Why???

[Nats]

Why is this game even being made when Zoo Tycoon is out by the same people and could easily be expanded/updated to make it better thereby pleasing lots of people who bought that game. In fact this looks exactly the same as that game! All the animations and graphics look the same.

But instead Frontier bring out an almost identical game and hope that everyone who bought Zoo Tycoon will be daft enough to buy another zoo game from them which will no doubt be rubbish as well.

It just looks like an attempt at a cash grab and they are fast wearing out their old reputation.

Frontier should really be concentrating on their existing games and making those better before considering making identical new games. Elite Dangerous, Zoo Tycoon, Jurassic World Evolution - they have all been flipping lousy.

The only redeeming feature of making this game would be IF and only IF Zoo Tycoon was too slow and cant be expanded, and they are going to do everything in this game properly and allow people to make a truly large zoo with proper deep sim management of animals/enclosure/visitors etc, ie unlike any of their other games to date. But you would have to be trusting them a lot to do this game well after the other failures.

I despair for Frontier now - they were responsible for making two of my favourite games of all time and now they cant seem to produce good games for toffee. They really need a couple of very good game designers in their team that match David Braben's creativity level, who know how to make addictive, deeply featured, rewarding gameplay. But unfortunately at the moment it seems they just cannot make a good game.

[Lora Craft69]

Zoo Tycoon is from Microsoft developed by Frontier, it was eventually only made for the Xbox but later it was brought to Steam with the name: Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection.
Still very limited because of the console history and also because it was a Microsoft game Frontier didn't have anything to say in what would be in the game.

Planet Zoo is 100% a Frontier game, it's also 100% PC exclusive, it will use the same system as Planet Coaster and with the information we already have from various magazines and websites will be a much deeper game and with a lot more freedom and creativity for the players.

[LemonyNebula]

Because I want this one.

[Oz Gaming]

Nats, please stop your crying

[Be Obscene]

This already looks 100 times better then Zoo Tycoon from 2013.
It'll be more like Planet Coaster, and I love Planet Coaster. I also loved the old Zoo Tycoon games. So I'm super stoked for this.

[Laborsomething]

"this looks exactly the same as that game"? Have you REALLY looked into THAT Zoo Tycoon?

[Vortimous]

As a day one xbox 1 owner and zoo tycoon was one of the first games I got for the kids, I can say this looks 100 times better than anything zoo tycoon had. This looks just like planet coaster (which is one of the best if not THE best park simulator game) and if it has a tweaked better engine as planet coaster, this game will be wonderful. PLUS if we can build bigger zoos than you could in zoo tycoon (which were small due to console restraints), then this game will be excellent. Plus its funny you dont mention Planet Coaster in your rant, the very game this looks like its built off of.....

The only thing I ask is that PLEASE Frontier, have the same camera controls that planet coaster has and NOT the camera controls that Jurrasic World has. You can use the arrow keys to move the map and buildings around, which just kills me because you COULD in planet coaster.... Please dont make this same mistake...

[Nats]

Originally posted by Vortimous:

As a day one xbox 1 owner and zoo tycoon was one of the first games I got for the kids, I can say this looks 100 times better than anything zoo tycoon had. This looks just like planet coaster (which is one of the best if not THE best park simulator game) and if it has a tweaked better engine as planet coaster, this game will be wonderful. PLUS if we can build bigger zoos than you could in zoo tycoon (which were small due to console restraints), then this game will be excellent. Plus its funny you dont mention Planet Coaster in your rant, the very game this looks like its built off of.....

That's all just hype at the moment till we see anything concrete on this game. I don't go in for hype. If the Steam reviews are good after a week I might buy it otherwise I definitely won't.

I haven't played Planet Coaster so I can't compare Zoo Tycoon or the potential of this one to that game. I am not the slightest bit interested in amusement parks, and zoos are very different to amusement parks. Therefore this game is not very comparable other than the some of the underlying mechanics will be reused. But I do appreciate the explanation from Lora as to why Zoo Tycoon was so lame. If Planet Coaster was a good game then that is the only good game Frontier have done in a long while. Elite Dangerous is the only game I own from them and they have completely missed the point on that game.

[LemonyNebula]

Originally posted by Nats:

That's all just hype at the moment till we see anything concrete on this game. I don't go in for hype. If the Steam reviews are good after a week I might buy it otherwise I definitely won't.

I haven't played Planet Coaster so I can't compare Zoo Tycoon or the potential of this one to that game. I am not the slightest bit interested in amusement parks, and zoos are very different to amusement parks. Therefore this game is not very comparable other than the some of the underlying mechanics will be reused. But I do appreciate the explanation from Lora as to why Zoo Tycoon was so lame.

So you don't go for hype and like to see evidence of something before you make judgement, yet at the same time make a negative judgement publicly on a forum for a game you have no concrete information on nor experience in the last game in the 'Planet...' series?

...ok

[Nats]

Originally posted by LemonyNebula:

Originally posted by Nats:

That's all just hype at the moment till we see anything concrete on this game. I don't go in for hype. If the Steam reviews are good after a week I might buy it otherwise I definitely won't.

I haven't played Planet Coaster so I can't compare Zoo Tycoon or the potential of this one to that game. I am not the slightest bit interested in amusement parks, and zoos are very different to amusement parks. Therefore this game is not very comparable other than the some of the underlying mechanics will be reused. But I do appreciate the explanation from Lora as to why Zoo Tycoon was so lame.

So you don't go for hype and like to see evidence of something before you make judgement, yet at the same time make a negative judgement publicly on a forum for a game you have no concrete information on nor experience in the last game in the 'Planet...' series?

...ok

My gut feeling about games is usually right, my feeling is the chances this game will be lame are very high. I used to have a lot of faith in Frontier that they were a quality outfit but they haven't done anything much of quality over the last 20 years. But I will be very happy if I am wrong, there are far too many lame games around and not enough good management sims.

[Harbinger]

As LoraCraft89 points out Frontier were employed by Microsoft for Zoo Tycoon (2013). You simply do not have the freedom to do whatever you like in a game for hire arrangement. You do what the publisher dictates.

The main downfall of that game was Microsoft wanted it to be both an Xbox 360 game and an Xbox One launch title so any major functionality had to work on both platforms. The Xbox One version got a few extra features and better graphics but it was essentially the same game.

What you ended up with was a game that was limited by the capabilites of hardware equivalent to a mid range PC from 2005.

It's also worth pointing out that Frontier haven't been attached on Zoo Tycoon for at least 3 years at this point. When Frontier became a fully self-publishing studio Microsoft paid them £550k for two licences to Frontier's Cobra engine (this amount likely included a buyout of any further royalties too). These licences were to cover both Disneyland Adventures and Zoo Tycoon. Microsoft then passed all future responsibility for both of those titles to Asobo Studio[www.asobostudio.com] and they are the studio that did the Ultimate Animal Collection version and PC ports of both games.

So you see Frontier cannot possibly improve Zoo Tycoon even if they wanted to. That is something only Asobo can do and only then if Microsoft decides they want to foot the bill on further development.

What they're trying to do with Planet Zoo is do what they couldn't do back then due limitations in technology and publisher oversight. They have complete freedom this time around.

[LemonyNebula]

Originally posted by Nats:

My gut feeling about games is usually right, my feeling is the chances this game will be lame are very high. I used to have a lot of faith in Frontier that they were a quality outfit but they haven't done anything much of quality over the last 20 years. But I will be very happy if I am wrong, there are far too many lame games around and not enough good management sims.

Well that gut feeling it will be bad is the equivalence to any gut feeling it will be good or any hype surrounding it. It holds little ground to reality. Perhaps wait for more information before you judge it so harshly.

It is a shame you never played Planet Coaster too, because there is a reason it did extremely well and is often regarded as the best themepark sim to date. It was enough for them to extend the series to zoo's and there is no doubt they will carry a lot of what made Planet Coaster good over.

[AlexIlTabaccaio]

well.. it has to be said that zoo tycoon for xbox was wrong at the bottom.
the charm of tycoons lies precisely in the complexity of the management, which on that game was missing completely.
If this new game is very much inspired by planet coaster, then we're on the right way.

[Vortimous]

Originally posted by Alex il Tabaccaio:

well.. it has to be said that zoo tycoon for xbox was wrong at the bottom.
the charm of tycoons lies precisely in the complexity of the management, which on that game was missing completely.
If this new game is very much inspired by planet coaster, then we're on the right way.

I believe we are on the way as you say... just watching the trailer, the whole build layout is right out of planet coaster... And if it even builds up that engine and tweaks it even better.... this game will be fantastic.... As for the original complainer (poster), I understand your caution, but if you had played planet coaster, especially as compaired to all other theme park sims out there, you would know why so many are excited for a zoo themed game with the planet coaster engine... it was that good and bringing a zoo atmosphere to it is something that should be fantastic.... time will tell... it will be a day one buy for me for sure...

[Heru Ra Ha]

Originally posted by Nats:

Originally posted by LemonyNebula:

So you don't go for hype and like to see evidence of something before you make judgement, yet at the same time make a negative judgement publicly on a forum for a game you have no concrete information on nor experience in the last game in the 'Planet...' series?

...ok

My gut feeling about games is usually right, my feeling is the chances this game will be lame are very high. I used to have a lot of faith in Frontier that they were a quality outfit but they haven't done anything much of quality over the last 20 years. But I will be very happy if I am wrong, there are far too many lame games around and not enough good management sims.

I like how you totally ignore the facts that the moderators explained to you and continue to talk about your gut feeling usually being right. I mean you did not even bother to check your own facts before making bad judgment so to me you are a troll.

[thewolfone]

What are you whining about? All those games are good. PZ will be a PC exclusive so it won't be held back by consoles and the peasantry.