How do i make plazas?

[Zooasaurus]

Hello
I just purchased the game, wanting to get the "modern" ZT2 feel. I'm enjoying the game so far, but it seems that i can't make independent plaza/food court/picnic grounds. I can't place picnic benches and other facilities on ground, as it needs to be adjacent with path. So how do i make such plazas? Is it even possible?

[discab]

hi, excuse my bad english but when you do the path, you have a button like "select grid". Test that, you can do large place like that
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2032566704

[Moving Target]

When you are in the path menu lay one path piece then click on the ALIGN TO GRID button (large one at bottom right of path menu) hold your mouse over the path piece you just laid and a 3x3 grid should appear, click to place it.
Every path piece you now lay will be on that grid and joined together like one big path, the size of each grid piece will be the same size as the first piece you laid. 4mtr path piece=4mtr grid, 10mtr path piece=10mtr grid. The path you put down doesn't even have to be joined up, you could lay two separate plazas using the same grid.
If you lay two plazas using 2 different grids you won't be able to join them up using a grid, you'll have to use normal pathing (no grid)
If you want picnic tables on grass then make a plaza using the NATURAL path pieces (not the ones with the dirty green streak in the middle) you can then paint the path pieces using any terrain texture you want
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1997498651
The 'grass' area with picnic benches on it is actually a path, this is a single grid plaza using part natural path and part stone path

[Zooasaurus]

Originally posted by Moving Target:

When you are in the path menu lay one path piece then click on the ALIGN TO GRID button (large one at bottom right of path menu) hold your mouse over the path piece you just laid and a 3x3 grid should appear, click to place it.
Every path piece you now lay will be on that grid and joined together like one big path, the size of each grid piece will be the same size as the first piece you laid. 4mtr path piece=4mtr grid, 10mtr path piece=10mtr grid. The path you put down doesn't even have to be joined up, you could lay two separate plazas using the same grid.
If you lay two plazas using 2 different grids you won't be able to join them up using a grid, you'll have to use normal pathing (no grid)
If you want picnic tables on grass then make a plaza using the NATURAL path pieces (not the ones with the dirty green streak in the middle) you can then paint the path pieces using any terrain texture you want
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1997498651
The 'grass' area with picnic benches on it is actually a path, this is a single grid plaza using part natural path and part stone path

Thanks for the detailed response. I tried that, but it seems that i can't join the grid path to the main path: https://imgur.com/a/2mtkARE (pardon for imgur link)

[Moving Target]

You can only join a path FROM or TO a grid not join a grid TO a path. With what you have there (I set up a random path in GREY in screenshot below) I would make a single path piece off of your existing path, the point on your path between the ATM & Chief Beef looks good as it will give you room to take the grid parallel with your existing path, I have represented this with the BLACK path in the screenshot below. Use that piece to make a grid
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2033451365
Given the shape of the path you might be able to do as shown in my next screenshot and attach the grid to 2 sides of that piece if there is enough room and the grid doesn't get blocked by your original path, if it does get blocked you'll just have to manage with a larger gap between your plaza and pathway, MOSAIC paths were laid using the grid and the original BLACK piece is now part of that grid
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2033451451
Now you have your gridded plaza turn the grid OFF and you can put more paths connecting between your original path and the plaza (see small black connecting path on the left) you can add more anywhere along the grid but you will be left with some gaps.
This is your best option unless you want to re-do your path in front of those shops , usually best to put the grid down first and add the shops after.

[Zooasaurus]

Originally posted by Moving Target:

You can only join a path FROM or TO a grid not join a grid TO a path. With what you have there (I set up a random path in GREY in screenshot below) I would make a single path piece off of your existing path, the point on your path between the ATM & Chief Beef looks good as it will give you room to take the grid parallel with your existing path, I have represented this with the BLACK path in the screenshot below. Use that piece to make a grid
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2033451365
Given the shape of the path you might be able to do as shown in my next screenshot and attach the grid to 2 sides of that piece if there is enough room and the grid doesn't get blocked by your original path, if it does get blocked you'll just have to manage with a larger gap between your plaza and pathway, MOSAIC paths were laid using the grid and the original BLACK piece is now part of that grid
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2033451451
Now you have your gridded plaza turn the grid OFF and you can put more paths connecting between your original path and the plaza (see small black connecting path on the left) you can add more anywhere along the grid but you will be left with some gaps.
This is your best option unless you want to re-do your path in front of those shops , usually best to put the grid down first and add the shops after.

Thank you! I managed to make it work
Say, is there a guide for creating building and this kind of thing? I didn't see any in Steam guides and in-game help doesn't explain much

[Moving Target]

Try searching Planet Zoo tutorials on You Tube - there are loads of good ones out there - glad you got your plaza to work!