Planet Zoos lighting is definitely more realistic, but only in outdoor settings. Making anything indoors is always painful to look at. Having to switch from day to night everytime to make something more realistic indoors or having to use a full glass roof to get better lighting is annoying. But even then it doesn't look great at all. This is definitely where Planet Coaster 2 shines. Also shaded areas in PC2 are better as well. The shade in PZ isn't shady enough in some circumstances. Also with how light kind of shines through certain objects and foliage in PC2 looks alot better too imo.
I'm actually not a fan of the lighting in planco2. It's too bright and the colors are too vivid and saturated and it ends up making the game look too cartoony
The lower textures in pc2 might be for better optimization since we have coasters and rides. Now for the lighting in pc2, I wish they added a filter to make the colors more realistic
They can fix the game and fix the lighting and weather at the same time. This is not a solo dev team. But, when it comes to fixing a game as the artist or designers. Its easy to over look your flaws. This is why a alpha test is important. It gives the dev team the critical feed back from the players. A big part of early development is keeping the game simple. because a simple game is easier to fix and repair then a game that has a bunch of mechanics. Once every one is happy with the base game then we move on to adding more features and testing and tweaking through development. One thing I have been requesting is for them to give us a way to control the game lighting in the settings. Not just to make it better normally but, to also create alien worlds. A color wheel for world lighting. And a slider for Hue, Saturation, Brightness, Shadows, Darkness zones, indoor and Bounce.
I've never seen planet zoo before or played it, I've come into planco2 as a total noob on the console and now that I've seen this I'm outraged 😂 those ferns in Zoo look insane. You'd have imagined it would have been SO easy to just take planCo1, add Zoo lighting, scaling and pools - job done. That's all it needed to be.
Zoo is a masterpiece! If they took all the pieces/pathing textures from zoo and transferred them to planco2 i would be perfectly happy. Everything about zoo beats planco2. Theres a ton of features in planco and zoo they took put of planco2. Being able to change the water color, stamp tool for que paths, square edges for que paths, changing friction on individual coasters.... just to name a few
Honestly, I think the Planco2 lighting is better, however the Planzoo’s scenery is leagues better. The trees and textures are truly stunning. Planzoo is more realistic
Great analysis! What do you think the reason behind this is? I feel like it was a style choice to appeal to maybe a younger audience. Imagine planetco2 with zoo light!
Absolutely could be! Think too that the console audience is most likely a little younger then the older PC crowd and that could’ve factored in. Could be different art directors too that decided they wanted this brighter style. Maybe someone will get some good Reshade options out someday 😄
Thankyou for making this video, you have put it perfectly and hopefully frontier will see this and take note. The new dark indoor sections in coaster are great but not when the overall look has taken a hit. Planet coaster 2 is a huge downgrade when compared to the textures in zoo. The plants look terrible in comparison and the weird movements makes it even worse, then there's the issues with the LODs even on maxed out settings. Hopefully this can all be improved over time, if this is the future for a possible planet zoo 2 I can't imagine people switching games. The worst part is it's hard to switch back to planet coaster 1! The coaster builder, path zoo and overall performance of the new game is so much better going back is not a fun experience! For now I can't even get myself to open the game to play and it's the first time since playing the planet coaster alpha I haven't jumped at the chance for DLC content. I even bought most of the zoo DLCs but only have around 70hours compared to 3500 hours in planco 1.
I think there are several potential reasons for this difference. One, Frontier may have laid off the people responsible for the lighting in Zoo. Two, on the other hand, they might have made a conscious decision to make the colors brighter assuming that maybe more kids would play with coasters than animals? Especially since it was launching on consoles simultaneously. Or three, it could just be as simple as the game was rushed out the door half baked so isn’t as polished as it should be.
Now I don’t have Planet Zoo and haven’t played it, so I can only judge based on what’s presented here, but you’re comparing a desert biome to a tropical biome so obviously it’s going to look different. The desert biome has a much warmer tint (note the reddish/purple shadows), while the tropical biome has a cooler, blueish tint. The warm tint and less saturated foliage in the desert biome help convey the intense heat and dryness of that climate, whereas the cooler tint and more vibrant colors in the tropical biome emphasize its lush, humid environment. It would’ve been a fairer comparison to compare the tropical biomes from both games since PC2 doesn’t have a desert biome. While I do agree the aesthetic of the desert biome is more appealing, I think the way they lighted and coloured the tropical biome in PC2 is appropriate.
could it be 'park beyond' had an influence or a hand in their decision to make PC2 have more of a cartoonie look but not deviate too much from PC1? i say we all collectively ask frontier to make PC3 look like PZ but even more realistic in textured and weathered looking.
This is exactly what I thought. A shame that they changed it to a brighter lighting. Love the realistic atmosphere in zoo. I sometimes struggle with bright pieces in PlanCo2 due to lighting. I have to set up the time to around 1pm to actually build and the correct placement. Maybe and hopefully they wil fix it. But anyways, it’s a fun game and I’m enjoying it
i was blissfully naive and haven't opened Zoo since PC2. I'm gonna try reshade now and see if i can tone down the saturation. I'm building a Saint Denis style main strret and the game's just too bright and takes away from the gritty western vibe.
Planet Zoo's lighting has a much warmer and inviting feeling, it's soft... whereas PC2's lighting is very cold and harsh, way too bright and the colors are WAY too saturated, it feels unnatural. What also doesn't help is that PZ has such a good atmosphere (and i'm not even talking about the weather), with dust and fog and PC2 has none of that except for some very slight depth fog which doesnt even look that great... As of right now, the only redeeming factor PC2 has for me is its path system, everything else is just too undercooked for me to fully enjoy it, which is disappointing to say the least...
Agree with one exception. I think the indoor areas in Planco2 are superior to Planet Zoo. Outside of that, the colors are better on Zoo as PC2 is just too harsh. But that is something they can easily fix with some filters.
We definitely need a lighting change. there was more effort on Planet Zoo. I’m really hoping someone at frontier says hey this game deserves this. Even the rain in the ground looks amazing. I’d love to have more realistic gameplay. I feel like 8 years should have been enough time to develop something better.. BUT it makes me wonder what else they’re doing & concerned about… I wonder what game they’re hiding from us..
The real answer is that Planet Coaster 2 would have started from a build earlier on than whatever the final build of Planet Zoo is, and while they may share an engine they are still distinctly separate games. You'd have to go in and replicate any changes you wished to make consistent between the two. On a personal note, I have never liked the interior lighting in Planet Zoo. Anything indoors has always looked strange to me, like too much tinting from outside was always getting in. PC2 has improved this overall, and perhaps something to do with that process is why the overall lighting looks different in the way that it does. Without looking at the code, and being able to understand any of it, there's really no way of verifying anything. Still, I'm not surprised that they are a bit different.
Let me know what you think of the difference! 👀
Planet Zoos lighting is definitely more realistic, but only in outdoor settings. Making anything indoors is always painful to look at. Having to switch from day to night everytime to make something more realistic indoors or having to use a full glass roof to get better lighting is annoying. But even then it doesn't look great at all.
This is definitely where Planet Coaster 2 shines. Also shaded areas in PC2 are better as well. The shade in PZ isn't shady enough in some circumstances. Also with how light kind of shines through certain objects and foliage in PC2 looks alot better too imo.
I'm actually not a fan of the lighting in planco2. It's too bright and the colors are too vivid and saturated and it ends up making the game look too cartoony
Same its too cartoonish
I don't really like how PC2 looks a lot more cartoony with the saturated and bright colors, but I do love the water in this game!
The lower textures in pc2 might be for better optimization since we have coasters and rides.
Now for the lighting in pc2, I wish they added a filter to make the colors more realistic
They can fix the game and fix the lighting and weather at the same time. This is not a solo dev team. But, when it comes to fixing a game as the artist or designers. Its easy to over look your flaws. This is why a alpha test is important. It gives the dev team the critical feed back from the players. A big part of early development is keeping the game simple. because a simple game is easier to fix and repair then a game that has a bunch of mechanics. Once every one is happy with the base game then we move on to adding more features and testing and tweaking through development.
One thing I have been requesting is for them to give us a way to control the game lighting in the settings. Not just to make it better normally but, to also create alien worlds. A color wheel for world lighting. And a slider for Hue, Saturation, Brightness, Shadows, Darkness zones, indoor and Bounce.
I was wondering the other day why some of the most detailed parks in PC2 still look kindve plain. And this side by side totally explains why.
I've never seen planet zoo before or played it, I've come into planco2 as a total noob on the console and now that I've seen this I'm outraged 😂 those ferns in Zoo look insane. You'd have imagined it would have been SO easy to just take planCo1, add Zoo lighting, scaling and pools - job done. That's all it needed to be.
Zoo is a masterpiece! If they took all the pieces/pathing textures from zoo and transferred them to planco2 i would be perfectly happy. Everything about zoo beats planco2. Theres a ton of features in planco and zoo they took put of planco2. Being able to change the water color, stamp tool for que paths, square edges for que paths, changing friction on individual coasters.... just to name a few
oh AND BEING ABLE TO TURN CURBS OFF ON PATHING!!! Good grief! Hello! Leave features in the game and make it optional... but dont take features out
Honestly, I think the Planco2 lighting is better, however the Planzoo’s scenery is leagues better. The trees and textures are truly stunning. Planzoo is more realistic
Great analysis! What do you think the reason behind this is? I feel like it was a style choice to appeal to maybe a younger audience. Imagine planetco2 with zoo light!
That would be amazing, and kinda what I expected. Honestly, if they give us simple control over lighting its already fixed
Absolutely could be! Think too that the console audience is most likely a little younger then the older PC crowd and that could’ve factored in. Could be different art directors too that decided they wanted this brighter style. Maybe someone will get some good Reshade options out someday 😄
Thankyou for making this video, you have put it perfectly and hopefully frontier will see this and take note. The new dark indoor sections in coaster are great but not when the overall look has taken a hit. Planet coaster 2 is a huge downgrade when compared to the textures in zoo. The plants look terrible in comparison and the weird movements makes it even worse, then there's the issues with the LODs even on maxed out settings. Hopefully this can all be improved over time, if this is the future for a possible planet zoo 2 I can't imagine people switching games. The worst part is it's hard to switch back to planet coaster 1! The coaster builder, path zoo and overall performance of the new game is so much better going back is not a fun experience! For now I can't even get myself to open the game to play and it's the first time since playing the planet coaster alpha I haven't jumped at the chance for DLC content. I even bought most of the zoo DLCs but only have around 70hours compared to 3500 hours in planco 1.
I think there are several potential reasons for this difference. One, Frontier may have laid off the people responsible for the lighting in Zoo. Two, on the other hand, they might have made a conscious decision to make the colors brighter assuming that maybe more kids would play with coasters than animals? Especially since it was launching on consoles simultaneously. Or three, it could just be as simple as the game was rushed out the door half baked so isn’t as polished as it should be.
Now I don’t have Planet Zoo and haven’t played it, so I can only judge based on what’s presented here, but you’re comparing a desert biome to a tropical biome so obviously it’s going to look different. The desert biome has a much warmer tint (note the reddish/purple shadows), while the tropical biome has a cooler, blueish tint. The warm tint and less saturated foliage in the desert biome help convey the intense heat and dryness of that climate, whereas the cooler tint and more vibrant colors in the tropical biome emphasize its lush, humid environment. It would’ve been a fairer comparison to compare the tropical biomes from both games since PC2 doesn’t have a desert biome. While I do agree the aesthetic of the desert biome is more appealing, I think the way they lighted and coloured the tropical biome in PC2 is appropriate.
could it be 'park beyond' had an influence or a hand in their decision to make PC2 have more of a cartoonie look but not deviate too much from PC1? i say we all collectively ask frontier to make PC3 look like PZ but even more realistic in textured and weathered looking.
I think the silence the community has seen from Deladysigner, not posting any Planco 2 content tells volumes...
This is exactly what I thought. A shame that they changed it to a brighter lighting. Love the realistic atmosphere in zoo. I sometimes struggle with bright pieces in PlanCo2 due to lighting. I have to set up the time to around 1pm to actually build and the correct placement. Maybe and hopefully they wil fix it. But anyways, it’s a fun game and I’m enjoying it
i was blissfully naive and haven't opened Zoo since PC2. I'm gonna try reshade now and see if i can tone down the saturation. I'm building a Saint Denis style main strret and the game's just too bright and takes away from the gritty western vibe.
Hey Sdanwolf, I see the difference, and I'm wondering if they're going to make another planet zoo.
Planet Zoo's lighting has a much warmer and inviting feeling, it's soft... whereas PC2's lighting is very cold and harsh, way too bright and the colors are WAY too saturated, it feels unnatural. What also doesn't help is that PZ has such a good atmosphere (and i'm not even talking about the weather), with dust and fog and PC2 has none of that except for some very slight depth fog which doesnt even look that great... As of right now, the only redeeming factor PC2 has for me is its path system, everything else is just too undercooked for me to fully enjoy it, which is disappointing to say the least...
Agree with one exception. I think the indoor areas in Planco2 are superior to Planet Zoo. Outside of that, the colors are better on Zoo as PC2 is just too harsh. But that is something they can easily fix with some filters.
This aspect frustrates me more than it should. Like I will just never be happy with pc2’s visuals when I know how much better planet zoos is
It almost looks like planet zoo took the lighting and foliage from Jurassic world evolution
I love both, and I think each one looks better for the type of game. I don't think PZ lights would fit into PC
We definitely need a lighting change. there was more effort on Planet Zoo. I’m really hoping someone at frontier says hey this game deserves this. Even the rain in the ground looks amazing.
I’d love to have more realistic gameplay. I feel like 8 years should have been enough time to develop something better.. BUT it makes me wonder what else they’re doing & concerned about… I wonder what game they’re hiding from us..
The real answer is that Planet Coaster 2 would have started from a build earlier on than whatever the final build of Planet Zoo is, and while they may share an engine they are still distinctly separate games. You'd have to go in and replicate any changes you wished to make consistent between the two.
On a personal note, I have never liked the interior lighting in Planet Zoo. Anything indoors has always looked strange to me, like too much tinting from outside was always getting in. PC2 has improved this overall, and perhaps something to do with that process is why the overall lighting looks different in the way that it does. Without looking at the code, and being able to understand any of it, there's really no way of verifying anything. Still, I'm not surprised that they are a bit different.
I've noticed after playing PC2 for a while my eye balls hurt! Anyone else getting this?
They should add rtx. Both games would look amazing! Great vid btw, I like your builds.
:D