Planet Zoo News

Hayo Zookeepers,

Wippi Abbonibo, or Happy Anniversary in English! It's the 2nd anniversary of Planet Zoo tomorrow, and we have some exciting stuff for you all to celebrate! 🎉

Update 1.7.2 is available now (check out the Patch Notes below for full information on what it contains) and alongside it, we've included our new Anniversary gifts to y'all! These won't all be available just yet and will be rolling out over the Anniversary period, but you'll be able to update your game and get your hands on your first presents! This update will also include all of the 1.7.2 changes.

But what exactly can you expect? Let's find out!

First off, let's introduce our furry new friend! As many of you guessed from our World Lemur Day post last week, you'll now have a new animal to enjoy in your zoos - the Black and White Ruffed Lemur!



These critically endangered creatures inhabit the rainforests of Madagascar and typically live in female-led social structures. We love their markings, and can't wait to see the habitats you build to welcome them to your zoos! Perhaps you could make them an anniversary-themed exhibit?

On that note - if you're looking to build an anniversary feature, you'll need a way to celebrate, and what celebration is complete without cake? When the update becomes available later today, you'll be able to place Bernie's Bakes Shops in your zoos for all your tasty, baked-good needs! We're very excited to bring you a new and unique shop in Planet Zoo, so be sure to give Bernie's Bakes a warm welcome!



Lastly, we have a few limited-time celebrations taking part in-game too.

From the 5th-7th, there will be a special Community Challenge running in-game to release animals - but with added bonuses for doing so! For every 5 animals released, you'll get a boosted animal in return that has an 80%+ in any gene, and a 1/50 chance of being a colour morph. On top of this, every 20 animals released will award an avatar outfit! (Please note: this caps at ~600 animals per user, which is when you will have unlocked all released costumes etc)

But what about your guests? We couldn't forget them, after all, they're all such zoo enthusiasts just like you! For the duration of the Anniversary weekend, your zoo guests will have their very own balloons to celebrate! Wippi Abbonibo to all!



We hope you're as excited for Planet Zoo's 2nd Anniversary as we are! It's been a wonderful 2 years for us, and a large part of that has been thanks to you, our amazing community. Thank you for your continued support and appreciation for our game, and for the unending love and creativity that you bring into this space.

Remember to update your game today for Update 1.7.2, so you're ready for the Anniversary festivities!

Tune in tomorrow on our Twitch or Youtube for a special Anniversary Livestream with some of the developers who have worked to make Planet Zoo the game we all know and love. See you there!

Planet Zoo - 1.7.2 Update Notes

This update contains many more bug fixes, updates and some new content.

New Content - 1.7.2/Anniversary Celebration

• NEW - Animals
  • To celebrate our 2nd Year Anniversary, the new Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur habitat animal in now available in game!
    • The Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur is available for free for all owners of the Planet Zoo base game
• NEW - Bernie's Bakes Shop
  • A new shop - Bernie's Bakes - has been added to Planet Zoo, selling a selection of Bernie's favourite cupcakes! Alongside, a selection of scenery assets has been added to decorate this 'sweet' facility:
    • Guest Food Shop: Bernie's Bakes
    • Shop Blueprint: Bernie's Bakes Food Shop
    • Bernie's Bakes Sign Large
    • Bernie's Bakes Sign Merch
    • Bernie's Bakes Sign Small
    • Bernie's Bakes Sign Swing
    • Bernie's Bakes Sign Logo
    • Decorative Anniversary Cupcake
  • Bernie's Bakes and all related scenery items are available for all owners of the Planet Zoo base game
• NEW - Anniversary Balloons Available for 72 hours
  • On the day of the anniversary and over the following weekend, Loony Balloons are selling unique foil balloons to your guests, to celebrate the Planet Zoo Anniversary in style
• General Bug Fixes and Improvements
• • Animals
    • Fixed an issue where the female and juvenile Komodo dragon length would be 0m
    • Fixed the male Capuchin's face deforming when in the rest animation
    • Fixed an issue with food quality welfare, where multiple species could eat from each other's food but didn't like the other's supplemental food. Their food welfare now takes into account their own highest available supplemental grade
    • Disabled overly large excrement being dropped by juvenile Meerkats
    • General visual improvements to the juvenile Sea Lion, Jaguar and the Siberian Tiger deep swimming animations
    • Removed the 'North American Beaver' tag from the sprinkler, as the animal does not use this enrichment
  • Guests
    • Fixed an issue where guests could be left floating if an Animal Talk Seating Area was re-positioned
    • Guests seated for an Animal Talk will now receive an education boost like standing guests
  • Scenery
    • Added "North America" tag to Steam Workshop
  • Staff
    • Fixed Vets sometimes getting stuck when removing animal carcasses
    • Fixed an issue where some flexicolour assets were missing a tooltip
    • Staff now will teleport to the park entrance if they get stuck in a situation they cannot navigate out of
  • UI
    • Fixed an issue in the Trading UI where any active filters in the species header would accidently be cleared when switching between Animal and Exhibit Trading panels
    • Fixed an issue in Zoopedia interspecies enrichment panel where selecting a species would not redirect users to that species' page in the Zoopedia
    • Fixed an issue in the Zoopedia search that allowed users to search for species outside of the current applied filters
    • Zoopedia links are now disabled for animals that are in DLC packs that are not installed (this would previously open the Zoopedia at the wrong entry)
    • Fixed habitat space requirements for juveniles being calculated incorrectly in the Zoopedia
    • The pregnancy icon now remains in the animal list when offspring is imminent
  • Audio
    • Fixed Juvenile Koala vocalisation not playing back correctly with some behaviours
    • Re-balanced audio levels of thunder in Tropical biome to make its loudness more consistent with other biomes
    • Fixed Black-Tailed Prairie Dog lacking vocalisation audio when dying to predation
    • Fixed Proboscis Monkey social call vocalisations not playing back correctly with some behaviours
  • Stability
    • General stability fixes
  • Performance
    • General performance fixes

Hayo Zookeepers!

Thank you for all the love on the North America Animal Pack so far! We are thrilled to see your reactions to the pack and the habitat builds for our adorable new animals coming in. As always, thank you for your feedback and for raising any issues - or sneaky flexicolour additions - that you've found!

This update should resolve various issues reported by our community, alongside a few tweaks - are you ready for more sociable Alligators?

For full info, read on below for the patch notes:



General Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Animals
  • We have adjusted the American Alligator's social group size based on feedback. Initial group sizes had been chosen based on the aggression potential shown by the species and some zoos only keeping solitary animals
    
    • New group sizes are as follows:
      • Mixed: 1 male, 5 females
      • Male bachelor groups: 6 males
      • Female bachelor groups: 6 females
    • As part of this change, we have reduced the additional land, water and deep water space requirements for the American Alligator, so that bigger group sizes do not balloon the overall space requirements
  • Fixed a typo in the US-English version of the American Alligator's Zoopedia referring to the Saltwater Crocodile instead
  • Fixed a typo in the US-English version of the North American Beaver's Zoopedia not properly describing its barrier requirements
  • Fixed the fur fading out too quickly on the Moose
  • Beaver Dam female animation fixed where previously mud particles were floating incorrectly
•  Scenery 
  • Fixed an issue where some of the Opaque Glass Panel assets flexicolour channels did not function correctly
  • Fixed an issue where guest wouldn't teleport if a Path Barrier is blocking the exit of a Transport Ride
  • Animal Talk Seating Improvements: 
    • Animal Talk Seats now have buttons to link them to an Animal Talk Point
    • "Use Seating Room Only" has been replaced with "Allow Guest Standing" with functionality of toggle flipped (existing seating will adjust to reflect this change)
    • Improvements to UI text and flow for setting up Animal Talk Seating
    • General stability fixes for Animal Talk Seating
• Guests
  • Guest navigation stability fixes
• Game Modes
  • Sandbox/Franchise/Challenge
    • Added snow on load to Tundra Sculpted maps to match flat versions
• UI
  • Fixed the game sometimes becoming unresponsive when switching tabs in Animal Trading
  • Corrected translations for the random scenery rotation shortcut key control setting
• Audio
  • Fixed the audio continuing to play through the speaker from the preview, after clicking cancel
• Stability
  • Fixed a potential crash when rapidly switching filters in the Zoopedia
  • General stability fixes
• Performance
  • General performance fixes

Hayo Zookeepers,

Thanks for joining us on our road trip on the run-up to today, but we have reached our final destination - the North America Animal Pack and 1.7 Update are officially out now! Update your game to join the fun!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Update 1.7 is free for everybody who owns the base Planet Zoo game, and introduces several new and exciting features to enhance your gameplay experience! We've added, among other features, a couple of new Mapping Tools, giving you the ability to create custom heightmaps to alter your starting terrain, and also adding in a range of premade Terrain Type maps for players to use as a base - no more starting with a flat canvas (unless you want to!).

Joining the bears from Update 1.6, big cats are diving into the fun with new Deep Swimming abilities for the Jaguar, Bengal Tiger, and the Siberian Tiger. We've also adjusted the swimming depth requirements for individual species to make Deep Swimming habitats easier to manage and will allow deep-diving turns to remain smooth - these are in the patch notes below so check them out for more information.

Grab a friend and snag a seat because it's time for a show, with the new Animal Talk Seating Areas! These can be hooked up to your Animal Talk Educator podiums, and allow you to increase the viewing capacity of shows in a set viewing area. This will also help control the flow of guests in your park, helping prevent crowing around Educator points.

To further help with guest flow, we have also introduced new Path Barriers. These take the form of hard barriers that will block off paths and prevent guests from following that direction entirely, and kerbs, which will discourage guests from entering areas but will still allow them to use that route if there are no other options available.

Do you get frustrated having to manually adjust scenery objects during habitat builds to create a natural appearance? With the new Scenery Placement Randomisation Toggle, objects will alter their position between placement to give you another approach to building your park! But don't worry, if you prefer to have exact control over your placement, it can be toggled off.

Dig deep into all of the features above, as well as some quality of life Zoopedia changes, in our Update 1.7 announcement post and the patch notes below.

The Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack introduces 8 new animal friends for you to enjoy in your zoos! Be sure to give your warmest welcomes to 7 Habitat Animals - the industrious American Beaver, the towering and majestic Moose, the sleek and smart California Sea Lion, the shy and solitary Cougar, the enormous American Alligator, the highly-sociable Black-tailed Prairie Dog and the elusive yet adorable Arctic Fox. Joining them is a new Exhibit Animal: the American Bullfrog!

To help you take the best care of our new friends as possible, we've also added some new enrichment items. Dress up your habitats with items such as the Pronghorn Piñata, Skittle Feeder, Melon Feeder, Underwater Feeder, and the Beaver Pool - they're sure to make a splash!

Lastly, take a trip to the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains in a new Timed Scenario! Do you have what it takes to spin this small zoo into a North American dream?



The Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack is available now on Steam for £7.99 ($9.99, 9.99€). You must have the base Planet Zoo game to be able to play this content. Update 1.7 is out now to install and is free for all players.

Thank you again to all of our wonderful community for joining us on our road trip in the run-up to this release, and for your continued love and support. We're constantly in awe of what you create and bring to this space, and we can't wait to see what the PlanZo Fam does with this content. Keep an eye on our social media for all future news and announcements, and for highlights of the North America Animal Pack. Also, be sure to tune in today for a special launch stream at 16:00 BST!

Happy zoo-ing!



This update contains many more bug fixes, updates and some new content.

New Content - Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack 

• NEW - Animals  
  
  • New animals in the Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack 
    • American Alligator
      
    • Black-tailed Prairie Dog
      
    • California Sea Lion
      
    • Cougar
      
    • Moose
      
    • North American Beaver
      
    • Arctic Fox
      
    • American Bullfrog
  • The following new toy enrichment items are included with the Planet Zoo: North America Pack:
    • Beaver Pool, available for:
      • North American Beaver, with new animations progressing the state of the enrichment with each interaction
        
      • African Elephant (juvenile only), with the Water Pool enrichment animations
        
      • Dingo, with the Water Pool enrichment animations
      • Dhole, with the Water Pool enrichment animations
      • Indian Elephant (juvenile only), with the Water Pool enrichment animations
      • Sun Bear, with the Water Pool enrichment animations
  • The following new food enrichment items are included with the Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack:
    
    • Skittle Feeder
      • Arctic Fox
      • African Wild Dog
      • Dhole
      • Fennec Fox
    • Piñata Pronghorn
      • Arctic Fox
      • Cougar
      • African Wild Dog
      • Arctic Wolf
      • Bengal Tiger
      • Cheetah
      • Clouded Leopard
      • Dhole
      • Dingo
      • Jaguar
      • Siberian Tiger
      • Snow Leopard
      • Spotted Hyena
      • Timber Wolf
      • West African Lion
    • Melon Feeder, available for:
      • Black-tailed Prairie Dog
      • Moose
      • North American Beaver
      • Southern White Rhinoceros
      • Indian Rhinoceros
      • Reindeer
      • Hippopotamus
      • Pygmy Hippo
• NEW - Timed Scenario 
  • Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this newly developed attraction aims to educate its visitors while providing its animals large, naturalistic habitats... At least that's what the brochure said before the owners ran out of money! Pick up where the previous owners left off and complete this watery paradise in this brand new timed scenario!
    
• NEW - Avatar Costume
  • New Beaver avatar costume 
    

New Content - Free Update 1.7

• NEW - Animals  
  The following new food enrichment item is included in the free Update 1.7:
  
  • Underwater Herbivore Feeder, available for:
    • North American Beaver
• NEW - Big Cats Deep Swimming Behaviours
  • Deep Swimming behaviours have been added to the following Big Cats. All of these Big Cats are also able to use the Underwater Box Feeder. This change is available for all users who own the animal's respective game content:
    • Bengal Tiger (Base Game - free for everyone)
    • Siberian Tiger (Base Game - free for everyone)
    • Jaguar (Requires South America Pack)
• NEW - Animal Talk Seating
  • New Animal Talk Seating can be placed in your zoo. 
  • Found in the Facilities browser, these can be linked to Animal Talk Points to expand the guest capacity of your animal talks
  • Animal Talk Seating is a path extra that can be placed on paths or plazas
  • Animal Talk Seating must be within a set radius of the talk point in order to be linked
  • Additional UI has been added to Animal Talk Points for the following:
    • Guest Capacity showing the number of available positions for guests at a talk point
    • Link Seating UI to allow you to link Talk Seating to the Talk Point
• NEW - Sculpted Terrain Toggle option
  • Each starting map now has a new Sculpted Terrain variant for the following biomes:
    • Desert
    • Grassland
    • Tropical
    • Temperate
    • Taiga
    • Tundra
    • Tropical x South America (new location for old Tropical South America map)
    • Desert x Oceania
  • Terrain type can be selected from the new drop down once a continent and biome has been selected 
  • This feature works with Sandbox, Challenge, and Franchise
• NEW - Terrain Height Maps
  • Starting terrain can now be generated from .tif heightmap data
  • Example heightmaps can be found in Steam\steamapps\common\Planet Zoo\ProvidedHeightmaps
  • Heightmaps must be 1024x1024 and in the .tif format
  • Custom heightmaps should be saved to Documents\Frontier Developments\Planet Zoo\UserHeightmaps
• NEW - Guest Barriers
  
  • New guest barriers have been added to Planet Zoo. 
    
  • Guest Barrier Metal and Ribbon will block staff and guests when used on a path
  • Guest Barrier Kerb will still allow guests and staff to pass through, but they will try and avoid doing so where possible
  • New Barriers are:
    • Guest Barrier Metal
    • Guest Barrier Sign 01 and Guest Barrier Sign 02 (to go with Guest Barrier Metal)
    • Guest Barrier Ribbon (1m, 2m and 4m)
    • Guest Barrier Kerb (1m, 2m and 4m)
• NEW - Reduced Swimming Depth Requirements for the following animals
  • After investigating and observing the performance of diving animals, we have made the following changes to depth requirements:
    
    • The following animals have a minimum depth requirement of 2m:
      • Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman
      • Giant Otter
      • King Penguin
      • African Penguin
      • North American Beaver
    • The following animals have a minimum depth requirement of 3m:
      • Gharial
      • Saltwater Crocodile
      • Grey Seal
      • American Alligator
      • California Sea Lion
    • The following animals have a minimum depth requirement of 4m:
      • Formosan Black Bear
      • Grizzly Bear
      • Polar Bear
      • Sun Bear
      • Bengal Tiger
      • Siberian Tiger
      • Jaguar
  • Please Note: We have chosen the above values while considering both recommended water depth for the species as well as the actual performances of the animals in the diving system when subjected to more shallow depths. We've chosen the lowest depth values for each animal where we are confident the diving system will still work properly. 
• NEW - Zoopedia Filter Options
  • We have expanded the Zoopedia search bar with a set of filters to make it easier to search for species based on the following categories:
    
    • Biome (Tundra, Taiga, Grassland, Temperate, Desert, Tropical, Aquatic)
    • Type (Habitat, Exhibit)
    • Continent (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Oceania)
    • Conservation Status (Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, Least Concern, Domesticated, Data Deficient)
  • The Zoopedia list will be filtered by your selected criteria, showing only species that match at least one selection per category.

• NEW - Foliage
  • New branch items based on the White Birch Tree
    
    • White Birch Branch 01
      
    • White Birch Branch 02
      
    • White Birch Branch 03
      
    • White Birch Branch 04
      
    • White Birch Branch 05
      
    • White Birch Branch 06
      
    • White Birch Branch 07
      
• NEW - Scenery 
  • Items for Animal Talk Seating Areas:
    
    • Animal Talk Seating
      
    • Animal Talk Seating Railing Stairs
      
    • Animal Talk Seating Railing Straight
      

General Bug Fixed and Improvements

• • Animals
    • Updated the conservation status of the following animals:
      • Komodo Dragon (VU to EN)
      • Nile Monitor (DD to LC)
      • Yellow Anaconda (DD to LC)
      • Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard (DD to LC)
    • Reassessed and updated biomes for the following animals:
      
      • American Bison, now has suitability for Taiga
      • Pronghorn Antelope, now has suitability for Desert
    • Fixed the species names for:
      • African Elephant, now African Savannah Elephant
      • Babirusa, now North Sulawesi Babirusa
      • Additionally, fixed the scientific name of Bactrian Camel and North Sulawesi Babirusa on education board and Zoopedia resources
    • Red Kangaroos are now a walkthrough species
    • Fixed the Gharial tails so they no longer pop and deform when near terrain whilst deep swimming
    • Fixed Sun Bears rotating when performing a Climb to Walk action on a vertical thick beam
  •  Scenery 
    • Fixed the Tropical Rock Cladding objects thumbnails being incorrectly orientated in UI
    • Fixed issue where the New World Decorative Lights Bracket were incorrectly tagged as Flexicolour
    • Fixed the issue where the One Way Glass Panels would block the view of animals to the guests, much like a standard wall piece
    • Fixed Giraffe reward statue to include missing geometry that made it inconsistent with the base creature
    • Expanded the continents associated with the Bramble Bush with North America, South America and Asia
    • Expanded the continents associated with the Rainbow Eucalyptus with Australia
    • Fixed graphical issues pop with the Scots Pine and Tamarind scratching tree enrichments
    • Fixed the front left leg of Male Dhole clipping through its body when in dying on rough terrain
    • Fixed litter spawning inside multiple types of benches
    • Fixed an issue where the North African Bin cannot be snapped to the North African Bench
    • Fixed cardboard box enrichment item appearing invisible after resetting
    • Fixed Planet Zoo Hanging Lamps appearing too dark. Assets affected:
      • Planet Zoo Hanging Lamp 01 / CZ_HangingLamp_01
      • Planet Zoo Hanging Lamp 02 / CZ_HangingLamp_02
      • Planet Zoo Hanging Lamp 03 / CZ_HangingLamp_03
      • Aquatic Wall Light 02 / SW_PathExtras_WallLight_02
    • Fixed issue where TV and projection screens would cause lighting issues if placed at specific parts of the map
      • All Projection Screens Lit (32m, 16m, 8m, 4m, 1x1m, 2x2m, 4x4m),
      • All TV Screens (4m, 2m, 1m).
    • Fixed missing flexicolour tags on Food Trough, Food Bowl and Water Pipe items
  • Staff
    • Fixed rare issue where staff get stuck and refuse to enter staff buildings
  • Game Modes
    • Sandbox
      • Added an 'Enable Staff Fleeing' option to sandbox settings
  • UI
    • Main Browser
      • Added Random scenery rotation option to the scenery brush panel next to the object browser. Turning this on will randomise the rotation of a selected object each time it is placed
    • Management
      • Added an option to Quick Trade animals to the Animal Management, which was previously only possible from the animal market
        • Similar to releasing animals to the wild, simply multiselect the animals that should be sold and click the Quick Trade button in the Animal Management
        • A popup will inform on the selected animals' value, potential conditions preventing sale of any individuals, and request a confirmation to finalise the transaction
      • Animals in storage now display their source zoo, rather than the zoo they were most recently in
    • Zoopedia
      • Added more shortcuts to the Zoopedia, making it easier to check and purchase new animals
        
        • Added a shortcut from the Zoopedia to the animal or exhibit animal market, with an active filter for the species
        • Added a shortcut from the Zoopedia to the animal management, with an active filter for the species
      • Added a space calculator to the Natural Habitat section of the Zoopedia to calculate minimum habitat requirements for a custom population of a species
      • Adjusted the Zoopedia map to the correct distribution of North Sulawesi Babirusa
      • Fixed an issue where the Underwater Box Feeder and Forage Wall always displayed as locked on Challenge and Franchise mode
        
      • Fixed the King Penguin Zoopedia image having its head cropped
        
      • Fixed Blurred/Blend lines on Fennec Fox Zoopedia page image
    • Help Topics
      • Added new help topics for the following:
        
        • Guest Barriers
      • Adjusted help topics for the following topics:
        • Animal Talks, to include information on Animal Talk Seating
        • Placement Controls, to include a shortcut for random rotation toggle
    • Misc
      • Fixed Animal Research UI showing no research has been done on it's related Animal if they're all removed from the Zoo, despite having done research
      • Vet thoughts about serious injuries now reference the habitat name instead of the animal name
      • Fixed Llama mate missing from the animal info panel after relaunching the game
        
      • List of Active Tags is cleared when browser is re-opened
        
      • Fixed heatmap white world effect not covering the whole window at some window resolutions
      • Added the coat/fur colouration information to the new animal menu genetics tool tip
      • Fixed the same thumbnail icons being displayed for two different Night Vision filters
      • Fixed tooltips in habitat info panel not properly describing available food and water
      • Fixed Staff Info Panel still displaying pros/cons of next training level when at max training level
      • Fixed Natural Selection achievement not triggering
      • Fixed Icon of Vista Point does not match depiction on construction browser icon
        
      • Alerts about multiple habitat or exhibit problems can now be dismissed
  • Audio
    • Fixed Female Southern White Rhinoceros making no sound during fights
    • Fixed Sun Bear not making any sounds when killed by a predator
    • Fixed Babirusa fight interaction not having sound
    • Fixed Binturong mating ritual using Sun Bear audio instead of its own audio assets
    • Fixed missing audio for Habitat Web Camera and Security Camera when turning or switching between cameras
  • Stability
    • General stability fixes
  • Performance
    • General performance fixes

Hayo Zookeepers!

Make sure to fill up your gas tanks and get those snacks ready, because we're going on a road trip! We'll be travelling from the tall forests of the American west coast, all the way to the swamps of Florida and beyond in our next Planet Zoo Pack!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Introducing, the Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack, available to download and buy alongside free Update 1.7 on 4 October, 2021!

Which animals will we meet on our journey? Let's find out! In this Animal Pack you'll meet 7 mesmerising habitat animals: the industrious American Beaver, the towering and majestic Moose, the sleek and smart California Sea Lion, the shy and solitary Cougar, the enormous American Alligator, the highly-sociable Black-tailed Prairie Dog and the elusive yet adorable Arctic Fox. Joining them is a personal favourite as our exhibit animal: the American Bullfrog! One of the largest frogs in North America, they are known for their bright green skin.



With so many new animals to look after and care for, you'll need some enrichment items to go with them! These include the Pronghorn Piñata, Skittle Feeder, Melon Feeder, Underwater Feeder, and the Beaver Pool which will help your industrious friends show off their skills to amaze and impress your guests.

We'll also be bringing you a new timed scenario with this Pack, set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Put your skills to the test and make this small zoo into a success story!

Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack will be available for purchase for £7.99 ($9.99, 9.99€) on Steam from 4 October. Want to be one of the first to know as soon as the Pack releases? Then head over to Steam and wishlist now! Don't forget that you'll need to own Planet Zoo to be able to enjoy the Planet Zoo: North America Animal Pack.

Which animal are you most looking forward to? From now until launch we'll be heading on a road trip together to meet them all, so make sure you stay tuned to our social channels!

Hayo Zookeepers!

It's time for another insight into what you can expect to see coming up in Planet Zoo! We're happy to announce that free Update 1.7 will be available to get your paws on from 4 October!

Our team has been hard at work trying to bring you some of your most requested features, as well as a few surprises! The first of these we revealed last week, with the announcement of our upcoming Custom Heightmaps, but it's now time to reveal what else you can expect. Update 1.7 will bring you varied terrain options, deep swimming for cats, animal talk seating areas, path barriers, a scenery placement randomisation toggle, and some quality of life improvements to the Zoopedia!

For more information on all of this, read on below:

Mapping Tools
Custom Heightmaps are making their way to Planet Zoo! These will allow you to really get creative with your map terrain via uploading image files. For more in-depth information on how this will work, check out our forum post from last week!

But wait, that's not all! We also have new Terrain Type options coming to give you even more variation in pre-made maps.



When you go through your standard set-up for starting a new zoo, you will now have a new option: Terrain Type. From here, you'll be able to select "Flat", which is your standard map area that you know and love, or "Sculpted", a range of new options, with one new sculpted option per biome type. We won't spoil all of these so you can discover them yourselves, but one special one is the "Desert - Oceania" map, a flat desert with a mountain in the middle similar to Uluru!

You will now also be able to use Scenario Zoo maps in Sandbox Mode! There are 9 timed scenarios and 14 regular scenarios, which means 23 new terrain maps and 30+ new terrain variants! Though, please note that scenario maps are not available in Franchise Mode. Scenario Zoos in Sandbox Mode will also have the new "Terrain Only" button which removes everything except the terrain, another variation for you to start out with! This is perfect for people who want to jump into a Scenario Zoo terrain, but still have the freedom to create their own zoo from scratch.

Swimming Changes

Following the Bears from the 1.6 Update, some of our big cats will be getting their paws wet with Deep Swimming. The cats taking the plunge will be:

• Jaguar
• Bengal Tiger
• Siberian Tiger

This will include the male, female, and juvenile of each species. Be sure to start adjusting your habitats, as we bet they can't wait to make a splash the second the update drops!

To go alongside this, we're also implementing some tweaks to the swimming depth requirements for individual species. This should allow diving turns for deep swimming animals to remain smooth, while also preventing clipping! Minimum depth requirements range from 2-4m.

Animal Talk Seating Areas

Rally up your guests because it's time for a show! Animal Talks are going to be bigger and better than ever with the addition of new Seating Areas, increasing the capacity per Educator and helping you better control the flow of guests around these areas.

Pick one of our new talk-specific seating options and link an Animal Talk Point to it, and guests will now be able to sit and really give their full attention! But don't fret, you will still be able to use the Animal Talk Points as standing attractions as well. What animal will you pick as your first to have its very own seated education area?



Path Barriers

On top of the new Seating Areas to help you control your Zoos guest flow, we're also adding Path Barriers! These will render areas of path inaccessible to guests and staff alike, allowing you to direct the traffic in your zoo more accurately. For areas where you want guests to have the option to pass, but to be less likely to do so, we're also adding in Kerbs. These will discourage guests from crossing, but they will still use it if the area is otherwise too crowded or there is no other route.

Scenery Placement Randomisation

Ever been placing lots of the same scenery item, and had to manually adjust it each time to keep things looking natural? Well, no longer! We're introducing a new Randomisation Placement Toggle which, when turned on, will randomly change the rotation of the item you are using in between each placement. This will allow you to create an organic appearance much faster than before!
We know this will be a game-changer for foliage and rock-heavy builds. What are you most excited to use this on?

Zoopedia Changes

Finally, we're adding a few quality of life improvements to help with your Zoopedia usage:

• The Animal Management screen has a new Zoopedia link button, connected to the listed animals
• Animal Management and Animal Market buttons have been added to the Zoopedia, taking you to the filtered animals
• Habitat space requirements have now been added to the Zoopedia UI
• Biome filters have also been added to the Zoopedia filter options

And lastly, we've also added the option to quick trade from the Animal Management screen! This will work similar to Release to Wild, and means that Quick Trading is now available beyond the Trade Centre.

We hope you're looking forward to all of these new changes! The update will come with various other tweaks and bug fixes, so as always, we will have a full list of patch notes for you on launch.
There's more news from us still to come very soon, so be sure to keep an eye out on our social media, but for now we'll be hanging out on Twitch to chat about update 1.7 and spend some time with you all. See you there at 17:00 BST!