Shortly following the release of Planet Zoo 2, developer Frontier Developments has released a new update for the zoo-keeping management sim. The studio has also confirmed that it is working on future updates that will focus on a few core areas that the studio has noted will continue to receive ongoing improvements. The issues listed by the team largely come down to the “complex nature of Planet Zoo 2’s simulation,” says the studio.
These specific areas include animals jumping, climbing, and pouncing, animals not aligning with their enrichments correctly, animals erroneously escaping from habitats during certain behaviors, and animals being boxed more frequently than usual even when migrating in wild areas. Along with this, the team has said that it is still going through the feedback it has gotten from players about the core creative toolset offered by Planet Zoo 2. The team will also keep an eye on any fixes that might be required for the Franchise mode.
As for what this update brings to the table, Planet Zoo 2 players can expect better performance across game modes like Franchise. FSR and DLSS have been fixed as well, along with an issue that caused the in-game audio to get distorted when the player cycled through heatmap tabs. For a full list of changes, check out the patch notes below.
Planet Zoo 2 Update 1.0.4 patch notes:
Key Changes
- Various performance and stability improvements
- Resolved several factors affecting Franchise Mode stability
- Provided greater access to initial animal trading volumes in Franchise Mode
- FSR and DLSS should now function correctly when selected in the Graphics menu
- Resolved audio distortion when cycling though heatmap tabs
- Fixed an issue where custom keybindings were being reset when opening the Hub, Animal Trading, or Animal Storage
- Fixed several crashes
- Updated the editable area of several sandbox maps
- Improvements to several areas, including:
- Animals erroneously escaping from habitats
- Animal navigation, including a reduction in the frequency animals are automatically boxed
- Animal animations, including climbing behaviour
- Animal enrichment interactions
- Animal breeding frequency and success rate
- Shoal welfare requirements
- Animal temperature calculations and notifications
Bug Fixes
Stability & Performance
- Various performance and stability improvements
- Fixed several crashes:
- When moving scenery out of a scenery group that would cause the old scenery group to be deleted
- When entering and exiting the hub quickly
- When attempting to multiselect multiple blueprints at the same time
- Several improvements to the undo/redo function including fixing an occasional hardlock caused by selecting undo while using terrain sculpting tools
- Resolved occasional inability to place objects after pressing the TAB key on a keyboard
Career
- Resolved an issue where later save slots would have the same medal total as save slot 1, prematurely unlocking career levels in that slot
- Fixed an issue where scenario data was not being cleared when entering and exiting a different hub
- Resolved boxed animals appearing in the opening cinematic of the Great Rift Valley Reserve scenario
- Fixed an issue where the next scenario would not always unlock if the player saved and quit before completing it
- Resolved audio cutting off unexpectedly during Great Rift Valley scenario
- Fixed a localisation issue where the New England scenario incorrectly asked the player to place a souvenir shop instead of a gift shop
Franchise
- Resolved inability to list juvenile Shoals for trading in Franchise mode
- Fixed issue with the Community Challenge panel not displaying all information
- Fixed an issue where release groups would not display the correct CC reward value for completion
Sandbox
- Fixed several terrestrial animals being removed when exporting a career or franchise zoo as a sandbox map
Animals
- Improvements to several areas, including:
- Animals erroneously escaping from habitats
- Animal navigation, including a reduction in the frequency animals are automatically boxed
- Animal animations, including climbing behaviour
- Animal enrichment interactions
- Animal breeding frequency and success rate
- Shoal welfare requirements
- Animal temperature calculations and notifications
- Various updates and improvements to the Zoopedia
- Updates to animal cohabitation lists
- Fixed an issue where some animals did not show injuries after fights or predation
- Fixed an issue where some feeder enrichments would not show food for specific species
- Resolved Shoals teleporting after they die
- Fixed wrong location being shown when entering a nest camera mode
- Fixed an issue where juvenile birds in Wildlife Reserves could remain stuck in their nest if their group migrated while they were maturing
- Added social group welfare information to shoal info panels
Exhibits
- Fixed an issue where guests would use exhibit view points that are not on the path
Park Management
- Reduced the interest rates on low level loans
- Guests will no longer float when sitting on specific seating
- Resolved audio distortion when cycling though heatmap tabs
- Fixed inconsistencies between park reputation and animal welfare
- Fixed inconsistencies in average donation after the season ticks over
- Fixed inability to pause time while in the Cinematic Route Editor camera mode
- Keyframe timelines will no longer appear when using the “Hide UI” option in the Cinematic Route Editor camera mode
- Improved player experience when navigating the Research menus
- Fixed an issue where some guest and staff facilities were not being highlighted in the appropriate heatmaps
Park Construction
- Reduced the default angle snap increment to 1 degree rather than 15 degrees
- Fixed an issue where placing down a habitat barrier after ysing the nature brush stops mouse and keyboard hotkeys from working until a different interface is opened
- Various improvements and fixes to habitat blueprints
- Updated the editable area of one of the Grassland sculpted sandbox maps to allow the deletion of the car park
- Updated the editable area of one of the Temperate sculpted sandbox maps to allow deletion of the village
- Updated the editable area of one of the Tropical sculpted sandbox maps to allow placement further along the beach and the deletion of some buildings
- Updated the editable area of the China sculpted sandbox maps to give access to the whole plateau
- Resolved object scale tool not functioning correctly with mouse input
- Fixed Flexicolour not functioning for the Planet Wood Roof set
- The Demolish Brush will remember its set height after closing and reopening the tool
- Added a button to switch to removing the waterlogged and snow terrain
- Fixed a number of issues with how invisible paths and path extras as being hidden
- Fixed an issue where blueprints containing locked enrichment items were appearing before the player completed the appropriate research
- Updated Small Steam Train pattern and flexicolour menu
- Fixed “Snap to Adjacent Heights” barrier not functioning correctly
Wildlife Reserves
- Resolved zoo specific blueprints incorrectly appearing in the object browser while in Wildlife Reserves
- Fixed an issue where animals would sometimes teleport in Wildlife Reserves
Workshop
- Resolved inability to view creator profiles through the object browser in Career Mode
- Resolved chosen thumbnail screenshot not loading when uploading a blueprint to the workshop
Avatar Editor
- Added avatar costumes for completing the career
Settings
- Fixed an issue where custom keybindings were being reset when opening the Hub, Animal Trading, or Animal Storage
- Added customisable keybinding for Scale option under “Object Placement Controls”
Gamepad
- Fixed inability to favourite Animal Market listings on Gamepad
- Added ability to delete all items in a single multiselected group with a single key
Localisation
- Various Localisation fixes
Misc
- Various fixes to the first person camera mode
- Fixed Autosaves displaying incorrect icons and names
Platform Specific
- PC
- “Ultra” graphics preset now sets Foliage Detail to Very High
- FSR and DLSS should now function correctly when selected in the Graphics menu
- PS5
- Fixed player info not appearing in the Franchise Animal Trading menu on PS5
- PS5 & XBS
- Audio during career cinematics now pauses correctly when entering console OS menu
