Advanced Pathing Tips - Planet zoo

Advanced Pathing Tips - Planet zoo
I created a video the top tips for guest pathing in Planet Zoo. Itincludes how to make 2 and 3 metre guest paths, how to make gradual slopes, small steps, smooth corners, and how to make underwater tunnels. None of these I invented but have found from various others sources around the community and I think are all essential to making a great and realistic looking zoo.
ABOUT THIS GAME
Build a world for wildlife in Planet Zoo. From the developers of Planet Coaster and Zoo Tycoon comes the ultimate zoo sim, featuring authentic living animals who think, feel and explore the world you create around them. Experience a globe-trotting campaign or let your imagination run wild in the freedom of Sandbox mode. Create unique habitats and vast landscapes, make big decisions and meaningful choices, and nurture your animals as you construct and manage the world’s wildest zoos.
Meet a world of incredible animals. From playful lion cubs to mighty elephants, every animal in Planet Zoo is a thinking, feeling individual with a distinctive look and personality of their own. Craft detailed habitats to bring your animals’ natural environments home, research and manage each species to allow them to thrive, and help your animals raise families to pass their genes onto future generations.
Manage an amazing living world that responds to every decision you make. Focus on the big picture or go hands-on and control the smallest details. Thrill visitors with iconic exhibits, develop your zoo with new research, and release new generations of your animals back into the wild. Your choices come alive in a world where animal welfare and conservation comes first.
Planet Zoo’s powerful piece-by-piece construction tools let you effortlessly make your zoo unique. Every creative decision you make impacts the lives of your animals and the experience of your visitors. Let your imagination run wild as you dig lakes and rivers, raise hills and mountains, carve paths and caves, and build stunning zoos with a choice of unique themes and hundreds of building components.
Join a connected community and share the world’s most creative habitats, scenery and even whole zoos on the Steam Workshop. See your own designs appear in zoos around the world, or discover fresh new content from the Planet Zoo community every day.
Blupes:
Arena: steamcommunity...
Elephant: steamcommunity...
Lockers: steamcommunity...

[@CrimsonTakesFlight]

I don't know if this a new feature they added from a game update since this video was posted, or if you missed it in the options, but about the first one (getting small stairs): if you check "elevated length" in the advanced tab and drag the bar all the way down, you can get the game to let you place smaller stairs, even as little as one single step at a time. The transformer workaround isn't needed. You can even curve them if you check "curved slopes"

[@Toves]

Yup thats a really useful addition that was added after I made this video. I've pinned your comment here cz it's definitely useful 👍

[@LoveLaw]

I used to be so intimidated by the empty lot in sandbox, but I think I’m just gonna give it a try! Thank you for the tips!

[@Toves]

Hope it goes well! Yeah starting a new zoo is always kinda intimidating. What you could try if you fancy it is to take one of the career game maps and save them to sandbox. Maps like Kaarst Mire are waay smaller than normal.

[@PlasticSwans]

What I never understand, why don't they just make it so that both queue and normal paths can go down to 2 or 3 metres? It's annoying we have to go for all these work arounds sometimes!

[@Toves]

haha, I know right! Seems pretty logical to me!

[@TheSilverwing999]

Because the game isn't designed to go below 4, and you can force it, but if you do guests won't behave right. It's just fundamentally not supposed to be a thing in the game

[@MoshiiLightz]

the amount of times I've seen that small step thing with the power and staff buildings, but never actually thought of using the small steps and actual steps!, thank you for that!, ill be using it in allot of projects now!

[@Toves]

No worries, this is still useful even though we now also have the option to change the path elevation length. Using the method in the video still gives you some flexibility over the size and width of the steps

[@frith.calluna]

Thanks so much for that slope trick! I'm often intimidated by both the path and terrain tools in this game and I really want to play around with height in my zoo this time around (so far I only have half a plaza). I feel like this little trick will make it much easier to create both smoother paths and smoother terrains that don't look as wonky as when I try to mess around with the tools myself.

[@Toves]

You're very welcome. Yeah it does make a difference if you can get everything off of just the flat terrain with some landscape work... glad you found the video useful 😃

[@Skye_Writer]

It looks like the pathing in this is SO much more complicated than it was in in the old Zoo Tycoon games these are based off of. The standard path in that was 2 tiles wide (a tile was enough walking room for one person) and the game recommended at least 3 tiles wide for easy guest flow, but if you wanted a 1 tile wide path, you just used the bulldozer tool to slim it down, one triangular slice at a time. I'm starting to rethink whether or not I should buy this or just stick to ZT2.

[@pathofthetrickster]

The pathing infuriates me on this game xD Thanks for the help

[@Toves]

Yeah its the most infuriating part for most people i think. Glad you found this useful

[@dvdh4856]

THANK YOU! Been looking for more advanced tutorials but as you’ve said they’re difficult to find. Subbed!

[@Toves]

You're welcome, glad you found it useful, and welcome

[@DanaBanana94]

Oh my gosh, thank you for this! Not being able to make normal sloped paths was driving me crazy and killed a lot of my motivation for the game. Because I like to build a realistic zoo and the preset slopes are just ridiculously impossible to climb for wheelchair users. This is a neat solution, thank you very much! But I still don't understand why Frontier doesn't simply remove the preset angles for slopes, we should be able to pull the path up or down to create slopes.

[@Toves]

You're welcome! Yeah I agree with you, it would nice if there was an easier way to get slopes... this is a solution but it can be quite fiddly.

[@takeiteasygamer3680]

A really great video - so many helpful hits and tips! Thank you for all your hard work!

[@Toves]

Thanks very much, that's very kind of you

[@soirema]

Pathing system in this game is freaki disastrous. Thanks for tut a ton

[@Toves]

Yeah its definitely the most difficult part of the game

[@b3nnefits]

*Btw, your path kept floating because you were using shift to move your camera faster but it also make your path go up. To fix it if you’ve accidentally done that you just need to click off the paths thing and open it again.*

[@Toves]

Thanks good tip

[@slyrp6447]

I bought planet zoo early yet everybody is better than me. Also decoration is my weakness.

[@Toves]

it's all good Carter - everyone has different things they are good at... For me it really just took time and practice before I started to feel ok about what I was creating

[@slyrp6447]

Toves Plays thanks. Hopefully when I get a pc (again) my other one broke and I don’t want to fix it cuz it was really slow. But something I’m good at in planet zoo is getting thousands of people to visit my trash zoo 😂.

[@scarlettautu2644]

I get what you mean haha. I always struggle trying to find inspiration for everything. I spend forever just staring at the spot where i want to build something, but no ideas come to my head. Then finally when i build something, I end up hating it. I also hate having to fill those awkward gaps with decoration and plants etc. Like what am i meant to do? How do I make it look natural? The game is great but i really have no clue how to make my zoo look natural and pretty.

[@slyrp6447]

Scarletts Autu that’s my exact problem, I want to but decoration but what should I put? And also the game will become laggier.

[@einemeinung2809]

you need definitly more Views! Thanks for that

[@Toves]

I appreciate that! Thanks very much

[@Fit_Philosopher]

Thank you for the time and helpful Tips!

[@Toves]

No worries, thanks for the view and comment :)

[@rebeccahf7124]

This is so helpful, thank you!

[@Toves]

No worries, glad you found it useful

[@user-eq5ns3nz7j]

the pains of paths

[@Toves]

Ha, yeah it's not got any easier!

[@saflip969]

okay thats great and all but why dont u tell us what button your hitting to get that raised for the path!

[@Toves]

if you scroll your mouse wheel while selecting a piece of path it'll tilt up or down to create stairs.

[@saflip969]

@@Toves sweet.. thank you. i am a dumbass, sorry

[@Toves]

Nah all good, you're welcome

[@firebreathingmoonbeam3961]

I hold down either shift or ctrl I can't remember which. Then drag the nurse up and down.

[@b3nnefits]

You can also hold shift and move your mouse up and down.

[@hanabee76]

Great video, lots of helpful tips! Thanks!

[@Toves]

Thanks very much, glad you found it useful

[@Andrea-jm1tr]

Safari trick = mind blown! :)

[@Toves]

Nice! Yeah that's a good one :)

[@EvanBear]

I've been playing this game for a while but this is the first time I thought of using buildings to determine path length/height.

[@Toves]

Cool! Glad you found something useful 😀

[@TMBoozer]

Great video, subbed 👍

[@Toves]

Awesome, thanks and welcome! :)

[@NannyOggins]

Lots of great tips here. Many thanks.

[@Toves]

Thanks 😊

[@zoethespaceunicorn5975]

Very helpful thank you so much

[@Toves]

No worries, you're welcome.

[@EleanorKonnli]

Okay but how do i make the stairs? Is there a shortcut on my keyboard to make them automaticaly?

[@Toves]

You have to click and hold your left mouse button then pull back or push up on the mouse to raise and lower the path. There are cases where if you have two path ends at different heights that the game will try and "auto fill" that gap if you click to add path between the space too, and that can be useful sometimes

[@starkchimneyguy]

What key strokes do you use to raise up your path?

[@Toves]

If you hold down left mouse button and move up or down with the mouse it'll raise or lower the path

[@esmokebaby]

Sounds like jackfrags

[@zaathayfa]

wow

[@Toves]

Thanks

[@Arcanua]

Dang it, it seems the trick for narrower paths no longer works...why can't we just make them that narrow to begin with >

[@Toves]

All you have to do now is place the queue down to create queue nodes, delete each section of queue one at a time, and replace it with path

[@Arcanua]

@@Toves I understand that but I did it yesterday and it literally wouldn't work ^^; It kept placing the 4m instead over and over. They either "fiixed" it entirely or the method is now different. Would be nice to get it working thanks to building parts not actually matching with road widths which is already annoying in itself. >w

[@TheSilverwing999]

@@Arcanua They didn't fix it. You are just messing up somewhere

[@matty1255]

The path building really lets this game down, so clunky and awkward.

[@Toves]

Yeah it's definitely one of the worst parts of the game when you compare it to, say the building system

[@killerace7174]

ah see I made my life harder by making my park completely accessible to people in wheelchairs. including staff. so yeh I made it alot harder 😅😅

[@Toves]

you have. I have the same. One thing to bare in mind though is that accessibility doesn't have to mean that every path is accessible you just have to make sure you have routes that are. I try and consider both accessible routes but also add paths that aren't where it just makes sense for the majority of guest and staff movement

[@religionlol7323]

So overly complicated to do the most basic of things. I quit playing due to the horrible pathing in this game.

[@Toves]

Tbf things have improved slightly since I made this guide, but yes the path system is still pretty unforgiving. Shame it turned you off the game completely

[@terranovarubacha5473]

Thanks so much for the safari track slope trick! I'm trying to make a large smooth hill and it was starting to seem almost impossible

[@Toves]

That's cool, you're very welcome. Hope it turns out good :)