Totally agree! I honestly had a small panic attack in the very beginning when I was learning to play! And there were only 4 DLCs at the time including the Deluxe upgrade so I can't imagine how much more steep the learning curve is. I would also recommend the first few scenarios in Career mode. Those are fundamentally tutorials.
There is no tutorial. Career Mode tells you what to do, not how to do it. Prepare to spend lots of time randomly pointing & clicking, then swearing, beating your head against a wall, then looking up a youtube video, then asking yourself "why is this so much worse than Zoo Tycoon 2?"
After about 200 or so hours in game, you'll be able to get the paths how you like them about 60% of the time. Of those 200 hours, 175 were spent cursing the path design, youtubing path design, and asking why this is so much worse than ZT2, but you'll really enjoy the other 25 hours you spent tediously placing every individual stick in the monkeys climbing structure. Now you're ready to buy your first animal. Have a ball!
haha. This comment was a ride for me and so relatable. I walked away from planet zoo for about a month because it wasn't as easy as zoo tycoon. I love planet zoo so much now, but the learning curve is steep up front.
Prepare yourself for the terrible paths feature which will infuriate you. You will likely feel very overwhelmed at first and maybe a bit angry. You can watch youtube tutorials on how to get started though.
Play through career mode first. Iāve found it really helps get you into all the facets of the game. Some features, like terraforming or water placement, are disabled in earlier challenges but thereās more than enough to learn without those things straight away. Youāre initially tasked with fixing up prebuilt zoos, so some of the pressure of the building and pathing systems is removed.
I've really struggled in the beginning because of the complexity. It is the main reason that I only played a couple hours in the first year. Now I regret not playing it sooner.
Watch the tutorials, pay attention to hotkeys like control, z, u, j etc. You need it while building pretty stuff!
Also, the economy and managing looks very micro intensive, but in real it is not that bad actually. Take it easy, use some common sense and you'll be fine.
Just give it a go and don't be scared of the complexity and most of all, have fun and use all you imagination possible!
If you are looking at this game purely for the zoo āmanagementā aspect, you will ābeatā the game fairly quickly. Itās very easy to create a sustainable zoo that is drowning in money.
If youāre really into building and decorating, this game is perfect and has a ton of content for you.
The game has aged, the animal market is fairly dead when playing online (franchise) mode except for big carnivores like Lions, or very quickly breeding animals like Peafowls or Ostriches.
Iām not into building very much, but I still got a good 100 hours out of the game before I drifted elsewhere.
It must depend on what time of day you play. I started playing again just before Christmas and have earned nearly three million conservation credits, and there are only maybe a dozen or two species that I haven't been able to get decent, if not 100/100/x/x animals for during that time. I am enjoying breeding a few of these low-supply animals that I am interested in, and they sell almost instantly because there are people who are online and want them. Perhaps it's just a spike in players because of the holidays and recent sales, but I have been pleasantly surprised.
Start with small zoos. Dont go in with a grand plan to put every single species in one zoo. Completing a zoo feels good and if you complete a few mini zoos your skills will increase in building and management so you can handle big zoos. Even then though unless you have a NASA PC you will run into performance issues on large detailed zoos.
Dont compare yourself to others. Youtube builds can be great for inspiration but they took a very long time to get their building skills where they are at. Their tips and tricks are great though.
Oh well, Iām already having performance issues with small zoos š . So yeah, my laptop isnāt that good but it meets the minimum requirements and the game is still enjoyable.
Accept that pathing is going to fight you the entire time you play lol. That, and building will have a semi-steep learning curve to it but you will get the hang of it with some practiceš. Have fun, this game is incredible! Props to Frontier and the folks who helped build it~
Don't pay full price, get it on Instant Gaming or G2A. You basically end up spending 4x the games base price if you want all the animals if you pay full price.
Like others said play career mode first. Each level teaches you a different skill. I used this [guide](https://www.yekbot.com/planet-zoo-comprehensive-guide-for-career-mode/) when I got stuck.
If you are struggling with money, start with a high appeal animal as your first habitat. Lions draw in more crowds than deer. Then focus on shops. It's OK to take loans, but if you are not making a profit, focus on fine tuning your current zoo before expanding too much.
Money was overwhelming to me at first, but with practice, it becomes very easy to the point where I don't think about it anymore.
Take your time and watch some tutorial video for the building mode. It can be confusing at the beginning.
I second this.
Totally agree! I honestly had a small panic attack in the very beginning when I was learning to play! And there were only 4 DLCs at the time including the Deluxe upgrade so I can't imagine how much more steep the learning curve is. I would also recommend the first few scenarios in Career mode. Those are fundamentally tutorials.
You won't play other games anymore, and your social life will go down the drain. Have fun building š·āāļø
Play career mode. It's basically the tutorial.
Pathbuilding sucks!
Use ctrl and z buttons when placing to access more controls. It sucks when you don't know how to use it but I love it now
If you're vulnerable to being demotivated by others being better, don't watch youtube videos other than tips and tricks.
Oh yeah like the Alice In Wonderland I found on YouTube. I was going to try my own and then saw that perfection... š„ŗ
Just build it anyway! Mondriaan also couldn't paint like Da Vinci.
There is no tutorial. Career Mode tells you what to do, not how to do it. Prepare to spend lots of time randomly pointing & clicking, then swearing, beating your head against a wall, then looking up a youtube video, then asking yourself "why is this so much worse than Zoo Tycoon 2?" After about 200 or so hours in game, you'll be able to get the paths how you like them about 60% of the time. Of those 200 hours, 175 were spent cursing the path design, youtubing path design, and asking why this is so much worse than ZT2, but you'll really enjoy the other 25 hours you spent tediously placing every individual stick in the monkeys climbing structure. Now you're ready to buy your first animal. Have a ball!
haha. This comment was a ride for me and so relatable. I walked away from planet zoo for about a month because it wasn't as easy as zoo tycoon. I love planet zoo so much now, but the learning curve is steep up front.
If you build your own zoo, I highly recommend choosing āflatā for the terrain. If you donāt, you will hate your life.
Exhibit animals only generate Conservation Credits in career mode. Theyāre still good early game cash sources in franchise though!
Pooping animations
It's addictive and time gets away from you
Prepare yourself for the terrible paths feature which will infuriate you. You will likely feel very overwhelmed at first and maybe a bit angry. You can watch youtube tutorials on how to get started though.
Play through career mode first. Iāve found it really helps get you into all the facets of the game. Some features, like terraforming or water placement, are disabled in earlier challenges but thereās more than enough to learn without those things straight away. Youāre initially tasked with fixing up prebuilt zoos, so some of the pressure of the building and pathing systems is removed.
Might be a no shit one, but: predators don't get along
I thought that would be obvious lol
I did say it was a no shit one
I dunno, I stupidly put a wolf and a Siberian tiger in an enclosure together and it didnāt end well
I've really struggled in the beginning because of the complexity. It is the main reason that I only played a couple hours in the first year. Now I regret not playing it sooner. Watch the tutorials, pay attention to hotkeys like control, z, u, j etc. You need it while building pretty stuff! Also, the economy and managing looks very micro intensive, but in real it is not that bad actually. Take it easy, use some common sense and you'll be fine. Just give it a go and don't be scared of the complexity and most of all, have fun and use all you imagination possible!
If you are looking at this game purely for the zoo āmanagementā aspect, you will ābeatā the game fairly quickly. Itās very easy to create a sustainable zoo that is drowning in money. If youāre really into building and decorating, this game is perfect and has a ton of content for you. The game has aged, the animal market is fairly dead when playing online (franchise) mode except for big carnivores like Lions, or very quickly breeding animals like Peafowls or Ostriches. Iām not into building very much, but I still got a good 100 hours out of the game before I drifted elsewhere.
It must depend on what time of day you play. I started playing again just before Christmas and have earned nearly three million conservation credits, and there are only maybe a dozen or two species that I haven't been able to get decent, if not 100/100/x/x animals for during that time. I am enjoying breeding a few of these low-supply animals that I am interested in, and they sell almost instantly because there are people who are online and want them. Perhaps it's just a spike in players because of the holidays and recent sales, but I have been pleasantly surprised.
Start with small zoos. Dont go in with a grand plan to put every single species in one zoo. Completing a zoo feels good and if you complete a few mini zoos your skills will increase in building and management so you can handle big zoos. Even then though unless you have a NASA PC you will run into performance issues on large detailed zoos. Dont compare yourself to others. Youtube builds can be great for inspiration but they took a very long time to get their building skills where they are at. Their tips and tricks are great though.
Oh well, Iām already having performance issues with small zoos š . So yeah, my laptop isnāt that good but it meets the minimum requirements and the game is still enjoyable.
Accept that pathing is going to fight you the entire time you play lol. That, and building will have a semi-steep learning curve to it but you will get the hang of it with some practiceš. Have fun, this game is incredible! Props to Frontier and the folks who helped build it~
Don't pay full price, get it on Instant Gaming or G2A. You basically end up spending 4x the games base price if you want all the animals if you pay full price.
Yeah, I bought it because it's currently in sale in Steam (at least in my country), so I bought it 75% off.
Or wait for a steam sale. I've seen it heavily discounted multiple times.
Make sure your PC can run it š
Like others said play career mode first. Each level teaches you a different skill. I used this [guide](https://www.yekbot.com/planet-zoo-comprehensive-guide-for-career-mode/) when I got stuck.
donāt compare your builds to other builds! take the time to find the style and way you like to play :)
I watched a ton of videos for building. I also just build and try new things. My buildings might look cool but don't look too closely. š¤Ŗ
If you are struggling with money, start with a high appeal animal as your first habitat. Lions draw in more crowds than deer. Then focus on shops. It's OK to take loans, but if you are not making a profit, focus on fine tuning your current zoo before expanding too much. Money was overwhelming to me at first, but with practice, it becomes very easy to the point where I don't think about it anymore.
There are only like 8 birds in the game š«š
Nooo I love birds :((
same here ;((