I think the biggest mistake they made was firing half their staff. It was very clear after that happened that they simply could not put the same amount of quality and new innovation we players have come to expect into DLC. It’s sad, and I can’t fault the animating team for it, they’re having to push out content with far fewer skilled people available to fine tune, and that is nearly impossible. I can’t understand why they chose to cut staff on what is by far their best selling game, and it worries me for PZ2.
It's not that I'm blaming the animating team. I'm blaming the decision to include the sifaka in the first place, when they should have known it can't be done justice with a small team.
I could agree, but then again, Frontier layoffs from last year and the incoming Planet Coaster 2 might result in any more custom animations coming from the Zookeeper's Animal Pack. But then again it'll still be unacceptable. Also R.I.P. to gerenuks standing up while feeding I guess.
I think this is because the planet zoo team shruk a lot in 2024 so they had a smaller team release the last two dlcs. And it could explain why these last two dlcs seem less ambitious than past expansions.
You just express my exact feelings and thoughts about the sifaka. Why include them to do them half way when the coati was right there and was waaaay more asked for than this fourth lemur? This one is probably the most baffling decition they have made for me. Is the one animal that got the most work done in terms of animations, but only with some behaviours but they had more popular options that would've pleased more people and help fix the glaring gaps in the roster. Is kind of frustrating because i like sifakas a lot irl but in PZ their inclusion just annoys the hell out of me lol
I knew I wouldn't be alone with feeling this way about the Sifaka but it is nice to see other people express the same. After the good on-ground animations got confirmed, it was like most of the critique just stopped.
honestly i couldnt agree more. I was already kinda annoyed by its inclusion over others. But the way they move just looks so wrong, which makes them just an unusable animal for me and really makes me wish they were literally anything else
I think the reason why the Coquerel's sifaka was added to the Zookeepers pack was because it's a resident of Chester zoo. Chester zoo was featured on the livestream that was released for the tropical pack and the black rhino short on the official Planet Zoo RUclips channel. Chester zoo is the only place in the UK to house the Coquerel's sifaka and it's the first place in Europe to successfully breed them. The Coquerel's sifaka isn't the only Chester zoo animal in the Zookeepers pack since the Andean bear and the Kirk's dik-dik live in the site as well.
Issues with Frontier being understaffed aside, I totally agree with your overall criticism of the sifaka (its behavior, its inclusion in the game, etc.) and definitely think it is, at the very least, worth calling attention to. I've been reading up on sifakas and the other members of their family recently, so I was keen to voice my support for your stance once I saw your video, haha. Reiterating your point, the sifaka's hopping behavior isn't just some quirky cute way of moving about (though it seems some people do think this); it's the result of its extreme specialization for life in the trees. I hope I don't sound pretentious, but I wonder how widely known this is among the top Planet Zoo creators on here (those who aim for realism in their builds, that is), and whether they mind. I think a greater emphasis should be placed on verticality in a sifaka exhibit, as opposed to lots of floor space for them to hop around. I think the hopping is charming to see in real life partly because it is done only occasionally; after seeing it in the game for a little while, it starts to get a bit tiresome. On the flip side, I wonder if other creators also take the same issues with the sifaka's climbing mechanics (or the climbing mechanics in the game in general) and purposely choose not to build many climbing structures for them. I have yet to do a proper build for them myself, but my early experimentations with a taller but smaller (in terms of area) exhibit have me feeling a bit disappointed; I envision the sifakas jumping from tree to tree in the same way they do in the clips you've included, despite knowing that the behavior is almost completely lacking in the game and that the sifakas would not navigate the space in a lifelike way anyway. I think your idea about reusing some of the Koala's climbing animations was clever-at certain points in the cycle, it looks far more like sifakas' resting positions in the trees than the "cat-like" seated position you describe-and agree that a vertical enrichment item for the sifaka could have helped. Is this really that big a deal? In the grand scheme of things, probably not. But, as you touched on, I think most of us would take an "ordinary" new animal that behaves realistically over a "cool" new animal that does not, so it does make the sifaka's inclusion in the game seem unusual. It's a bit like the Red Kangaroo / Red-necked Wallaby situation-they always hop and never walk quadrupedally. For some reason, this behavior was corrected in the Quokka, but not retroactively changed for the other two. It may be a minor thing, but it ultimately makes the animals that much more unrealistic (if only slightly).
Love it when people take the time to write long comments like this! I haven't really seen other creators say much about the climbing, most seem to accept it because they move correctly on the ground. It is a shame this doesn't get more attention as I fear a similar case could show up in the next pack because people seem to accept this.
It really does feel as if they half-arsed these last two packs. Like they knew they had to put something out but didn't have the motivation to put actual effort into getting things correct.
Honestly I definitely think they had trouble animating aviaries properly in a great sandbox game where it’s not optimized as good. I made my peace to wait for a proper aviary mechanic in the next game.
Not everybody is going to agree with me on this and that is okay! But make sure to keep a nice tone in the comments :)
I think the biggest mistake they made was firing half their staff. It was very clear after that happened that they simply could not put the same amount of quality and new innovation we players have come to expect into DLC. It’s sad, and I can’t fault the animating team for it, they’re having to push out content with far fewer skilled people available to fine tune, and that is nearly impossible. I can’t understand why they chose to cut staff on what is by far their best selling game, and it worries me for PZ2.
Capitalism has ruined games
It's not that I'm blaming the animating team. I'm blaming the decision to include the sifaka in the first place, when they should have known it can't be done justice with a small team.
I could agree, but then again, Frontier layoffs from last year and the incoming Planet Coaster 2 might result in any more custom animations coming from the Zookeeper's Animal Pack. But then again it'll still be unacceptable.
Also R.I.P. to gerenuks standing up while feeding I guess.
And the smaller team is exactly why this animal shouldn't have been included in the first place
I totally agree. The climbing animations for sifakas are very disappointing. Something similar happened with siamangs, they do not feel real.
I think this is because the planet zoo team shruk a lot in 2024 so they had a smaller team release the last two dlcs. And it could explain why these last two dlcs seem less ambitious than past expansions.
It is for sure a big part of the reason, it just still doesn't explain why they picked this animal to begin with
You just express my exact feelings and thoughts about the sifaka. Why include them to do them half way when the coati was right there and was waaaay more asked for than this fourth lemur? This one is probably the most baffling decition they have made for me. Is the one animal that got the most work done in terms of animations, but only with some behaviours but they had more popular options that would've pleased more people and help fix the glaring gaps in the roster. Is kind of frustrating because i like sifakas a lot irl but in PZ their inclusion just annoys the hell out of me lol
I knew I wouldn't be alone with feeling this way about the Sifaka but it is nice to see other people express the same. After the good on-ground animations got confirmed, it was like most of the critique just stopped.
honestly i couldnt agree more. I was already kinda annoyed by its inclusion over others. But the way they move just looks so wrong, which makes them just an unusable animal for me and really makes me wish they were literally anything else
I also doubt I will ever find it enjoyable to use this animal
Not just the Sifaka but the whole climbing animation system is so unnatural and Janky. Why the never bothered to fix it, I don’t know?
I think the reason why the Coquerel's sifaka was added to the Zookeepers pack was because it's a resident of Chester zoo. Chester zoo was featured on the livestream that was released for the tropical pack and the black rhino short on the official Planet Zoo RUclips channel.
Chester zoo is the only place in the UK to house the Coquerel's sifaka and it's the first place in Europe to successfully breed them. The Coquerel's sifaka isn't the only Chester zoo animal in the Zookeepers pack since the Andean bear and the Kirk's dik-dik live in the site as well.
Issues with Frontier being understaffed aside, I totally agree with your overall criticism of the sifaka (its behavior, its inclusion in the game, etc.) and definitely think it is, at the very least, worth calling attention to. I've been reading up on sifakas and the other members of their family recently, so I was keen to voice my support for your stance once I saw your video, haha. Reiterating your point, the sifaka's hopping behavior isn't just some quirky cute way of moving about (though it seems some people do think this); it's the result of its extreme specialization for life in the trees. I hope I don't sound pretentious, but I wonder how widely known this is among the top Planet Zoo creators on here (those who aim for realism in their builds, that is), and whether they mind. I think a greater emphasis should be placed on verticality in a sifaka exhibit, as opposed to lots of floor space for them to hop around. I think the hopping is charming to see in real life partly because it is done only occasionally; after seeing it in the game for a little while, it starts to get a bit tiresome. On the flip side, I wonder if other creators also take the same issues with the sifaka's climbing mechanics (or the climbing mechanics in the game in general) and purposely choose not to build many climbing structures for them.
I have yet to do a proper build for them myself, but my early experimentations with a taller but smaller (in terms of area) exhibit have me feeling a bit disappointed; I envision the sifakas jumping from tree to tree in the same way they do in the clips you've included, despite knowing that the behavior is almost completely lacking in the game and that the sifakas would not navigate the space in a lifelike way anyway. I think your idea about reusing some of the Koala's climbing animations was clever-at certain points in the cycle, it looks far more like sifakas' resting positions in the trees than the "cat-like" seated position you describe-and agree that a vertical enrichment item for the sifaka could have helped.
Is this really that big a deal? In the grand scheme of things, probably not. But, as you touched on, I think most of us would take an "ordinary" new animal that behaves realistically over a "cool" new animal that does not, so it does make the sifaka's inclusion in the game seem unusual. It's a bit like the Red Kangaroo / Red-necked Wallaby situation-they always hop and never walk quadrupedally. For some reason, this behavior was corrected in the Quokka, but not retroactively changed for the other two. It may be a minor thing, but it ultimately makes the animals that much more unrealistic (if only slightly).
Love it when people take the time to write long comments like this!
I haven't really seen other creators say much about the climbing, most seem to accept it because they move correctly on the ground. It is a shame this doesn't get more attention as I fear a similar case could show up in the next pack because people seem to accept this.
It really does feel as if they half-arsed these last two packs. Like they knew they had to put something out but didn't have the motivation to put actual effort into getting things correct.
It’s disappointing to say the least
Exactly
Honestly I definitely think they had trouble animating aviaries properly in a great sandbox game where it’s not optimized as good. I made my peace to wait for a proper aviary mechanic in the next game.
Lemur that would've worked better:
Aye Aye with vertical Insect Log Enrichment 🥰
A vertical enrichment could help on the sifaka's issues