No Grass, Please!

[(Designer)Vondell]

I just found out you can export Spore creatures directly to a collada file which can then be opened and used by 3D software. I had no idea! Thought this might be of interest if you didn't already know.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zikyytmKW0w

 

[P.Rex]

Yes, I'm aware of Spore's COLLADA export feature, in fact I'd already tried to use it on a scorpion creation of mine so I could use it here as Pulmonoscorpius. Unfortunately, when I had loaded it up in Blender many of the parts were deformed, some even floating in mid air... so I'm afraid it's not a very reliable method.

[Guest Ganja-man]

This mod looks amazin, can't wait to try it out!

[(Admin)Savannahjan]

You are all taking designing new ZT items to a new and exciting level. It is almost limitless what you are going to come up with.

[P.Rex]

Thanks you all for your continued support! I've made a bit more progress today. The dinosaurs and turtle all had their plant preferences changed to include the new plants, and make sure they will dislike any vanilla DD plants that are from the wrong period. (goodbye Walchian conifer and Lepidodendron! See you again when we have Carboniferous animals!)

Because we now have a much larger variety of dinosaur-compatible plants (both vanilla and custom-made), the resulting exhibit designs one can come up with are quite versatile. You can have your T.rex exhibit with mostly conifers, for example, or mostly deciduous trees, or just rainforest plants if you want to- all within the boundaries of scientific plausibility of course.

 

Here are a few screenshots of the updated biomes- these do not exhaust what you can achieve with this mod, but should give you a general idea of what to expect:

 

 

Here's a download link to the latest version. Please test it and let me know if there's bugs or any other problems before I send it to the Tek database: http://www.moddb.com/mods/no-grass-please/downloads/no-grass-please-version-13

 

I hope you'll enjoy this version! Also, feel free to send me your screenshots and show me what spectacular zoo designs you can make with the new plants.

[P.Rex]

Moving on, this time getting some very necessary updates for Ice Age fauna.
Since I like my multi-species exhibits, I've been working on a new safari experience recreating the Eurasian steppes of the Pleistocene epoch:



Woolly mammoths and rhinos share quarters with two new species: the Wisent (modified copy of American bison) and Tarpan (modified copy of Przewalski's horse).

[(Professor Emeritus)Professor Paul]

Only three minor points; Bison priscus, Steppe Bison, would be more appropriate than the wisent, which is a forest species.Perhaps, as well, a steppe mammoth as an alternative to the woolly one? The tarpan should also be grey.

[P.Rex]

I've renamed the Wisent to Steppe Bison, it is indeed a more appropriate choice since the latter is an extinct species. I've also added Paracamelus (based on the Dromedary camel) to the steppe exhibit and gave the Smilodon a similar biome.

As for the two other points- Woolly mammoths lived mostly in steppes and other open grassy areas, so I see no point in adding a duplicate species that would essentially occupy the same niche. From what I've gathered, I'm pretty sure tarpans could also be a ruddy/brown color, although recoloring it (as well as the other new species) is indeed a good idea. Can you direct me towards a good animal-recoloring tutorial? I couldn't find any.

 

EDIT: And here's the South American safari:

 

[(Trustee)ZooGrammy]

Your exhibits are just beautiful!!!

[(Professor Emeritus)Professor Paul]

Some beleive that the tarpan didnt actually go extinct until 1909 in Russia, although its not been proven that these were true tarpans. However, most of the depictions I have seen of tarpans have them a grey/dun colour.

 

With the mammoths, the steppe mammoth was the precursor to the woolly one, & is usually considered more typical of western Eurasia. My old maths teacher, Harold Hems, discovered one of the most complete specimens of steppe mammoth many years ago not far from where I live.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Runton_Elephant . I'm sure youve heard of the Cromerian Interglacial. I actually live at the top of the ridge formed by the edge of the glaciers in Cromer!

 

This pdf give a few details of fauna & flora that you might find useful

 

lm.php.pdf