My Hypothetical Petting Zoo Idea

[Markus Aurelius]

Hello!

As you're all probably aware, Frontier has announced their next DLC for Planet Zoo: the Barnyard Animal Pack, which will include seven new habitat species along with a free update that allows guests to interact not just with these animals, but other animals in your walkthrough enclosures. I've already shared one speculative DLC idea, the Exotic Birds pack, and in light of this new announcement, I thought i'd share my ideas for how I could've seen a DLC like this.

My thoughts for a Petting Zoo DLC were originally a Scenery pack; five new animals with over a hundred new building pieces and a potential free update. These were my picks for the animal roster:

1. Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig (flagship) - I chose a pig as the flagship species for this pack because, at the time I devised this pack, the game was still lacking in swine variety. So, I felt that having a pig as the flagship animal for a petting zoo pack felt appropriate. We're still getting a pig in this new DLC, but it won't be the Vietnamese potbelly.

2. Alpaca - I am excited to see an animal I wanted to see making it into the upcoming pack. If Frontier had wanted to do another animal from the llama family, then the alpaca was my first choice. Their petite size and plushy exterior is going to make for some great petting zoo builds.

3. Dorper Sheep - More people would prefer goats, but the dorper sheep, with its black head and white woolly body, stood out to me much more than other sheep and goats. I even thought of including it in a hypothetical Arid pack before the Arid Animal Pack was announced. Yet, we'll be getting both a sheep and a goat in this new animal pack, and the sheep they chose looks pretty nice. I'll judge it more at the Launch trailer.

4. Shetland Pony - The equine of the pack and likely contender for flagship status. I chose the pony specifically with an update idea in mind that I thought would've been perfect to include with a pack like this: Animal Rides, an update that could've carried over to camels and (wishful thinking here) even elephants. Sadly, however, we have the American donkey for our next equine animal. it should be good, but I would've liked ponies a little more.

5. English Lop-Eared Rabbit - It's rather surprising that Frontier has not included rabbits in Planet Zoo, and a pack centered around petting zoos is the perfect place for them. I settled on lop-eared rabbits because they look more distinguishable to me than most other rabbit breeds. Unfortunately, rabbits won't be making an appearance in the new pack.

Scenery pieces I could've seen in a Petting Zoo pack include:
- Farmland buildings (barns, silos, windmills, etc.)
- Playground equipment
- Child-friendly decorations (i.e. cartoon animal standees/art)

In summation, the petting zoo concept certainly worked better as a Scenery pack, but at the end of the day, I play this game for the animals, not the buildings. Though we're not getting over two-hundred new building pieces, we're still getting some sizable scenery options (60 total), and though I've got some gripes about this new pack's roster, I'm not too upset by it.

This is just my idea for a hypothetical pack. What would you guys have liked to have seen in a petting zoo pack? Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas, I'd love to see what you come up with. And what are your thoughts on the Barnyard Animal Pack - do you hate it, does it give you mixed feelings, or are you pretty excited for it?

[rainbow.starfish]

Surprised they didn't include either rabbits or guinea pigs

[Just Kevin]

Don't include goats! when my kids were toddlers the goats almost ate them. They will eat anything.

[jeremywyx]

Originally posted by Just Kevin:

Don't include goats! when my kids were toddlers the goats almost ate them. They will eat anything.

the goats are bocomeing omnivorouse...

[audiolady]

But, Kevin, they might include food the guests can buy to feed goats and other animals, like in real zoos! Would be cool if they did.
Either lop eared rabbits or whatever breed they used in Night of the Lepus would be cool.

[Just Kevin]

Goats will eat anything. My sister had some and they ate the shed. Eventually she got rid of them cos they kept getting on the house roof.