Leaderboard

So, this has been an adventure. After going on such a download spree, I crashed the game completely, lol. Luckily, I remembered that I can only have 'X' amount of files in dlupdate - right around 300, right? Needless to say, I went ahead and cleared out that folder, re-installed a bunch of packs using the combined files and the game is much happier. I'm holding fast around 304-305. Game is still working, but probably done with downloading for a while. Needless to say, this is my zoo - right now, I'm holding fast at 89% happiness of guests at 600, 93% zoo rating and 96% happiness with animals. It's still a work in progress, I started with the large grass map and the hack that you can use to go into the .ini file (I think that's right anyway) and adjust the minimum amount of cash to $50 million. Screenshots were taken before I opened the zoo, I'll post new pics later. I am a slow zoo builder, I take my time with just about everything and I don't open my zoo until Year 5, all my research and conservation research is complete and I have at least ten exhibits done. From there, I drop the admission fee to around $15 for adults, $7.50 for kids, open the zoo and I sit and watch for some time to see where I'm lacking. Right now, I have a lot of thirsty guests so I've been adding drink and rest stations where I can. I'm also a foliage nut - my zoos end up so lush with trees that the only way I can see the guests or the animals is to turn off the foliage. Screenshots of the area just left of the entrance both with and without the foliage for context. I also don't add any animals when the in-game clock is running, I pause the game and add animals. That was a habit I got into when I played years ago, I'm able to get the animals situated in their exhibits while their health and happiness is still high, add a zookeeper (each exhibit has one, with endangered animals getting two or three) and then unpause the game and watch for a while to make sure they stay happy. I absolutely do this with all the big cats except lions; leopards and jaguars can be so picky when you're building their exhibit with the clock running and if you're not fast enough, once the exhibit is done and the recommendations say the exhibit is well suited, the cat is still unhappy. I don't like my kitties upset, so when I pause the game to get them situated with their happiness still high, they tend to stay that way. Right now, just the Savannah and Rainforest habitats are in my zoo, I intend to add Marine and we'll see about the Dinos and the other habitats. Yes, I skipped right over Valentine's Day and went straight to Easter, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm absolutely ready for spring. I've been ready since Christmas - LOL! I've named the zoo Seven Bridges, I am using Jane's bridges and I intend to get seven in there one way or the other.

I absolutely will post for a walk-through, love that idea! More pics, too, both with and without foliage so you can see everything. So I'm in October, Year 6. 16 exhibits total. Animal happiness at 98%, Zoo rating at 93% and Guest Happiness at 85% with population at 747. Still a ton of thirsty guests, I'm going to have to revamp a few things to get more drink and rest areas in somewhere. The way I design my exhibits and then decorate around them is a lot to do with aesthetics, but it also has to do with animal happiness. Now, I can't attest this will happen with everyone's zoos, but, when I pull in the observation areas by one tile, only give them so much room for the guests to come in, it helps with the flow of traffic. I will also put a lot of foliage, statues, fountains, etc. around the outside corners of the exhibits, again with aesthetics in mind, but also for animal happiness. That allows me to give them more privacy than those solid concrete walls, I don't know what it is about them, but I rarely, rarely use them (except for primates and even then, I try to cover them up as much as I can)because I don't like them that much. Since doing my exhibits this way, animals like the Jaguars who have a tendency to not be happy because there's too many guests, are actually happy. I rarely get a message from my zookeepers that a Jaguar or even a mountain lion is struggling. I like to hide my exhibit gates as much as possible. I've accidentally trapped several of my zookeepers in the exhibits because I forget where I put the gate, flood the area around the exhibit with trees and they can't get out. Exhibits that are together because I made one giant exhibit, then split it in half, the gates are right by each other and depending on the animal, I'll put up a privacy fence in the exhibits using rock formations, trees or something like the thatched fence. Taking a break to spend time with my other half and our four-legged kids, just fed everyone with some chicken and dumplings, now it's time for a big snuggle fest and maybe some gaming on the 360. More zoo later this evening, though and of course, more pictures!

Here are some screenshots of a zoo that will never be completed due to crashes. This was going to be the base of an experimental post-apocalyptic storyline. Each area was going to represent a different part of a ruined or near-ruined earth. Noticeably Africa remains uncompleted after three crashes prevented it. The exhibits and animal choices themselves were supposed to represent the conflicting values that would surely go into making a zoo in a future battered by climate change, intersectional conflicts, and a flurry of natural disasters that would ironically empower environmentalist movements to make a '20th century styled theme park' to keep the values of conservation real in the public eye. Much of the Zoo and the exhibits are repetitive in my opinion and I am worried about the lack of originality. However, I hope you enjoy the Asian gardens as much as I did making them.