Planet Zoo vs. Jurassic World Evolution.

[Shark]

Come Christmas Day I am going to have a decision to make. I'll either be able to buy Planet Zoo & the expansion. or I'll be able to get the Jurassic World Evolution and bring that game up to date. I have never played Planet Zoo so I don't know how it plays. I am happy with Jurassic World, but looking forward to messing around with Planet Zoo.

Anyone who plays both, how do the two games stack against each other? Would I be better of with Jurassic World for now, or is Planet Zoo enjoyable enough? Thanks.

[Nova]

Two games play fairly different, I prefer the PZ style over JWE. There is infinite freedom in PZ to make your park your own whereas in JWE you just get to pick the layout for predefined buildings. I think the animal animations in JWE are more impressive but the interaction with animals better in PZ. PZ you get a big flat square to do what you want with and to do whatever you want, if its just a flat park then thats your choice, if you make mountains then also your choice.

If I had to advise someone I would say first of all make your choice closer to the day to see whats on sale. But getting a new game would most likely provide more entertainment than getting a dlc with a bunch of new animals so I'd advise picking up PZ (I imagine it will be on sale) and then getting the JWE DLC over time.

[Nariel]

It's like comparing Apples and Oranges

Sure, they are made by the same people, but they play differently

To me, JWE is too much like a mobile game. A lot of sitting around and waiting for money to roll in every minute. The Dinosaur animations aren't that interesting (except for the T-Rex) and the missions are repetitive and boring

JWE is not a bad game, don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed it when it first came out. But after playing Planet Zoo I just can't go back to it

Planet Zoo, to me, is more interesting, more involved. I like the micromanaging aspect, and designing enclosures and the zoo itself.

JWE strength is on the nostalgia value. If you love the JP/JW movies then you will forgive a lot of the game shortcomings. While Planet Zoo, which is often compared to Zoo Tycoon, is more involved, but more satisfying to watch your zoo grow, and being able to manage your animals.

Both games have a campaign/career mode, which acts as the tutorial so you can learn what to do.

If you are looking for a more casual game, that is simpler and involves less micromanaging, and you love the movies then I would say play JWE.

If you are looking for a more involved game, where you are given more design freedom and you like micromanagement then give Planet Zoo a go. :)

[Shark]

Thanks, Katelyn & Nova, for the info. Not going to give up on JWE and I'll pick up the new content at some point. But for right now Planet Zoo looks too good to pass up & lends itself to more creative choices and my own personal style.

[pixelrobot]

Zoo is 10x better. Jurassic World Evo is like a mobile game.

Either way you're getting milked though, obscene amount of dlc for both games guaranteed.

[Harbinger]

It may be an idea waiting until the DLC drops on Tuesday. Frontier typically discounts their base games when they do DLC launches (as with Jurassic World Evolution now) and as this game has been out over 30 days it qualifies to be discounted. Also the Winter Sale starts Thursday so it's ripe for at least a small discount.

They can start a sale event that ends the same day as the Winter Sale so it's essentially starts 2 days early and then rolls right into the Winter Sale Event.

I foresee a discount that would allow a bundle purchase including the new DLC for around the current retail price.

Not ideal for those who bought the game at launch but those who wait for sale events always get better value for their money.

[Metalhead123]

Planet Zoo will take over your life. The building and freedom to shape the landscape is incredible. Support this game and buy all the DLC's they deliver. Naysayers/Bandwagoners/Bootleggers will whine and moan that's it's overpriced or it's a reskin "Cry" "Cry" "Cry" but in my opinion you get value for Money. They will charge maybe £8 for a handful of animals and a load of building assets. £8 is nothing in this day and age.

[Shark]

I was looking over the requirements. It seems they recommend an i7. I only have an i5. So I am not sure if I should risk it. Having said that, I haven't ran into any problems in JWE or any other game that recommends an i7. Anyone else running this on an i5?

[gidro]

you can but the problem is the number of entities. In JWE visitors are fake, it's only for looks. Here they are by group of 4 or 5, each of them with needs, reactions.... you can actually click on them and see things. As your zoo gets bigger, your i5 will have to deal with that, + the animals + the staff and a more complex financial aspect.

Since you can only play for 2 hours before you can't refound, you could download a big zoo on the workshop, something with more than 5000 visitors and see what happens.

At least on planet zoo nobody is complaining about the map being too small :D I'm curious to know what kind of computer could handle a zoo covering the entire map, that is if the game can deal with that without crashing or corrupting the save.

[Shark]

Presently I have an Intel Core i5-6600K CPU @ 3.50GHz. 16 GB RAM & 3 GB GTX 1060. From what I am reading I should be OK, if I don't get too crazy.

Out of curiosity, does the game have a way to restrict the number of guests at any one time? Is there a way to keep the zoo closed until I get it finished?

[Nariel]

Yes. You can open and close the zoo any time. Or you can build while the game is paused

There is a slider for you to alter the maximum amount of guests that can be in your zoo at once, from 500 to 10,000. I think its default on 2000

[Shark]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Katelyn:

Yes. You can open and close the zoo any time. Or you can build while the game is paused

There is a slider for you to alter the maximum amount of guests that can be in your zoo at once, from 500 to 10,000. I think its default on 2000

That's good to know. And is it the amount of guests that affect performance the most or can number of exhibits/and or size of the exhibits also factor in.

Also, how does the game handle unused space? Like if I did a smaller zoo, is it going to look like I have a few things in a big empty field?

[Track]

get jurassic worlds stuff if you liked it enough to play again with all dlc , cheaper, updated more stability wise. get planet zoo later, waiting won't hurt you, it may actually save you money

[Nariel]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Shark:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Katelyn:

Yes. You can open and close the zoo any time. Or you can build while the game is paused

There is a slider for you to alter the maximum amount of guests that can be in your zoo at once, from 500 to 10,000. I think its default on 2000

That's good to know. And is it the amount of guests that affect performance the most or can number of exhibits/and or size of the exhibits also factor in.

Also, how does the game handle unused space? Like if I did a smaller zoo, is it going to look like I have a few things in a big empty field?

I haven't noticed any issues with animal population sizes. I think the issue mostly comes from the amount of guests, which can be adjusted

Unused space is pretty much like you said, it will look like a few exhibits in a large, open field.

All the maps are wilderness maps, so you either have hills, or mountains in the background etc. Some people have asked if cityscapes could be used as a background. So maybe that might be added in the future

[Shark]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Katelyn:

I haven't noticed any issues with animal population sizes. I think the issue mostly comes from the amount of guests, which can be adjusted

Unused space is pretty much like you said, it will look like a few exhibits in a large, open field.

All the maps are wilderness maps, so you either have hills, or mountains in the background etc. Some people have asked if cityscapes could be used as a background. So maybe that might be added in the future

Thanks. Only other zoo simulator I have played was the original Zoo Tycoon, so that is my only point of reference.

[Kiyohime]

I prefer that you choose Planet Zoo, I had that same decision making but nonetheless I didn't regret choosing Planet zoo over the DLCs of Jurassic World Evolution, though I may get the latest one (I skipped the earlier DLCs.)