Zoo Tycoon 2

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Zoo Tycoon 2
Zoo Tycoon 2 boxart
Developer(s)	Blue Fang Games (original) MacSoft (Mac version)
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios (original) MacSoft (Mac version)
Series	Zoo Tycoon
Engine	Gamebryo
Version	2
Platform(s)	Windows Apple Mac
Release date(s)	November 2004
Genre(s)	Business simulation
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E OFLC: PG OFLC: G (DS) PEGI: 3+ USK: Unrestricted
Media	CD-ROM Nintendo DS Game Card
System requirements	Windows 2000/XP: 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, 1 GB HDD, 32 MB graphics card with Hardware Transform & Lighting, DirectX 9.0, Internet access to download optional content, CD-ROM drive
Input methods	Keyboard, mouse

Zoo Tycoon 2 is a simulation computer game in which the player may create and operate a zoo, by managing its finances, employees and animal exhibits. The goal is to become a "zoo tycoon".

It is the sequel of the 2001 game Zoo Tycoon.

As well as primarily made for Microsoft Windows, Zoo Tycoon 2 is also available for the mobile phone, Mac and Nintendo DS.

Gameplay

There are a number of different modes in the game. Each mode has limitations (with the exception of freeform) and the player can choose which mode depending on the experience and age of him or her.

A freeform game in Zoo Tycoon 2 allows you to create the zoo of your choice, the only restriction being space, animals and objects. The player's money supply is unlimited, and all items are available from the beginning of the game play (except those that can only be unlocked in Scenario and Challenge games). Freeform games begin with an empty zoo, to which the player adds animal exhibits and guest facilities (such as restaurants and bathrooms), hiring employees to staff and maintain them.

Challenge games are the equivalent of previous Zoo Tycoon freeform games. In this type of game, the player's money supply is limited, and not all items are ready for immediate use and stocks of an animal species are limited. Game play is the same as freeform, except that the player must make a profit in order to keep the zoo running, and certain items must be researched before they become available for use.
This mode will occasionally give the player extra challenges. Some of them will involve creating habitats for specific animals. Other photo challenges will involve snapping a picture of a designated animal doing a specific behavior, such as running or hunting.
When a specific number of regular challenges, expansion pack challenges (expansions are required for these challenges), or photo challenges are completed, a specific theme for buildings are available, allowing versions of the player's restrooms, food stands, scenery, and other items to be constructed altered for that theme.

A campaign is a game form in which the player must complete a goal to win. Each campaign gives the player a certain task to achieve (such as constructing a particular exhibit or gaining a specific award), and when the goal is met, the player moves onto the next.Campaigns can range from simple construction tasks to creating and managing a popular zoo for several years. As the player progresses through the campaign, the scenarios become harder. After the player completes the last scenario, a reward is obtained, usually a new building or item, or allowing the player to take on an entirely new campaign. The campaign mode also includes game tutorials.

The original 'biome brush'. This mode allows the player to create animal habitats easily. The biome brush was updated in the Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure expansion pack

Animals

Zoo Tycoon 2 contains 30 animals in total, although expansion packs and downloads add up to 130 animals so far. The animals are sorted into categories by biome (savannah, tropical rainforest, alpine, scrub, grassland, wetlands, tundra, desert, boreal forest and temperate forest, although benthic, reef, pelagic and coastal were all included in Marine Mania).

The animals can be mixed with each other in their exhibits, and the carnivores will only hunt the herbivores if they are hungry. However, some carnivores (such as lions) occasionally kill others of their species for competition over space or as reproduction needs have reached a peak.

• African elephant
• American beaver
• Bengal tiger
• Black rhinoceros
• Cheetah
• Common chimpanzee
• Common peafowl
• Common zebra
• Dromedary camel
• Emperor penguin
• Gemsbok
• Giant panda
• Greater flamingo
• Grizzly bear
• Hippopotamus
• Ibex
• Jaguar
• Lion
• Moose
• Gorilla
• Nile crocodile
• Okapi
• Ostrich
• Polar bear
• Red kangaroo
• Red panda
• Reticulated giraffe
• Ring-tailed lemur
• Snow leopard
• Thomson's gazelle

Bonus downloads and extras

Bonus downloads are additional animals, objects and other features that can be downloaded via the in-game menus.^[1] Extras are additional animals that can only be downloaded via the 'Extras' section of the Zoo Tycoon website.

• Asian elephant
• Black leopard
• Musk ox
• Addax

Ambient animals

Ambient animals fly over and run around in the zoo. These are non-adoptable and cannot be selected or manipulated by the player.

• Rock dove
• Herring gull
• Yellow-billed oxpecker
• Blue-and-yellow macaw
• Mallard duck
• Common loon
• Springhare
• Red Squirrel
• King vulture
• Monarch butterfly
• American Bullfrog

Expansion packs

Endangered Species

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species

In October 2005, Microsoft released the Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species expansion pack. This expansion pack adds more rare animals, including the komodo dragon, scimitar-horned oryx, and orangutan, as well as a number of new forms of transportation, including sky trams, jeep tours and elevated paths. The expansion also has a feature called "variant skins", which means that when the player adopts an animal, it may look different from normal members of its species (such as a White Bengal tiger and King Cheetah).

African Adventure

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure

Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure, released May 2006, adds various new African animals such as the bongo, secretary bird, Ratel and the meerkat, allows the player to drive through exhibits with African-themed jeep tours to get closer to them. The expansion pack also includes new maps based on well-known African locations, as well as new desert-themed buildings and lizard live food, and a new set of challenges and campaigns. The Jeep vehicle tours originally included in Endangered Species are featured in this expansion, with the addition of the new Jeep Liberty.

Dino Danger Pack (premium download)

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Dino Danger Pack

The Dino Danger Pack was released at the end of July 2006. The pack could only be downloaded from the Zoo Tycoon website via credit card. It added four new animals to the game, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Carnotaurus, and Styracosaurus, as well as new objects to be used for them and a campaign game. The Dino Danger Pack could be purchased for US$4.99 and downloaded at Zoo Tycoon premium downloads^[2]. Since the release of Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals, which includes more updated versions of all of the animals included in the pack, Dino Danger was taken offline from the Zoo Tycoon website and can no longer be downloaded.

Zookeeper Collection

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection

The Zookeeper Collection was released in October 2006. Rather than being an expansion, it's more of a large standalone pack featuring the Endangered Species and African Adventure expansions, as well as all animals and content from Zoo Tycoon 2. It includes some Marine Mania features, such as the new mode of biome layout.

Marine Mania

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania

Released on October 17, 2006, Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania features 20 new aquatic animals, new marine options, marine shows and several other brand new gaming features. The expansion also includes marine plants, the ability to build tanks, animal shows, minigames to teach some of your marine animals behaviors,and 4 new aquatic biomes (reef, coastal, pelagic,and benthic), and new scenarios and challenges. Changes have been made to the original method of biome layout allowing the ability to turn off rocks , flowers and/or trees.

Extinct Animals

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals

A typical zoo in Extinct Animals.

Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals, was released on October 17, 2007. It is the largest and latest expansion in the Zoo Tycoon series, with 34 adoptable animals, plus two bonus animals. All of the animals from the Dino Danger Pack are included; All are updated.

Ultimate Collection

Zoo Tycoon 2: Ultimate Collection will contain the original game and all four official expansions, similar to Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection.^[3]

This title was released on September 30, 2008^[4].

After purchasing the game, many customers have found that the third disc will not install. Amazon posted the following warning "It has been brought to our attention that there are potential issues while attempting to install Zoo Tycoon 2 Ultimate Collection. Customers that have experienced issues with the install process can call Microsoft Customer Service at 1-800-360-7561 to order a free replacement 3rd game disc." ^[5]

Reception

The release of Zoo Tycoon 2 in 2004 received mixed views. Many parents played the game with their children, which resulted in the numerous awards for the sequel. Although the game is aimed at children and teenagers, the educational side of the game was the rise to popularity.
However, the numerous bugs for the sequel were a major turning point. Reviews on sites like GameSpot and IGN complain of poor performance of lower-res computers, unimpressive sound system and acceptable graphics.^[6]

Awards

Zoo Tycoon 2 received numerous awards from various points of view. Multiple awards from parent organizations for being a family-friendly game that could be played by young children (with the assistance of an adult). The sequel also received Dean Takahashi’s "Top 10 Games of 2004". The expansion packs for Zoo Tycoon 2, in particular Marine Mania, also strut over 5 different family friendly gaming awards.

Competition

Since the release of Zoo Tycoon in 2001, many other companies have imitated the gameplay, and the concept of running a zoo. The followers since include Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Wild!, Zoo World, Wildlife Park 2, its expansion packs Crazy Zoo and Marine World, Zoo Empire and its platinum pack Marine Park Empire. All of these have different gameplay and content, but all have the same basic concept.

However, Zoo Tycoon seems to have become more popular and better known. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 has recently stopped producing expansion packs, and Zoo Empire was a relative failure, while the Zoo Tycoon franchise has continued to expand since it first came out. The franchise is still expanding, with more expansion packs coming out. The largest competition at the moment is Deep Silver's Wildlife Park 2, originated in Germany, which has produced two expansions in two years.

Third-party creations

The game files can be edited and expanded using no more than WinRAR and a simple text editor. This lead to the creation of new animals and objects for Zoo Tycoon 2. There have been numerous websites created for this purpose and many "designers" will upload the animals or objects for download. Unlike Zoo Tycoon, where an official program designed to help users create animals, Zoo Tycoon 2 has no such program. Object and animal "skins" can be made with no more than a DDS converter and a paint program, whilst object and animal models can be changed with Blender or other NIF program. The animal model files in Dino Danger Pack, Marine Mania, and Extinct Animals have been compressed to protected, uneditable files, precluding any model editing for marine and extinct animals, yet certain groups have figured out how.

Shortly before the release of Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals, a method for editing Dino Danger Pack files was found. This Zoo Tycoon 2 "designing", allowing a larger variety of animals to be made. It is now possible for a player to create complete unofficial expansion packs,known as User Made Expansion.

See also

• Zoo Tycoon franchise

References

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Zoo Tycoon

• Zoo Tycoon 2
• Zoo Tycoon Wiki