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Game included in the

PC Game Zoo Tycoon 2 - Category Management

Hard drive space

Full download: 0.38 GB
Initial download: 0.36 GB

Download time

Kb/s	20 MB	8 MB	512 KB
Time	2mn	6mn	1h 37mn

System requirements

Operating System : 2000/XP,Vista
DirectX version :
Processor : 733 MHz
RAM : 256 MB
Video RAM : 16 MB

Additional info

Category : Management
Difficulty : Average
Multiplayer :
Language : us

Official Site
Publisher : Microsoft Game Studios

Violence

Copyright

Animals

The most important part of your zoo is the animals, so you want to make sure you take care of them right. Start by building an enclosure for the animal you want to exhibit by building walls or fences. Once the enclosure is complete, choose an animal or animals that you want to put inside. If you aren't interested in the animals available to you, you can try declining the adoption, and the game will present you with new animals. After that, make sure to customize the exhibit to match the animal. A jungle animal will need rainforest terrain and plenty of trees, while a desert animal may want nothing but sand and a few rocks. The better suited to their environment they are, the happier they'll be, and visitors want to see happy animals. You can click on an animal to see information about it, such as its level of happiness.

Visitors

The animals aren't the only ones with needs, you know. Your visitors will need places to eat, to sit down, to throw away their trash, and so on. Be sure to build plenty of food stands, bathrooms, and gift shops, and place them carefully so that visitors don't have to walk all over the place to find them. This will keep your visitors happy and continuing to come back. You can click on individual guests to see what their specific needs are. Beyond the most basic needs, your guests will eventually get bored and unhappy if they aren't kept amused. You may need to build decorations, kiosks, playgrounds, and other entertainment to keep them interested.

Tip: Listen To Your Keepers!

When you click on an animal, its status box will appear in the lower right of the screen. Besides using this screen to view your animals' needs, you can click on the keeper button to get detailed recommendations on how you should design your animal's exhibit. The animals can be very picky, so it's very important to follow these recommendations closely if you want to keep your animals happy.

Basics

As with the original Zoo Tycoon, you will need to create the best zoo that you can. To do this, you will need to build proper habitats for your animals, hire enough staff and other support to take care of them, and build facilities for all your visitors. There are three modes of play in Zoo Tycoon 2. In Campaign Mode, you will be given a zoo and specific goals to accomplish. In Freeform mode, you can build your zoo from the ground up just as you want. In Challenge Mode, you will have a combination of both; you build your zoo and the game will give you random challenges from time to time. Most of your actions are chosen from the menu bar along the bottom of the screen. From there, you can build facilities and enclosures, choose your animals, remake the terrain, or hire staff.

Staff

Your animals will also need taking care of, and for that, you'll need to hire zookeepers. Just click the staff button, and hire away. Your keepers can either be set to wander around the park looking for any animals with needs, or they can be set to monitor specific exhibits. You will probably want a zookeeper for every 2-3 exhibits. You will also need maintenance staff to keep things running smoothly and to clean up after your visitors. You can also hire educators to inform your guests. Be aware that educators need a podium to speak from.

Fame

Fame is the combined rating of how popular your zoo is, and it is represented by the stars in the upper left corner. Your fame is affected factors such as how many animals you have, how happy your guests are, and how well you accomplish campaign goals. Your fame determines what animals and buildings are available to you. When you first start, your options will be limited, but as your fame grows, more options will be open to you. Be aware that even once new buildings are available, you may still need to research them before they can be used. To research, click on the item, then on the research button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Research may take a while, so plan accordingly.

Tip: Down and Dirty

A new feature of Zoo Tycoon 2 is the option to go into Guest Mode. To enter Guest Mode, click the tree button in the lower left corner of the screen. In Guest Mode, you can walk around your zoo like a regular guest and see if the layout makes sense from the ground level. More importantly, you can perform various staff actions as well, such as feeding the animals or emptying trash cans. Doing this is a good way to keep staff costs low.