Jurassic Challenge Mode Guide

Tips and Tricks for Jurassic Difficulty in Challenge Mode. Advice on the fastest and easiest way to 5 star your park on any map. Acquire that achievement or cool dinosaur skin you've been wanting!

Intro

Preface

Below is a step-by-step guide for how to complete Jurassic challenge mode!

• This guide can be used to five star Jurassic Challenge mode on any island
  
  
• This guide will allow you to complete any challenge mode under the par time
  
  
• This challenge guide will help complete any time-based achievement

Here is a big clarification: you do not need to beat the par time in order to unlock a skin




The challenge mode skins considered the best are:
The Wetland T-Rex Skin, Jungle Ceratosaurus, Vivid Brachiosaurus, and Coastal Indominus
All of the skins can be previewed online so you can choose which to go after.

Important Tips

Here are some important gameplay tips that alter challenge mode strategies:

• Dinosaur Visibility does not affect Star Rating
  
  Only a single viewing vent is required on the first exhibit to get guests into the park, and no other viewing vents, towers or gyrosphere rides are needed to 5 Star and complete challenge mode
  
  
• Transportation Rating does not affect Star Rating
  
  The transportation rating does not contribute to star rating for guest satisfaction, so the monorail or strategic placement regarding long paths are not needed to 5 Star and complete challenge mode
  
  
• Only three buildings are needed for guest satisfaction
  
  Only the Restaurant, Clothes Shop, and Arcade are needed to fulfill guest satisfaction for Food, Drink, Shopping, and Fun. This is the best combination and other buildings are not needed
  
  
• Save Often
  
  You never know when disaster will strike. Storms and breakouts can ruin an entire game
  It is also a good idea to save before hatching a dinosaur that is not a 100% genome complete
  
  SAVE EVERY STORM WARNING AND RISKY DINOSAUR HATCHING
  
  

Getting Started

Island Preparation and Initial Planning

The timer for challenge mode does not officially begin until the first building is placed
Players can feel free to look at the map and determine the park layout them deem fit.

In the menu, players can change the lighting of the island to their choice.
Players can switch Isla Pena to Day or any island to a Day/Night cycle, whatever is easier/wanted.

Initial Buildings

The only buildings needed are a Power Station, Expedition Center, Fossil Center, and Creation Lab.
A Research Center is not needed at this time and is a waste of money!



The Small Power Station takes the longest to build, so place the power station first!
Then place the Expedition Center and Fossil Center, connect a path, and place a substation.

Leave room to replace the small power station with a medium power station later on
Place the substation in a spot that can also power the Creation Lab or other buildings later

Remember that the park does not have to be pretty, it just has to work!

The Race to a Struthiomimus

Once the Expedition Center is online, send out a dig team immediately for Struthiomimus Fossils!
Money is being lost every second a dinosaur is not in the park. Get a Struthiomumus ASAP!

While waiting for their return, place a Hammond Creation Lab and build a medium enclosure.
Place some water and a small herbivore feeder, but do not get caught up in exhibit design!

Make a Struthiomimus the second it is viable (50% DNA)
The first dinosaur will never fail.

Always remember to watch out for and frequently check to see if a dig team has returned

Strategic Placement
Players can strategically design their park so a single Hammond Creation Lab connects to several different exhibits, allowing players to put off buying another Creation Lab or an early ACU Center.


It doesn't have to be four, but the higher number of exhibits to one hatchery the better!

Contracts

The first Struthi will turn the park profitable, but barely. Income will be taxed.
The Hammond Foundation Fee takes a percentage of income based on difficulty.

In difficulties like Jurassic Difficulty, contracts are the only source of income. (until the first star)
Many contracts are impossible, and may even need to be paid to cancel in favor of a do-able one.

If all three contracts are very difficult or impossible at the start, the game may have to be restarted.

Getting to First Star

Extraction Center

The best early game dinosaurs to collect DNA for are:
Struthiomimus, Triceratops, and Edmontosaurus

They can live in the same enclosure and have higher social limits.
The Ceratosaurus is expensive in early game and must live with other Ceratos.

Always watch out for the expedition center to return for fossils. Do not get distracted!

Cloning Dinosaurs

There is no particular magic number in order to obtain one star, each island and player is different

A good range for early dinosaurs is:

3-4 Triceratops

8-10 Struthiomimus

2-4 Edmontosaurus

This combo will achieve One Star rating

DO NOT PUT TOO MANY DINOSAURS IN ONE ENCLOSURE
Disease is rampant on harder difficulties and becomes impossible to contain
Some exhibits will be expanded with new dinosaurs later, some room must be saved

Dinosaurs do not have to be 100% DNA to hatch (remember to save before just in case!)
Higher DNA genome completion gives dinos better rating and better stats

Cautious Expansion

Certain buildings should be constructed before hitting One Star rating


Recommendations:

• A Research Center is needed in preparation for the unlocks from One Star
  
• A Ranger Station is needed for disease control and when storms begin to hit the park (One Star)
  
• A Gift Shop and Fast-Food building also helps park rating and income level

Do not spend money on other buildings. All other buildings are a waste of money!

The Slow Down

There are times leading up to the First Star in which the game becomes a slow grind
The first few buildings and dinosaurs cost all the starting money on high difficulties

High foundation fees results in sitting around waiting for money to build things and make dinos

Use this time to plan future exhibits, take ranger photos, unlock skins, and use terrarain tools

It is essential to try to complete contracts during this time for income and fast completion time

The First Star should take around 45 mins. Longer than an hour is too long, game may need restart

One Star Rating

Each Star unlocks more dig sites and research options, and also the ability for storms to strike
Every Star corresponds to the order of content unlocked on each island in the main campaign

Research Upgrades

Star One unlocks many important upgrades needing to be researched:

Dig Yield
Dig Yield upgrade to the Expedition Center is the most important in Challenge Mode
It boosts the number and quality of non-fossil valuables to sell from dig sites

Research this upgrade immediately and use Dig Yield on all three upgrades slots
Also research Dig Team Bravo so as to double the number of fossil expeditions

This will replace contracts as the primary source of revenue from here on out!
________________________________________________________________________________

-Research can be done in any order and only when players have the money to spend

Buildings

• Restaurant
  
• Clothes Shop
  
• Medium Power Station

Optional

• Storm Defense Station

Fossil Access
The following dinosaurs need to be researched:

• Sinoceratops
  
• Baryoynx
  
  
• Crichtonsaurus (DLC)
  
• Iguanadon (DLC)
  
• Euoplocephalus (DLC)

Many DLC dinosaurs are good to use, but not required if not owned by the player

Improved Output 1.0 + 2.0
This increases the electricity output of a power station

Outage Protection 1.0 + 2.0
This protects the power station for outages caused by Improved Output upgrades

Extraction Speed
This increases the speed of DNA extraction from Fossil Centers

Research Team Bravo
Double the research teams allows an extra team for emergency medical research

Research Speed
Increases the speed of research at the Research Center

Disease
Disease will start to hit the park, and can get out of control fast with high numbers of dinosaurs
Preemptively researching disease treatments as they unlock helps keep disease under control

Most Research Items are optional, but extremely beneficial for speed and efficiency (except stores)

Guest Satisfaction

One Star rating increases the need for park capacity and guest satisfaction
Hotels and guest satisfaction buildings are needed to keep guest rating at Five Stars

The Hotel and Restaurant-Clothes Shop-Arcade combo is the perfect Five Star combo

While Restaurant (Food/Drink) and Clothes Shop (Shopping) are unlocked at One Star,
The Arcade (Fun) is unlocked at Two Star rating. Be sure to leave room for an arcade!

Satisfaction has to be between 90%-100%

DOES NOT EFFECT GUEST RATING

• Transportation Rating
  
• Dinosaur Visibility

Monorail is not required, entire park can be path

Only one viewing gallery is needed on first exhibit

Dinosaur Exhibits

It is now time to construct an ACU Center to transport dinosaurs

Genetic Modifications
Not all dinosaurs have to be at 100% DNA, but the closer the better for rating/success
Genetic Modifications are risky and not needed, only skin patterns are worth researching

AVOID SMALL CARNIVORES
Many small carnivores like raptors are hard to contain and break out often
Dilophosaurus, Proceratosaurus (DLC) and Toodon (DLC) have lower comfort

AVOID LARGE CARNIVORES
Many late game carnivores like T-Rex live alone, need lots of space, and have high comfort limits
Medium Carnivores live in pairs and have lower comfort (Baryoynx, Ceratosaurus, Metricanthosaurus)

Enclosure Spacing
Larger exhibits allow for multiple carnivore or herbivore species to live together
Place multiple feeders or decrease the dispense time to keep many dinosaurs fed

Dinosaur Enclosures
Here is a list of various exhibit plans to get to Two Stars:

Exhibit One

• Sturthiomimus x8
  
• Triceratops x4
  
• Sinoceratops x4

Exhibit Two

• Edmontosaurus x2
  
• Corythosaurus x4
  
• Iguanadon x4
  
• Euoplocephalus x4

Exhibit Three

• Ankylosaurus x4
  
• Crichtonsaurus x4

Exhibit Four

• Chungkingosaurus x4
  
• Huayangosaurus x4

Exhibit Five

• Ceratosaurus x3

Exhibit Six

• Baryoynx x2
  
• Dilophosaurus x6

Remember that these enclosures do not need any sort of dinosaur visibility!

Two Star Rating

Research Upgrades

Buildings:

• Arcade (Fun)

The arcade is the third building (w/ Restaurant and Clothes Shop) to complete guest satisfaction

Dinosaurs:

• Metriacantosaurus

Optional:

• Troodon (DLC)
  
• Proceratosaurus (DLC)

Building Upgrades

• Incubation Speed 3.0 and 4.0
  
• Heavy Steel Fence (non-electric)
  
• Dig Team Charlie
  
• Research Speed
  
• Ranger Team Scheduling

Building upgrades speed up completion time, add storm protection, and increase dig team income

Dinosaur Exhibits

New exhibits should be pretty large and with a new Hammond Creation Lab to save time

Sauropods
Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus are now unlocked in dig sites
Camarasaurus will be unlocked at dig sites at Three Stars

Sauropods are the best dinosaurs in Challenge Mode, they have:

• High Rating
  
• High Social
  
• High Population

They are also easy to contain during storms

Sauropods can live in large numbers in the same enclosure and with other species of sauropod

Can also live with Large and Small Carnivores
or other species of Herbivore like Hadrosaurs

A good exhibit plan to increase rating is:

Diplodocus x8
Brachiosaurus x5
Camarasaurus x4 (3 Stars)

Repeat this exhibit several times to increase dinosaur rating instead of large carnivores

Other dinos may be added later to increase variety

Remember that these exhibits do not need visibility and may be placed wherever room is left

STORMS

At Two Stars storms will start to hit the park pretty regularly
On higher difficulties this will often be a tornado rather than light storm

DO NOT PANIC! Remember to save whenever there is a storm warning just in case!

There are a few tips to deal with storms:

• Driving the Jeep is faster than AI
  
  
• A fence can be deleted and replaced
  (Faster than repairing a broken fence)
  
  
• Storm Defense Stations give early warning
  
  
• SAVE SAVE SAVE

Three - Five Stars

Most of the research needed is complete by a Three Star park, and none is required
The rest of Challenge Mode is mostly a repeat of getting to Three Stars

This consists of making and filling exhibits with sauropods and the hotel-guest building combo
Be sure to check the requirements for FIve Stars for guests and dinosaurs frequently

KEEP DIGGING FOR FOSSILS TO MAKE MONEY, EVEN FOR UNUSED DINOSAURS

Dinosaur Rating is a 0/0000 score while guest satisfaction for food/drink/shopping/fun must be >90%

Dinosaur Requirements

Jurassic Difficulty has extremely high dinosaur rating requirements
The hardest part of Challenge Mode is dinosaur rating and variety

Rating
Dinosaur rating requirements is determined by map size and difficulty
The high rating requirement is most easily met with Sauropod exhibits

Add the Camarasaurus unlocked at Three Stars to the previous sauropod enclosures

Variety
Dinosaurs Variety should be close to met by Three Stars, but there are tips to increase:

• Add a Gallimimus to an Enclosure
  
• Add an Archaeornithomimus
  
• Add Toodon or Proceratosaurus
  
• Add a Hadrosaur species
  
• Add some Dreadnoughtus
  
• Add some Apatosaurus

Any of these can live with Sauropods
Some can live in older enclosures

These are easier ways to increase variety without adding hard-to-contain large or small carnivores

Guest Satisfaction

Guest satisfaction is easier to meet, especially on smaller maps
Good Capacity (Hotels) and each category of food-drink, shopping, and fun must be met.

The Hotel + Restaurant-Clothes Shop-Arcade combo is all that is needed for 100% Satisfaction
Repeat these four buildings if on "okay capacity" or any of the categories is below 90% rating

Remember that transportation rating and dinosaur visibility DO NOT EFFECT PARK RATING

Final Process

The hardest part of challenge mode is making it to a Two Star rating, especially for speed
After Three Stars, the game becomes easier with money and upgrades except for the storms

Once Sauropods are unlocked, that is all the player has to make unless more variety is needed
All guest satisfaction can be met with a hotel and restaurant, clothes shop, and arcade combo

In order to reach Five Stars simply repeat:

• Brachiosaurus, Dipoldocus, Camarasaurus enclosures
  
• Build Hotel + Restaurant, Clothes Shop, Arcade Combo

Repeating these two will get Five Stars the fastest and easiest

Final Reward

It is always nice to end a Challenge Mode by creating a dinosaur with the new unlocked skin

Text Summary

This is a simple text-based summary of how to complete Challenge Mode

Start

• Switch the island to good lighting and plan out the park
  
  
• Place a power station, expedition center, and fossil center
  
  
• Use the Expedition Center to get Struthiomimus Fossils ASAP
  
  
• Place a Hammond Creation Lab and build a medium enclosure with Viewing Gallery
  
  
• Make a Struthiomimus as soon as possible (50% DNA Complete)
  
  
• Build a Fast-Food and Gift Shop building near the Viewing Gallery
  
  
• Get to One Star by producing Struthiomimus (x8), Triceratops (x4), and Edmontosaurus (x2-x4)
  
  
• Build a Research Center and Ranger Station before hitting One Star
  
  
• Use Contracts to make money before reaching One Star

REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN!

One Star

• Research Dig Yield immediately and place it on all three upgrade slots on Expedition Center
  
  
• Sell non-extractable items from the Fossil Center to make money instead of contracts now
  
  
• Research Restaurants and Clothes Shop buildings, replace Fast-Food and Gift Shop
  
  
• Research Storm Defense Station for early storm warnings (SAVE BEFORE STORMS)
  
  
• Research Medium Power Station and Power Output and Protection Upgrades
  
  
• Research Fossil Access for needed dinosaurs and DLC dinosaurs if available
  
  
• Research Research Center Speed and Research Team Bravo upgrades
  
  
• Research Dig Team Bravo upgrade
  
  
• Place an ACU Center and start building smaller and medium sized enclosures
  
  
• Build Hotels when "okay capacity" and place Restaurants and Clothes Shops for satisfaction

DO NOT RESEARCH MONORAIL | DO NOT RESEARCH VIEWING-RELATED ITEMS

Dinosaurs to reach Two Stars:

• Corythosaurus x4
  
• Ceratosaurus x3
  
• Hyuangosaurus x5
  
• Chungkingosaurus x4
  
• Ankylosaurus x4
  
• Dilophosaurus x6
  
• Baryoynx x2
  
• Sinoceratops x4

DLC Dinos

• Iguanodon x4
  
• Crichtonsaurus x4
  
• Euoplocephalus x4
  
• Proceratosaurus X6
  
• Troodon X6

GENETIC MODIFICATIONS NOT NEEDED | CLOSE TO 100% DNA AS POSSIBLE

Two Stars

• Research Arcade and add to Clothes Shop and Restaurant near Hotels
  
  
• Research Dig Team Charlie for Expedition Center
  
  
• Research Metriacanthosaurus Fossil Access
  
  
• Research Large Steel Fence and replace carnivore fences
  
  
• Research Incubation Speed upgrades for Hammond Creation Lab
  
  
• Research other building upgrades deemed important to the player
  
  
• Send out Expeditions for Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus Fossils
  
  
• Build new large enclosure with new Hammond Creation Lab

Sauropod Enclosures:

• Diplodocus x8
  
• Brachiosaurus x5

Repeat the Enclosure

• Build another Sauropod enclosure with another new Hammond Creation Lab

Three Stars to Five Stars

• Add Camarasaurus x4 to Sauropod Enclosures
  
  
• Build Hotels with Restaurant-Clothes-Arcade combo as needed
  
  
• Extract Gallimimus, Archaeornithomimus, or Hadrosaur DNA for Dino Variety score
  
  
• Add easy dinosaurs of different species in old enclosures to remove variety penalty
  
  
• Repeat Sauropod Exhibit to increase Dinosaur Rating
  
  
• Keep digging for fossil to make money

General Advice

• SAVE OFTEN - ESPECIALLY FOR STORMS AND DINOSAUR HATCHING
  
  
• AVOID LARGE CARNIVORES (EXCEPT EARLY FEW)
  
  
• AVOID SMALL CANIVORES (Especially Raptors)
  
  
• AVOID HYBRIDS
  
  
• Baryoynx, Metriacanthosaurus and Ceratosaurus can be added to Sauropod enclosures
  
  
• Dilopohosaurus, Proceratosaurus, and Troodon can live with Sauropods and Large Carnivores
  
  
• Sauropod Exhibits can be flooded with small carnivores for a last minute rating boost at the end

Final Dinosaur Exhibit Example

This is an example of all exhibits in a Five Star Park at the completion of Jurassic Challenge Mode:
Bigger Islands on Jurassic Difficulty require ~20 dinosaurs for variety and ~10,000 dinosaur rating

This exhibit plan is a master plan that will guarantee the easiest, fastest Five Star park

Player should reach Five Star Rating before all of these exhibits are finished

First Enclosure

• Struthiomimus x8
  
• Triceratops x4
  
• Sinoceratops x4
  
• Gallimimus x1
  
• Archaeornithomimus x1

Second Enclosure

• Edmontosaurus x2-x4
  
• Corythosaurus x4
  
• Iguanodon x4
  
• Euoplocephalus x4

Third Enclosure

• Baryoynx x2
  
• Dilophosaurus x6-x12

Fourth Enclosure

• Ceratosaurus x3
  
• Troodon x6

Fifth Enclosure

• Metriacanthosaurus x2
  
• Proceratosaurus x6

Sixth and Seventh Enclosure

• Diplodocus x8
  
• Brachiosaurus x5
  
• Camarasaurus x4
  
• Apatosaurus x4 or Dreadnoughtus x4

Players can add several other species to Sauropod exhibits during late game to save time and room

• Possible: Ceratosaurus x3, Baryoynx x2, Metriacanthosaurus x2
  
• Possible: Hardrosaur species like Parasaurolophus x4
  
• Possible: Dilophosaurus x12, Proceratosaurus x8, Toodon x12

[Shepard]

@Dreadbeat I just tested challenge mode and transportation and dinosaur visibility do not affect park rating BUT restrooms do. I followed the hotel-arcade-clothes-restaurant combo and I only had to add restrooms to get 5 stars. It is also worth noting that any viewing platforms you may have build are another point that has to be close to the guest satisfaction buildings. By not building any viewing platforms then you only need to focus on the area around the hotel.

[RoarBlox]

Really helps! Thanks!

[Dreadbeat]

While there are some good recommendations in this guide, it did not help me complete Challenge mode any faster, and I'm still finishing well over "par". Some tips in this guide are either outdated (as of October 2021) or never worked. For one, transportation definitely did prevent me from reaching a 5-star rating and thus finishing the challenge, and building a monorail for a cramped island when you didn't plan out stops from the beginning can add a significant amount of time. I have still not completed a Challenge without building more than the 3 guest buildings mentioned in this guide, even on Easy difficulty. You'll need to address all of the different dinosaur and guest need categories holistically.

One extra tip: while it's worthwhile optimizing your shops for income, like you would do for per-minute income contracts, it seems that setting the prices much lower than this can significantly increase guest satisfaction ratings in each category (shopping, fun, food).

[Deadzombie935]

just completed the challenge jurassic nublar93 in under 11hrs, last dino I hatched was the spinosaurus with a different skin cosmetic, and that gave me the final boost for 5 stars. this guide really helped me in getting to 3 stars and I was able to handle it from there. thanks again for an awesome guide. 10/10 would recommend

[Deadzombie935]

I am at 8hrs 22mins, and I am now started working on making the 5th star

[Whale Lad]

Great job! I'm glad its helping!

[Deadzombie935]

About 4hrs 23mins into my my 2nd attempt into nublar93 jurassic difficulty, second attempt, and I am already at a little over 2 and a half stars. So far this guide paired with the updated species guide chart (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2102482653) , I am doing so much better. Thanks for this awesome guide, it really helps. Will update when I get to 4 and a half stars.

[Ian9876]

What about bathrooms?

[atpappalardoh]

if i made a guide for challenge mode, i'd suggest making a suchomimus because it brings in some noice rating

[atpappalardoh]

JP-ERA is rather a time machine to 1993. but it certainly worth making a tutorial as for it would be awesome too.