John's ZT1 Projects

[johnztmaster]

I took a break. I was working on a new test zoo recently and got carried away trying to explore how to make fences. I am learning new things still! Also still hoping to get some stuff actually out and released in the nearer future.

[johnztmaster]

I have learned how to program fences! Big thanks to Fern and Jay (as usual; the're so helpful!) for helping me work through some initial missteps. Next will be to learning how to do the graphics correctly. I am hoping to figure this process out well and be able to make a few different fences.

 

I have been on a break from the Ape Pack for too long but my visit to the Chester Zoo at the end of my recent trip to the UK (it was right before my last post) has definitely motivated me to return to it.

[johnztmaster]

Here is a preview for some of the fences I am hoping to work on. I don't think I will be doing all of these pictured, some were more experimental. The 'red rocks' were inspired by the exhibit area of the same name at the Saint Louis Zoo. The black chainlink fence is inspired to look like an aviary fence. I've also always wanted some dark colored concrete fences and a rock wall with glass instead of bars, although that is the most ambitious and difficult concept. I tried very hard to make my attempt resemble the ingame rock wall while still having a glass area closer to the plexiglass fence but it doesn't quite feel right.

[pukkie]

But I really like that particular window It looks very good to me.

I’d love to get my hands on that

perhaps consider doing the same with the terra cotta wall 

[johnztmaster]

Thank you very much @pukkie :)

 

I finally made some progress on actually getting the images ingame. This photo looks good but there's still a lot of work to do. I'm not happy with all of the rotations and it feels like the images may need refining... but proud to have a step forward on getting fences ingame! :)

[pukkie]

I have the feeling you will get there

[johnztmaster]

It's been a while since I've updated. I'm still tweaking some of the same projects but just not moving so quickly. 

 

The low brown and red rock wall fences were going well and I was pretty happy with them. Here they are with an Indian elephant and a mixed species herd of giraffe and another animal across the way.

 

 

The fences seemed to be complete just a few days ago and I was hoping to release them, but in the process of editing the icons they seem to have totally broken. I'm still trying to bugfix. I'm not good at this part but I'm trying to get better.

 

There's another surprise in the last image... a Greater Kudu. I made it in one afternoon and it's just waiting on an icon and possibly recoloring the female a little bit more. It's compatible with the ingame Plains Zebra, as I've seen them mixed together at the Indianapolis Zoo and Milwaukee County Zoo. I know there are other versions out there but most of the ones I know are through other design methods (custom animations and models) due to the distinctive horn shape, but I figured to try a Bongo recolor for old time's sake. 

[pukkie]

these fences are looking really really nice 

[Fern]

Send them to me and I will take a look. bugfix does not sound like the right approach

[johnztmaster]

I recently built a marine zoo to test some downloads.

 

I have previously shown a Green sawfish, Cownose ray, Sand tiger shark and Blacktip reef shark, which here are mixed with the ingame Hammerhead shark. They seem to be working well and very compatible, although I may make the Cownose ray's stats more modest.

 

I am working on a new sea lion as well. Many sea lions can vary in color between brown, black and gray, so I thought I would make some different colors compatible with the ingame California sea lion. I am tweaking species a bit.

 

As a child, I recall downloading a Cuban Crocodile somewhere that was a blue recolor of the ingame crocodile, but I do not know of a 'blue' crocodile download today, maybe I imagined it, so I remade it according to my memory, mixed here with a saltwater crocodile as well.

 

All of these species seem to function well, are breeding, etc. as are the Kudu from the previous post. 

 

I need to run some CheckUCA soon and then hopefully I can actually submit some of these downloads for release here and at ZooBerry :)