| | Zoo Tycoon 2 Review and Discussion Thread | |
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Maxis Aerian Pyramidal Crystal
Title : Maxis Scout Representing Waytherid Posts : 273 Join date : 2014-02-28 Age : 31 Location : Madison, MS
| Subject: Zoo Tycoon 2 Review and Discussion Thread 27th March 2014, 7:33 am | |
| Wanna Learn how to run a Zoo, without a degree in Zoology? This franchise is the one for you! Zoo Tycoon 2 is the most recent continuation Microsoft's Zoo Simulation franchise powered by DirectX technology. Developed by Blue Fang Games, Zoo Tycoon 2 harnesses the power of the flexible, yet buggy gamebryo engine to bring a true-to-life experience of building and managing your own zoo!
Currently, Zoo Tycoon 2 has four expansions, Endangered Species, African Adventure, Extinct Animals, and Marine Mania. They are all bundled together in the Ultimate Collection. Contains three disks, and theres room for user-made content. In fact, third-party expansions are already released and being constantly updated. One of which is European Expedition.
A major flaw of ZT2, is that it was not made for 16:9 resolutions, thus at the highest resolution of 1920x1080px32, you get these vertical black bars. I assume it was microsoft's safety feature for multi-monitor rigs, because the game minimizes if you click on the auxiliary monitor. Which, come to think of it isn't so bad. Then again, what if you try to record the game? You can't just stretch the footage out to rid of the black bars, it'll look terrible.
I got the game to run on my Windows 7 Professional Desktop. Only one action made all the difference to make it playable, disabling DEP for the game's executable, zt.exe.
Aside from technical issues, the gameplay portion is filled with possibilities. From learning in the campaigns, to practicing in Freeform Mode, to mastering it all in Challenge Mode, Zoo Tycoon 2 gives you stories to tell, problems to solve, and discoveries to be made with the Kingdom Animalia!
One thing that galls me is the Encarta/Zoopedia not giving out specifics on caring for each animal, what their diet is, how spacious their exhibits need to be, what other animals they can get along with in the same exhibit (yes, you can do that, in case you're short on space.), etc. The only way to discover their diet and enrichment is to, place the animal in the exhibit and find out from its window.
This Example is why you can't rely on the Zoopedia: I had to search Wikipedia to find out the ostrich's diet, which based on the intel there, includes grass, seeds, hay, the grazing staples. What they don't do in-game that they do in the wild, is swallow rocks to help process their meals in the gizzard. A real differenced missed the simulation's perfection by that much!
The final judgement is based on the average of the three Criteria: Simulation, Gameplay, and, Technical Competence.
Simulation: In lieu of documentation by the Critical Example involving Wikipedia, the diets and behaviors of the animals are fairly accurate when reflected to how they would behave in the wild or in captivity. While the algorithm and coding involved limits the capabilities of what each species can do, what this shortcoming lacks in variation, it makes up for in the AI of each species. The only piece missing in the AI is random personalities. Without a unique personality, the animals autonomy is only limited to the preservation of its own life, even without Staff Intervention. Because of this, Ami/Amy would give this 4 Stars out of a possible 5.
Gameplay: Having played the Zookeeper Collection before in the past, I must say, the sandboxing capabilities, would not be Usagi/Serena's type of game, but to Arch, it give him a learning experience. But i must be impartial about features. Guest mode enables you to pitch in to your Zoo's efforts, as a jack-of-all-trades, zookeeper, trainer, plongeur (French for custodian), just whatever roles the staff do, you can as well. Only exception to this feature is the educator, unless you wish to be a guest and pretend to listen to a lecture in front of an exhibit. You make also take photos in-game to share wacky zoo moments, preferably in a slide show. But remember, your part on the Zoo will always be invaluable to the fame and success of it. This balance of flexibility and micromanagement caught the attention of Lita, who just gave this Criteria a perfect 5 star rating!
Technical Competence: This judgement is determined by what further actions need to be taken to run this game on a more modern Windows OS. Which is child's play, with an administrative risk. To play this game on a Windows 7, running the title in Compatibility Mode won't do any good, as far as my experience with the Zookeeper Collection is concerned. This game requires access to hidden bits of memory, access that Win 7 considers illegal, to bypass this failsafe, you must whitelist the game's executable (zt.exe) from Data Execution Prevention (DEP). I'm sure you can figure this out on your own, assuming you have administrative access to your machine. Also, the Resolution Issue mentioned above, is still yet to be resolved as of this review. In Rei/Raye's case this component is given 3 out of 5 stars.
The Final Average for Zoo Tycoon 2 is none other than 4 trumpeting elephants out of 5!
If you have Comments or in-game photos to share, please do so here. |
| | | The author of this message was banned from the forum - See the message | Maxis Aerian Pyramidal Crystal
Title : Maxis Scout Representing Waytherid Posts : 273 Join date : 2014-02-28 Age : 31 Location : Madison, MS
| Subject: Zoo Tycoon 2 Advice Thread 28th March 2014, 11:36 am | |
| I'm rusty after a one year hiatus on Zoo Tycoon 2. But I come with some info courtesy of GameFAQs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/954417-zoo-tycoon-2-ultimate-collection/faqs/50886 This handy walkthrough comes with a Comma-Separated Value excerpt to put into your own Excel Spreadsheet. This excerpt is mainly for the purpose of creating Multi-Biome Exhibits. Hey, animals need diversity in their confined space. There's also a guide for compatibility with other animals, in case you plan to display more than one species in the same exhibit. But that guide is here: http://zootycoon.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_official_animals_in_Zoo_Tycoon_2 If you plan to use third-party expansions, it's gonna require trial and error for biome tolerance and animal compatibility. DID YOU KNOW: Placing two different species in an exhibit that are not compatible with each other will start attacking to establish dominance in a limited space. If this happens in a campaign or challenge game, this will be brought to the attention of conservation authorities and put your zoo on probation, suspending you from adopting any more animals until your next hearing, plus you might be fined for negligence or animal cruelty. This lesson for me opened my eyes to the fact that animals have feelings that could also reflect on the guests. Unless the guide states these two species are compatible with each other, ALWAYS PLACE THEM IN SEPARATE EXHIBITS! - RELATABLE RANT, PLEASE READ EVERYTHING!:
If you are really that cruel to animals, you deserve to be punished, not just in terms of the game's ruling, but in reality by keeping you from playing any animal care titles! Maybe then will it be your time to give up your inhumane nature! And no, I don't advocate PETA with these words, because they are too radical and stubborn to think twice before lobbying congress to ban the slaughtering of livestock and fish, humane or otherwise! Yes, I too think animals have feelings, and yes, we let feelings for them cloud our judgement of their ultimate fate. But, you can't change the circle of life, you can only hope to let it continue or make sure it continues. If the animal kingdom could take the time to stop and understand us humans, why that can give us the edge we need to coexist with nature in lieu of rapid expansion in applied science. If humans and animals can only take the time to understand each other, let eyes tell each others stories, we can learn to stop fearing, and start helping each other towards a final unity. Then again, it's just another dream for someone like Stephen Hawking.
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| | | The author of this message was banned from the forum - See the message | sailor swifty Lotus Crystal
Title : Space Princess Posts : 3200 Join date : 2012-07-25 Age : 33 Location : Arendelle
| Subject: Re: Zoo Tycoon 2 Review and Discussion Thread 29th March 2014, 6:48 pm | |
| I used to have the Game, but i crashed a few times... and it was the real thing too, i bought it from Game stop new.. so i got rid it. it was a fun game. i think it crashed, in the middle of something and i did not get to save. >: ( speaking of not placing animals in the same area.... i think one time the missions was to put a gazelle in the same area loin, so some school group could watch the lino stalk it O_O i think another was to take a pic of an animal stalking too. This would be the only time I'd let it happen, i think one time the bear kept stalking another animal so i had to make a 2nd area of the other animal., darn bear. I also named the people who spoke at the zoo silly names, or ones that sound funny when the guest thought of them XD |
| | | Maxis Aerian Pyramidal Crystal
Title : Maxis Scout Representing Waytherid Posts : 273 Join date : 2014-02-28 Age : 31 Location : Madison, MS
| Subject: Re: Zoo Tycoon 2 Review and Discussion Thread 30th March 2014, 5:37 am | |
| I treat all animals like family. It's not easy, since it takes commitment, and acceptance for the things that go wiggity. Even without a degree in Zoology, you should know how to treat animals, with care and compassion. |
| | | The author of this message was banned from the forum - See the message | silver-bubblet Star Seed
Posts : 69 Join date : 2013-12-23 Age : 33 Location : Rivendell
| Subject: Re: Zoo Tycoon 2 Review and Discussion Thread 30th March 2014, 7:41 pm | |
| I miss that game! I would love to find it for mac!
I always had fun, I don't know if I ever did the missions. It may have been Zoo Tycoon 1, but I was just talking to my brother the other day about how I enjoyed Roller Coaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon (he had dinosaurs lol)
I never could put anything in the same area, it was all separate for me, that I remember. I just enjoyed all the babies =) |
| | | brrrandiZZLe Lotus Crystal
Title : Brandi, the official Usagi of the forums ^.^ Posts : 2757 Join date : 2012-06-18 Age : 30 Location : Texas
| Subject: Re: Zoo Tycoon 2 Review and Discussion Thread 2nd April 2014, 2:21 pm | |
| Mod note: I totally understand why you have two separate threads for this game, but since there is no activity on the other thread, I think I'll merge there just so that we don't have a loner thread out there. ^ ^ |
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