Help

Well, that doesn't really explain what the problem is...However, a lot of people have written to me about APE - how to download it, where to download it to, how it works, etc.... I am not an expert on APE, but here goes: APE can be downloaded from a number of fan sites.. When you download it, put in a folder all by itself. It does NOT need to be in the Zoo Tycoon Folder to work. As far as how to work with it once you download it, I am far from an expert. The best I can do for you is to give you the guide that goes with APE, and hope that it helps you. Another suggestion is to check the forum. There are usually people who may be able to help. Please....don't ask me how to change colors or make new animals...I just don't know!

Well it's really up to you! I like to use flowers EVERYWHERE, but some people prefer trees. It's all a matter of what you think looks good. An idea might be to look at pictures of various zoos and parks and see what kind of landscaping they use. If all else fails, just play around. You may create a fabulous look completely by accident!

Leopards can be tough...as I'm not sure just which leopards you are having problems with, my best advice is to check out the forum. There have been some posts concerning those pesky kitties! Now about the okapis, they are VERY shy. It is best to put their exhibit towards the back of the zoo, and make sure that you have a fence that is solid on three sides to keep too many people from gawking at them! Once they have a good exhibit that allows them to hde every once in a while, they usually relax, and then the kids come! I will post a screenshot of a good okapi exhibit for you:

To start with, are all your paths at least two tiles away from your exhibit fences? If the answer is yes, the build a path attached that is one tile or less away from the fence. Don't make it too big, or your animals will feel crowded. Here are a couple of screenshots showing how they can look. One is elevated, one is not: (EDIT: THERE IS NOW A DESIGN WORKSHOP THAT COVERS THIS AT THE FORUMS)

Well Corey...The simple suggestion is to fire your Zookeeper! Just kidding. The best solution that I have found is to make all your paths at least two tiles wide so that there is plenty of room for traffic to flow in both directions. Try that and see if it helps.

I had the same problem when I started designing. I have found that generally ( depending on the size of your exhibit) that there are a couple combos you can try: 1) giraffes, zebras and gazelles 2)zebras, gazelles and ostriches 3) giraffes, wildebeast and blackbuck. It isn't always a matter of animal compatibility, sometimes you just need to make the exhibit a little bigger!

Most scenarios start you out with the bare minimum of paths, animals, houses, etc. In order to get more, you need to research them. To do this, you have to change the funding of your research from $0 to whatever amount you are comfortable spending. The more money you set aside for the research, the faster you get new objects!

The easiest solution is this: When you click on an item to download, it will ask if you want to open from the current location or save to disk. Create a folder in your documents or on your desktop just for Zoo Tycoon downloads. Then click on save to disk and choose the folder that you just created. Finish your downloads and start up Zoo Tycoon. In the main menu is the "Get New Zoo Tycoon Items" option. From there click on "Check Locally" and choose the folder you made that contains the items you just downloaded. Zoo Tycoon will take care of the rest!

To bring up an exhibit's name, click on the gate or on the name in the exhibits list. once you have found the exhibit that you would like to rename, click on the top part of the window that contains the name. It will become highlighted and you can then type in the new name. Hit enter and you will be all set!

Hi, you've made a really great site. You must really like zoos. Anyway, I was looking in the help section and noticed that the question that I was looking for wasn't there and wondered if you could answer it. Everytime I start a zoo I go bankrupt (I always start with $500,000 too!) Do you know any good moneymaking tips? And how do you know what to raise your ticKet prices to? And, last one, does the compost heap make more money if you have more stuff, like exhibits, for example.

Steven

Admissions are the fastest way to see where the money is rolling in. Every zoo guest buys three adult and one child ticket. So if you set admission at $20, each guest will shell out $70! Setting ticket prices in the mormal range ($19.25-$29) is the most profitable. You can also bring in more money if you impress your guests enough that they decide to become zoo benefactors. Awards also bring in the money, and if you can get an endangered species to reproduce you get $10,000 ($50,000 for a panda) Vending machines barely turn a profit, ice cream stands rarely fail to make money. Resturants are your best food bet, if you can afford them. They serve all types of food and have seating, bathrooms and trash cleanup included. As far as zoo attractions, the animal theater is by far the best money maker. Gift stands don't usually turn a profit, but a well placed gift shop can leave you rolling in dough! But by far, I choose the compost heap as the best moneymaker, especially if you have a lot of animals in your zoo. Every pile of poo is turned into $50 as soon as it's raked up! It's expensive to build, but has NO monthly upkeep costs. However, because it smells, keep guests at least 5 tiles away. Do not go crazy on zoo scenery at the beginning. It's best to make sure that your animals are happy first, because if they aren't happy, the guests aren't happy!

Hvnsent309 -
I just got Zoo Tycoon as a gift and it's easy to use! The official website has some great fan sites, and I really like yours. I was checking out your help section and my question wasn't answered - maybe you can help? When the animals complain about too many people, what do you do? Any ideas, short of moving them or the path?

Nancy

All the animals are shy to some degree, just some are way more sensitive. They are easily bothered by lots of people staring at them. There isn't a whole lot you can do that doesn't involve moving the path, but a good start is to build an exhibit fence that prevents guests from always seeing them...for example solid wall on three sides and the windowed walls on the fourth side. Another good rule of thumb is to place all your paths three tiles away from the fence..then build a small observation area two tiles away from the fence. This allows people to see the animals, but not crowd them too much!

Hvnsent309 -
I have a question. I was wondering if you could offer any input to help out. For some reason, everytime I get halfway into my game, my guests start complaining about food and drinks. I've got stands everywhere. I even tried the update and that didn't help at all.

Anna & Travis

Well, the first problem is that your zoo guests are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. They often don't see what's right in front of them. The second problem is that each building can only service so many people at once. Hot dog stands: 2 people, Drink stands: 4 people, Burger shacks: 3 people, Ice cream stands: 2 people, Pizza shacks: 6 people. If you can afford it, it's best not to build a lot of stands, and build resturants instead. A resturant sells all the items available, and also has bathroom and trash included. The best thing is that a resturant can service 12 people at a time.

Hvnsent309 -
Help! I have downloaded APE from multiple sites and each time it's a different kind of file that takes up a differert amount of space on my hard drive. Also, I can never seem to get any of these files to open. In fact, everytime I download something for Zoo Tycoon, it never shows up unless I download it from the official site. What do I do? I'm going crazy! Please help!

Byron

Each site has their own additions to APE...some will include a tutorial for example. Also, they may or may not compress their files to the same size. The best way to download anything is to set up a folder on your desktop, or in your documents just for ZT downloads. When you download something new, put it in that folder you just made. Then start the game, and choose " check locally" from the get new items section of the main menu. Then find your folder and ZT will take care of the rest!

There is currently no way to set a patrol area for them, although it would make life easier! The update does solve some of the problems with your maintainence workers, but they still all seem to hang around together and watch one person doing all the work!

It's more about the quality of the exhibits, not the quanity. If your animals are very happy and the guests like what they see, they drop money in little collection boxes outside each exhibit. And if they are really impressed with your zoo, they may sign up to be zoo benefactors. This means that as long as they approve of your zoo, they'll give you anywhere between $500 and $700 a month. Last but not least, you get big donations if you have an endangered species that gives birth, or if you win an award. I've also found that there is a cheat that works well also. If you build a small exhibit (with the low fence) and but something in the middle, like a waterfall...not any animals...and after it's been around a little while, rename it to Microsoft. This doubles the donations at all your other exhibits!

Hvnsent309 -
Great site! I have a question for you. I just started playing Zoo Tycoon, I got it for Christmas. I can use the animals green smiley faces to get a basic good balance of habitat, housing and foliage. I can get exhibit suitability up to 90-95%. Is there a general guideline for getting it to 100%?

Rob

Wow! You wouldn't believe how common this question is. First of all, size matters. You need to make sure that your exhibit is plenty big enough. Sometimes just adding a few extra tiles is enough to boost that suitability rating a couple of points. Also, do your shy animals have open fencing? If so, try replacing the fence with one that gives them a little more privacy. For the most part, it's mainly tweaking the exhibit one square at a time that helps the most!

Snow leopards are by far one of the hardest animals to deal with in ZT. They HATE captivity and they HATE crowds. So you need to make sure that you have them in an exhibit towards the back of the zoo, with a fence that allows for some privacy. They like the snow, but only about 60% of their exhibit should be blanketed. Follow this with 30% gray stone, 10% brown stone, 10% rocks and 1% of the Himalayan pine tree and you should be pretty well set!

Getting that Christmas tree can be tricky if you don't pay much attention to the dates at the bottom of the screen. On Dec. 25 of your game, the Xmas tree becomes available IF you have the buy screen for zoo scenery open. But be warned, it'll be gone on Dec. 26! When you spot it, pause your game and place away!

Thanks for asking Matt, but I'm ashamed to say that I'm not real clear on APE. I've been told that the invisibility problem has to do with missing ani (animation) files. Some people say that having Windows XP solves that problem...but don't ask me how! Tycoon Resource has a editing forum on their site which has some pretty good tips on how to deal with it...Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

There are a number of things that you can do. The first thing that I suggest is to use the pause button to your advantage. Use it often to tweak your zoo so that you don't eat up valuable scenario time if you don't have to! Also, toward the end of the scenario, hike up the admission price to slow down the flow of guests into the zoo. The less guests, the easier that it is too keep them all happy. Last, if you are beyond frustrated and just want to get past this scenario do this: Open up the zoo.ini file in your Zoo Tycoon folder. You will find a part that says scenario and is followed by a number. A 2 means that you lost that scenario. Change it to a 1 and the game will think that you won!