Hey everyone!
It's been a **HUGE** relief for me that you now all know that November 5th is our launch date!! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who's spread the word and who has wishlisted the game over on Steam, it helps us out no end!!
With that out of the way, I've finally found a little time to relax, and just _play_ Let's Build a Zoo in the way that I wanted to, and it got me thinking about how you can build all kinds of zoos based on how you want to play, and so all the different types there are! I've been building a Factory Zoo, which I'm not 100% ready to share yet, but our lovely Sophie has been working on an Eco Zoo which relies on recycling as much as possible, collecting resources naturally and letting animals out into the wild, where their populations have been dwindling!
Let me show you around the key elements and tell you a little bit about how they work, in case this is this sort of utopia you'd like to build!
The Recycling Centre
So anyone who played the demo will know that trash can be a REAL issue - but maybe what you hadn't considered is what a global issue it could be too! An endless line of garbage trucks is terrible for pollution, and of course, no one wants to be endlessly filling landfills when you could make use of the facilities that you have!
So, introducing the RECYCLING CENTRE!
This bad boy can fit so many bits of garbage! If you replace your bins with recycling bins, you can redirect all your rubbish to this lovely building, and from there it will recycle it all to make plastic - which you can then either sell, or reuse in your gift shop! Sophie's done her best to make as much of the zoo self-sustaining as possible so this works a treat, powering her small city of gift shops on the way out of her zoo!
The other problem garbage brings is pollution from the trucks, but she's even thought of that, setting up a forest area!
All the trees in your zoo will help even out your CO2 emissions, and fill your zoo with lovely, breathable air! The other upside to this, is visitors always think her zoo is well decorated, and will happily follow the paths through these areas to get where they need to go!
RELEASING ANIMALS TO THE WILD
We've talked about this before over in our discord, but it definitely remains one of my favourite features. You can read a little more about it over in a previous update in the discord, but Sophie has been concentrating on breeding not for genomes, but to release endangered animals into the wild, stabilising their populations and encouraging them to thrive!
ENERGY SOURCES
Last but definitely not least, Sophie has entirely stopped buying her power from the grid, and instead is collecting her own rainwater, and generating her own electricity through these adorable wind turbines!
They're everywhere throughout her zoo, catching all the best breezes! Talking of breezes, she's also using methane to power some of her water pumps but uhh... I'll leave the machine she uses to do it as a secret. In all seriousness, watch out for the newspaper clipping about it, it's HILARIOUS!
Anyway, that's how Sophie's zoo runs! If I'm feeling brave, I'll give you a good look at mine next week! See you then!