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Planet Zoo - Free Update 1.4, coming on 8 December, 2020

Hayo Zookeepers!

We're proud to reveal more of what we've been working on: free Update 1.4, coming to Planet Zoo 8 December 2020.

This free update includes marvellous new additions, as well as some community requested features - thank you for sharing your suggestions with us! This post will explain the forthcoming update, what you can expect and how it will affect your gameplay.

[h2]Water Temperature Regulator[/h2]
With Update 1.4, we'll be adding a new Water Temperature Regulator facility that will allow you to customise the temperature of all water volumes within its range. This will help you have full control over the welfare of animals that like to spend a lot of time in the water, which will enable you to ensure your animals have maximum comfort in your care.

Using the Water Temperature Regulator Information Panel, the facility can be customised to suit the layout and requirements in your zoos, as you'll be able to:
  • Adjust the Regulator's effective range.
  • Adjust the target temperature all water volumes in range should be regulated to.




There will also be a new Heat map mode added to the Water overview for the Water Temperature Regulator, that will show you:
  • The current range of each Water Temperature Regulator in your zoo.
  • The temperature each Water Temperature Regulator is set to.
  • The temperature of each volume of water in your zoo.


[h2]Underwater Feeder[/h2]
The Underwater Box Feeder, a new feeding station, will be available as part of the free update. For now, the only animal that will use this in the game is Saltwater Crocodile, but we will be adding this to more animals in the future. When using this feeder, like any other food enrichment, its Information Panel will provide you with details on its food capacity, usage by animals, and food suitability. Additionally, there will be a status bar that will tell you if the feeder has been placed deep enough.



[h2]Zoo Management Transport Rides[/h2]
Update 1.4 will include a new management screen that will summarise all of the Transport rides in the zoo. This screen will enable you to make faster and more accurate decisions about your transport rides to better manage your zoo.

The new Overview Tab will inform you on:
  • The number of different rides.
  • The most popular ride in your zoo.
  • The most popular station in your zoo.
  • The total annual profit for all rides.
  • The total number of guests that have used the rides in the current year.
  • The lifetime profit from the rides.


The Stats tab will break down each individual ride into more detailed information for you, by showing you:
  • Annual profit.
  • Annual guests.
  • Total track length.
  • What stations guests are using.
  • Each station's scenery rating.




The Management Tab will allow you to edit:
  • The number of trains (only while the ride is closed).
  • The number of cars per train (only while the ride is closed).
  • Maximum speed.
  • Ticket price (per station).
  • The status of the ride (overall and per station).


[h2]Challenge Scenario[/h2]
We're excited to travel to the Philippines with you, for a new timed scenario set in the mountains of Luzon! Take on an adventure and transform disused rice terraces, while pushing conservational awareness. Make sure you have it ready in time for the grand opening ceremonies!

[h2]Animal Talks[/h2]
We can't wait to bring you Animal Talks, something that we recently shared more about. A staple activity in zoos that help educate guests about the zoo and their conservation efforts, in Planet Zoo, Animal Talks will be run by Educators, a new Staff type that will help educate our guests about animals around your zoos!

For Animal Talks to happen, you're required to place an Animal Talk Point in the area you've set up for the talk to take place (we recommend carving out a section for each Animal Talk so that your guests don't block the path for your Staff and any guests travelling around the zoo). Animal Talk Points can only select a species for the talk from nearby habitats and exhibits. Once you've got it all ready to go, an Educator will get ready to do the Animal Talk, and both guests and (sometimes) animals will gather around to see what all the excitement is about!

These Animal Talks come with a new Information Panel. Each talk can be set up for one habitat or exhibit, and one species of animal. Through this panel, you will be able to:
  • Enable and disable Animal Talk Points.
  • Pick an animal species for the talk.
  • Pick a month to schedule the talk (it will take place annually).
  • Assign an Educator to the Animal Talk Point.
  • Assign the Animal Talk to a work zone.
  • Select music, which will play while the talk is not in use.
  • See if your placement of the Animal Talk Point will allow your Educator to throw food in.


There is also a new management tab for Animal Talks. In this tab, you can see:
  • List of Animal Talks
  • Location of the Animal Talk Points.
  • Habitat or Exhibit Talk Point type.
  • Assigned Habitat.
  • Assigned animal species - a talk can only be for one species.
  • Month the talk is scheduled.
  • Works zone assigned (Yes/No).


[h2]Added Creativity![/h2]
We can't wait to see what you do with the new, free scenery assets! Update 1.4 will bring you a set of 'decal decorations', two new guest paths, one new queue path and two variants to pre-existing queue paths, a new font for your 3D letters, 2D letters, and a range of foliage. We love seeing what you create, and we're looking forward to seeing how you incorporate these into your zoos.



[h2]Quality of Life [/h2]
Thanks to your suggestions and feedback, we've added in a new feature:

  • Multi-Select for Franchise Mode Animal Storage


Something that has been requested for a long time now, we're proud to bring you the multi-select tool to Franchise Mode Animal Storage! This will make it easier for you to manage your animals, especially for when breeding gets out of hand quickly!

Update 1.4 will arrive with gameplay tweaks and bug fixes that we've worked on with your feedback and suggestions in mind. You'll get the full list of the Update Notes when Update 1.4 goes live on 8 December.

Thanks, PlanZo Fam, for all of your brilliant support and feedback as we continue to work on Planet Zoo. We're looking forward to sharing more about what we've been working on very soon! Stay tuned!

Planet Zoo - Update 1.3.4 available now!

Hayo fellow zookeepers!

Thank you for sharing your Issue Tracker reports and feedback with us, it is greatly appreciated! We have just released Update 1.3.4, and you can read what this involves here:

[h2]Planet Zoo - 1.3.4 Update Notes[/h2]

General fixed
  • Fixed guests randomly entering a state of 'trapped' and then heading home.
  • Fixed staff not finding available staff rooms
  • General staff and guest navigation fixes.


Stability
  • Further crash and stability fixes.


Please make sure your game is up-to-date, and continue to share your feedback, suggestions, and any bugs you discover with us.

Planet Zoo - Update 1.3.3 available now!

Hayo, fellow zookeepers!

Thanks for all of your feedback, and Issue Tracker reports! We've just released Update 1.3.3, which you can download for Planet Zoo right now.

Here's what this update contains:


General fixed

  • Added new sandbox option to disable maintenance, stops vending machines, water facilities, power facilities, toilets and rides from breaking down.
  • Tweaked the input fields for sliders into a capsule design.
  • Added the ability to type numeric values for temperature\humidity sliders.
  • Fixed staff facilities sometimes not showing their negative impact radius after first being placed.
  • Animals will no longer break barrier walls when dilapidation is turned off.
  • Fixed missing string for animal colourisation on the zebra, panda and gharial albinos.
  • Fixed staff not moving animals from trade centre to designated habitat.
  • Fixed staff and guests struggling to navigate down a 4 meter path with vending machines snapped to both kerb edges.
  • Fixed 'mechanic not visited for long time' notification appearing with barrier dilapidation turned off.
  • Fixed exhibit temperature/humidity missing tooltips text.
  • Fixed Fahrenheit temperature sliders skipping numbers.
  • Fixed an issue when subscribing 100's of workshop items would eventually crash the blueprints tab on the browser.
  • Fixed an issue where pressing escape in the community challenge window would lock out keyboard input.
  • Fixed an issue when an animal dies in the box it was impossible to unbox it or move it.
  • Fixed an issue with the conservation management not allowing setting back to "none".
  • Fixed an issue where you would need unsubscribe to a workshop blueprint twice before it is removed from construction menu while in game.
  • "View All of this Species" button in exhibit info panel should now filter animal list to only show that species.
  • Fixed "New World Area Light" to function as it did before the 1.3.0 update.
  • Fixed guests littering, despite bins being present.
  • Staff and guest navigation fixes.


Stability

  • Further crash and stability fixes.


Please continue to provide us with suggestions, feedback, and Issue Tracker reports!

Planet Zoo - Update 1.3.2 available now!

Hayo zookeepers!

Thanks for your patience while we have worked on our new update. We've been hearing your feedback, and reading your Issue Tracker reports, and we've now released Update 1.3.2. It is available to download now, so please make sure your game is up-to-date.

Please read the update notes below:

Planet Zoo - 1.3.2 Update Notes


General fixed
  • Added notification for vending machine breakdowns. 
  • Added Red Kangaroos tags missing from small ball enrichment items. 
  • Added South America and Australia tags to the Steam workshop. 
  • Temperature, humidity, heaters and coolers UI fixes:
    • Added ambient temperature tool tip when hovering over the bar for heaters and coolers. 
    • Fixed ambient zoo temperature tool tips not showing the appropriate number while set to Fahrenheit. 
    • Added numeric display of the temperature value to the side of temperature slider bars. 
    • When Exhibits are placed temperature is now set to match the ambient temperature.
  • Fixed an issue where vending machines can reach 0% maintenance and not break down. 
  • Fixed vending machines breaking down more frequently than intended.
  • Fixed mechanics not repairing vending machines to full maintenance level. 
  • Fixed mechanics not always repairing broken down vending machines after being called. 
  • Fixed players being unable to exit "Terrain Stamp Tool" by pressing escape.
  • Fixed players not being awarded the free content Kangaroo costume. 
  • Guest and staff navigation on paths with less than 4m width adjusted.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented the players from re-colouring a group of scenery items. 
  • Fixed an issue where selecting a colour on a double-clicked scenery item would close the colour picker.
  • Fixed animal colour variations (particularly timber wolves) being incorrectly labelled - the genetic colour of the animals will not change.
  • Fixed an issue where the best time for a Timed Scenario on the main menu would be different from the time achieved in-game.
  • Keepers assigned to two habitats are no longer counted twice in the assigned keepers section of the food tab. 


Stability
  • Further crash and stability fixes.

Planet Zoo - Update 1.3.1

Hayo Zookeepers!

We hope you've been enjoying Update 1.3, and the Australia Pack! We're looking forward to seeing all your blueprints, screenshots, and videos - what have you been working on so far?

Thanks for making us aware of the issues you've been experiencing. We appreciate all the Issue Tracker reports and contributions, as they have been super helpful.

With that being said, here's Update 1.3.1!

General fixes
  • Fixed protesters not leaving the zoo on load when there's nothing for them to protest.
  • Fixed crash in multi-selection and work zones, caused by facilities being in the multi-selection.
  • Corrected behaviour of the "view all of this species" button on the social tab of exhibit animals, it now opens a filtered version of the animals tab showing only the selected species.
  • Fixed issue where animals would not climb in habitats containing many climbable objects beyond what the animals could reach.
  • Fixed guests becoming trapped or teleporting to the zoo entrance after using ATM that is on the 2x2 grid-based path.
  • Fixed the water jet enrichment item reducing the surrounding temperature to 0 degrees.
  • Fixed staff not accessing the African Wild Dog Habitat in Scenario 5 due to issue with the pre-built staff path.
  • Fixed some Koala climbing problems including levitating, playing incorrect idle animation while hanging vertically and teleporting due to trying to rest while climbing.
  • Fixed male Dingo sitting down abruptly during the Male/Female interaction animation.
  • Fixed Staff management work zones not moving correct staff via the drop down in the footer.
  • Fixed continent filter in the environment tab of a habitat's UI showing the incorrect plants.
  • Fixed Vendor training level being incorrect on the UI for the shop they are assigned to.
  • Fixed issues with animals walking/climbing on the Planet Zoo Log, animals used to hover above the surface and navigate the roots poorly.
  • Added animal colour description text string when using compare mates with an animal from the animal market.
  • Added Dingo social rest interaction audio between adults.
  • Added "Koala" tag to applicable climbing Enrichments.
  • Updated missing Flexi-colour Tag on banner assets.


Stability
  • Further crash and stability fixes.