rest in between. The show isn't very popular or profitable, however, and their trainer is very inefficient. We'll probably have to teach them manually to make it worthwhile.
(https://i.imgur.com/3Pji1aA.png)
Our whale shark is doing well, but the blue marlins are down to one individual. We'll need to get a refill, whenever marlins are available again.
(https://i.imgur.com/AKFnPkN.png)
Our woolly rhino and mastodon are both happy, but the mastodon has been bored and lonely.
(https://i.imgur.com/ExVmvHn.png)
To make him feel better, we made him a friend.
(https://i.imgur.com/fDx1pjN.png)
I normally don't like doing pools instead of tanks, but I think it suits our manatees.
(https://i.imgur.com/IRxeWll.png)
Despite its name, the killer penguin continues to exist peacefully in its enclosure.
(https://i.imgur.com/MLmMoiS.png)
Like the killer penguin, our tyrannosaurs have a largely uneventful life outside of eating tons of meat.
(https://i.imgur.com/dGicpgL.png)
Construction continues on our massive crocodilian swamp. Plenty of species left to go, but the ride is popular. The Cuban crocodiles in particular have reproduced into a massive swarm.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ij5l24Z.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/GZLOP0q.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pg3SzXA.png)
Our basic information tab.
(https://i.imgur.com/jAL1uJt.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pmD98hB.png)
July, Year Four
Short update today, I didn't keep notes because I just wanted to be sure the crash issue was resolved this time.
Looks like we're safe, we've made it to August without any issues. Turns out the problem was most likely caused by our American alligator mod. Removing all of them fixed our save. I'll find a different American alligator download we can use and remove the mod. In the meantime though, we could get the very similar black caiman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_caiman) for the space.
I didn't do much this time, since I was watching for the crash. Mostly just walked around, did things that might provoke it, and trained Dolphin 3. We earned a decent amount of money, so we should be able to get the sea otters next time.
Finishing the month, we got an interesting challenge.
(https://i.imgur.com/uGeq86i.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/u05SEXW.png)
I think the Operational Paleontology Association has come to the right community.
Our second T. rex, now fully grown and the largest land animal in the zoo.
(https://i.imgur.com/fCZqtVa.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CmBPB3A.png)
August-September, Year Four.
Since the old one was crashing our game, I replaced our American alligator mod with Burnt Gecko's Everglade Escape. (https://thezt2roundtable.com/everglade-escape-t11578.html) This adds another alligator very similar to the previous version, but hopefully this one won't crash the game. The walking animations are noticeably better, at least. As a side effect, we can now buy sandhill cranes. The mod's description says they need another pack containing a large number of birds (https://zt2downloadlibrary.fandom.com/wiki/Aves_(ZTABC)), but I tried them out in sandbox mode and they seem to work fine. I'm guessing they just work with that mod's features, rather than actually requiring them. In any case, I'd rather not download the other mod right now. So many birds will make it harder to get any particular non-bird.
Anyway, on to the T. rex challenge. For Science! We started with King Zultan's suggestion of offering the tyrannosaurs a guest. Unfortunately, none of the photos I took qualified. Apparently, menacing a human doesn't count as real "hunting". Although I know they're one of the few animals in the game actually capable of doing it, our T. rex didn't seem interested in actually eating the offering.
(https://i.imgur.com/QNdtWQD.png)
Next, we tried Glass' suggestion of giving them one of the extra Cuban crocodiles. We could make a baby mastodon for the purpose, but I'd really rather not delay new challenge income that long, and it feels a bit cruel. We quickly got the picture of the T. rex stalking the crocodile, but it wouldn't go for the kill. We've temporarily removed their food to motivate them a bit more. Maybe we can go for the human shot again once the tyrannosaurs are hungry.
(https://i.imgur.com/cJIpUsb.png)
While we waited, we finally gathered the money necessary to get a sea otter exhibit and fulfill the request for weasels.
(https://i.imgur.com/BPL8bXL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/eTMhNKP.png)
We've begun to restock our American alligators, and our first one was a rare white variant. I was going to wait until we could afford two, but we got the chance to get this one and I figured we wouldn't want to waste it.
(https://i.imgur.com/mkpQafT.png)
I think that's my favorite animal in the entire zoo.
On the topic of the gator swamp, our Deinosuchus has reached adulthood.
(https://i.imgur.com/Xv3kbnZ.png)
Our female T. rex built a nest.
(https://i.imgur.com/wifBvCq.png)
The manatees had a new baby too, replacing the one they lost in the dolphin attack.
(https://i.imgur.com/5VB8QD4.png)
The tyrannosaurs seemed like they might be hungry enough, so I went looking for a discontented guest to feed them. Surprisingly, I found that every single guest in our zoo was happy at the moment.
(https://i.imgur.com/vkXKLe5.png)
As a reward for their loyalty, their lives were spared and a Cuban crocodile was sacrificed in their place.
(https://i.imgur.com/oHz1F3z.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CM584IR.png)
Our white alligator taking a goat leg.
(https://i.imgur.com/N0bLvdp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/rJqOGEE.png)
September-December, Year Four
We've bought a mate for our alligator. Given the crocodilians' rapid birth rates, this should ensure that their exhibit will soon be swarming with alligators.
(https://i.imgur.com/QkfRk1o.png)
Training continues for Bottlenose Dolphin 3.
(https://i.imgur.com/LHiGSfL.png)
Although our donations are lessened, the compost building seems to be picking up the slack. We've hired a fourth zookeeper to help out.
(https://i.imgur.com/W6tUB67.png)
The African Conservation Consortium is back with another $20,000 offer.
(https://i.imgur.com/pgqdAZs.png)
Given that we have three African animals from the African Adventures expansion alone that are already pregnant, that should be much easier this time.
Our zebras died out, so we bought new ones.
(https://i.imgur.com/QUylxJj.png)
Our marlins also required replacement.
(https://i.imgur.com/pBrFDpM.png)
That'll be it for today, since all those animals together cost $15,000. We should be able to do more tomorrow, once the Consortium rewards us for the baby animals. The white rhino calf has already been born.
(https://i.imgur.com/COy6w5y.png)
Not good.
(https://i.imgur.com/ABLKiuQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NJP2OVA.png)
December-January, Year Four and Five
All the vampire beast actually needed was a refill on his supplementary water bowl, but...but...good soldiers follow orders.
(https://i.imgur.com/lJK8ebr.png)
Fittingly for a cat, the beast refused to do more than just roar at the offering occasionally when we tried to goad him into attacking. He mostly preferred to just sit around while the offering ran frantically around the cage and its waist-high fencing. Sorry these attempts at animal attacks aren't working out well for you, Zultan. Happy, well-fed and cared for animals just aren't very aggressive.
(https://i.imgur.com/TlODQYE.png)
The attempt did terrify several of our observing guests, as they ran around panicking that they might be the vampire beast's next offering.
(https://i.imgur.com/opD7ULg.png)
Moving on, Bottlenose Dolphin 3 has been given her own show in light of her advancing training. Maybe we should give her a name, her training means she gets more individual attention than any other animal in the zoo.
(https://i.imgur.com/JQwOEQ3.png)
The flamingos are about to go extinct again. Do you all want to keep replacing them, or switch them out for another swamp bird like the sandhill crane or Protarchaeopteryx?
(https://i.imgur.com/c2peZpR.png)
We've sectioned off more areas of the swamp. Currently, I'm planning to add Chinese alligators, followed by gharials and black caimans. The Chinese alligators will give us both species of alligator, while the gharials and caimans will mean that we have all four major groups of crocodilians. As a bonus, the black caiman is a close relative of the alligator, so it'll match the theme with the other ones. The Cuban crocodiles still have a much bigger area than the other species, but we'll get there when the time comes. Not really looking forward to moving all those. At this point, Cuban crocodiles alone are about a third of all the animals we have.
Masai giraffe and bluebuck babies joined the white rhino calf, impressing the ACC enough for us to win the $20,000 grant.
(https://i.imgur.com/gX8EkHc.png)
We used most of the money to fulfill Zultan's request for a new cryptid.
(https://i.imgur.com/MbmzYBr.png)
Photo taken at minimum safe distance for chupacabra observation, per research published by Genericville University.
While waiting for funds, we caught a sighting of our baby T. rex practicing her roar.
(https://i.imgur.com/cv5RmCT.png)
For our last major activity in January, we purchased a pair of gharials.
(https://i.imgur.com/EzdYMvZ.png)
Undoubtedly the most dangerous animal in the universe, this species moves in massive swarms to overtake such prey as Titans, giraffe presidents, goats, and milk-obsessed lunatics.
(https://i.imgur.com/E4Nq1gC.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/n0tVaIK.png)
January-February, Year Five
We could probably take King Zultan's suggestion and convert a large section of our zoo into a mansion, but I figured we should see if there's general support for the idea before going through with it. It would be a pretty drastic change to the zoo's look and Mightymushroom already said he didn't want to build the zoo that way. If we do, it would probably look a bit like this. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=176736.msg8172239#msg8172239) The interiors of the exhibits would be more natural however, and we wouldn't enclose the entire zoo. If nothing else, placing the hundreds of objects required to do that would likely cause significant lag.
I don't like to suggest ideas myself, but would there be interest in adding dwarf elephants to our collection? The name feels appropriate for us, and they'd fit into the grassland exhibit. The $20,000 price tag is irrelevant since we'd be cloning them.
(https://i.imgur.com/H5Md4yo.png)
We received a special guest at the beginning of February.
(https://i.imgur.com/DKnFREk.png)
Pirate Parker looks about how you'd expect him to.
(https://i.imgur.com/hvk7xZg.png)
Since we're not planning on restocking the flamingos anymore given the costs vs. the benefits of keeping them, we released our last surviving flamingo into the wild to spend the final minutes of its incredibly short existence in its natural habitat.
(https://i.imgur.com/ClJtbMI.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/EffDxDW.png)
Confession time:I've never really been satisfied with our wetlands exhibit. It always seemed too cramped for the number of animals we keep in there, and it limits the number of non-crocodilian swamp animals we can fit into our Everglades zoo. Aside from that, it always meant that the first animals our guests encountered weren't the impressive ones. In preparation for the new birds, we've built a new wetlands exhibit on the other side of the zoo that is roughly twice the size of the old one. The African buffaloes and their items have been moved over.
(https://i.imgur.com/vvcDZeT.png)
As a side effect, the old wetlands exhibit is now unoccupied. What should we put in there to replace the buffaloes?
While we waited for sandhill cranes to become available on the animal menu, we began producing Protarchaeopteryx.
(https://i.imgur.com/yyxxIeQ.png)
They're cute, but we'll need to keep an eye on them to see how they react to the other animals once they get bigger. Best not to forget that they're dinosaurs. We can always just release them into the wild if they become a danger to the rest of the exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/n2zydiX.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NSMnfSZ.png)
We finished off the day by buying our first sandhill crane. I'm not very familiar with these birds, but I like the model.
(https://i.imgur.com/gPLHSrQ.png)
Going to take a brief break from updating over the weekend. I've got some stuff going on for the next two days that'll take most of my time.
The killer penguin supervises the creation of a relative.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ag4S8AH.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SRwl7Xw.png)
February-April, Year Five
And we're back. We've downloaded the cobblestone building set, but before we redesign the main area I'd like to finish with the ongoing projects by filling out the crocodile swamp, getting the other sandhill crane, finding a resident for that empty exhibit, and dealing with whatever problems emerge along the way.
Regarding the idea of simulating animal shelters as Mightymushroom suggested, we don't actually have to simulate it. Premade structures like that are available in the base game. The animals periodically use them to fulfill their need for privacy.
(https://i.imgur.com/M0Y9kx9.png)
As February ended, we received an award for earning $250,000 in total animal donations. As a reward, we can now build the face painting kiosk.
(https://i.imgur.com/gPG62zF.png)
We found the remains of our sandhill crane we just bought. No confirmed killer, since the attack report went unnoticed in our endless series of less important messages. I think it's obvious who was responsible.
(https://i.imgur.com/sOswb0t.png)
We've still got enough sandhill cranes available in the animal menu to try again with them, if you want. The Mokele-Mbembe is a bit big for the empty exhibit. It's basically a monster Brontosaurus. Would you all rather put the cranes in there, and maybe build a new exhibit for the cryptid?
A pair of black caimans have been added to the crocodile tour. Unusually big for a caiman, this is the largest predator in the Amazon.
(https://i.imgur.com/wjpW6j5.png)
We're still working on the pictures of Pirate Parker required for the challenge. All that's left is to get a photo of him playing in our splash fountain.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZbGDSp4.png)
Our vampire beast died after a surprisingly short lifespan. We could replace it, or we could combine its enclosure with the adjacent wetlands biome for a single large exhibit. That would probably be big enough for a Mokele-Mbeme, if we want to do that. Who knows, maybe this dinosaur-cryptid would be willing to share space with the sandhill cranes.
(https://i.imgur.com/WAhUhpS.png)
On a related note, I thought I'd mention that we're barely earning any money from the show tank in relation to the amount of time and effort it would take to really get it going. It's functional as it is, but I thought I should make the situation known in case someone wants the space for something else.
Our Deinosuchus, enjoying a moment of solitude between jeep tours.
(https://i.imgur.com/KwVJ5KU.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/UrUSlIK.png)
April-May, Year Five
Per King Zultan's suggestion (and an unexpected interruption by Real Life), we'll be doing a short, money-accumulating update today.
Checking up on the crocodile swamp, the gharials have made a nest and our alligators are accompanied by several young.
(https://i.imgur.com/3yoOiuq.png)
We gave up on the Pirate Parker challenge. It's taking way too long to get the final shot to be worth it. Even caging him with nothing but a splash fountain was unable to get him to give us the picture of him playing with the fountain that we needed.
(https://i.imgur.com/c2FHX8z.png)
Overall, we didn't make too much progress this update. Mostly, we dug ourselves out of the financial hole buying the caimans put us in. I think we can do better in the near future by carefully picking a bunch of low-risk medium-to-high-reward challenges.
Finally, where do you want the "indoor section" of the zoo to be? I had assumed you wanted something like the red outline on this map.
(https://i.imgur.com/yDQpYdp.png)
A child meets a Sivatherium.
(https://i.imgur.com/6zxVDHe.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/RgZoW6F.png)
May-July, Year Five
We could start building, but I'll wait until we've agreed on a plan before changing things. For now, we'll keep accumulating money.
Aside from a donation income about $1,000 below average, May was a pretty good example of our finances without construction.
(https://i.imgur.com/fLAA1k8.png)
We make a lot of money, it's just heavily offset by our massive upkeep and salary costs. I avoid hiring any more keepers by doing as much of the work myself as possible, but it's a bit difficult to keep up. I did notice when reviewing our finances that we have an excess of educators on the staff that aren't pulling their weight, so we'll fire those. That should save us about $1,000 a month. Our "Recycling" income mostly comes from selling poop as compost and the $250 apiece balloon bouquets we receive every time an endangered animal breeds. Although requiring a lot of attention and cage-cleaning, our Cuban crocodiles are a major source for both.
(https://i.imgur.com/MTGtGnD.png)
Given that we need money, what better option is there than gambling?
(https://i.imgur.com/djcm5JA.png)
It didn't work out for us, but one of our guests had the best day at the zoo of their life.
(https://i.imgur.com/xZmGBeB.png)
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like our swamp exhibit's collection is working out. We have a confirmed kill of an African buffalo by a Protarchaeopteryx. I feel like it's worth mentioning that Protarchaeopteryx is only supposed to be turkey-sized.
(https://i.imgur.com/jQZ38Vx.png)
We released the dinosaurs into the wild to protect our buffaloes. One could call this a natural disaster in the making, but I'm sure Florida can handle it.
(https://i.imgur.com/moX5X7D.png)
The Endangered Animals Alliance offered us a free animal in exchange for proof that we had at least three different endangered species in the park. Once we had provided pictures of our gharials, sea otters, and Cuban crocodiles, they gave us a Spanish lynx. We moved her into the former vampire beast/peafowl exhibit. We can always make another exhibit if we get around to having vampire beasts again, and this one is well suited to the lynx.
(https://i.imgur.com/vcxZ1nI.png)
Completing that challenge unlocked one of the rare persistent awards. Endangered species-themed buildings and objects have now been permanently unlocked, even if we start a new zoo.
(https://i.imgur.com/xbncodP.png)
(I just want to say that the tuna you can see there isn't a real animal that we can use for exhibits. It's a treat to give to bigger fish.)
Our T. rex and unicorn populations were down to single individuals, so we created and bought more.
(https://i.imgur.com/BPjmIbQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Ajt8IHA.png)
A feature I like, but hadn't got around to mentioning before is that certain birds can be seen flying up and perching in trees. Monkeys also climb trees, but neither uses this ability to escape their exhibits.
(https://i.imgur.com/8v8D1K2.png)
A problem has emerged with providing enough food and drinking water to keep up with the enormous appetite of the Cuban crocodile swarm.
(https://i.imgur.com/KK6GOHE.png)
You'd think the water part would be easy, but the crocodiles seem a bit finicky about what water they're willing to drink. Given that we seem to be running up on an actual overpopulation problem in that exhibit, we reduced the numbers a bit by giving up all the angry ones for adoption.
We still have plenty.
(https://i.imgur.com/pXNelsj.png)
One of our mastodons developed pink elephant disease. It was caused by their pursuit ball and cured with a sample of cotton candy. Anyway, the research effort earned us $4,798.
(https://i.imgur.com/02yclyp.png)
That money helped us buy a pair of small Chinese alligators, getting us both species of alligator and completing the current version of the swamp tour. We could add more later, but we'll need more exhibits to do so. Maybe we could expand the tour into the northeast empty section.
(https://i.imgur.com/EAC5RI9.png)
Sunset by the jellyfish.
(https://i.imgur.com/Gku5r4E.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/F2Uu4wj.png)
July-September, Year Five
What do the endangered themed buildings look like, and do they mesh with out swamp theme?
Sort of "tropical" with lots of leaves, mosaics, and a bit of integrated statuary. It's easier to show than to explain, so here's a temporary area I built to demonstrate the theme. If there's support, we could switch to this instead of the existing "jungle" theme.
(https://i.imgur.com/6wWe63H.png)
Curious that the other kinds of crocodiles don't seem to have the same persistent overpopulation. We must have a very fecund specimen.
Congrats on finishing the tour!
I think I know the reason for that. Zoo Tycoon doesn't allow incest, but at some point I think we introduced more than the usual two starting animals to the group. Crocodiles live a long time, produce numerous offspring, and often take multiple mates. As a result, our early crocodiles all have a huge amount of children, and the extra DNA from the additional starting animals has allowed them to continue to find mates this whole time.
Also, while investigating them, I noticed that our original Cuban crocodile is still alive.
(https://i.imgur.com/ozoe12W.png)
Meanwhile, the ZCA is back, challenging us to another animal exchange.
(https://i.imgur.com/FSbGPd6.png)
We agreed, and our whale shark was temporarily removed in return for a short-faced bear.
(https://i.imgur.com/3ublpFi.png)
For now, we're keeping him in the empty exhibit where our wetland animals used to be. Later on, he should make a good addition to the snow building idea Mightymushroom suggested. The current location should help with earning the necessary donations, since guests on the swamp tour also observe the animals in the exhibits they drive past.
(https://i.imgur.com/4FxDCFs.png)
Later, we invested in some more decorations to the exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/r2OyaS8.png)
Unfortunately, we came in $161.20 short of the necessary donations.
(https://i.imgur.com/H8G7CdI.png)
Fortunately, we have Science!
(https://i.imgur.com/Sx7sRxP.png)
With the genetic enhancements we added, the cub alone is already bigger than an African buffalo, and close to an adult mastodon. It should be fun to see just how big this bear can get.
(https://i.imgur.com/nNqsFLw.png)
Finishing the day, we've restored sandhill cranes to our collection.
(https://i.imgur.com/hMNl4Xb.png)
Since Mightymushroom suggested a compromise plan with King Zultan, next time I think we'll start working on the arctic building.
Our manatees, swimming together and perfectly content.
(https://i.imgur.com/CnicCrA.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Xxa5jqQ.png)
Distractions
September-December, Year Five
We're saving up money to build the cold weather building. (We could probably use a better, maybe Penguin-themed name for it.) It should cost us a few tens of thousands of dollars to set up, given the size required to it to hold four exhibits, a food court, and a sky tram station when completed.
So far, we've just cleared the area for it.
(https://i.imgur.com/HRaHyzo.png)
While we wait, we've been issued a challenge to breed three endangered species in two months.
(https://i.imgur.com/39SHFLF.png)
I had expected our Cuban crocodiles to make the first part easy, but surprisingly enough they seem to have abruptly stopped breeding. Cuban Crocodile 1 died of old age recently, and apparently he was the last of the breeding ones. All the others are cousins or siblings, preventing further breeding. We could add a new unrelated crocodile to restart the whole process, but we're barely handling the current number.
(https://i.imgur.com/qBkk9S5.png)
I realized our tropical rainforest and chupacabra exhibits are now empty. Looks like the dodos and bongos finally hit enough of a genetic limit that they couldn't breed anymore and died out. Do we want to refill the exhibits with the same species, or something else?
(https://i.imgur.com/WggG2oM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZU04U4a.png)
We were down to our last African buffalo, so we bought two more.
(https://i.imgur.com/1oqb8Ec.png)
I don't know if I've seen this animation before. Our Deinosuchus carried a chunk of meat into the water.
(https://i.imgur.com/FTtQ8Mx.png)
Our short-faced bear has reached adult size. The final result is bigger than a mastodon and easily dwarfs the jeeps.
(https://i.imgur.com/KijlZKb.png)
No longer in danger of dinosaur attack, our new generation of sandhill cranes had their first chick.
(https://i.imgur.com/vUIiIFr.png)
Unfortunately, we didn't make any real progress on the cold weather building today. All the money we saved went into various expensive necessities that came up, such as a new gharial to replace the apparently already dead alpha pair for the challenge, a peanut dispenser to entertain our bored mastodons, the new African buffaloes, and a small extension to the sea otter habitat after they bred and needed more room for their young.
(https://i.imgur.com/GxWXpYC.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/cNkmsBV.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/84Q0Opq.png)
A ringing endorsement for Kong dog toys.
(https://i.imgur.com/wzsBGG0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Ni5v4BD.png)
December-February, Year Five and Six
We began repopulating our missing species by creating a pair of dodos.
(https://i.imgur.com/hqFynez.png)
A new pair of bongos followed shortly thereafter.
(https://i.imgur.com/cHRYOma.png)
That fixes our rainforest habitat, but our chupacabra will be more difficult to replace. We'll probably want at least two so they can breed this time, and that'll be expensive. Our sea otters may need replacement soon as well.
We failed the endangered species breeding challenge, but we were soon given a better opportunity.
(https://i.imgur.com/JyLPKwx.png)
Since we already have an appropriate exhibit, this wasn't too difficult. We promptly cured the disease (for a $4,596 prize) and now we have an additional pair of woolly rhinos for our boreal exhibit.
(https://i.imgur.com/TKM7d7p.png)
Given the other zoo's promise to give us a matching grant for donations we earned while working on the issue, maybe we shouldn't have solved it quite so fast.
(https://i.imgur.com/fUBfCH7.png)
I know we're having trouble paying for all our upkeep and salary costs, but I went ahead and hired a new zookeeper specifically for the Cuban crocodile pen. If nothing else, I'd be a lot happier not hearing constant "too much poop" alerts.
(https://i.imgur.com/xVh4Y05.png)
On New Years, we received an award to commemorate our fifth full year.
(https://i.imgur.com/Nwt4NqR.png)
Next, we were challenged to have two bear species in the zoo in order to qualify to host a conference for bear researchers in exchange for $2,000. Since we have the short-faced bear and an "undo" button, this should be easy. All we did was bring a polar bear into the zoo for less than a minute, thus technically having two species just long enough to win the $2,000.
(https://i.imgur.com/bYoITbY.png)
Next, the Alternate Transport Alliance offered us $5,000 to construct a sky tram station, with the possibility of another $5,000 if we successfully transport 50 guests on it within two months. Since we were going to build one anyway, this is a pretty good deal. We'll use the money to start constructing the arctic building, and simply accelerate work on the sky tram section.
(https://i.imgur.com/tFbYPTp.png)
It cost about $20,000, but our arctic building is officially under construction. The sky tram takes guests on a tour that views every current exhibit in the zoo before returning. Since we don't have any animals in there yet, we've temporarily connected the building to our existing elevated path. The route can be seen on our map.
(https://i.imgur.com/OnBCQC6.png)
A rare sighting of almost all our American alligator congregation gathering on land.
(https://i.imgur.com/01BXnUD.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/tobSHYv.png)
February-April, Year Six
We'll try to work on the arctic building today. Getting the Velociraptor exhibit can wait, since we'll have free space once the cold-weather animals are moved into the building.
The sky tram is transporting its first guests.
(https://i.imgur.com/dDxuhNf.png)
The previous generation of Cuban crocodile hatchlings reached adulthood, resulting in the species beginning to rapidly breed again.
(https://i.imgur.com/tFHCqod.png)
Our guests finished their first rides around the park and began to turn in reviews. We received an award for building a 5-star sky tram ride, and another award for having both a 5-star jeep tour and sky tram. We were rewarded with the ability to buy a new sky tower ride for $3,000.
(https://i.imgur.com/ezvub6N.png)
Maybe it would be suited to the roof of the arctic building, once that's done?
(https://i.imgur.com/uYcFIP3.png)
There have been a few bump along the way as we slowly construct the arctic building. We failed the challenge to transport 50 guests in time (though the tram is now a reasonably popular attraction) and a pair of sharp glitch-spikes exploded out of the ground as the food court level was built. Touching the reality spikes with the terraforming tools just makes them bigger, so let's just see if they cause any real problems before trying to remove them.
(https://i.imgur.com/khc4Tan.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/nm4wG2H.png)
Overall, we're just working on construction and dealing with the various zoo problems on the side at the moment. We're probably about $10,000 out from finishing the building itself. More will be needed to construct the exhibits inside, but we can deal with that later.
(https://i.imgur.com/zAezP7j.png)
A young Chinese alligator ignores the massive construction being raised behind his swamp.
(https://i.imgur.com/RHAQsxG.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pVVCO2m.png)
Also, I've noticed that interest seems to have been declining lately. After we finish the arctic building and have every exhibit filled, do you all want to move on to the next game? We'll be playing Jurassic Park:Operation Genesis.
Ghost Rhino
April-May, Year Six
An odd visual glitch turned one of our white rhinos temporarily transparent. At least she seems happy about it.
(https://i.imgur.com/0vROGAg.png)
As it turns out, Deinosuchus takes two years to reach its full size. Our specimen is now fully grown.
(https://i.imgur.com/GvbcWeP.png)
Occasional injuries are an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of working with wildlife.
(https://i.imgur.com/PjkPb48.png)
A baby woolly rhino grazing among the flowers.
(https://i.imgur.com/cmSBBvn.png)
Honestly, I just wanted to show a gharial again. Feels like a while since we've checked in with them.
(https://i.imgur.com/tHsUEKg.png)
After years of maintaining a continual 5-star rating, the zoo briefly dropped down to 4-1/2 stars. Looks like the problem pertains to a slight decrease in average guest happiness caused by people getting tired as they scale the arctic building. We've placed a gazebo and two sofas in the building to hopefully solve the problem for now.
(https://i.imgur.com/4OPEYyX.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KcYrJ9e.png)
Our lynx died of old age, leaving that exhibit up for grabs again.
(https://i.imgur.com/N2okC0C.png)
Turns out Pirate Parker's still in our zoo. He's decided to leave after finally getting bored with his 16-month long visit to the zoo. While he was here, he bought himself five stuffed dolphins and a whale shark backpack.
(https://i.imgur.com/Qak0d0G.png)
We're far enough along in construction and funding now that the last major obstacle was the sky tram station. We've removed it for now to later replace it on the new roof. We've probably got enough money now to finish the building, I'm just out of time for tonight.
(https://i.imgur.com/xuDlDaB.png)
Surprisingly rapid construction.
(https://i.imgur.com/7EzXFQ9.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/5fqNHJv.png)
The Arctic Building
May, Year Six
The Arctic Building is finally complete.
(https://i.imgur.com/GmH5lV8.png)
It's a pretty empty inside right now, as we're still moving in. So far, the short-faced bear and Cobblepot's buildings have been moved into the structure. The sky tram has been rebuilt as well.
(https://i.imgur.com/08Or1Mx.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/VhnNHNY.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZBAjcr6.png)
Not much other progress today, since I spent nearly the entire update paused and carefully putting together the building. We can see the inside through the walls by using a filter that hides elevated paths.
(https://i.imgur.com/yIMi7XV.png)
A dwarf crocodile rests by the shore.
(https://i.imgur.com/mpijtqD.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/67m2XSa.png)
May-June, Year Six
We'll be focusing on saving money today.
We were offered a pair of saber-toothed cats and money in exchange for curing their disease. We took the offer, merging the former wetlands/short-faced bear and peafowl/vampire beast/spanish lynx exhibits to house them. I know there was a request to get vampire beasts again, but I'd really rather not wait that long to finish the game. At this point, the zoo is so massive and ambitious that I get alerts that an animal wants food, a mate, or poop cleaned literally every second or so. Every single time, it's accompanied by a *donk* sound.
(https://i.imgur.com/3kUwqpM.png)
One hint later, we had cured the saber cats disease and settled them in. There are actually many different species of saber toothed cats, but the zoopedia specifically identifies this animal as Smilodon fatalis. Hopefully putting such a famous animal near the front gate will provide much needed donations.
(https://i.imgur.com/DRr4jNq.png)
One of our bluebucks also got a disease immediately afterward, but unfortunately it was one we already had a cure to. Unfortunate because we couldn't get the $5,000 reward for curing it again, but at least the bluebuck got a quick treatment.
(https://i.imgur.com/M0jyrvC.png)
As it stands, we had just enough money to ensure our monthly debts didn't last as long. In the meantime, we focused on recreating Velociraptor. The chupacabra's empty exhibit was about the right size, and we were able to buy the necessary redecorating just before our bills came in.
(https://i.imgur.com/KmcxRyN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/otDOuGa.png)
Based on my last zoo that had these, we'll definitely want to get them a heat lamp. We'll take care of that later when we have the money. For now, they can keep themselves entertained with one of the dolphins' spare pursuit balls. We got lucky and produced a male and female pair of super Velociraptor on the first try, so we didn't need to make any more.
(https://i.imgur.com/BClG49k.png)
Sometimes, I feel like our birds aren't really securely contained.
(https://i.imgur.com/A7hS9gV.png)
I noticed one of our guests seems to really like the gift shops. He's currently got four stuffed dolphins, three hats (one a large T. rex mask), a stuffed mastodon, and a hip pack. He was annoyed at the moment due to not finding a bench when he needed one, but hopefully he'll feel better later.
(https://i.imgur.com/aiVnMGy.png)
A tiny raptor stalking through the cacti.
(https://i.imgur.com/CHv2Wv7.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/6QCe2ii.png)
June-July, Year Six
The latter half of June started largely uneventfully, as I wondered how we were going to manage to turn enough of a profit to not get trapped in a debt loop. Things weren't looking promising. I was even considering desperate moves such as selling the extinct research lab, the compost building, and maybe the dolphin show to temporarily raise enough money to complete the last of our goals. It was at that point that the Animal Hygiene Association returned with the best challenge we could ever hope to get.
(https://i.imgur.com/sl8UMR7.png)
$107,450 to keep all of our 307 animals clean for a month. Not only does our ability to stop time and sort the animals by cleanliness level in the lists make this easier, but they count all of our animals to determine the reward and crocodiles keep themselves clean by swimming. For all the inconveniences they cause, sometimes maintaining the croc army really pays off.
(https://i.imgur.com/d4j4zdi.png)
Got a cool shot of the Deinosuchus basking on the shore.
(https://i.imgur.com/S5Xor1r.png)
While keeping our animals clean, I noticed that the jeeps hadn't moved in a while. Turns out the crocodiles were keeping them stuck on the road, semipermanently unable to move without running them over. Inside were three guests, each with all their needs in the red.
(https://i.imgur.com/QUZSvc9.png)
No telling how long they've been stuck in the crocodile swamp. Bare minimum is two months, based on the lack of donations at the station. Probably quite a bit longer. At least they think it's still a pretty good tour on the whole.
(https://i.imgur.com/uDf6h64.png)
Amusingly, there are still guests waiting in line at the station.
(https://i.imgur.com/qyYbHqn.png)
We moved the crocodiles out of the way to allow them to escape. The first car had run off the road and required that we manually rescue the guests, but the second one was able to finally complete its route. Starving, dehydrated, and exhausted, but finally free, Jim Meston walked among humans again for the first time in months. He gave us a $200 donation for the ride.
(https://i.imgur.com/qh1cr0J.png)
Several more guests immediately got on the jeep, but we stopped them. Best to keep the tour closed until we can get it running safely again or replace it. Maybe another sky tram, so the crocodiles can't block the cars?
Our keepers remain ahead of the competition.
(https://i.imgur.com/xdkUSoz.png)
After a full month of near-continuously teleporting around the zoo and brushing animals, we achieved victory.
(https://i.imgur.com/wPjxACT.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hjx11X0.png)
Yelp reviews for the "Stuck in an immobile car surrounded by crocodiles in the Everglades summer for months" tour.
(https://i.imgur.com/IcWRjnQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/m8NUw9g.png)
July-August, Year Six
"Hello, and welcome to the Hellcannon Gardens Zoo! I'm Educator Wong, and I'll be your guide for today's visit to the Gardens!
(https://i.imgur.com/Yq82ogj.png)
"First things first, we'll be visiting our famous crocodilians on the swamp tour! Please enjoy the newly revamped tour system. Your safety is our top priority."
(https://i.imgur.com/XbpvDhN.png)
"Housing well over 100 Cuban crocodiles at any given time, Hellcannon is easily the world's top contributor to the conservation of these critically endangered animals."
(https://i.imgur.com/ZakMX5Z.png)
"The black caiman is one of the Amazon river's most important apex predators."
(https://i.imgur.com/3gneTul.png)
"Our Deinosuchus is one of the oldest, largest, and deadliest animals in the entire park."
(https://i.imgur.com/FMl3d3i.png)
“Chinese alligators are smaller but their bellies are fully armored, so it kind of equals out.”
(https://i.imgur.com/CVDvwcJ.png)
"The slender-snouted gharial is specially adapted for catching fish."
(https://i.imgur.com/wjGxlry.png)
"Of course, our tour wouldn't be complete without the American alligator, an iconic example of Floridian wildlife and one of the most ecologically important species along the southeast coast of the United States."
(https://i.imgur.com/bERvhbR.png)
"Though our zoo is always growing, our main entrance area has remained largely the same through it all."
(https://i.imgur.com/tJYepvx.png)
"On our left, we have chupacabras. Please be very quiet when viewing this exhibit. Do not use flash photography within sight of this exhibit. Do not move suddenly within sight of this exhibit. Do not carry milk or other dairy products within sight of this exhibit."
(https://i.imgur.com/AuRO2TY.png)
"As proven by experiments carried out at this very facility, the Tyrannosaurus rex was a hunter."
(https://i.imgur.com/9oEvdXU.png)
"Our family of peaceful manatees has always been among the most relaxing sights in the zoo."
(https://i.imgur.com/Bj90FsT.png)
"Our dolphins and pilot whale always enjoy putting on a show for tourists, while their main aquarium provides a more educational perspective on their day to day life."
(https://i.imgur.com/oxtW2Bu.png)
"The swift movements of marlins pursuing prey provides a dramatic contrast to the slow but patient filter feeding of the whale shark."
(https://i.imgur.com/Dvo4IFC.png)
"All creatures great and small can find a home here. Our animal houses provide shelter to those species too small to benefit from a full-sized exhibit."
(https://i.imgur.com/y2i4rDe.png)
"In a path kept away from the hustle and bustle found elsewhere, you can visit the hellcannon that lends its name to our Gardens."
(https://i.imgur.com/cNQ61s9.png)
"A community of peafowl, bluebucks, and a unicorn enjoys a prominent place at the center of our zoo."
(https://i.imgur.com/3iHEXWt.png)
"Our tropical rainforest exhibit brings together a herd of bongos and a flock of dodos."
(https://i.imgur.com/4woYURR.png)
"The archetypical rival of primitive man, Smilodon is now a peaceful member of our zoo's community".
(https://i.imgur.com/Ee7gwo6.png)
"Our family of dwarf crocodiles is the only exhibit to remain unchanged from the earliest days of our zoo."
(https://i.imgur.com/0rctfXX.png)
"Crossing over to the other side of the zoo on our elevated path, make sure to take a moment to visit our gift shop and enjoy the savanna exhibit beneath your feet. White rhinos, Masai giraffes, zebras, giant warthogs, dromedary camels, and Sivatherium have all found a home there. If you look closely, you can see a mischievous giraffe has momentarily climbed into the tropical rainforest area."
(https://i.imgur.com/OjxEzlE.png)
"Sea otters are known for holding hands while sleeping, to ensure they don't drift apart."
(https://i.imgur.com/jfsSmK0.png)
"A pile of meat and a heat lamp provide a paradise for our baby Velociraptor."
(https://i.imgur.com/s1i0d6c.png)
"Woolly rhinos and American mastodons can be found together in our Pleistocene forest."
(https://i.imgur.com/KoodRU5.png)
"A preserved section of our region's natural wetland terrain houses sandhill cranes and our original animals, the African buffalo."
(https://i.imgur.com/JAJGKVn.png)
"Nearing the end of our tour, we come to our famous Arctic Building."
(https://i.imgur.com/YQ4t0mc.png)
"On the ground floor, four different species of boreal animals are available for viewing."
(https://i.imgur.com/M0Q8A5W.png)
"This....this is a killer penguin. Best not to disturb him at feeding time."
(https://i.imgur.com/Iovqe0C.png)
"Like the killer penguin, our more mundane emperor penguins exhibit is designed with an outdoor section. The research lab where all of our prehistoric animals were created can be seen just outside."
(https://i.imgur.com/xawW28Y.png)
"With genetic enhancements applied in the creation lab, our short-faced bear is easily the largest bear to ever exist."
(https://i.imgur.com/ug4TN4I.png)
"Wolverines are the best there is at what they do. But what they do best isn't very nice."
(https://i.imgur.com/Wgq7Ffb.png)
"Refreshments are available on the second floor, courtesy of Mr. Cobblepot's recently expanded Iceberg Lounge."
(https://i.imgur.com/v8SDabK.png)
"On the top floor, our sky tram tour and tower ride provide spectacular views of the entire park."
(https://i.imgur.com/DRvUOss.png)
"We hope you enjoyed your stay! If you're interested in supporting our conservation mission, donations are greatly appreciated. Please come again sometime, and visit our sister facilities at the Boatmurdered and Headshoots zoos!"
(https://i.imgur.com/tqwRZpC.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NwFptbm.png)
And that's it for Zoo Tycoon 2. I'll take a break for a month now, and when we come back we can start on Jurassic Park:Operation Genesis. Much like what we've been doing, Operation Genesis has us building our own Jurassic Park.
Welcome to Jurassic Park.
January, 2000.
"Hello! My name is John Hammond, and I am in charge of Ingen, the company you now work for! Your job is quite simple, really. Build the park, create dinosaurs, and entertain people. Of course, we will keep an eye on you as well. We'll watch your park rating, and give you feedback on your performance. But in the end, the success or failure of Jurassic Park is all up to you."
(https://i.imgur.com/Ctvy2vv.png)
We'll begin by setting up our most important buildings and hatching our first dinosaurs. Ingen has provided us with $60,000 and access to the Judith River Group A digsite to get started.
Our park begins with an entrance building. This is the most important structure we have, since guests are brought in here through the helipads. Next door is the second most significant building, our ranger station. The ranger helicopter there will be our first line of defense against most dinosaur related problems we might have. Aside from those two, we have a viewing vent, a food kiosk, a restroom, and a cleaner station with a single janitor.
(https://i.imgur.com/9VovkHx.png)
We've also got our first pen built. The natural river will provide water, but I haven't put the feeder in yet. I'm leaving it to you to decide what dinosaur we get first.
(https://i.imgur.com/3T4Q9ot.png)
We don't yet have enough DNA to produce an Ankylosaurus, so our choices are a herbivorous Pachycephalosaurus or a carnivorous Albertosaurus. The Pachycephalosaurus is cheaper, longer lasting, and more social, but the Albertosaurus is more popular with the guests.
(https://i.imgur.com/ATnjM6p.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/RZ4e5d7.png)
If you're not satisfied with the current lifespans, we could wait a bit for our paleontologists to find more DNA. In the meantime, we've assigned our researchers to developing the gyro stabilizers for our ranger helicopter so we aren't helpless if a storm hits.
(https://i.imgur.com/5lHqtcb.png)
The fledgling park.
(https://i.imgur.com/M8XZi3F.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/FNbLnbT.png)
There might be some hiccups as we get started. Being a 17 year old game, I'm having a bit of difficulty finding an easy way to take screenshots and figuring out where it saves the game. For some reason, Fn+Printscreen doesn't work normally.
Opening day
January-April, 2000
I've downloaded Fraps, so it should be much easier to take screenshots from now on.
We'll collect some more fossils and then hatch our first dinosaurs. Dr. Grant is our advisor in charge of paleontology.
(https://i.imgur.com/5tNmCyW.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Pss6XLE.png)
We've got one dig team for now. We can hire more later for faster results.
In the meantime, Dr. Wu finished researching the gyro stabilizer and I switched the researchers to making a rabies vaccine. Although expensive, eliminating storms grounding our chopper or rabid predators should make the park significantly safer in the long run.
(https://i.imgur.com/pXtHeEw.png)
Once that's done, do you have any advice on what we should focus our research on? So you don't need to go back to the OP, I've copied the list here.
Projects:
Amenities:
ATM
Umbrellas
Rest area
Fountain
Attractions:
Binoculars
Balloon tour
Jeep tour
Viewing dome
Dinosaurs:
Auto lure
Super extractor(Speeds up DNA extraction.)
Hatchery immunization(Our dinosaurs are born with all available vaccines.)
Growth booster(Speeds up development time in the hatchery.)
Secret project:Lethal gene(We can only research this after completing all other projects in the dinosaur category, and it's expensive. Allows us to remotely kill any dinosaur produced after the development of the lethal gene.)
Security:
Medium security fence
High security fence
Visitor shelter
Security cameras
Sentry turret
Avoidance beacon
Rangers:
Gyro stabilizers(Allows our ranger helicopter to operate in bad weather.)
Double battery(Allows our helicopter to operate twice as long before needing to recharge.)
Retire(Allows us to use live ammo instead of tranquilizer darts.)
Vaccines:
Bumblefoot
Tick infestation
Dinosaur flu
Gastric poisoning
Dinosaur belly
Rabies(Most diseases are just annoying. This one causes infected carnivores to attack everything in sight until they eventually drop dead.)
It took a bit longer than expected due to our initial search being unsuccessful, but we were able to find a low-quality Pachycephalosaurus fossil. Extracting its DNA content boosted our dinosaur's lifespan from 10 months to a full year.
(https://i.imgur.com/YwNF5Df.png)
With that, we created our first two dinosaurs.
(https://i.imgur.com/aGFryq0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/rYKRSj2.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/8HdQGLz.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/76ypZLc.png)
Now that we have dinosaurs, we can open the park.
(https://i.imgur.com/1GYuGR2.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ES4PDfP.png)
Resting by the water.
(https://i.imgur.com/efLM5MX.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/q1lo8vT.png)
April-July, 2000
As we waited to begin our next projects, we got to see the Pachycephalosaurus have a dominance battle. They perform these on a regular basis.
(https://i.imgur.com/S9UxSBQ.png)
Despite bashing each other with their armored heads, they never get hurt in the process. Triceratops and Torosaurus also have harmless dominance fights like this.
While the dinosaurs battled, the fossil market opened and Dr. Grant reported Albertosaurus fossils. We set them to extracting. Albertosaurus should make a good second dinosaur, once we get to 100% DNA. I went ahead and bought our second dig team to halve the time we spend on looking for fossils. Later teams get more and more expensive.
(https://i.imgur.com/35S3HK0.png)
Our first guests have arrived.
(https://i.imgur.com/vLJ1lL5.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/e6cVayg.png)
I've noticed before that the helicopter can stress dinosaurs if it flies over their cage too often, so I kept track of the flight path. We won't want to place any cages along this line on the map.
(https://i.imgur.com/i5wofhH.png)
Per your instructions, we began researching the ATM upon inventing a vaccine for rabies.
(https://i.imgur.com/wdLC8aK.png)
Those of you who wanted an Ankylosaurus will be happy to know that we've already found our first samples for them.
(https://i.imgur.com/t5w8a3y.png)
We've experienced our first major bit of adverse weather. A thunderstorm hit the island. Thankfully, the chance of our taking any real damage from the lighting is very low, given our tiny park. Getting rained on annoys our guests though, so I took the liberty of researching umbrellas right after ATMs.
(https://i.imgur.com/CipfKfC.png)
John Hammond contacted us to let us know that the park has reached 0.5 stars of fame.
(https://i.imgur.com/SvUt0E9.png)
Ingen sends us quarterly reports reacting to our progress. Neither has been very good so far. The first was an almost immediately moot demand that we open the park, and the second expresses their concern that we haven't been building enough.
(https://i.imgur.com/hXN6GxM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/8Sqf58L.png)
Now that we have umbrellas, I went ahead and researched fountains just because they're the cheapest project available.
It is a bit slow going early on. I think our top priority at the moment should be to get Albertosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus to 100% DNA, so we can begin supplementing our income with sold fossils. That will prove to be an extremely important part of our budget.
A Pachycephalosaurus eats a bale of prehistoric vegetation ejected from the herbivore feeder.
(https://i.imgur.com/7Noqmje.png)
Park fame:0.5 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/kCiJhCq.png)
July-October, 2000
We've reached 100% DNA for Pachycephalosaurus. New members of the species will live up to four years.
(https://i.imgur.com/396KzWm.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ztL0k0f.png)
With the fountain complete, I'd like to focus on getting all the vaccines ready preemptively, and then researching hatchery immunization. That will completely eliminate diseases from the game, as long as we also vaccinate any dinosaurs we produce before the project is complete.
Though it defaults to being free, we're allowed to charge guests up to $10 for the privilege of using the island's only toilet. If we're evil, of course.
(https://i.imgur.com/Xx8YE5Q.png)
Hatcheries cost $6,000, and we're only allowed to place up to eight of them in a park. To save us money in the long term, we've built a breeder pen behind the ranger station. We can produce dinosaurs here, tranquilize them with the helicopter, and then move them to their permanent enclosures. I think we should leave the one in the Pachycephalosaurus enclosure, however. They're herbivores, so they will be willing to share their enclosure with any other herbivore besides Kentrosaurus. No idea why, but Kentrosaurus is the only herbivore that can't share an exhibit with the other plant-eaters.
Several things happened in rapid succession after we built the breeder pen. We moved on to building a new enclosure for the Albertosaurus, and halfway through that we earned our first full star of park fame.
(https://i.imgur.com/2Bm2hiR.png)
As a result, we can now choose our next dig site. Please pick carefully, we only get four more choices. I've copied the list of which dinosaurs are at which sites here for convenience.
(https://i.imgur.com/YL27xQd.png)
Judith River Group A:Albertosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus.
Judith River Group B:Corythosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Styracosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation A:Acrocanthosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Torosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation B:Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus.
Morrison Formation A:Stegosaurus, Dryosaurus, Ceratosaurus.
Morrison Formation B:Brachiosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Camarasaurus.
Tendaguru Beds:Kentrosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus.
Chenini Formation:Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Ouranosaurus.
Flaming Cliffs:Gallimimus, Homalocephale, Velociraptor.
Also, we made about $3,500 from selling a Pachycephalosaurus fossil, so we went ahead and got the remaining bit of Albertosaurus DNA from the fossil market.
(https://i.imgur.com/3JUVH4a.png)
Waiting for 100% DNA increased Albertosaurus' lifespan from the initial 6 months to four years. It's not always four years, but it's usually about that much.
(https://i.imgur.com/kklLzR8.png)
Our dig teams at Judith River found amber. Amber's usually a gamble. It delivers a massive amount of DNA when extracted, but we won't know which of the site's species it's for in advance. If it's Albertosaurus or Pachycephalosaurus DNA, it's useless to us. If it's Ankylosaurus DNA, it'll be very helpful. Alternatively, we can sell it for $9,750.
(https://i.imgur.com/w6hxbPp.png)
Putting that aside for the moment, we have created our first two Albertosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/cTfpl4R.png)
Cloning them put us $316 into the red for a few moments, which greatly angered our bosses.
(https://i.imgur.com/QhLS0Ek.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/G3wJJvy.png)
Fortunately, we were back up to $4,110 almost immediately. Grant sold an Albertosaurus fossil for about $2,100, and our $400 ticket prices took care of the rest.
One more shot of the Pachycephalosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/yo06ueB.png)
Park fame:1 star.
(https://i.imgur.com/qUMBTpt.png)
October 2000-January 2001
Mightymushroom mentioned the lack of tacky souvenirs, so we'll take care of that as our next research project.
(https://i.imgur.com/1omDmvP.png)
The Flaming Cliffs will be our next dig site. We traded our amber for a third dig team and sent two to work the new site while one remains behind in Judith River to keep finding extra bones to sell and finish looking for Ankylosaurus. Sorry Mightymushroom. Maybe we can get Morrison Formation B later.
(https://i.imgur.com/BtgZOzj.png)
Our park is getting pretty dirty, so we've hired a full team of five janitors. That should take care of it for the time being.
(https://i.imgur.com/c5dQGWq.png)
Using the bathroom now costs $5.
(https://i.imgur.com/OM2SMUb.png)
This has quickly begun to anger many of the guests.
(https://i.imgur.com/cct3iTS.png)
Our team in Judith River found opals.
(https://i.imgur.com/3Tlj1SE.png)
Our Albertosaurus have settled in well. It takes a bit for the dinosaurs to wake up after being tranquilized, but they're active now. To the left, you can see live cows roaming the enclosure. They're there for exactly the reason you'd expect.
(https://i.imgur.com/e8LxWQS.png)
Up to you if you want to keep things this way, but the new bathroom fee really is upsetting most of the guests. The problem's getting worse, so by now nearly everyone has been effected.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ctq5Fbd.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KfvOJNm.png)
Despite this, we've made it to 1.5 stars anyway.
(https://i.imgur.com/UDMkDnh.png)
Decided to take a gamble on some amber from Judith River in hopes of getting Ankylosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/qv29vnC.png)
It didn't pay off.
(https://i.imgur.com/4x85GWH.png)
On a more positive note, our gift shop is open. Now our guests can buy a stuffed dinosaur with an amber keychain for a mere $36.
(https://i.imgur.com/hBW7foO.png)
We can actually see the guests carrying their overpriced toys around, if we look closely.
(https://i.imgur.com/omsJ5Vc.png)
No sign of Velociraptor yet, but the Flaming Cliffs are yielding Gallimimus and Homalocephale DNA at a decent rate.
(https://i.imgur.com/eZmWkP2.png)
Several things happened as we rang in the new year.
Our Albertosaurus earned us our first positive quarterly review.
(https://i.imgur.com/PJbXnWZ.png)
A disease outbreak threatened our Pachycephalosaurus herd, but thankfully it was something we already had a vaccine/cure for.
(https://i.imgur.com/mBeNcS8.png)
Finally, I noticed that our initial Pachycephalosaurus pair doesn't have much longer to live due to their poor DNA quality. To deal with this, we've ordered five more.
(https://i.imgur.com/QNLkPP1.png)
Jurassic Park is firmly committed to the health and well-being of all dinosaurs on our island.
(https://i.imgur.com/4JB0rZR.png)
Park rating:1.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/9MH7eGR.png)
this early unless you're all sure you want to do it. Basically, there are two ways it could go. If we don't activate Emergency Mode and let the dinosaurs loose on the guests, the resulting lawsuits will crush our finances and shut down the park. If we do have emergency mode on, the deaths won't cost us anything but all the guests will flee the park before anything interesting happens.
The old and new
January-April, 2001
Our first Velociraptor remains are in.
(https://i.imgur.com/3ABwds7.png)
We've lowered the bathroom price to $1, to see if that hurts us as much as before.
(https://i.imgur.com/yjzzPN9.png)
To compensate, we've raised the admission fee to $600.
(https://i.imgur.com/kRCmqHJ.png)
Apparently, people really liked that. Our park is now at two stars, and as a result we can pick another dig site. Three choices left.
(https://i.imgur.com/UVAuPfs.png)
Judith River Group A:Albertosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus.
Judith River Group B:Corythosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Styracosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation A:Acrocanthosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Torosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation B:Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus.
Morrison Formation A:Stegosaurus, Dryosaurus, Ceratosaurus.
Morrison Formation B:Brachiosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Camarasaurus.
Tendaguru Beds:Kentrosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus.
Chenini Formation:Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Ouranosaurus.
Flaming Cliffs:Gallimimus, Homalocephale, Velociraptor.
Some guests are complaining about crowding. If the new $600 prices don't solve that, it may provide an excuse to hike the prices up to $800.
(https://i.imgur.com/rMlCoiO.png)
We've reached 55% DNA for Gallimimus! We can begin producing them with six-month lifespans, or we can wait for more DNA to make them last for years.
(https://i.imgur.com/70H55tn.png)
Everybody seems happy now that we're charging only a dollar. Now we'll try out $4, see if that works, and so on until we find the exact value guests are willing to pay to be allowed to poop.
(https://i.imgur.com/iaHYAjp.png)
We've bought a fourth dig team for $20,000.
(https://i.imgur.com/60DWXGU.png)
Ingen gave us a rather unimpressed quarterly report.
(https://i.imgur.com/skr3nI8.png)
Judith River turned up the best possible DNA source in the game, Unique Quality amber. We'll take the gamble, since it might give us an Ankylosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/X95sUyT.png)
This time, it did work out. Ankylosaurus is now available, with 60% DNA and a 7-month lifespan. *Edit, it's now 74% and a year-long lifespan.
(https://i.imgur.com/fsvQjic.png)
A fossil market purchase helped our progress along.
(https://i.imgur.com/oQNo7cA.png)
Our original two Pachycephalosaurus have died. I caught the last moments of one of them. It started out resting peacefully in the grass, but then rose up to fight one last dominance battle with another Pachycephalosaurus. It didn't have time to finish however and dropped dead mid-fight. The other one considered this a valid victory and roared triumphantly.
(https://i.imgur.com/tHwbA0N.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/RuogTGE.png)
An Albertosaurus drinking from the river.
(https://i.imgur.com/OJd9Xbb.png)
Park rating:2 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/v8RepNX.png)
April-August, 2001
Morrison Formation B will be our new dig site. Looking forward to Dilophosaurus and the sauropods!
Also, I just found out there's a button to hide the UI, so I should be able to take better screenshots now.
(https://i.imgur.com/6l9Tqqg.png)
We're getting very close to 100% on Ankylosaurus, so we'll send the teams in Judith River to the Morrison Formation and finish it with fossil market purchases.
(https://i.imgur.com/3iqjk4E.png)
Velociraptor has passed 50% DNA!
(https://i.imgur.com/yBzynsh.png)
The park has reached 2.5 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/QPkJana.png)
Per King Zultan's suggestion, we're raising the price of entry. Jurassic Park tickets now cost $1,000.
(https://i.imgur.com/ijjhAuE.png)
The Ankylosaurus genome is now at 100%, completing our first dig site.
(https://i.imgur.com/xSDyxLZ.png)
Our first two ankylosaurs have joined the park.
(https://i.imgur.com/wI9rHMj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/BgcJY58.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/PURAucq.png)
Homalocephale is now at 50%. *Edit, now 92%. Seems almost certain it'll be the next addition to the herbivore pen.
(https://i.imgur.com/AdQyL9H.png)
Our Morrison Formation teams found high quality amber almost immediately. This is especially good because we've barely started there, guaranteeing that the DNA will be useful. It turned out to be Dilophosaurus and singlehandedly boosted that species' DNA to 29%.
(https://i.imgur.com/9Ujow8Y.png)
We've added a few extras to the path to hopefully keep the guests happier.
(https://i.imgur.com/QO9COSt.png)
We had an outbreak of Dino Belly at the exact moment our park was being reviewed for the quarterly report. This will probably be our last significant encounter with disease, since we now have cures for every illness and we're working on hatchery immunization. It's not critical, but we'll go ahead and send the helicopter around to vaccinate all existing dinosaurs against everything just to make sure we never have to deal with this again.
(https://i.imgur.com/9GiDiDR.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/uZHFjdl.png)
Dr. Grant found $8,660 worth of gold while looking for fossils. We could sell it immediately, but I'd like to hold on to it for now. We're in no rush, and it'd be fun to build up the Jurassic Park Treasure a bit first. Or at least keep it as insurance in case anything goes wrong.
(https://i.imgur.com/2FayY5v.png)
Hatchery Immunization is complete and the vaccinations are being carried out. Next on our list is the visitor shelter. That will let us build bunkers guests can hide in during emergencies without leaving the island.
(https://i.imgur.com/vGZKhnZ.png)
Disease has officially been permanently wiped from the island.
(https://i.imgur.com/Js4pulN.png)
Selling tickets.
(https://i.imgur.com/fwevakg.png)
Park rating:2.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/le3IAXf.png)
Dino belly is a minor illness.
Good news, bad news.
August-October, 2001
We'll build the tour later. For now, we're focusing on gathering new dinosaurs. Which plan did you like better? Should there be only herbivores on the tour, or should we mix in carnivores?
Dilophosaurus has passed 50% DNA.
(https://i.imgur.com/dnvFI6v.png)
The Jeep tour is now under development.
(https://i.imgur.com/oMIreq7.png)
Several events happened at the start of September 2001.
Homalocephale is now at 100% DNA. A herd of five is now in production.
(https://i.imgur.com/fuXFZZX.png)
The Jurassic Park Treasure now includes a cluster of opals.
(https://i.imgur.com/vMV0Nxc.png)
Finally and most importantly, our park reached three stars. This has earned us another dig site choice. Two left.
(https://i.imgur.com/Yih0Mtx.png)
Judith River Group A:Albertosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus.
Judith River Group B:Corythosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Styracosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation A:Acrocanthosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Torosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation B:Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus.
Morrison Formation A:Stegosaurus, Dryosaurus, Ceratosaurus.
Morrison Formation B:Brachiosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Camarasaurus.
Tendaguru Beds:Kentrosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus.
Chenini Formation:Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Ouranosaurus.
Flaming Cliffs:Gallimimus, Homalocephale, Velociraptor.
Homalocephale has joined the herbivore pen. These are the second-smallest dinosaurs in the game after Dilophosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/yHx3ch7.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/fygJsHZ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ln4MzlF.png)
As usual, Ingen wasn't impressed.
(https://i.imgur.com/E1VqgKi.png)
We don't need them. Our treasure has doubled in just a few weeks.
(https://i.imgur.com/OhdkKv1.png)
Uh oh. I checked the weather forecast in response to a thunderstorm breaking out. We've got some serious trouble coming in November.
(https://i.imgur.com/p7k25Tx.png)
I knew building Jurassic Park in the Kansas Islands was a bad idea.
Lightning damage.
(https://i.imgur.com/zWZLbVZ.png)
Park rating:3 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/j2Qrp7l.png)
October-November, 2001.
We're going to have to shut down the park. That tornado is going to hurt, and all we can do is survive it.
At least that fence was trivial to replace.
(https://i.imgur.com/86hkff6.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/x5aCr0z.png)
Morrison Formation A will be our new dig site. We'll begin searching there after we finish Morrison B or the Flaming Cliffs.
(https://i.imgur.com/fRq51cr.png)
We delayed the evacuation by a few days, but it's time for everyone to leave.
(https://i.imgur.com/6uB5gyz.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/GlBAhuh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/fEum9GL.png)
Not a moment too soon. A few guests were still in the park as the tornado made landfall.
"Attention. There is a storm approaching the island."
(https://i.imgur.com/OTYICiG.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/XvlVwVx.png)
Thankfully, everybody made it out before the tornado reached us. The tornado touched down on the northeast corner of the island and immediately headed right for us.
(https://i.imgur.com/A5oKPNS.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/IvGdNpF.png)
When the impact came, we got very lucky. The tornado narrowly bypassed the vulnerable dinosaurs in the herbivore pen, damaged the visitor center and the ranger station, and smashed open the empty breeder pen before retreating backward along the same route and ultimately dispersing in the central mountains.
(https://i.imgur.com/vWVLX0v.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CgUIO6B.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/76Uegqe.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/6xzpo4s.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/IQeavhJ.png)
We've survived our first major storm with flying colors. Zero casualties among humans and dinosaurs alike, and only some easily repaired building damage.
(https://i.imgur.com/orFGTd3.png)
We've reopened the park and are resuming normal operations.
Ankylosaurus enjoying the sunshine after the storm.
(https://i.imgur.com/qkvIR7l.png)
Park rating:2.5 stars(We lost a bit for evacuating the park. We'll earn it back shortly.)
(https://i.imgur.com/IfRiiVd.png)
Why did our rating go down when we got people out of the park so they wouldn't die, did they come just hoping they'd get killed or something?
"Went to Jurassic Park and didn't get killed. ONE STAR!"
"So the brochure was a total lie."
Spitters
November 2001- February 2002
Out of curiosity, why did you all want Morrison Formation A?
I really like how peaceful this game can be.
(https://i.imgur.com/awtG5Ec.png)
Camarasaurus is now at 50%.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ld44rXf.png)
The Board was impressed by our response to the tornado.
(https://i.imgur.com/faUp5OB.png)
We've got the last Dilophosaurus fossil we need lined up for extraction, so we're beginning construction on a new enclosure for them. Considering that we'll need more predator pens soon, I think we should expand into the river valley to the east. It avoids the mountains to the south and the helicopter path to the west, and it keeps the park compact for when we turn it into a fortress in the final stages of our building plan. It also provides natural water sources, so it looks nice.
(https://i.imgur.com/OpfjZUi.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/I8YzVlT.png)
A pack of Dilophosaurus has begun the cloning process.
(https://i.imgur.com/RY2WBuA.png)
We took a major gamble and bought two pieces of amber dated to the Jurassic era. Since we've got six potential Jurassic animals and only one at 100%, in all likelihood they'll be helpful. *Edit, it paid off. Dryosaurus and Ceratosaurus are now over 20% complete.
(https://i.imgur.com/CXFzM1F.png)
The Dilophosaurus is now on display.
(https://i.imgur.com/ubhWzqO.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CWFbFgv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/jgdc3hh.png)
By tomorrow's update, we should have enough DNA to produce Gallimimus.
The Dilophosaurus pack as seen from their viewing vent.
(https://i.imgur.com/cJCNMZ4.png)
Park rating:3 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/xT7rxGt.png)
February-July, 2002
We're risking another amber purchase, since the odds are still in our favor. We also picked up a cheap bit of Gallimimus bone to finish up that species. We're so close to done with the Flaming Cliffs that if we don't finish Velociraptor soon, we might just move the teams out and rely on the fossil market to finish the job.
(https://i.imgur.com/2062OMc.png)
A herd of Gallimimus has been released.
(https://i.imgur.com/0Xlkfsq.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CQokPxm.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/QRgPgMk.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SgoJ1Px.png)
The Board is satisfied with our recent decisions.
(https://i.imgur.com/vl0dpuE.png)
That gamble paid off again. With that and a medium-quality fossil we recently uncovered, Camarasaurus is now at 96%. We just need one more fossil and we'll have enough to get our first sauropods.
We found a Unique Quality amber in the Flaming Cliffs. Although there was a chance it's Velociraptor DNA, I went ahead and sold it. We can get Velociraptor through other means, and there was a 66% chance it would have been wasted.
(https://i.imgur.com/HmjJ59t.png)
Our overpriced toilet has a line outside. We'll build another one on the way to the predator exhibits, next to our new rest area. Don't worry, this one charges money too.
(https://i.imgur.com/xOhiiRp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/altaSp0.png)
Dr. Grant found a low-quality amber in the Morrison Formation, so we extracted it. Brachiosaurus is now at 45%. We picked up some more Jurassic amber to hurry those dinosaurs along.
(https://i.imgur.com/SLifJuo.png)
While we waited for the results, we reached 3.5 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/XFbA6XX.png)
The amber has finished extraction. Ceratosaurus is now at 74%.
(https://i.imgur.com/uPwihp5.png)
We've uncovered the last piece needed for Camarasaurus!
(https://i.imgur.com/KYlNurI.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/6DknlKs.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NVrqutC.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/kSE44qj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/WG97b5y.png)
Lightning blew up a section of fence again, but nothing got out.
(https://i.imgur.com/nmKkMz9.png)
The Board says our park is too dirty, so we hired another squad of cleaners.
(https://i.imgur.com/A6jMwT6.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/u8WFP6u.png)
Thanks to a series of good amber results, Dryosaurus is now at 50%, Brachiosaurus is now at 55%, and Ceratosaurus is now at 100%.
(https://i.imgur.com/E3mLAIM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/1LvNY0L.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Uu3wIAh.png)
In advance of actually creating them, we've built up the area for the Ceratosaurus. First, we've added a new food and gift area with lower costs than the original two to tempt guests to walk over here. The ceratosaur exhibit itself is built around a new kind of attraction, the viewing dome. This is a dino-proof bunker connected to a tunnel that lets guests safely view the dinosaurs from inside the enclosure. I'm out of time for today, but tomorrow we can introduce our third predator to the island.
(https://i.imgur.com/J03JR51.png)
Into the lion's den.
(https://i.imgur.com/gJEXVcP.png)
Park rating:3.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/xGHtLwn.png)
July-December, 2002
Time to introduce Ceratosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/jRFP7ea.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/BpBw66G.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/FEhNQa4.png)
The new dinosaur appears to have pushed us over the edge to four stars. We've got one last dig site to choose.
(https://i.imgur.com/PBqURHO.png)
Judith River Group A:Albertosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus.
Judith River Group B:Corythosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Styracosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation A:Acrocanthosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Torosaurus.
Hell Creek Formation B:Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus.
Morrison Formation A:Stegosaurus, Dryosaurus, Ceratosaurus.
Morrison Formation B:Brachiosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Camarasaurus.
Tendaguru Beds:Kentrosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus.
Chenini Formation:Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Ouranosaurus.
Flaming Cliffs:Gallimimus, Homalocephale, Velociraptor.
Per the concerns raised over our cellulose-pigment alloy fencing, we've begun researching stronger fences.
(https://i.imgur.com/J2Mu7Wx.png)
Through use of the fossil market, Brachiosaurus is now at 100% and Velociraptor is now at 96%. This completes Morrison Formation B and leaves Flaming Cliffs nearly finished, so we'll rely on the fossil market for the last bit of Velociraptor we'll need and send all our teams to Morrison Formation A in search of Stegosaurus and Dryosaurus fossils.
(https://i.imgur.com/X6JwURW.png)
For some reason, a Dilophosaurus suffered a seizure. We deployed the ranger chopper and shot the animal with a revival dart, fixing the problem. I'm guessing the issue was that it didn't sleep for a long time, making it unhappy, which stressed it until it eventually collapsed.
(https://i.imgur.com/U2s4X5u.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/wgzczwv.png)
(John Williams intensifies)
(https://i.imgur.com/AClNPjh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CGfaqQP.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/IJ4Ir8q.png)
The Board remains cautiously optimistic.
(https://i.imgur.com/CAe2BCC.png)
To combat some minor complaints about crowding, the path in the predator area has been widened. The older section of the park is a bit too built up to comfortably change, and it's all temporary anyway if our plan is still to ultimately release the dinosaurs into the jungle and convert everything to a hub for tours.
(https://i.imgur.com/qBSmDDr.png)
Dryosaurus bones are very cheap, so we went ahead and stocked up in the fossil market. Grant has pointed out that this meant we are running a bit low at the moment on space, since all our treasure is crowding the fossil area. We may have to sell some. Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The surplus Dryosaurus fossils will all be sold when we hit 100% in a moment, and we can easily just get rid of the relatively low-value silver.
(https://i.imgur.com/WLZP6Oe.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/9EC5NN2.png)
I've been meaning to catch a shot of the Dilophosaurus spitting at the goats, but no luck yet. They do it, but you have to watch them for the moment they get hungry and there's nothing for them to eat already.
(https://i.imgur.com/BDSUi1G.png)
We've begun upgrading to high security fencing. It's extremely expensive, so it'll take a bit. We're on our way though, starting with the herbivore exhibit since it's the largest.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ime87uc.png)
We've released a herd of Dryosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/48IE4qk.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/MGZ5yhJ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CT4Bqtq.png)
Things are progressing rapidly lately. Brachiosaurus and Dryosaurus have boosted us to 4.5 stars. Before we choose our last dig site, all other dinosaurs have reached 100% with the exception of Stegosaurus and Velociraptor, which are at 50% and 96% respectively. Velociraptor has its last fossil on the queue in the genetics lab, so we'll have them ready next time. Since Velociraptor is one of the most popular animals among guests, I suspect we'll hit five stars next update or the one after.
Brachiosaurus towering over the fences and trees.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ndf7gkR.png)
Park rating:4.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/NG5VHCn.png)
December 2002-March 2003
Our final dig site will be the Chenini Formation, and Velociraptor has reached 100%.
(https://i.imgur.com/wceQAtI.png)
We'll wait a moment to build a high security enclosure. For the moment, we've upgraded the ceratosaur fences.
(https://i.imgur.com/ufX3rQZ.png)
The Board is pleased with our progress.
(https://i.imgur.com/lzw2pBe.png)
Our Velociraptor exhibit is built, we just need $21,750 to afford a full pack.
(https://i.imgur.com/tViVAZz.png)
I like how active our herbivore pen always is.
(https://i.imgur.com/e4MMRfG.png)
We've got our last Stegosaurus fossil going through extraction, so I went ahead and hurried things up by selling our silver to fund the Velociraptors. Fittingly enough, the skies darkened and rain started to fall just as the first one emerged from the lab.
(https://i.imgur.com/D09Pbzg.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZEmT9Hj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/exviIR1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/GQrfNFQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/q8xJEpZ.png)
Having finished all other digs, our fossil teams have been deployed to their final location in the Chenini Formation. Once we've got all the fossils we need there, we'll keep them digging to provide extra fossils and valuable minerals for us to sell. This site's two big predators should provide a lot of valuable bones to sell. Honestly, I was hoping you'd all pick that site. I'm looking forward to Carcharodontosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/dmIzEGq.png)
I almost forgot after releasing the Velociraptors, but we now have Stegosaurus as well.
(https://i.imgur.com/Xjg8tft.png)
The fossil market brought in a new shipment, so we snapped up all the Ouranosaurus fossils since Maximum Spin was interested in that dinosaur.
(https://i.imgur.com/aeseOBS.png)
There's also three Carcharodontosaurus fossils available, but those can wait. I suspect victory is imminent. While we were doing that, Grant found an amber in the Chenini Formation. It's low quality, but guaranteed to be a dinosaur we don't have yet. Aside from the fossils, the fossil market has three pieces of Cretaceous amber left from either Judith River Group A or the Flaming Cliffs. No reason to ever buy those.
The amber got us to 34% for Ouranosaurus, and fossils boosted it to 50% moments later before continuing to skyrocket.
(https://i.imgur.com/l3zliei.png)
The screen then faded to black.
(This screen is accompanied by an audio speech by John Hammond.)
"I am delighted to inform you that your management of Jurassic Park has been everything we hoped for! We have finally been awarded our five star rating! So it's official! Jurassic Park is the greatest theme park in the world!"
(https://i.imgur.com/fVYpIiN.png)
We'll continue playing for now, of course. We've still got dinosaurs to recreate and a stable ecosystem to build. I have been wanting to ask about the plans for our changed park first. First, do we still want guests? Our fossil hunting results are actually so profitable that we no longer need visitors to afford to run the park. If we want, we could make everybody leave, knock down the fences, and let the dinosaurs take over the island. (Though I think we should use the helicopter to intentionally place the dinosaurs around the island, rather than releasing all of them in the same place. That'll help them get started.) Secondly, if we do want to continue letting humans visit the island, do we have to have the actual Jeep tour? A fleet of balloons and viewing domes could cover more ground with much more safety, and we could place the rebuilt park in the central mountains without needing to worry about providing a route for the cars that way.
A Dilophosaurus hisses in triumph over a fallen goat.
(https://i.imgur.com/acyICcN.png)
Park rating:5 stars!
(https://i.imgur.com/PBPvJO7.png)
March-September, 2003
Alright, looks like we've got our plan. We'll keep the proven version of the park for now to finish funding our DNA extractions and research, then we'll begin rebuilding. The treasure we've been gathering should smooth over unexpected costs as we briefly shut down the park to move all the buildings.
The Board has sent us another performance review. As long as we maintain our five star rating, this is the only review they give.
(https://i.imgur.com/yI9cqT5.png)
Carcharadontosaurus has reached 50%. No reason to produce this one or Spinosaurus yet, though. We'd have to build an exhibit that we're just going to tear down shortly. When we make them, we can release them directly into the wild. Since all our dinosaurs are female, I think we should have hatcheries scattered throughout the island to replace breeding.
(https://i.imgur.com/0B2Mw63.png)
Nearly managed to capture the dilophosaur's venom spit, but a bush blocked the final moment.
(https://i.imgur.com/7s4v8oY.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/kv9efpM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZGhCu80.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Ah64oh2.png)
Ouranosaurus has reached 100%.
(https://i.imgur.com/AtFakaQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/JVtLfwX.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/OCHTYz4.png)
Carcharadontosaurus is also at 100%, but we're still waiting. We've only got two research projects left to complete (the avoidance beacon and the lethal gene), along with finding the Spinosaurus genome.
(https://i.imgur.com/jKEXy9a.png)
We've bought the exorbitantly expensive final dig team. Since we'll be needing as many fossils as possible to sell in the near future, I'm hoping they'll pay for themselves.
(https://i.imgur.com/qanUnAR.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/mOxEluN.png)
Spinosaurus is now at 55%.
(https://i.imgur.com/Q5FtrTa.png)
The lethal gene is easily the most expensive research project in the game. It lets us remotely kill any dinosaur produced after its invention. It'll be our last bit of research to do before we complete science. In practice, it's almost always better to tranquilize the dinosaur and simply shooting them is often faster than the lethal gene's damage over time effect.
(https://i.imgur.com/BJZuuEF.png)
We were always going to need to empty the park prior to the rebuilding, but it looks like nature's put a deadline on us. Another tornado is coming at the beginning of next month. At least we'll have the thunderstorm to warn us when it's time for the guests to run.
(https://i.imgur.com/0NFpZ71.png)
The weather's still good, but I was thinking about the incoming tornado. We have a lot of dinosaurs, especially lightweight ones, all bunched up and caged together. We've grown to the point that the tornado is likely to kill at least some of our dinosaurs, but I think their odds of survival are best if we free them now and let them spread out.
(https://i.imgur.com/TqfTyRE.png)
The first step was to activate emergency mode. The guests evacuated, marking the last day of the old park.
(https://i.imgur.com/wlYA3p0.png)
As they fled to the visitor center, we began to tranquilize and move all the herbivores. Since they're plant eaters and we're moving them to the other side of the mountains, it should be safe to begin the removal.
(https://i.imgur.com/JW2F7Gh.png)
The storm began as we worked to free the herbivores.
(https://i.imgur.com/q09Gfyd.png)
This time, we were able to make sure the Brachiosaurus was the first one out.
(https://i.imgur.com/OBrW0bc.png)
We did what we could, but it proved impossible to get all the dinosaurs evacuated manually before the tornado arrived.
(https://i.imgur.com/Mn5ynkF.png)
To compensate, we simply knocked down sections of the fences to let the dinosaurs flee on their own.
(https://i.imgur.com/TkyxQRB.png)
Ironically, our evacuation point was actually closer to the tornado than the main park.
(https://i.imgur.com/jf8r7aP.png)
Thankfully, the tornado bypassed both it and the remaining dinosaurs in the herbivore pen on its first run. However, the Velociraptors weren't so lucky. The entire pack was destroyed.
(https://i.imgur.com/Sc1swZT.png)
Immediately afterward, a single Ceratosaurus was killed. Its partner survived thanks to being evacuated at the last second.
(https://i.imgur.com/qAH48S2.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/s2EcNxD.png)
After that, the tornado went out to sea and spun out.
(https://i.imgur.com/XirPAx8.png)
It left behind a partially smoking, empty park, but the dinosaurs are finally free.
(https://i.imgur.com/8hgwu13.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/8fpUcpH.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/HTCh6qY.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/wqCKhbh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZXjvKIO.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/nEcDWQt.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/V0fXkKU.png)
Beyond the fence.
(https://i.imgur.com/jji4h36.png)
Park rating:Life finds a way.
(https://i.imgur.com/DLcE2Sv.png)
September-December, 2003
We've got plenty of work to do as we reconfigure the park.
First, we've got some good news. As the park was falling apart, we completed our last research project and found enough fossils to get Spinosaurus to 100%.
(https://i.imgur.com/93YGO2b.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NPsiA19.png)
Next up, we've taken the park off emergency mode and officially closed it down for the moment. We'll follow that up by removing some of the buildings that are no longer helpful. We'll leave some of the infrastructure in place though, just for the image of dinosaurs wandering through the ruins.
(https://i.imgur.com/XgAajKg.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hiELw4Q.png)
We've had our first instance of one dinosaur preying on another. A Dryosaurus was taken down by our surviving Ceratosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/PRQeSNY.png)
That brings us to our next point, placing food and hatcheries around the island. Our herbivores can live off the natural trees, but we should add more carnivore feeders to provide cattle and goats at the bottom of the food chain and help sustain predators that wander away from the main herds. The hatcheries in the opened herbivore and breeding pens can provide coverage to the loosely defined "central" and "northwest" areas. We'll place a few more in the other areas. Our Ceratosaurus wandered south to the new eastern hatchery, so we've provided a replacement for the dead one.
(https://i.imgur.com/CJie95a.png)
Each hatchery is accompanied by a carnivore feeder. You can see where they've been placed on the map by the isolated green rectangles.
(https://i.imgur.com/dkpByhy.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/kC5UQjK.png)
With that done, we'll begin fortifying the mountains for our new park. This box should be enough to get started. We sold some gold and opals to fund the high security fencing.
(https://i.imgur.com/oRUBJap.png)
It cost most of our treasure, but we've built a basic park inside the cage. It should be sufficient for us to reopen. More balloons will come later.
(https://i.imgur.com/AmiWwWu.png)
With regards to Maximum Spin's "sustainable level of human eating", there is a chance that the balloons will crash on rare occasions. We can send the chopper to rescue the stranded guests, though. It shouldn't be a problem.
We still have our original ranger station. They'll be fine out in the wilderness.
(https://i.imgur.com/zL5kxsW.png)
Aside from our initial balloon, we've got a tunnel-accessible viewing dome out near the largest herbivore gathering. The herd is mostly happy to stick to the general area they were evacuated to, with smaller groups occasionally wandering off.
(https://i.imgur.com/g5glX4c.png)
Don't worry, our bathroom is still charging guests.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZttjXaT.png)
Jurassic Park is back in business.
(https://i.imgur.com/jz5lvnG.png)
Two isolated and starving Albertosaurus fight for the only food source available.
(https://i.imgur.com/0APBrXo.png)
Park rating:2.5 stars(We'll work our way back up to 5.)
(https://i.imgur.com/WJfdnWN.png)
Up
December 2003-May 2004
Our remaining Albertosaurus passed out due to intense stress caused by unfulfilled hunting needs. We sent out our helicopter and saved it.
(https://i.imgur.com/wsaD1GW.png)
We've also increased our fleet to the maximum of five balloons. This game was designed with porting to the original Xbox and Playstation 2 in mind, so every building has a limit on how many we can place. We've generally been able to work around it, though.
(https://i.imgur.com/MY5OjBS.png)
Four of them are set to explore one corner of the island each, and we use the last one to track the major herbivore movements. I think they make a cool sight floating over the jungle. Rides cost $50.
(https://i.imgur.com/i518hUV.png)
I'll just admit it straight up, I'm really reluctant to build a Jeep ride. I almost never do it in my own playthroughs, since it's just so needlessly dangerous. Our Spinosaurus and Carcharadontosaurus are likely to intentionally target and destroy the vehicles, and even the big herbivores can accidentally crush them if spooked. We'd be out a lot of money if a car full of tourists gets eaten.
Speaking of our as yet unresurrected dinosaurs, it's a new year. We've got a list of every dinosaur species in the park and their numbers. Unless there are objections, I'm going to simulate breeding by refilling each species to its set peak every January. Maybe with exceptions if someone makes a request or if all the predators die.
(https://i.imgur.com/H0rp05X.png)
Looks like we need to replenish Albertosaurus, Dryosaurus, and Velociraptor. We also need to make our first Spinosaurus and Carcharadontosaurus. We'll make one each of the latter two. As you can see on the map, our dinosaurs have been steadily heading south with few exceptions. To spread them out a bit more, we'll create our replacement dinosaurs on the relatively empty sections of the island.
(https://i.imgur.com/ixXnTpq.png)
Hey, I finally got a shot of a Dilophosaurus spitting!
(https://i.imgur.com/uFcyDUW.png)
Interestingly, they seem to be the only dinosaurs still living primarily in the old park. It took them longer than the others to leave their exhibit, that's probably the reason.
Anyway, back to producing our new dinosaurs. The replacements have been manufactured. The new Velociraptor pack left us with only a few opals left in the bank, but we'll manage.
(https://i.imgur.com/LJWCQyp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ddwruH9.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Jd1fW3z.png)
The Dilophosaurus pack has abruptly decided to move out of their old enclosure. They're heading west, and are (as of this writing) wandering outside the ranger station. They were chasing prey when I checked on them, so I suppose the goats led them over there.
(https://i.imgur.com/xC7U4lB.png)
Since they were on opposite sides of the herbivore's migration, we've released Spinosaurus and Carcharadontosaurus from the southeast and western hatcheries.
(https://i.imgur.com/2HjbWti.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Z3gCvdv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/H81CUl7.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/WlOj3Bx.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/JIVyyTo.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/EN6bhqY.png)
The Dryosaurus have not been doing well in the wild thus far. Predators pick them off on a regular basis. I think we could safely let them wander around the main park-cage like peacocks at the zoo, if we wanted to.
(https://i.imgur.com/zkldznY.png)
The predators don't necessarily win every time, though. A pair of Pachycephalosaurus was able to kill a Ceratosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/Dc7QetS.png)
We can take photographs from our balloons. High enough scores win us cash prizes.
(https://i.imgur.com/tv9gK33.png)
A Velociraptor wandered off from its pack, became stressed, and went on a rampage. When rampaging, a dinosaur goes berserk and attempts to kill every dinosaur it comes in contact with. In this case, it tracked down and killed one of its own packmates. Only Velociraptor and the large carnivores can rampage.
(https://i.imgur.com/GN1Mrbn.png)
Given the danger a rampaging Velociraptor posed to our other dinosaurs, we intervened by sending out the helicopter to calm it down with tranquilizers.
(https://i.imgur.com/eRfKyjo.png)
Guests viewing a Carcharadontosaurus from a balloon.
(https://i.imgur.com/9n6vVa4.png)
Park rating:2.5 stars(Our rating had decayed to two stars, but we're finally gaining ground again.)
(https://i.imgur.com/TrJX2Nj.png)
May-July, 2004
We'll do the jeep thing.
First things first though, we've got a rampaging dinosaur. A Velociraptor went off again and charged the herbivore herd. We called the helicopter, but an Ankylosaurus took care of the problem before we could get there.
(https://i.imgur.com/SV4Ni6c.png)
Overall, I've been noticing a lot of stress among the predators. Apparently we need more prey. Any suggestions for which small herbivore we should add more of? Many dinosaurs are getting picked off and eaten in general. We may need to increase the replacement rate.
(https://i.imgur.com/mUCu47U.png)
Anyway, back to the Jeep tour.
(https://i.imgur.com/rFvzcgd.png)
Tour's up and running. It has a maximum route length of 800 meters, which it spends on a circular trip through the old park ruins. You can see the path marked out on the map.
(https://i.imgur.com/wI3CmkT.png)
Both surviving Velociraptors are rampaging. They really seem easy to set off.
(https://i.imgur.com/dmZ21LR.png)
We've been experiencing such clear weather lately that I hadn't looked at the forecast in a while. A tornado was suddenly upon us. Emergency mode was declared, but the balloon fleet was still in the air.
(https://i.imgur.com/QSdZe7p.png)
Our PR department continues to have odd priorities.
(https://i.imgur.com/JEWbxmW.png)
Miraculously, our balloons all managed to land successfully, despite an extremely close encounter by one of them.
(https://i.imgur.com/Hccld5f.png)
Some irrelevant fences were destroyed and some buildings were damaged.
(https://i.imgur.com/GxeMRfs.png)
Dinosaurs fled from the tornado, and many were killed.
(https://i.imgur.com/yDVH100.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/sOJzwba.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/aCdRzKG.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/oBYt4dy.png)
Next time, we should probably skip ahead to making our next generation of dinosaurs due to all the Velociraptor/tornado damage.
Spinosaurus vs Ankylosaurus
(https://i.imgur.com/d6ItfOu.png)
Park rating:2.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/R6CxnuT.png)
Primal Prey
July-November, 2004
That Ankylosaurus from yesterday's stinger image survived the Spinosaurus attack and forced the predator to retreat with major wounds. Ankylosaurus is probably the strongest dinosaur in the game in a straight fight. Its armor makes it very resistant to bites, and its ability to run away and attack with its tail at the same time makes it difficult for predators to lock on. As far as I know, only Velociraptor packs and T. rex have any real chance against them, and those two only because they have special animations that bypass the standard combat.
(https://i.imgur.com/RzLfKDk.png)
Meanwhile, Ceratosaurus briefly became extinct again after being taken down by an Albertosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/bwamsGz.png)
Our rangers were able to calm down the last Velociraptor, so at least they're alright for now.
(https://i.imgur.com/5eU30TJ.png)
It wasn't the only one for long. It set us back a bit financially, but we were able to rebuild the island's dinosaur population to pre-disaster levels.
(https://i.imgur.com/Qk5HcVt.png)
We've gained some fame back, our tours are in near-constant demand, and we've moved the dig teams to a more profitable spot in Judith River Group A, so we're doing pretty well anyway.
To solve the issue of having insufficient prey, we're increasing the Gallimimus population target to 10. They're relatively cheap, decently popular with the guests, and the predators can pick them off without much trouble.
(https://i.imgur.com/9WFwXaZ.png)
The Carcharadontosaurus went on a brief rampage, taking out an Ouranosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/P4k1dFA.png)
Our original Albertosaurus managed to survive long enough to die of old age.
(https://i.imgur.com/lviiUVl.png)
Looking at their stats, Homalocephale seems equally qualified to serve as a major prey animal. We'll start keeping ten of them as well.
(https://i.imgur.com/9vcO0Ka.png)
The Spinosaurus and Carcharadontosaurus met. They roared at each other for a bit until the Carcharadontosaurus backed down.
(https://i.imgur.com/ti2WuPB.png)
The raptors' extremely high prey drive and propensity to rampage remains a problem. If this keeps up, it might be necessary to isolate them in a pen with a goat dispenser again.
(https://i.imgur.com/O9TD8La.png)
A herd of Homalocephale enjoying each other's company.
(https://i.imgur.com/TI4YCfy.png)
Park rating:3 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/2Em1pwM.png)
A three hour tour
November 2004-May 2005
The dinosaurs killing each other is a major strain on our income, but thankfully our entry fees and fossil hunting is enough to keep up.
(https://i.imgur.com/3uOetkQ.png)
Meanwhile, the guests not currently on tours have been getting annoyed with not getting to see enough dinosaurs.
(https://i.imgur.com/wzjaOLS.png)
We've expanded the guest area a bit and added a couple new attractions in an effort to compensate.
(https://i.imgur.com/d26qbc9.png)
While we were working on that, a photograph we took from a balloon earned $4,507. We can get good money by taking pictures of the big herds, but there are diminishing returns if we overdo it.
(https://i.imgur.com/XHSLkGs.png)
At least the guests do seem very happy after going on the tour. (That Jurassic Park thought represents "thrilled".)
(https://i.imgur.com/5Ml6Wwx.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/2vl2me4.png)
I'm talking a lot about all the problems we're encountering in attempting to build a pseudo-natural world, but on the whole things are actually going pretty well. We're back up to three and a half stars, and the slight adjustments to the park seem to have done a lot for keeping the guests mostly happy. We did resort to waiving the fee on the Jeep rides. I'm doing an experiment to see if that helps us.
(https://i.imgur.com/aKmeQMW.png)
I'm almost hoping something happens to this Jeep. Its route takes it by the raptor hatchery and is coincidentally 666 meters long.
(https://i.imgur.com/ctA4Ul3.png)
Despite our $1,000 ticket prices, crowds are becoming an issue again.
(https://i.imgur.com/LIezVsO.png)
You know what that means!
(https://i.imgur.com/TuhaDA2.png)
Even quintupling our entry fee didn't seem to hurt us. I'd have increased it further, but the game cuts us off after that.
Our finances are doing really well lately. Despite constantly spending thousands of dollars on new dinosaurs, we're turning a profit anyway. Our treasures are starting to build back up, and we've hit the cap for tour rides.
(https://i.imgur.com/3t69fFb.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/r76Zm3m.png)
A safari into the old park encounters Pachycephalosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/p7O9brP.png)
Park rating:3.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/mwH1C4c.png)
May-November 2005
Things seem pretty stable. At the moment, we're just watching the dinosaurs roam and letting our situation gradually improve.
(https://i.imgur.com/hZ5Vv4v.png)
Despite the constant predator attacks, I've been reminding myself to also show you some of the more peaceful moments.
(https://i.imgur.com/jUnwLHv.png)
The raptors are calmer than usual at the moment. The pack seems to have staked out an area near a goat dispenser, so they can kill as much as they like.
(https://i.imgur.com/ybQbv73.png)
We sent the paleontologists to Morrison Formation A after realizing that it's still got plenty of material. We don't need it for DNA, but it'll provide a welcome (if temporary) boost to our income.
(https://i.imgur.com/SnFN9EH.png)
Annnd...a raptor went berserk and killed a packmate. At least we can afford to make more.
(https://i.imgur.com/CVzcafm.png)
Just after we calmed the raptor, we reached four stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/nMwC2Y9.png)
To help finish the job, we've added two new Brachiosaurus to the northern half of the island. Being both extremely famous and virtually immune to the violence plaguing the other dinosaurs should make them a worthwhile investment.
(https://i.imgur.com/bexrCVJ.png)
Interestingly, this lone Gallimimus was briefly the only inhabitant of the northwest corner of the island. In general, the dinosaurs seem to favor the southwest and northeast corners at the moment.
(https://i.imgur.com/yc2uyg3.png)
We spotted the Spinosaurus carrying a live, struggling goat around after a successful hunt.
(https://i.imgur.com/AIFZQo0.png)
It then wandered carelessly into range of a Stegosaurus' tail.
(https://i.imgur.com/JPWmtPq.png)
A brief battle then broke out until the Spinosaurus took a hit and backed down in search of easier prey.
(https://i.imgur.com/dbrFYdn.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/g7DMVP8.png)
Turning up the entry prices so high has put a major dent in our guest count. We currently have about 18-20 guests at a time, bringing in only about two people per arrival. Still, as long as our profits and fame continue to rise, maybe being exclusive will work out for us.
(https://i.imgur.com/RkSFxy4.png)
The Albertosaurus were hunting a herd of Gallimimus. Things suddenly went wrong when the Carcharadontosaurus charged in, chased them away, and stole the prey.
(https://i.imgur.com/lI1IUh7.png)
Sail backs.
(https://i.imgur.com/9qDH3SN.png)
Park rating:4 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/pSswCog.png)
At least with there being so few people there we don't have to worry about shit loads of people dying if shit starts going down.
Also what happens if we hit the max number of all buildings and dinosaurs?
I'm not sure, I've never tried it. It would require building 1800 fence lengths, along with a bunch of useless devices like security cameras.
The Saga of Sarah
November-December 2005
(Alternate timeline:November 2005-January 2006)
One of our balloons crashed in the southwest jungle after being struck by lightning.
(https://i.imgur.com/BR1IDle.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/eRY0GTr.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Pblj6Cb.png)
(I had never in 17 years of playing this game known that lightning directly causes crashes. I always thought it was just a random chance during a thunderstorm. I had to reload back a few moments when the game crashed, so this is the first time I've ever seen the balloon fall.)
A single passenger was inside, a Thrill Seeker named Sarah.
(https://i.imgur.com/bIWPOmv.png)
Thankfully, our helicopter was already in the field on a mission to calm a rampaging raptor. The Carcharadontosaurus and both Albertosaurus were nearby, but Sarah was rescued unharmed after a few moments of running panicked through the jungle.
(https://i.imgur.com/SjMqtwD.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SjMqtwD.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/V8XhU22.png)
However, I thought it'd be interesting to see how she'd fare without help. So I made an alternate save and just let her wander around the jungle to see what would happen.
Immediately following the crash, Sarah left the site immediately and ran into the woods. I'm no survivalist, but I'm fairly confident this is considered a bad move.
(https://i.imgur.com/caLJLuU.png)
She started out scared but alright, constantly hoping rescue would arrive. Her needs became worse and worse as time dragged on.
(https://i.imgur.com/BiJvt86.png)
She then began wandering vaguely westward, often interrupted by running away whenever the more dangerous dinosaurs approached.
(https://i.imgur.com/FaT7iTt.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/qTBmNYX.png)
When she reached the river, she mostly just stood motionless for a long time as dinosaurs wandered all around her.
(https://i.imgur.com/YIxL1kx.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SyyDaT0.png)
She was forced to move again when the Dilophosaurus pack chased her away.
(https://i.imgur.com/srojw9n.png)
She ran north a bit, spending some time wandering around on a Jeep trail and in the river.
(https://i.imgur.com/83dAz9B.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/DrSURm2.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/8KaOcdl.png)
No cars came by, but the helicopter and balloons passed overhead.
(https://i.imgur.com/dRsKSv0.png)
She survived a few encounters with hungry predators, mostly thanks to distance or the dinosaurs choosing to eat each other instead of her.
(https://i.imgur.com/c7VgApk.png)
Her luck couldn't last forever, though. Eventually, her adventure came to an abrupt and unceremonious end at the jaws of a passing Ceratosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/umbC4Rp.png)
She lasted about three months in our jungle in the alternate timeline. Probably better than most people could do, really.
(https://i.imgur.com/JyVonec.png)
Red in tooth and claw.
(https://i.imgur.com/mNfQK0I.png)
Park rating:4 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/giZ3n0G.png)
She lasted about three months in our jungle in the alternate timeline. Probably better than most people could do, really.
That island doesn't seem big enough to get lost on for three months, she must have been staying away from the park on purpose because she wanted to be killed and eaten or something.
I guess she really was a Thrill Seeker.
Pax Dinosauria
November 2005-May 2006 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNJ21Gzp79E)
There wasn't really much to say about the first months of the new year. Guests toured in vehicles and the dinosaurs went about their lives in the wild.
(https://i.imgur.com/A10NVp1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/2GLggGi.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/gnKPzxt.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/5ApLYe0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZfgKd32.png)
We recently passed $150,000 in profit, and we had to sell some of our less valuable treasure just to make room for more. We're currently making far more money than we ever did in the old park. Only thing left to do is regain our five star rating.
(https://i.imgur.com/hYLnFgA.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/b0Ykyzf.png)
I usually don't call much attention to them, but our carnivore feeders have given the island a decent population of goats and cows.
(https://i.imgur.com/KmB48GG.png)
Guests have some mild concerns about safety, so we've moved the ranger station into the park proper so they can see it.
(https://i.imgur.com/pOu6tcX.png)
We experienced one of our periodic heat waves in April. No serious consequences, but it gave the sky a nice orange color for a bit.
(https://i.imgur.com/NBKpqap.png)
Just a peaceful couple of months.
(https://i.imgur.com/AifUhSE.png)
With the exception of the constant violence, of course.
(https://i.imgur.com/wp8ZrHh.png)
A particularly daring Gallimimus darts around the head of a resting Carcharadontosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/sJpDXyI.png)
Park rating:4 stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/iPNsApL.png)
We're in the endgame now
May-July 2006
The raptors seem happier lately. They've been shifted toward the main herd so there's more prey to satisfy their aggression.
(https://i.imgur.com/7IrN5g9.png)
To my surprise, they were willing to share the kill with a Ceratosaurus without any fear or hostility.
(https://i.imgur.com/cQHJ5S7.png)
As planned, we built a bunker to calm guests worried about safety.
(https://i.imgur.com/2UnrClH.png)
Our ankylosaurs died of old age, undefeated after a lifetime of regular predator attacks.
(https://i.imgur.com/llEtmXH.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/V9I79rC.png)
Dinosaurs don't spend much time in the park ruins, but the dilophosaurs have moved back in for now.
(https://i.imgur.com/IS1LYqz.png)
Looks like the bunker helped. We've moved up to four and a half stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/VYdnd76.png)
One of Jurassic Park's many butterflies.
(https://i.imgur.com/DhrACkH.png)
Park rating:4.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/EotzBm0.png)
July-October, 2006
I didn't know this was possible, but a rampaging Velociraptor took down a Ceratosaurus.
(https://i.imgur.com/c1yHIh8.png)
Dinosaurs become visibly decayed after dying. There's a cheat that allows you to use these skins to have an island of zombie dinosaurs.
(https://i.imgur.com/s8DQoKv.png)
The herbivores actually are feeding on the trees and plants around the island. Natural clearings like these gradually result.
(https://i.imgur.com/2C7Mvzx.png)
Along with the normal plants you've seen before, we can create these prehistoric "paleo trees". They don't really matter much beyond preventing the now-impossible gastric poisoning disease and cost three times as much, so we don't normally use them.
(https://i.imgur.com/ioPx16q.png)
The area just north of the old park inhabited by a small herd of assorted herbivores remains probably the most peaceful area of the jungle.
(https://i.imgur.com/DRolySL.png)
Everything pretty much runs itself now. We're just waiting for that last half-star.
(https://i.imgur.com/qm0X1Rt.png)
An unexpectedly fair fight broke out between a rampaging Velociraptor and a hungry Albertosaurus. The raptor left the tyrannosaur nearly dead before the helicopter arrived to stop the rampage.
(https://i.imgur.com/3fTJe6G.png)
If one of the raptors is able to rampage long enough without being stopped or killed, they eventually become catatonic and quickly die unless rescued.
(https://i.imgur.com/Beni8zl.png)
That one was saved in the nick of time by a medicine dart and happily wandered off. That yelp its doing is a "play" animation. The Velociraptor is the only predator that has those.
(https://i.imgur.com/w3Y9Nnh.png)
Predation is a constant fact of life in the jungle.
(https://i.imgur.com/qowXWwL.png)
Park rating:4.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/iPBdrDx.png)
Getting raptors might have been a bad idea as they just seem to go crazy constantly and now their killing shit they shouldn't be able to.
Do the guests still like the park and do their thoughts give any kind of hint as to what they might want to bring us to five stars?
They still like it, though I think we should try boosting security and decreasing the ticket prices a bit so more people can come in. We'll take care of that now.
Buildin' a sentry here!
October 2006-February 2007
We've lowered the cost of entry to $4,000, to see if that helps us get to five stars.
(https://i.imgur.com/qfipgG4.png)
Well, it betrays everything we hold dear, but if we want to get to five stars we're going to go ahead and stop charging people two dollars every time they go to the bathroom.
(https://i.imgur.com/vh5zh3E.png)
If a dinosaur swallows a person or a smaller dinosaur while you're tracking them, the location indicator goes to the predator's stomach before vanishing.
(https://i.imgur.com/R7KXXdL.png)
Going back to King Zultan's question, there is a visitor summary, but it's unhelpfully vague most of the time.
(https://i.imgur.com/xsx1KYG.png)
Since the guests like safety, we've added 10 automated sentry turrets to sections of the guest area.
(https://i.imgur.com/jbqApb3.png)
We'll probably never see them in action, but they can be forced to deploy from their bunkers for a moment by taking control.
(https://i.imgur.com/4NJQtcu.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/zZcT55n.png)
I didn't know this could happen. One of our tour vehicles suffered a breakdown in the field and we were forced to drive it back manually.
(https://i.imgur.com/H2PkaOS.png)
This proved extremely easy, since it was only a few seconds away from the garage.
(https://i.imgur.com/9i33ZhE.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/RSiMqZY.png)
The park-fortress.
(https://i.imgur.com/n6TMysa.png)
Park rating:4.5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/DVKc85B.png)
*Given the historic nature of the day, no new update today. We'll be back to our normal schedule tomorrow.
We can try it, but we are limited by how much stuff our guests can actually use since there's so few of them.
The final pieces
February-September, 2007
We've added some free shops and security cameras to try and get that last bit of fame.
(https://i.imgur.com/BAgsDBi.png)
We're also offering balloon tours for free, since we need the boost more than the money.
(https://i.imgur.com/c4wq18I.png)
The guests all seem happy. It might be that all we have to do is wait.
(https://i.imgur.com/i7cr2SZ.png)
One more nudge, we've created three more Brachiosaurus around the island so more people see a five-star dinosaur wandering around.
(https://i.imgur.com/wIJY2pD.png)
And then, in August of 2007, we finally made it.
(https://i.imgur.com/cDIyh2b.png)
Tomorrow's update will be a guided tour and end the LP.
A Velociraptor taking a short break from its constant urge to kill.
(https://i.imgur.com/CLDhkov.png)
Park rating:5 stars! (Again!)
(https://i.imgur.com/VEgAz2q.png)
September-December, 2007
"My name is John Hammond, and I'd like to personally welcome you all to an adventure 65 million years in the making. Welcome to Jurassic Park."
(https://i.imgur.com/Fbl05ku.png)
"Let's begin with one of our scariest attractions, Carcharodontosaurus. Its dark scales and jagged teeth make quite an impression, in my opinion."
(https://i.imgur.com/8MJYabS.png)
"Only one other animal on the island can frighten the Carcharodontosaurus, and here she is. Spinosaurus, the largest terrestrial predator to ever walk the earth."
(https://i.imgur.com/h28iUhs.png)
"Of course, not everything in Jurassic Park is all imposing teeth and nightmare claws. Some are peaceful creatures, such as this sailbacked Ouranosaurus."
(https://i.imgur.com/FVNQ51q.png)
"Peaceful should not be taken to mean defenseless, as the spikes and shields of Stegosaurus can attest."
(https://i.imgur.com/zue8tN7.png)
"Such defenses are quite necessary, as savage Velociraptors use their ferocity, talons, and cunning to take down game much larger than themselves."
(https://i.imgur.com/lHZC6mx.png)
"Other animals use camouflage to survive, such as this cautious Dryosaurus."
(https://i.imgur.com/eLm0AsQ.png)
"Our Brachiosaurus rely on simply being too big for any predator to bring down."
(https://i.imgur.com/8C5Mvtw.png)
"Larger than the Velociraptor and more maneuverable than the Spinosaurus, Ceratosaurus maintains its place among the mighty hunters of Jurassic Park."
(https://i.imgur.com/62JaQBr.png)
"The long necks of Camarasaurus allow them to graze from the very tops of trees."
(https://i.imgur.com/6gTPRWM.png)
"Gallimimus has been seen moving in large flocks, just like a bird."
(https://i.imgur.com/swdShga.png)
"A truly unique animal, the Dilophosaurus bears head crests, a startling frill, and poisonous spit."
(https://i.imgur.com/VDNSoq4.png)
""All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small...""
(https://i.imgur.com/CNuoxcM.png)
"Despite many challengers, nothing in Jurassic Park has ever managed to defeat an Ankylosaurus in combat."
(https://i.imgur.com/eWq3pZY.png)
"Albertosaurus represents a smaller, more nimble cousin of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex."
(https://i.imgur.com/EBlkBFn.png)
"Before we go, perhaps we could take one last look at the very first dinosaur ever cloned in Jurassic Park, Pachycephalosaurus."
(https://i.imgur.com/3ZXJxEw.png)
The Board of Directors salutes you.
(https://i.imgur.com/YQmA7Bs.png)
Park rating:5 stars
(https://i.imgur.com/6fxrweJ.png)
And that's it for this LP! Thanks to everybody who came along for the ride, I've had a lot of fun building these zoos with you all.