How to make money fast and bring in more guests

[MaastrichianFan]

Ok so i was playing in one of the scenarios in the game like i raise the price to some buildings like restaurants and other attractions and to the admission price gate but for some reasons money is coming somehow slow like is there a way to raise the prices in the zoo including the admission price at the gate, the compost building, other buildings like restaurants and different kinds of buildings, like houses and attractions so it would sky rocket the money that can be used to build more exhibits, add more animals and zookeepers also the maintenance workers and the tour guides like what specific buildings should i use especially duplicates of them should i use, what prices should i set up to so i can make money more faster like for the admission price at the gate so it can attract guests that fast, the specific building kinds, how many compost buildings should i add in just in case which that goes for the animals too and the scenery too?

[Fern]

For a start I suggest you read this thread. ZT1 Tips and Tricks

The object of scenarios is not to make things easy for the player. They get harder as you go through them. There is one where I think you start with no cash at all or very little. They are all about developing your skills in the game. In many ways it is like real life. You learn how to budget in order to get what you want.

Guests do not want to go near the ingame Compost Building. You only need one. It has negative values so that guests do not like it. Would you want to go near a building that smells of fresh pooh? I think not. So it is suggested that that building is put in an out of the way place not near guests. However it does pay for the pooh the keepers collect.

Restaurants, gift ships, stands, paying attractions all have adjustable prices. However do not set it too high as that will decrease the number of guests that want to use it and affect the guest happiness and also the zoo rating.

When you click on a building the building info window comes up on the lower right hand side. You will see a cost there. For the Drink Stand that is $2. To the right of that cost are the up and down arrows so you can change the cost.

To change the zoo admission cost click on the zoo gate. That brings up a board with the cost and arrows to click to raise or lower the price. Do not raise it too high or you will find guests do not want to come to the zoo. Too low and the zoo floods with guests and the animals complain about "too many people."

Buildings have upkeep, keepers and workers also get paid so you do not want to load your zoo up with too many to start with since the upkeep and pay are deducted from your account on the first day of each ingame month. Your zoos profit and loss in shown by clicking on the zoo gate and on the right hand side of the board there is a +/- tab.

I suggest you explore all those right hand tabs to see what you might find helpful.

[pukkie]

@fern This is a ZT2 related question though I haven't foun out how ZT 2 works financially sadly and I struggle with the same issues

 

 

[Fern]

Silly me. I am so used to answering ZT1 questions here. We seldom get ZT2 questions. And what's worse is I can't help you at all since I don't play ZT2. I do know that Zoo Admin has lots of hacks for ZT2 and there are some players at Tek that do play that version, so hopefully one of them will be able to help.

[emerald6]

Short answer: the ZT2 economy is completely messed up. Even with the non-glitch methods I will describe, realistically you at most will only make enough money to buy about one 2 or so star animal per month.

 

Longer answer: these are the ways I’ve found to make money

• Donations are the main source of income. Therefore you will want donation boxes to cover all the exhibits. However you don’t need 1 donation box per exhibit: you can place 1 donation box in the border between 2 exhibits to cover both. You can also use tours and shows (if you have their respective xp’s) as additional sources of donations but they are expensive to set up and take up lots of space.
• Guests will donate more when there’s an education source nearby. You could hire an educator and place a podium near donation boxes but you can’t control where the educators will go. Therefore it’s well worth it to research the discovery kiosk (Endangered Species xp), which is unlocked at 1 star, and place it every 3-4 exhibits.
• Just like in ZT1, the compost building is basically free money well worth researching once you unlock it at 2 stars. One compost building is enough.
• The family restaurant is also pretty good, but it was nerfed from ZT1 as it now requires 2.5 stars and doesn’t meet bathroom needs. Once you get restaurants, delete all of the food stands.
• Again, like in ZT1, feel free to spam gift carts in high traffic areas.
• In the Endangered Species or African Adventure xp’s, there’s an exploit involving Jeep trail gates. It sells for $100 regardless of what fence was there originally. Therefore you can place a low chain link fence, the cheapest in the whole game, on a trail and sell the resulting gate to earn $50. This can be repeated again and again to make unlimited money. Is this unintended? Yes. Is this cheap? Also yes. Is this cheating? By definition, yes. Does this break the game? Not really because I don’t wanna wait for like 2 years to afford my one (1) singular T. rex

 

At this point the Extinct Research Lab is a far more attractive option money wise for acquiring animals. The purchase and upkeep cost looks high but the animals you create in the lab are free.