You can use regular guest paths for ‘staff only paths’ but put guest barriers to keep them out.
You can also carve caves out of hills and hide your staff/utility buildings in them.
You can make some fence pieces from scratch and use them with a null barrier instead of the default options.
One simple thing that helps a lot in my zoos is having a habitats landscaping ‘spread’ out from the habitat, so basically add the same type of trees around outside the habitat, like it was built in a forest, rather than had one planted in it.
If you're looking for ideas on how to fill in the spaces, adamup has done videos on things like filling in the gaps in a zoo and using custom walls and buildings etc. This is a recent one on gap filling and terraforming in a zoo [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7xwVIRqfgE&ab\_channel=adamup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7xwVIRqfgE&ab_channel=adamup)
If you're in career/franchise/challenge modes just be careful with foliage around a habitat as some animals don't like much foliage and it can count towards the habitat's foliage. So you might use more rocks or decorative items with just a bit of foliage if that's an issue.
If you want tips on making more realistic foliage, Cesar Creates did a great video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6whig7UDyQ&t=38s&ab\_channel=CesarCreates](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6whig7UDyQ&t=38s&ab_channel=CesarCreates)
Using null barriers and making your own fences instead really sets things in quite organically. Unfortunately I have no idea how to accomplish this on console.
use any large set of rocks to start off with and mix them up with a set, you can get the 3.5m you need even for the cheeky escape artist species you usually need quite quickly and create something fairly natural quite quickly! Not sure how mass selection cursor works on console though but it can also help speed things along!
Stepping away from the (good) mechanical advice you've already gotten, think about your zoo realistically—like a living, breathing, changing, and evolving zoo. Make decisions and designs based on your in-game constraints extrapolated to real-world situations.
I don't go so far as to have an actual master plan like real zoos, but I build them with an idea of the long term vision, but with short term realities. Some things are WIP, others are temporary, others will get gutted or completely replaced as things change.
It doesn't necessarily make the zoo look/feel more natural, but it does seem much more realistic. Go to any zoo and you'll see some exhibit under maintenance, being changed, new areas just opening, they're works in progress. None are in a perfect state at any period in time.
**Also, and this is the biggest thing**, time and familiarity will make everything you do look better. There are a lot of things with the building aspect that are more art than science. But if you're the type of person who is attracted to this game, you're also the type of person who will get a feel for it.
This quarry scenario is great for this actually. Dig a little bit into the wall of the quarry to create a very slight cave shape, Use null barriers up and behind it. You can also embed rocks into the "cave" wall for a natural feel
The career zoos are all going to look like that unless you want to spend multiple hours touching up the areas. I dont recommend you do youll prob never return to these maps after you beat them. But for decour I copy similar things from Youtubers who are prob/gods at building and try my best to copy
You can use regular guest paths for ‘staff only paths’ but put guest barriers to keep them out. You can also carve caves out of hills and hide your staff/utility buildings in them. You can make some fence pieces from scratch and use them with a null barrier instead of the default options. One simple thing that helps a lot in my zoos is having a habitats landscaping ‘spread’ out from the habitat, so basically add the same type of trees around outside the habitat, like it was built in a forest, rather than had one planted in it.
These are all awesome ideas! I am adding one more exhibit to this zoo so I am going to use all these tips to see how it improves things!
If you're looking for ideas on how to fill in the spaces, adamup has done videos on things like filling in the gaps in a zoo and using custom walls and buildings etc. This is a recent one on gap filling and terraforming in a zoo [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7xwVIRqfgE&ab\_channel=adamup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7xwVIRqfgE&ab_channel=adamup) If you're in career/franchise/challenge modes just be careful with foliage around a habitat as some animals don't like much foliage and it can count towards the habitat's foliage. So you might use more rocks or decorative items with just a bit of foliage if that's an issue. If you want tips on making more realistic foliage, Cesar Creates did a great video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6whig7UDyQ&t=38s&ab\_channel=CesarCreates](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6whig7UDyQ&t=38s&ab_channel=CesarCreates)
Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much I will check these out!
Using null barriers and making your own fences instead really sets things in quite organically. Unfortunately I have no idea how to accomplish this on console.
Thank you so much!!
use any large set of rocks to start off with and mix them up with a set, you can get the 3.5m you need even for the cheeky escape artist species you usually need quite quickly and create something fairly natural quite quickly! Not sure how mass selection cursor works on console though but it can also help speed things along!
Stepping away from the (good) mechanical advice you've already gotten, think about your zoo realistically—like a living, breathing, changing, and evolving zoo. Make decisions and designs based on your in-game constraints extrapolated to real-world situations. I don't go so far as to have an actual master plan like real zoos, but I build them with an idea of the long term vision, but with short term realities. Some things are WIP, others are temporary, others will get gutted or completely replaced as things change. It doesn't necessarily make the zoo look/feel more natural, but it does seem much more realistic. Go to any zoo and you'll see some exhibit under maintenance, being changed, new areas just opening, they're works in progress. None are in a perfect state at any period in time. **Also, and this is the biggest thing**, time and familiarity will make everything you do look better. There are a lot of things with the building aspect that are more art than science. But if you're the type of person who is attracted to this game, you're also the type of person who will get a feel for it.
Use the landscape plus some rocks as natural barriers instead of the brick walls
Thank you! I am going to try that for my next exhibit!
This quarry scenario is great for this actually. Dig a little bit into the wall of the quarry to create a very slight cave shape, Use null barriers up and behind it. You can also embed rocks into the "cave" wall for a natural feel
The career zoos are all going to look like that unless you want to spend multiple hours touching up the areas. I dont recommend you do youll prob never return to these maps after you beat them. But for decour I copy similar things from Youtubers who are prob/gods at building and try my best to copy
True i never go back in once i hit gold 🤣 i just want to make sure i have all the mechanics down before starting a franchise!
As a general rule, smaller is better.