BothThe SimsandPlanet Zooare interesting simulation games with unique premises.The Simsfranchise with its most recent series,The Sims 4, is all about playing with life, whether it be creating one resembling the life the player leads or something else entirely.Planet Zoois dedicated to simulating what it’s like to own a zoo, with an important emphasis on wildlife conservation.
While these two games may fall into different genres of the same category, they have more in common than meets the eye. Though they have different artistic approaches, withThe Sims 4being highly stylized, the life simulator may still have something to learn fromPlanet Zoowhen it comes to building and world creation.
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Building and Construction in Planet Zoo
WhenPlanet Zoowas first announced, it was easy to draw comparisons between it and a different well-known zoo simulator—Zoo Tycoon. For all intents and purposes, Planet Zoo is undoubtedly the spiritual successor to Microsoft’s beloved franchise, and with that title came a heady responsibility. It seemsPlanet Zoorose to the occasion, expanding upon the elements that madeZoo Tycoonso enjoyable for players, but it doesn’t feel like a knockoff, either.
For a game about owning a zoo,Planet Zoohas a seriously in-depthbuild mode. Players use these advanced controls to create the perfect zoo, including creating habitats for the many animals available and crafting personalized shop exteriors.Planet Zooalso has incredible terraforming tools that let players create lakes and even deep water, thanks to its newArctic PackDLC. These game mechanics seem to be fine-tuned upgrades reminiscent ofZoo Tycoon, but that’s far from a bad thing.
What’s most impressive aboutPlanet Zoo’s construction opportunities is how they are practically limitless. Players can create a lake, decide to put a sunken boat at the bottom, and merely click the boat anddrag it down to the bottomof the lake’s floor. They can even merge it into the land itself, giving the illusion that sediment has partially covered the boat. There’s no slotting into a designated area, and players can freely layer rock upon rock or plant after plant with no issue. And that’s just scratching the surface of whatPlanet Zoois capable of as far as custom building goes.
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What The Sims Can Learn
The Simsfranchise has undoubtedly come a long way from its first release over 20 years ago. Players are now able to place things on a diagonal, or even press and hold “shift” to place something exactly where they want it instead ofin line with the grid. It wouldn’t be fair to say the game has not progressed or improved its building mechanics at all, but it is fair to say it could be even better.
Without a doubt,The Sims 4introduced players to the most efficient and well-designed Build/Buy mode that the franchise has released. It’s easy to navigate between build items like walls or windows and then curtains and couches within a few clicks and with no loading screen between. ForThe Sims, it was revolutionary. The ability to place things freely can be toggled not only by pressing and holding “shift,” but also inputting the code “bb.moveobjects on”, which essentially turns off grid slotting and will let players layer up however many objects they want.
ThoughThe Sims 4is the most advanced in the series, it could definitelylearn a thing fromPlanet Zooin construction. Instead of players having to input a code to turn off slotting, it would be nice if there was a built-in toggle (like hitting “g” to show or hide the grid) so players could turn it on and off as necessary. When creating lush backyards or gardens, flower and rock overlaps aren’t a big deal, but too much overlap in a Sims’ house could cause it to work incorrectly. It would also be efficient to allow players to sink or raise items with a built-in option likePlanet Zoo, as opposed to players having to hit “9” or “0” to achieve the desired height.
While it would be refreshing to see thesechanges implemented inThe Sims 4, the game coding may not allow for such advancements to be patched in so easily. However, that doesn’t meanThe Sims 5couldn’t take these changes into account to create an even more advanced Build/Buy mode.
The Sims 4is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
