I was in Best Buy today and saw SeaWorld Tycoon 2, which is also a 3D game. Looking at its description, it looked interesting (although not enough to replace my love for ZT1). It claims you can look from any angle, create roller coaster rides (and get an award for creating the "sickest" ride), get info on animals, see what is inside buildings, and witness things through the eyes of a patron.
Did anyone get it and, if so, what are your thoughts?
Did Anyone Get Seaworld Tycoon 2?
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Raindragon
- zoo docent
- Posts: 298
- Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:15 pm
- Location: Who knows?
I've never even heard of the first one lol, let alone the second one. And I haven't seen it around. But maybe that's because I didn't pay much attention to what was on the shelves, PC gamewise. 
It sounds interesting though. Even if it's nothing compared to Zoo Tycoon, could someone provide more information? If you've got it, is it any good?
It sounds interesting though. Even if it's nothing compared to Zoo Tycoon, could someone provide more information? If you've got it, is it any good?
<b>~I won't turn away from pain anymore.~</b>
Dont read if you cant be bothered, Means nuffin.......
Its ok for like the first day, But then it gets boring. It takes up alot of memory on ya pc, So i just deleted it. I got it lke half price or something with a game offer
Anyhow, game wise, its good, good graphics, but u need to get into it. Im nto sure wat to do. Im bad at explaining things, and im wasting your time...... (allso, I unistalled it a while a go and it is still on hardrive, wont go)
Meltos x
Its ok for like the first day, But then it gets boring. It takes up alot of memory on ya pc, So i just deleted it. I got it lke half price or something with a game offer
Anyhow, game wise, its good, good graphics, but u need to get into it. Im nto sure wat to do. Im bad at explaining things, and im wasting your time...... (allso, I unistalled it a while a go and it is still on hardrive, wont go)Meltos x
Here's the link to the homepage. ST2
I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process.... It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?
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Jay
- african elephant keeper
- Posts: 11551
- Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:23 pm
- Location: Orlando, FL (M:67)
SeaWorld Tycoon 3D (ST3D) was on sale last week at Best Buy for $15 instead of the usual $20. So I decided to get it. Here is an overview.
As a summary, it makes an interesting screen saver. However, it does not have enough in it to satisfy gamers, zoo designers, or animal lovers for very long. Since I love SeaWorld so much, it was worth $15 to get this strong reminder of the SeaWorld parks. Others would have to use their own judgement. The developer of the game is Deep Red in the U.K.. However, according to the Deep Red web site, ST3D and ST1 are only released in North America.
Now for the details.
ST3D has some similarities to ZT. There are 4 beginner (tutorial) scenarios, 4 medium scenarios, and 4 expert scenarios. (I suspect these are the same scenarios as in ST1.) Only the first in each group is unlocked. As you complete one, the next becomes unlocked. Instead of scenarios, you could also choose one of the three sandbox (freeform) maps. These maps are mostly empty and represent 1 of the 3 SeaWorld locations: San Diego, San Antonio, or Orlando. The San Diego one is the most interesting because you see water, a bridge, and outlines of city buildings outside the park walls. The Orlando map is not accurate. It shows mountains around the park. However, Florida is flat. The tallest place in Florida is a little over 300 feet (100 meters) and is nowhere near Orlando.
I looked at a couple of the scenarios and the 3 sandbox levels. They all started with the same things unlocked (from my perspective): 14 different exhibits, 2 different shows, 10 amusements/rides, 10 stands/restaurants, 13 facilities, 2 paths (regular and waiting line), 3 trash cans, 2 benches, 3 lamps, 3 flags, 6 flowerbeds, 12 shrubs, 3 fountains, 10 trees, and 5 palms. For the decorative things, the game does not differentiate items. For example, the 10 types of trees all say "tree", instead of giving the type of tree as in ZT.
As in ZT, the main goal is to make guests happy, make money, and get a high zoo rating. But these things are less detailed in ST3D than in ZT. There are staff: animal caretakers, cleaners, and mechanics. A different twist compared to ZT: Just like the guests have energy levels, these staff members also have energy levels. When their energy levels get too low, they have to go to staff rooms to rest. It is possible that the staff members are smarter than in ZT. However, the guests are quite stupid. To me, it looks like they make a random decision at each intersection. If they come out of a building or ride, then at the first intersection they are likely to turn around, head back to the building, realize they cannot do anything there, and then turn around once again. It is as if they do not have a field of vision like they do in ZT and only do things that they happen to walk by. This probability also means that the center of the park gets most of the guests and the edges away from the entrance do not get many.
You can adopt 16 different types of animals: bottlenose dolphins, rays, sea lions, otters, emporer penguins, false killer whales, flamingos, fur seals, green turtles, harbor seals, king penguins, killer whales, magellanic penguins, moray eels, white-sided dolphins, and manatees. This is a very small subset of actual SeaWorld parks. So, technically, you cannot truly build any of the parks fully. These animals do not do much, only swim in random directions. The animal info screens do not contain much facts about the animals, only about 9 sentences per animal. One of the nice things, however, is that the info screens show world maps with shading indicating where the animals are found. I always felt ZT was lacking by not doing this.
Although ST3D says some of the exhibits are shows, there are only 2 shows where you can schedule the tricks. Killer whales can perform 9 different tricks. Dolphins can perform 6 different tricks. Another interesting aspect is you have to train these animals. It is like a mini-arcade game where, the closer the training is to the way the trick should be, the more the guests will like it. Some of the tricks are harder to train than others. You can also do a show preview and watch it close up.
Being 3D, you can see things from nearly any angle. You can zoom out and zoom in, but you cannot zoom in closer than the tops of the buildings/stadiums. Although you are looking from above, it is at an angle and not straight down. There is a miniature map of the entire park in the upper left corner of the screen. However, all things are represented as rectangles on this miniature instead of their actual shapes. This miniature uses black dots for the guests and red dots for things that need repair. It also shows your field of view.
You can also select a guest and look through the eyes of that guest as the guest walks around the park. For the outside rides, you also get the view through that guest's eyes. This is especially interesting for the coasters, although the coasters go a bit too fast to see much. In fact, the camera cannot keep up with coasters in some places. Unlike the outside rides, when a guest goes into a building or stadium, you do not follow the guest in. Also, you cannot control the guest.
There is not much to researching. You can only specify the amount. There are no category choices. Research will give you another bench, lamp, amusement, and better staff.
You cannot name things like you can in ZT. However, the staff and guests are given names automatically. You cannot pick up anything. Although there is a demolish, there is no undo. There is no admission to the park. You either open or close the entrance. Each thing in the park charges admission, including restrooms. Unlike ZT, guests have a certain amount of money to spend. However, they can get more money at ATM machines.
The parks are open day and night. It is interesting to see the sky getting darker, lights turning on, and later seeing the sky slowly getting lighter. The trees move slightly as if there is a breeze. There are 4 different MP3 tunes that play in the background, all used in the actual parks. One reminds me of the Caribbean or Key West. There is no screen capture button, although one could probably use the screen capture that is built into MS Windows.
One of the buildings is a little unique. The animal rescue facility allows you to send a rescue team to various places in the world. However, there are not very many different types of rescues. But you will need to perform rescues to get one of the stars in the rating.
There are settings for the detail shown. I was using the default settings. The game also has 3 speeds (1 times, 2 times, and 3 times). There are tooltips for many things, but they are very slow to appear and there is no setting for the tooltip speed. The minimum system requirements for the game are Win 98, 800 MHz processor, 128 mb memory, and 32 mb graphics card compatible with DirectX 8. These minimum requirements look more generic like ZT1 requirements than ZT2 requirements. So it will work with much more systems than ZT2.
I like the first beginner level. It is a mostly complete San Diego park with a couple hundred guests. It makes money easily, although the rating is only 2 and a half stars out of 5. This gives you a chance just to enjoy the visuals of the park without having to worry about things. It was fun just to explore it. Even my mother got a kick out of it. It definitely reminded us of SeaWorld parks.
There are some glitches. The gift shops say they sell only "soda" even though the guest inventory will show "Souvenir". (There are not different types of souvenirs like there are in ZT.) All shows and rides have a start level. This is how many guests have to arrive before the show or ride will start. The guests will wait until that number arrives. Once that number arrives, the show or ride starts and anyone else that arrives will have to wait in line for the next ride or show. This makes sense for rides, but not outdoor shows. You can set the start level. However, it appeared this did not take affect the first time I lowered a start level (even though it was shown as being lowered). I would have to lower, raise, and lower again.
From a user creation perspective, the game was not designed for that. The files are external, but they use ".tm", ".tga", and ".ble" files instead of text and zip files. Also, it looks like some of these files would have to be updated directly instead of adding new files. So user creations would not be practical.
As a summary, it makes an interesting screen saver. However, it does not have enough in it to satisfy gamers, zoo designers, or animal lovers for very long. Since I love SeaWorld so much, it was worth $15 to get this strong reminder of the SeaWorld parks. Others would have to use their own judgement. The developer of the game is Deep Red in the U.K.. However, according to the Deep Red web site, ST3D and ST1 are only released in North America.
Now for the details.
ST3D has some similarities to ZT. There are 4 beginner (tutorial) scenarios, 4 medium scenarios, and 4 expert scenarios. (I suspect these are the same scenarios as in ST1.) Only the first in each group is unlocked. As you complete one, the next becomes unlocked. Instead of scenarios, you could also choose one of the three sandbox (freeform) maps. These maps are mostly empty and represent 1 of the 3 SeaWorld locations: San Diego, San Antonio, or Orlando. The San Diego one is the most interesting because you see water, a bridge, and outlines of city buildings outside the park walls. The Orlando map is not accurate. It shows mountains around the park. However, Florida is flat. The tallest place in Florida is a little over 300 feet (100 meters) and is nowhere near Orlando.
I looked at a couple of the scenarios and the 3 sandbox levels. They all started with the same things unlocked (from my perspective): 14 different exhibits, 2 different shows, 10 amusements/rides, 10 stands/restaurants, 13 facilities, 2 paths (regular and waiting line), 3 trash cans, 2 benches, 3 lamps, 3 flags, 6 flowerbeds, 12 shrubs, 3 fountains, 10 trees, and 5 palms. For the decorative things, the game does not differentiate items. For example, the 10 types of trees all say "tree", instead of giving the type of tree as in ZT.
As in ZT, the main goal is to make guests happy, make money, and get a high zoo rating. But these things are less detailed in ST3D than in ZT. There are staff: animal caretakers, cleaners, and mechanics. A different twist compared to ZT: Just like the guests have energy levels, these staff members also have energy levels. When their energy levels get too low, they have to go to staff rooms to rest. It is possible that the staff members are smarter than in ZT. However, the guests are quite stupid. To me, it looks like they make a random decision at each intersection. If they come out of a building or ride, then at the first intersection they are likely to turn around, head back to the building, realize they cannot do anything there, and then turn around once again. It is as if they do not have a field of vision like they do in ZT and only do things that they happen to walk by. This probability also means that the center of the park gets most of the guests and the edges away from the entrance do not get many.
You can adopt 16 different types of animals: bottlenose dolphins, rays, sea lions, otters, emporer penguins, false killer whales, flamingos, fur seals, green turtles, harbor seals, king penguins, killer whales, magellanic penguins, moray eels, white-sided dolphins, and manatees. This is a very small subset of actual SeaWorld parks. So, technically, you cannot truly build any of the parks fully. These animals do not do much, only swim in random directions. The animal info screens do not contain much facts about the animals, only about 9 sentences per animal. One of the nice things, however, is that the info screens show world maps with shading indicating where the animals are found. I always felt ZT was lacking by not doing this.
Although ST3D says some of the exhibits are shows, there are only 2 shows where you can schedule the tricks. Killer whales can perform 9 different tricks. Dolphins can perform 6 different tricks. Another interesting aspect is you have to train these animals. It is like a mini-arcade game where, the closer the training is to the way the trick should be, the more the guests will like it. Some of the tricks are harder to train than others. You can also do a show preview and watch it close up.
Being 3D, you can see things from nearly any angle. You can zoom out and zoom in, but you cannot zoom in closer than the tops of the buildings/stadiums. Although you are looking from above, it is at an angle and not straight down. There is a miniature map of the entire park in the upper left corner of the screen. However, all things are represented as rectangles on this miniature instead of their actual shapes. This miniature uses black dots for the guests and red dots for things that need repair. It also shows your field of view.
You can also select a guest and look through the eyes of that guest as the guest walks around the park. For the outside rides, you also get the view through that guest's eyes. This is especially interesting for the coasters, although the coasters go a bit too fast to see much. In fact, the camera cannot keep up with coasters in some places. Unlike the outside rides, when a guest goes into a building or stadium, you do not follow the guest in. Also, you cannot control the guest.
There is not much to researching. You can only specify the amount. There are no category choices. Research will give you another bench, lamp, amusement, and better staff.
You cannot name things like you can in ZT. However, the staff and guests are given names automatically. You cannot pick up anything. Although there is a demolish, there is no undo. There is no admission to the park. You either open or close the entrance. Each thing in the park charges admission, including restrooms. Unlike ZT, guests have a certain amount of money to spend. However, they can get more money at ATM machines.
The parks are open day and night. It is interesting to see the sky getting darker, lights turning on, and later seeing the sky slowly getting lighter. The trees move slightly as if there is a breeze. There are 4 different MP3 tunes that play in the background, all used in the actual parks. One reminds me of the Caribbean or Key West. There is no screen capture button, although one could probably use the screen capture that is built into MS Windows.
One of the buildings is a little unique. The animal rescue facility allows you to send a rescue team to various places in the world. However, there are not very many different types of rescues. But you will need to perform rescues to get one of the stars in the rating.
There are settings for the detail shown. I was using the default settings. The game also has 3 speeds (1 times, 2 times, and 3 times). There are tooltips for many things, but they are very slow to appear and there is no setting for the tooltip speed. The minimum system requirements for the game are Win 98, 800 MHz processor, 128 mb memory, and 32 mb graphics card compatible with DirectX 8. These minimum requirements look more generic like ZT1 requirements than ZT2 requirements. So it will work with much more systems than ZT2.
I like the first beginner level. It is a mostly complete San Diego park with a couple hundred guests. It makes money easily, although the rating is only 2 and a half stars out of 5. This gives you a chance just to enjoy the visuals of the park without having to worry about things. It was fun just to explore it. Even my mother got a kick out of it. It definitely reminded us of SeaWorld parks.
There are some glitches. The gift shops say they sell only "soda" even though the guest inventory will show "Souvenir". (There are not different types of souvenirs like there are in ZT.) All shows and rides have a start level. This is how many guests have to arrive before the show or ride will start. The guests will wait until that number arrives. Once that number arrives, the show or ride starts and anyone else that arrives will have to wait in line for the next ride or show. This makes sense for rides, but not outdoor shows. You can set the start level. However, it appeared this did not take affect the first time I lowered a start level (even though it was shown as being lowered). I would have to lower, raise, and lower again.
From a user creation perspective, the game was not designed for that. The files are external, but they use ".tm", ".tga", and ".ble" files instead of text and zip files. Also, it looks like some of these files would have to be updated directly instead of adding new files. So user creations would not be practical.
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Marinebio93
- zoo guest
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:04 pm
Seaworld tycoon 1 & 2 Rocks!
But not as good as Zoo Tycoon 1.
But not as good as Zoo Tycoon 1.
God Bless!
MarineBio93
"In the Beginning God created the Heavens And the
Earth": Gensis verse one
[img]http://zoxaeus.com/ZTForums/uploads/pos ... 753114.jpg[/img]
MarineBio93
"In the Beginning God created the Heavens And the
Earth": Gensis verse one
[img]http://zoxaeus.com/ZTForums/uploads/pos ... 753114.jpg[/img]
