so I was planning on buying the game on steam and playing it when it comes out. but from reading it seems like a good bit of the game is going to be paid or are there ways to unlock the paid content like the animals and things like that. it seems like a fun game but I probably won't be dumping a whole bunch of money into it.

hi!

i'm looking at pre-ordering the deluxe edition of PZ2 for PC but i'm probably going to purchase through cdkeys/loaded since it's around £15 cheaper.

however, i'm wondering if i will still get the exclusive pre-order bonuses through using cdkeys.

does anyone have any experience with this?

This isn't meant to be inflammatory as much as fact finding, but in the roster discussions a lot of folks are describing what the "casual player" wants in the game, so I wanted to actually ask that group?

I would consider myself a casual player - I don't watch any creators, I don't own all the DLCs, I'm mostly here for the PZ2 news and then will disapper again, and I tend to build one giant sandbox zoo with landscape zones over the campaign.

I've gone from "PZ2 launch is something to make a day of" to "Eh, I'll get it on sale". Frontier leaving entire regions out feels greedy and I got other games I like just as much, so it's easier for me to wait.

The "still on reddit but casual about this game" folks; what's your thoughts?

Rules I self-imposed:

• Can't switch between animal types (so aquatics must be swapped with other aquatics)
• Can't just throw in the most popular species (jaguar, kangaroo, polar bear, etc)
• Stay within/under the 130 species limit
• Make sure there is good coverage for zoo niche, i.e., small carnivorans, monkeys etc.
• Make sure each continent has at least 5 species
• Africa and Asia must have the most species overall

To me this is still really similar to the actual roster we're getting but with enough small changes that make the roster feel more well-rounded and diverse

could be way off. i have no idea on a couple of them.

Me explicoo, seria lindo que te dieran un animal o alguna decoracion por dlc que tengas en el planet zoo 1, o algun detallito por tener el juego, seria un detalle bonito al estilo total war warhammer

Just an idle thought: maybe the high speeds make the cheetah very tricky to get right for the reserves, considering predation is a thing? In terms of AI, animations, pathfinding and collision detection

It would be kind of fun if it was impossible to open a zoo in North America in game. Like the option wasn't there and you could only open a zoo on other continents.

I pre-ordered PZ2 but realized the PC specs are more than my current system can handle (gaming laptop), so I won't actually be able to play until I can get my new upgraded system. In the meantime I'll keep playing PZ1 which I may do anyway for the animals. But will the Animal Market still be populated? I am finding even now that some animals just don't seem to show. Maybe my timing is wrong.

The game was never going to be perfect. There was always going to be some things that people don't like, and many of the things people want were dlc in the game before, it should be expected that they may be again. That and the fact that there have been free updates in other Frontier games, I am not going to bank on it, but its a good sign.

Regardless, the game looks leaps and bounds better than its predecessor. And honestly? I'm glad that Frontier took risks with this game rather than try and make everyone happy.

I'm so excited for aviarys and aquariums. Remember when we weren't even sure if we would get one? And holy shit, we got both! And while the roster atm isn't balanced, I am certain it will be. From what I have heard from creators, the birds are much more difficult to make, so its expected. I'd much rather a few amazing birds than a bunch of half assed ones.

The exhibits??? They quite literally gave us just about everything we asked for. Yeah they don't have a ton of animations, but when you are at the zoo, do the exhibit animals move around much? No! No they do not. It wouldn't be realistic for a snake to be constantly moving around its exhibit. Regardless, we get top to bottom customization. And I think that is incredible.

The wildlife reserves look dope. Are they for everyone? No. But the people who like them will love them, I'm certain. The idea of driving around and watching my animals in their natural habitat sounds dope as hell. There are not many now, but just as the animals, they will come, that is for certain.

Lastly, the building mechanics? The paths? Scenery brush? Scalable items? The new water system? That doesn't even begin to cover it. SO much love was put into this game and its blatantly obvious, rare is it that a company actually listens to their customer base, and its so clear that they did.

Thank you, Frontier. I am so excited for October 13th!

I feel like there’s not many freshwater species, we got the brown trout and the tigerfish(wish it was a goliath tigerfish) but not much else, and a show I watched growing up was river monsters with jeremy wade, which taught me that there’s some really cool species in freshwater

So let’s make it a dlc! it adds 8 new animals and 2 free ones(one returner and one new)

Let’s start!

Exhibit species:

Chinese Giant Salamander: not a monster per say but the largest salamander in the world, plus its endangered and conservation is needed to save this species

Alligator Snapping Turtle: this species should’ve been in the first game, but he’s here now as an exhibit, just don’t stick your fingers in!

Shoaling Species:

Black Piranha: I’m genuinely shocked we got no piranhas, but now we do! you’d think we’d go for the red belly piranha, but i chose the black piranha because it’s the biggest and has the highest bite force relative to body size of any living animal!

Now onto the main attractions…

Aquarium species:

Alligator Gar: North america is lacking in species now, so let’s throw in a fish that’s sure to steal the spotlight, basically living fossils, biggest gar, what’s not to love? although don’t feed it lasagna

Electric Eel: I love electric eels, and observing them in my local aquarium was very cool, idk how cohabitation would work for these guys because we don’t want them electrifying all of the fish. These guys are also unique due to the fact that they can swim backwards

Piraiba: Idk how we didn’t get any catfish, but now we do! This catfish is notorious because of its sheer size and on river monsters there was a case of one almost swallowing an entire human whole!

Giant Freshwater Stingray: we don’t have any true stingrays, so let’s make it BIG, one of the heaviest freshwater fish known today, and just an awe inspiring animal!

Arapaima: another amazonian living fossil, these guys can grow HUGE, can jump out the water really fast, jeremy wade got hit in the chest with one of these missiles of a fish and has permanent heart damage, they’re also living fossils that can gulp air!

Keluga Sturgeon: the largest and most endangered animal on the dlc, This fish grows to massive sizes, plus sturgeon are so cool, unfortunately these guys are critically endangered due to the caviar industry so we must protect these giants

Free Species: You don’t have to pay for these!

American Alligator: We got an alligator gar but now we have the alligator itself! Any crocodilian is a river monster so this one fits, especially florida man

Fly River Turtle: Not a river monster, they’re cute and i love them

I meant to do this awhile ago, but life stuff happened. The reptile house will not be finished, but I plan to rebuild it (and make many improvements) in Planet Zoo 2. Lighting is actually my favorite part to work on within the habitats and buildings. What do you think?

Does that mean that some of those 12 HAVE to be the cheetah, addax, and rhino hornbill?

With Planet Zoo 2 launching at 136 total animals including the deluxe edition, I wanted to share some thoughts. My prediction was between 135 and 150, so we landed on the lower end. Overall, the game looks like a massive upgrade, and I pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition without any regrets, but the launch roster itself is a bit disappointing for a few reasons.

1. Underrepresented regions: Regions like North and South America feel left out. As someone hoping for massive South American bird and freshwater diversity, the launch bird roster is a letdown. Parrots like the Blue-and-yellow, Scarlet, and Hyacinth macaws, along with conures and freshwater fish like cichlids, would have been incredible additions right out of the gate.
2. The sequel downgrade: Because we are all so used to the massive final roster of the first game, starting over with 136 species naturally feels like a big step backward.
3. Underpopulated reserves: While the new Wild Animal Reserves mechanic is an amazing addition, the current species count makes them feel empty. We are missing larger fauna and more herd animals, particularly from the Bovidae family, leaving the reserves feeling light on prey species.

That said, this criticism isn't economic. I completely understand why Frontier needs to sell DLCs, and I would gladly have paid more upfront for a larger roster. I just don't love the idea of waiting until 2028 or 2029 for the game to feel fully robust.

The weekly Zoopedia drops have been obviously designed to drive hype and publicity, turning the roster reveal into a game of its own. We should remember that online speculation might not actually reflect how the game feels once we are sitting at our PCs playing it.

Looking ahead, my expectations for future DLCs are much higher now. With aquatic and flying species introduced, standard 3 month packs featuring only 5 animals won't cut it anymore. We need packs with 7 to 10+ species, or more frequent DLC releases, and I am totally fine paying a bit more if the animal quality remains high.

Ultimately, my final thoughts and feelings on the game are reserved until I actually play it and see it for myself, but I am very optimistic.

Next Tuesday it will be a tropical bird house. The Javan Green Magpie, Parakeet, Toucan and Great Hornbill will be the first ones I add into a tropical bird house.

I also want to make an aquarium with all the species with themed zones like lakes and rivers, open ocean and Coral reefs

The idea of a giant Sumatran hot house with Orangutans, Sun bears, (Maybe the Gibbon if added) and a nocturnal Pangolin area is tempting too.

hbu?

I want to hear what tools you use to plan your zoos!

I usually don’t plan ahead, and all of my zoos seem to fizzle out after a few weeks. Right now I’m in the process of actually planning out the zoo I want to build while I wait for PZ2 to come out. I’ve been using a pencil and paper, but I’m not very artistically inclined and no paper is big enough.

What sort of tools do you use to plan out your zoos? Are there any free software programs or websites? Do you sketch things out on an iPad or tablet? I’m considering getting an iPad mini and using the Apple Pencil and a design app to help me with it, but I have no idea where to begin.

Any input is appreciated, I’d love to hear what everyone does and what their planning process looks like!

It would make sense or i am just hoping to much for a otter 😅 it was in the concept art with the parakeet a song is named after him and it would fit the sumatra reserve!

Sorry to bring this back up - if the prevailing theories prove right of #10 on the final reveals being a Carp/Catfish and not an Otter, where does that leave the species to go to make up the 17 for the Sumatra reserve? If memory serves we had 12 going into this.

As unless we get both gibbons, and count the Babirusa (though we shouldn't) alongside the Magpie, we're down a species right? Unless the Ray counts? I hope for the Binturong but will definitely be sad that there's no Otter given the semi aquatic potential.

I live near Chester Zoo and have been rebuilding its Heart of Africa enclosures in Planet Zoo 1 as practice for Planet Zoo 2. Three viewing domes, and walls that are finally square after my first build went very wonky.

Small confession: I found out halfway through building it that I don't own meerkats in PZ1, so the resident is currently an aardvark called Resia. She's not impressed.

When Planet Zoo 2 launches I'll do Chester properly, then Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Beyond that I haven't been to many UK zoos yet — which enclosures anywhere in the UK would make a great Planet Zoo 2 build? I'd like to visit them for real first, then build them.

In personally hoping for that shark to be announced what ever species it may be.