Overview
Zoo Tycoon is a simluation game that is intended for both kids and adults alike. Using a 3D graphical interface, you create and manage your own zoo, adding animals, zoo keepers, shelters, and everything else that comes with managing a zoo. Your goal is to manage the zoo such that you have happy animals, happy employees, and happy visitors, all while keeping a positive income flow.

Features

• Design, Build & Manage your own zoo
• Stock your zoo with over 40 unique animals including Elephants, Cheetahs, Bears, and Penguins
• Over 175 different types of exhibit and building materials
• Play an open-ended game or tackle thirteen challenging scenarios
• Watch your animals (and guests) roam, rest, and play

Price
$19.99

System requirements

• Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me or XP
• 300 MHz processor
• 32 MB for Windows 95/98, 128 MB for Windows XP
• 4X CD ROM
• 4 MB graphics card, 16-bit color capable, 16 MB recommended
• Minimum 250 MB of available hard disk space, 600 MB recommended

Setup
Zoo Tycoon comes on a CD, and installation is very straightforward. I ran the installer on the CD, and the game installed without any problems. I was up and running in no time.

Game Play
Like other simulation games, Zoo Tycoon provides a tool palette where you can add widgets to your canvas. In a free style zoo, you start with a canvas that has varying terrain. In my test, I had a lot of sand and salt water, with a perimeter of forest trees. This was probably a tough way to start, especially since I kept choosing animals that like Savannah terrain and fresh water. Your tools palette lets you add different animals, as well as animal shelters. It also lets you design the terrain, changing out ground types, shrubs, water, pathways, and trees. There's also a tool for customizing the objects in the park, such as fencing, food and beverage stands, park benches, trash cans, and more. Finally there is a tool for adding employees, zoo keepers, maintenance workers, and tour guides. All of these things, of course, cost money, so the more work you have to do to get your zoo to be livable, the faster your money is going to disappear.

To have a basic zoo up and running, you need to build an exhibit using fencing, and then simply purchase some animals to place into the exhibit. Jumping in blindly like that, however, you'll end up fighting an uphill battle trying to keep the animals happy. Each animal type is very particular about the type of terrain it likes. For instance, zebras and giraffes like the Savannah terrain and fresh water. The Giraffes like a touch of sand and a touch of dirt as well. They both like most of the Savannah shrubs and trees, but not all of them. Clicking on the animal and then clicking on the animal tool button for zoo keeper recommendations provides a window that lists the suggestions from the zoo keeper. By the way, be sure to employ at least one zoo keeper right away, otherwise no one is there to feed your animals and they will starve to death.

When you decide to change plans, you can use the bulldozer tool to remove objects, and you'll even get some money credit when the object is removed. I did find bulldozing a bit difficult when different items were crowded around. My other complaint is that there is only one level of "undo". This becomes a problem when bulldozing, because it is too easy to delete the wrong items by accident. It's also likely that you'll delete something after that, hence, it's too late to undo the error since you only get one level of undo. That means that you'll have to re-purchase the item you deleted by accident.

At one points I was so strapped for cash that I started removing all the forest trees that the park started out with. You don't get what you paid for the items, so the smartest way to design your park is very carefully from the onset. Even with the careful design, however, prepare for some headaches trying to keep your animals happy and your cash flow in the positive. Cash flow was my biggest headache, followed closely by unhappy animals. I never managed to average more than 50 visitors a month, and that simply did not bring in very much cash. It was find for awhile, but once I started hiring more employees, I started losing money each month. You can click on the park entrance to see the ticket price, and that window includes a button that displays your accounting for the current month as well as the three prior months. There was a line item for donations, but I never understood what generated those donations. Sometimes I'd get some nice ones, other months I got next to nothing. My vending machines did very well, as did the pizza stand and hamburger stand. I did discover one hidden feature from the web for those who want to eliminate the frustration of cash flow. At any time you can type a "$" (aka, shift-4), and $10,000 is added to your cash. Unfortunately, once I realized that, I used it all the time, as often as I needed, to eliminate all financial headaches.

Keeping your animals happy is also a challenge. Some are more sensitive than others, but beyond that, I had a hard time with the consistency of the advice my zoo keepers gave me. In my zebra exhibit, for the longest time I just kept hearing that there was too much sand. I had eliminated every sand terrain in the exhibit, so I just couldn't understand why it kept telling me there was too much sand. After over a year (in simulation time), I finally figured out this problem. When I was on a frenzy to get cash (and didn't know about the shift-4 trick), I started selling everything, including a second shelter in the exhibit. Lo and behold, underneath that shelter was a little bit of sand. That left me feeling a little jaded that the zoo keeper didn't bother to tell me the sand was hidden under the shelter, and I couldn't help but wonder why the animals would complain about terrain that is under the shelter.

With the sand issue resolved, I started running into other zoo keeper suggestions that just didn't help. I would often get the suggestion that the animal needs a mate, and adopting a second animal would usually resolve that. At one point, however, I was getting that suggestion on my Giraffes, and I already had two. In fact, they were happy for the longest time, and all of a sudden they are unhappy. I adopted a third, then a fourth, and kept going until I had six Giraffes, and the zoo keeper kept on saying that the Giraffes needed a mate. The other suggestion that frustrated me is when the zoo keeper complained that there was too much trampled terrain in the exhibit. I had no clue how to resolve that. I didn't see an "untrample" or "fluff up terrain" button.

The graphics in Zoo Tycoon were not spectacular, certainly nothing as rich and in depth as seen in other games coming out these days. However, they were satifactory in terms of portraying the objects and animals. I especially liked watching the animals in the exhibits. They would graze, sleep, walk around, chase their mate, and other interesting activities. From time to time, the gazelles ran across their exhibit in consecutive leaps. This was probably the most entertaining aspect of the game. The zoo employees were also fun to watch, as the zoo keepers would walk from exhibit to exhibit (deppending upon which exhibits you assigned them too), and feed the animals, brush and wash them, and other zoo keeping activities. The maintenance workers would pick up trash (and sometimes the animals complained, by way of the zoo keepers, about trash in their exhibit), mend fences, and other maintenance activities. I ended up firing my tour guide because I just wasn't getting enough visitors to warrant having the expense.

Some other novelties of the game were seasonal special effects. For instance, around Halloween time, there was a flock of witches on broomsticks that flew over the zoo. At Christmas, Santa did a fly-by with his sleigh and reindeer. The visitors all provided ambient background noise, giving the park a feeling of being real. They would use the vending machines, take a ride on the carousel, buy pizza, and take turns going to the bathroom.

Given some of the frustrations I ran into, I was disappointed that in-game help was near non-existent. There were tool tips and the zoo keepers recommendations, but I was looking for "user manual" type of in-game help. I wanted to get tips on how to increase my cash flow without having to fire everyone and sell off every tree that didn't serve a purpose. I also stumbles on other issues, such as animals disappearing out of exhibits without explanation (or perhaps a quick message flashed and I missed it). There were a lot of questions I had about different aspects of the game, as well as frustrations with inconsistencies, so in-game help may have provided the relief that I needed.

Summary
Zoo Tycoon is a fun simulation for building and managing your own zoo, from the terrain to the animal care. There is an addictive quality to the game, especially if you enjoy animals. The desire to keep the animals happy was very pressing, and it always felt great to see all of their bars green (happiness, shelter, food, terrain). The animal behaviors were great, while the graphics were only okay. There were a number of frustrating features, such as difficulty with bulldozing, lack of multiple undo's, inconsistent zoo keeper recommendations, and lack of in-game support. Despite these drawbacks, I did enjoy the game, and most others would enjoy it as well.

Pros

• Exciting to build and manage entire zoo facility
• Fun animal behaviors
• Lots of animals to choose from
• Complexity of factors adds to richness of simulation

Cons

• Graphics are not spectacular
• Zoo keeper recommendations don't always make sense
• Poor in-game help
• Bulldozing errors only provide one level of undo

Overall Rating

3 1/2 out of 5 Mice