Low Guest Attendance

[fountain]

First time using the small freeform in game Myth Gardens map.  (I will post screenshots in that forum when I relearn how to do it after not playing playing for 2 years: migraines.)

 

So with 15 exhibits, a central area with gift shop, 4 nature attractions, Thai food, food & drink stands the zoo  gradually lost attendance 252 down to 137 over 11 months.

 

If I raised prices too much I expected to see complaints guests.  I did not see any.  Animal illnesses were taken care of quickly. Guest happiness 89 - 91. Animal happiness 98. Zoo rating low 90s. 11 keepers & 4 maintenance.

 

I did sell a lot of animals to counter the birth rate.  I know selling animals when the game is not on pause makes the other animal unhappy plus I usually sell mating pairs rather then breaking them up.

 

I have few popular animals in the zoo. Animals: Arrau Turtle, Black-faced Spoonbill, Dimorphic Red Kangaroo, Emu, Giant River Otter, Greater Flamingo, Grey Crowned Crane, Jabiru, Japanese Giant Salamander, Kiang (beautiful graphic & movments), Marsh Deer, Mongolian Gazelle, Przewalski's Wild Horse, Saiga Antelope, Saltwater Croc, Yacare Caiman.

 

So I went to $200/month marketing.  No help.   Though the zoo was already clean I added a few more trash cans around.  A few more benches for resting and finally remembered to put in a zoo poo composting building.  (Duh!)  I also put cherry trees and lavender around the new trash bins & the composting building and put a new restroom in front of it.  Slight increase of guests. 

 

Reduced gate from $51.50 to $47.50, reduced food & gift prices by 50 cents thru $2.25.  Slight increase in guests over 2 game months.

 

Debated overnight which reptile, bird, or mammal to put in the last space available of an exhibit. Komodo Dragon, Bengal Tiger, or Peafowl. 

I put in Peach Cameo and Java.  Huge jump in guests to low 300s over 3 months.  Stopped advertising. Restored the old gate price, slightly raised food & drink prices,. Tucked in a 2nd ice cream stand and a 3x3 restaurant when guest numbers reached 350.  

 

Now at 388 everything is fine plus cash on hand up by $50K.

 

Still not certain what was wrong, but popular animal improved the numbers.  Maybe this will help someone else recover their zoo.

 

it is great to be back.  And falling back into bad habit of staying up into the AM problem solving and expanding the zoo.

fountain

 

 

[(Designer)Z.Z.]

Welcome back Fountain :)

 

I usually build my entire zoo on pause, and the very last thing I do is add the animals and staff.

I put zoo marketing all the way up, and zoo entrance fee to $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children.

I set all attractions to $5.00 and restaurants to $10.00.

I use only restaurants, no food stands, no picnic tables, no trash cans, and the only maintenance people are for the tank filters.

One thing I do that helps keep guests happy is place a row of flowerbeds along both side of the path between the path and the exhibits, and between the path and the decor/buildings.

This does several things, ups guest happiness (This area is so lovely!), keeps guests from wandering off the path and getting stuck in strange places (which REALLY decreases guest happiness), keeps animals from feeling over crowded even if there is clear fence all around the exhibit, and keep animals from escaping the exhibit, even dinosaurs cant escape a low stone wall if there is a flowerbed up against it.

And I always get the maximum number of guests (1000) in the zoo very quickly, with zoo rating usually 98, guest happiness around 98, animal happiness around 98.

I know that most people dont build zoos the way I do, I just wanted to share that in case any of it helps you figure it out :)

[HeatherL]

2 hours ago, Z.Z. said:

I know that most people dont build zoos the way I do

I've always built my zoos this way, too. And as soon as I understood the way you specifically build exhibits, I adopted that method as well.

I don't like guests and this way of building at least ensures that they are minimally troublesome when you do get them.

And I don't like the looks or problems that come with stands and trash cans. Restaurants completely eliminate those problems.

I always sink my dino exhibits 2-3 levels-they can't escape & I feel if there really were dinos that this would be a realistic methos of containment. Also, having them sunken makes the zoo easier to view.

And, I ALWAYS trap my zookeepers/scientists. I've come up with lots of ways to do this that keeps everyone working smoothly and blends into the zoo decor.

[(Designer)Z.Z.]

8 hours ago, HeatherL said:

And as soon as I understood the way you specifically build exhibits, I adopted that method as well.

 

Yes, bringing suitability up in all exhibits before adding animals really does save a lot of headaches, especially with animals that make a lot of babies (Im looking at you Bengal Tiger)

;D

Im glad my method helps! :D

[VNDragonV2]

Hold on, how do you bring up suitability before adding animals? Do you just memorize what the animals like and add every element in before purchasing them?

[HeatherL]

What I call the ZZ Method:

-Save game

-Build exhibit fence and add animal.

-Continue modifying exhibit, keeping track of how many tiles of each terrain type, foliage, rocks, etc until high suitibility is reached*

-Exit game WITHOUT saving it.

-Re-enter game and build exhibit according to your notes. Do not add animal until your zoo is complete.

-Save

 

Repeat until entire zoo is complete.

 

*I also refer to the Suitibility Guides at ZTCDD as they will tell you important details, such as the African Elephant's favorite foliage is actually the thorn bush and not the baobab tree.

http://www.ztcdd.org/DD/index.php?board=148.0

 

 

[(Designer)Z.Z.]

You create the exhibit with the exhibit fence and gate, and the main preferred terrain, then save the game.

Put one of the animals in and add a zookeeper to place food for it and start up the game.

Then add fresh water terrain in rows of 10 until the animal doesnt want any more, pause the game and write that number down.

Start up the game and add the next required terrain until the animals doesnt want any more, pause the game and write that number down.

Once all the terrain the animal requires are in, do the same with the preferred foliage in rows of 10 so they are easy to count, then add the rocks the same way.

Add additional notes if they require a shelter of cliffs and hills.

Once you have the suitability at max and everything is written down, go to the menu, click [Load Game], it will ask if you want to save your current game, click [NO], then load the game.

This takes you back to the save point before you put the animal in the exhibit, so you can take your time adding all the requirements from your notes and making the exhibit pretty with neutral foliage.

Then save the game and move on to the next exhibit.
You can create your entire zoo before you actually put any animals in the exhibits.

:)

[(Designer)Z.Z.]

ROFL! You beat me to it Heather ;D

 

Although you dont have to completely exit the game, just reload the zoo without saving it :)

[HeatherL]

But you were much clearer than I was!

[(Designer)Z.Z.]

LOL!

 

It might be that Im more anal than you are

 

Thanks sweetie :)