Games not designed for "non creative people" in mind?

[DaniTheHero]

I have played all the original Roller Coaster Tycoons and Zoo Tycoons as a kid, spent hundreds of hours and always had fun. The missions were challenging but possible even for my puny kid brain, and sandboxes were entertaining for quite a while.

Unfortunately after attempting Planet Coaster now that I'm older, I quickly gave up, and when eyeing Planet Zoo, after numerous reviews, gameplay videos and other observations, It seems apparently that the same issues I encountered exist here as other than premise the games are pretty much the same.

The games are not intuitive, overwhelming beyond belief, don't really teach you anything and push you to wikis and Online/Youtube Guides that could take even hours of your time just learning the "basics" of the gameplay.

But the biggest issue is that the games just don't seem to be fun if you aren't the "creative" type. The sort of Campaign missions are badly designed and are generally unfun unless you're already know exactly what to do
While the "Sandbox" experience requires so much.. creativity and patience it's just depressing. Every building can be customized to the way the lamp is positioned on the building, the completely horrendous pathing, The Teraforming and zoning you have to do, space management and more.

This is really a shame.. I really would've loved to play both these games and actually enjoy them but them seem more akin to modern day Sky Lines then old Tycoons games..

[Razamanaz]

That's what the Steam Workshop is for. Non-creative people who just want something cool but don't want to do the work. You still have to do some work by placing things properly as you want them. But, yeah, even then it's much more complicated than Zoo Tycoon.

[Jaggid Edje]

The game pretty much works close to the same as the old zoo tycoon if you just use blueprints for everything rather than building things yourself. The game comes with a lot of blueprints (most require mechanic research for each them to unlock them though) and the workshop is practically an endless supply of additional blueprints.

You aren't wrong that the game is definitely alot more appealing for people who like to build, but it's still quite fun for those who do not and use just blueprints instead.

[grampers62]

Indeed not every game is suited to every potential player.

That being said, the more one plays with the planet series games the more one learns how they work. Consider those videos and such, Those were often created with days and sometime weeks of work. And many of the fantastic buildings and habitats you see were also created with months or years of learning how to make them.
Don't sell yourself short and hang in there to see what you can do.

[DaniTheHero]

So much busy work for a game :/

[swskydancer]

Okay, DaniTheHero, let's talk. :) Before I bought Planet Zoo I put myself into the category of noncreative to the nth degree, lol. I knew, however, that this was the type of game that I really would enjoy but didn't realize how much information I would have to digest and yes, watch YouTube videos to better explain the controls. The tutorials are often criticized for not being in-depth enough and sometimes vague, but with hindsight, I can see that to keep them brief enough there is only so much they can introduce.

While in the tutorials, I was so appreciative of the beautiful graphics and could see the potential for what could be accomplished with building. I also immediately saw how much I was going to enjoy the animal management. I was also aware that there were complete sandbox zoos in the Workshop that could be downloaded but here again, yes, one does have to have the DLC packs used in the zoo's construction. That wasn't an issue for me because I had purchased an Ultimate Edition when it was on sale because I knew I like the sim genre.

Here it is a little over a year later from the purchase and I am hopelessly addicted to Planet Zoo. After I had made it through the first three tutorials and taken the time to stay in each of those zoos for a little extra play, I downloaded my first full zoo from the Workshop before moving on to the fourth tutorial. I soon found that I could use these zoos as a learning aid too. Most of the time each one needs little touches that are easy to do for those of us who are "building zoo impaired", while enjoying a more relaxed time of just playing. Now I am finally concentrating on learning to build and this forum has an awesome community to help with questions. Practice makes it get easier and I consider it time well spent. Replayability is an important aspect to me for any game that I may purchase. I don't want a game that I finish within a few hours. I want a game that can keep me engaged for hours at a time, over and over. For me, that happens with Planet Zoo.

I don't want to write a book here, lol, but if I, noncreative as I am, can play and enjoy this game, then anyone can. The whole trick is to stay relaxed, rather than get frustrated. I accepted the fact that the game has a learning curve so each little victory of dots connecting is immensely satisfying. I may never develop the skills to build an amazing zoo but that's okay. If I want to see a showpiece of a zoo, I can download one to play and dissect some of what was done for learning purposes and inspiration.

Because you took the time to make this post, I feel like you have a real interest in the game. Having said that, though, only you can decide whether or not you want to invest the time necessary to play it. Personally, I've never regretted my decision to do so but ymmv. I'm not trying to talk you into buying the game, just letting you know there is another noncreative person out here who enjoys it very much.

[Jaggid Edje]

I agree with @swskydancer 100%. I also am not particularly creative....I'm sometimes amazed at the 'unusual' uses people find for construction objects in their build. I rarely have it in me to think up those sorts of things.

I played through career mode the first time using nothing but blueprints.

You can filter the workshop to exclude anything that uses DLCs that you do not own .The exclude button is on the right hand side and nearly invisible, so I thought I'd mention that in case you weren't even aware that it was there.

[swskydancer]

@Jaggid Edje, good catch on the Workshop filter. I completely forgot about it.

[DaniTheHero]

Автор сообщения: Jaggid Edje

I agree with @swskydancer 100%. I also am not particularly creative....I'm sometimes amazed at the 'unusual' uses people find for construction objects in their build. I rarely have it in me to think up those sorts of things.

I played through career mode the first time using nothing but blueprints.

You can filter the workshop to exclude anything that uses DLCs that you do not own .The exclude button is on the right hand side and nearly invisible, so I thought I'd mention that in case you weren't even aware that it was there.

Any way to make the teraforming/landscaping not take half a day to even begin building?

[Sham]

All the building and landscaping tools are pretty intuitive if you have experience with some 3D softwares or any experience playing around in a game engine such as Unity or Unreal. The gizmos used to fine tune placement are exactly what you'd find in those softwares and the landscaping tools are basicly the 3 main brushes from Zbrush.

As an ex-3D artist from the industry I find them pretty easy and fun to use (except for the ride paths that give me nightmares), but yes, if it's your first time encountering those types of tools I can't see you having fun building before a while of getting used to it and a few headaches

The game kind of catters to the create and refine your zoo niche more than the manage the economy of your zoo one

[DaniTheHero]

Автор сообщения: Sham

All the building and landscaping tools are pretty intuitive if you have experience with some 3D softwares or any experience playing around in a game engine such as Unity or Unreal. The gizmos used to fine tune placement are exactly what you'd find in those softwares and the landscaping tools are basicly the 3 main brushes from Zbrush.

As an ex-3D artist from the industry I find them pretty easy and fun to use (except for the ride paths that give me nightmares), but yes, if it's your first time encountering those types of tools I can't see you having fun building before a while of getting used to it and a few headaches

The game kind of catters to the create and refine your zoo niche more than the manage the economy of your zoo one

It's safe to say most people don't have any experience with these software and tools.

And yeah, that was my fear and issue with the game, the gameplay loop is more focused on the artistic part of it. The complete control to design and create. The Zoo is just a side premise. There seems to be less focus on the "gameplay" (Managing, economy and so on) unlike the Zoo tycoon games that weren't too customization but were fun as ZOO MANAGEMENT games.

I'm not the type of guy to enjoy teraforming the land, manually placing bushes,trees, rocks and what not for dozens of hours.

[Jaggid Edje]

Автор сообщения: DaniTheHero

Any way to make the teraforming/landscaping not take half a day to even begin building?

Not really, other than experience and practice, which makes a HUGE difference in how long it takes to do things. And even then, it's not going to be a fast process.

But you compared the game to Zoo Tycoon...which didn't have landscaping. It's an option if you want the game to play like Zoo Tycoon...don't do fancy landscaping.

[boomerkin]

Автор сообщения: DaniTheHero

Автор сообщения: Sham

All the building and landscaping tools are pretty intuitive if you have experience with some 3D softwares or any experience playing around in a game engine such as Unity or Unreal. The gizmos used to fine tune placement are exactly what you'd find in those softwares and the landscaping tools are basicly the 3 main brushes from Zbrush.

As an ex-3D artist from the industry I find them pretty easy and fun to use (except for the ride paths that give me nightmares), but yes, if it's your first time encountering those types of tools I can't see you having fun building before a while of getting used to it and a few headaches

The game kind of catters to the create and refine your zoo niche more than the manage the economy of your zoo one

It's safe to say most people don't have any experience with these software and tools.

And yeah, that was my fear and issue with the game, the gameplay loop is more focused on the artistic part of it. The complete control to design and create. The Zoo is just a side premise. There seems to be less focus on the "gameplay" (Managing, economy and so on) unlike the Zoo tycoon games that weren't too customization but were fun as ZOO MANAGEMENT games.

I'm not the type of guy to enjoy teraforming the land, manually placing bushes,trees, rocks and what not for dozens of hours.

if you are that damn lazy, then this game isnt for you. I can, with very minimal effort, play this exactly how i use to play zoo tycoon 2. you do not have to get into any other things other than plopping down buildings and making 4 wall enclosures if you dont want to.

[DaniTheHero]

Funny enough right as we’re talking about it the game goes on sale. Sadly I remain undecided

[mystery]

Haven't used much of the fancy building stuff, my Zoo mainly consist of grid-placed paths & squary/rectangle Zoo enclosures. Animals & visitors are still happy in it.
Bought Planet Zoo for the animals, so never got into the (detailed) building part.

A good way to unlock many fancy stuff without using the workshop is research. Several stuff gets unlocked when researching themes & staff buildings/zoo walls/enclosures etc, giving you a good variety of stuff to make enclosures with & prettifying your Zoo without spending time in the creative building area.

For the Zoo enclosures themselves, I research the animals, place basic needs in there (fitting shelters, enrichment items, food/drink places, etc) see if they got special needs (like needing higher or sturdier walls, water, certain temperatures; etc) & make sure those are present.
Then I change the soil to the combination they need (grass, sand, rock, etc).
Last part are plants, put on the filter for continent & climate of the animal that goes in there & with all of the above, it makes for a basic enclosure the animal loves, without spending tons of time building enclosures.

Planet Zoo is a good game even if you're not into the building aspect imo, as long as you enjoy animals ofc.

[Xenomorph Kitty]

Comparing Planet Zoo to the older tycoon games is a notable comparison but also an unfair one.

The older games were top down isometric, with very limited terraforming or way's to be creative because the technology at the time just didn't allow for it. So the tycoon aspect was at the forefront. You could just place basic enclosures, plop animals and things would be fine.

Planet Zoo is quite literally a different game. The tycoon elements are there, building a franchise sits firmly in the same vein. You have money to worry about, ticket prices etc, etc.
Guest happiness.
Animal welfare.
Staffing and staff needs/pay/training

All of this you have to take care of and yes it's more involved than the older games, because it isn't Zoo Tycoon. Zoo Tycoon games were an inspiration, nothing more. Given your complaints about the creativity, which are honestly pretty petty, and you're putting the game at fault when it's your fault for giving up at the first hurdle and having the creativity of a teaspoon.

Anything takes practice to get good at, all these guides and youtubers all had to learn it too.

If you're really too lazy to put any effort in, not even just building basic four walled enclosures and making sure your animals have what they need.

If it's really that much of an effort for you to appreciate the freedom you're given, then the game is not for you. And it's not the games fault. It's yours. It's perfectly intuitive enough.