Think back to your last trip to the zoo. How many of the habitats could you walk all the way around? Probably not many, if any at all. Think of your favorite habitat. Was there just one spot to stand and search for the animals? Again, probably not. Adding multiple viewpoints can make your habitats more interesting, as well as provide both spots for guests to clearly view animals, and also places for animals to hide when they don't want to be seen.
There are a great number of different ways to add viewing areas to your habitats, including some I'm sure I haven't even thought of yet. I will go over some of the different ideas and will cover how to achieve the more difficult ones in other blog posts.
Sunken Habitats – Using a sunken habitat can give you multiple levels of viewing. You can have an elevated path for a top down view, you can have views around the middle, and you can have view points at ground level. Works well for tree climbing animals to view at all levels of their habitat.
Elevated Pathway – Not only for sunken habitats, you can use elevated pathways with any habitat. Wind it up along a mountain, make a dock out over a moat, create a bridge over your habitat. You can semi or fully cover the path for a covered walkway. It's also a great way to allow your guests to get up close and personal with your zoos tallest residents.
Indoor Habitats – Indoor habitats are a great resource for placing animals in a habitat that is opposite their natural environment. Put wolves in the desert, put elephants in the arctic. Indoor habitats also give reprieve to your guests from the harsh elements.
Inset Viewpoints - Adding an alternate view point can be as simple as bringing in your fence a little. Having your barriers inset into the habitat can allow your guests to feel a part it. To further enhance the feeling, use null barriers around the habitat and put a natural or construction piece barrier inside the null barrier. Your guests will be amazed that they can be in the tigers habitat.
Underground/Underwater – Sending your guests below the surface can add depth to your zoo as well as give your guests a view of your burrowing and/or swimming animals a view into their natural habitat. You can check out my blog on how to do underwater viewing here.
Shelter Viewing – Allowing your guests to view inside the animals shelter or even take them inside will keep your guests involved in all aspects of your animals lives. Some animals may get stressed by this approach but using one way glass can allow guests to see in while not bothering your animals.
Treehouses – Tree houses work not only as shelters for your animals, but as viewing areas for your guests as well. What could be better than sharing a tree with a chimpanzee, or being face to face with a giraffe as it munches leaves from a tree ( I know this doesn't happen in game, but we can dream can't we?).
Covered Areas – Adding a simple roof over a path, a sunshade, or a viewing shelter can provide variance, as well as shelter for your guests.
Adding two or more of these options to your habitats will transform your zoos from square boxes to interesting. I wouldn't go crazy and add them all, that might be a little chaotic, but analyze your animals (a treehouse for a pangolin maybe not such a good idea), do some research ( take a trip to your local zoo and take note of the different viewpoints), and let your creativity roll. If you have any types of viewpoints I've missed, let me know in the comments.
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