Is it really 'real'?

[Just Kevin]

Planet zoo tries to be as real as possible. It says, build large habitats so animals can display their natural characteristics, for example. But in some instances they do not. Offspring seem to 'beam in,' for example. They simply materialise at the side of their mother. Granted not many people want to see a realistic birth, or them having sex! But some creatures do not give birth or are even 'expecting' as the game tells you via notifications. Birds don't give birth, they build nests and lay eggs and sit on them. There's no real reason they cannot also do that in Planet Zoo. There's quite a lot of creatures in the game that lay eggs. Most that do also build nests.

[audiolady]

Would it be easy to replace the baby animal beam in with eggs beaming into a nest? Anyone out there know anything about programming who can tell us?

[Just Kevin]

I would imagine it's not too hard for Frontier. Maybe it did not occur to them originally, but now there's a lot of species in the game that lay eggs. Birds can build a nest and sit on it, you don't need to see one being laid, or it even hatching, it could all go on under the hen. And even one mammal in the game that lays.

[Badger]

Crocodiles, alligators, nile monitors, kimodos, turtles and most of the exhibit species are also egg layers. But really, how 'real' do you want it to be? Do we really want to see an animal actually give birth? Poo beams in the same way as offspring. Do we really want to see an animal taking a dump? I think the realism they talk about, is primarily animal requirements, behaviour and interactions.

[audiolady]

Turtles digging holes, then laying eggs, the babies digging out like sea turtles do would be SO cool!

[Just Kevin]

I already said there's no need to see actual births, they are not pleasant! but egg layers lay eggs, they don't give birth. They build a nest and sit on it, and lay eggs unseen under themselves. They sit on them and they hatch. There's nothing to see! And PZ does try to show a creature's natural behaviour, and even tells you to give them enough room to show it. (Most zoos manage to do that even in the limited space most have.) Building a nest and sitting on it is very natural. Oh, and in PZ the animals do take a dump ... very natural behaviour.