Jurassic World Evolution 2 (Park Managers’ Collection Pack out May 16th!)

[Faelrin]

I spent way too much time working on this yesterday. This is almost every single creature and design in the Jurassic franchise's various films, novels, games, toys, etc not in the game:

https://reddit.com/r/jurassicworldevo/comments/15tzjy8/almost_every_jurassic_franchise_creature_and/

[Nanuqsaurus]

Cretaceous Predator Pack announced for November 30th!

It includes four new species:
- Tarbosaurus (Based on its screen appearance in Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure)
- Concavenator
- Gigantoraptor
- Utahraptor

Screenshots:

[Prehistory Resurrection]

I'm surprised to see Concavenator not based on its screen appearance in Fallen Kingdom. Jurassic World: The Game's is more faithful to its screen counterpart;


Nice colors for the Utahraptor. With the tuft of feathers on the head and its bulky look, reminds me of the Dominion Pyroraptor. The Prehistoric Kingdom Utahraptor for comparison;


Tarbosaurus! Another canon species ticked off the list of canon species to be added to this game. It's very faithful to its screen counterpart. Surprised to see Tarbosaurus as part of this pack. Was expecting it to be part of a Mantah Corp DLC pack with Spinoceratops  or Smilodon (prehistoric mammals are yet to be added) or both. The Dominion Microceratus is also yet another canon species missing in the game. Anyway, nice to see Tarbosaurus finally.

And finally, Gigantoraptor. A species very rare to see in media and in toy form. Its other popular appearance is in Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter;

Feathered dinosaurs are getting lots of recognition by the Frontier team.  Although it was an oviraptorid, most reconstructions of Gigantoraptor don't have such a prominent crest, but it's nice to see it here. Looks like a cassowary.

More things coming up in the free update releasing alongside the Cretaceous Predator Pack next week ;

[Faelrin]

I need to get this thread updated soon lol. I've been just browsing the reddit for hours now. It's great to see so many more highly requested fan favorites added yet again. In fact this whole year has been nothing but highly requested species with like the Deinocheirus, Yutyrannus, Archelon, Shonisaurus, etc, and especially everything here.

Lots of good stuff in the update. Randomized dig sites, more variants, and finally benches and bins. Been asking and waiting for these for years now.

[MLMjp]

Skins for Baryonyx Limbo, Chaos and Grim are also yet to be added. The Dominion Microceratus is also yet another canon species missing in the game.

@Prehistory Resurrection Limbo, Chaos and Grim skins have been in the game since the Camp Cretaceous DLC...

[Prehistory Resurrection]

@MLMjp Thanks for pointing this out. I somehow forgot. Edited my post.

[Eatmycar]

Frankly, I'm so glad they ignored the film's stuffed Concavenator and made a beautiful, modern rendition of this iconic theropod. Love all of these guys, actually. Tarbo might be the most boring... but it isn't bad.

[Faelrin]

Finally got my BotM (FC) Medusaceratops review added to the blog, so now I can finally get updating this thread, lol.

Edit: Thread updated now. Added a few more in game pics to some of the DLC creatures and variants that were missing. Holding off on the 2022 Allosaurus and Dimorphodon until the update. The other three (including the newest not out yet) DLC I'm still behind on getting, but I will get them eventually, if not next month maybe.

[Gwangi]

These all look great. Thanks to that Utahraptor I will probably never use the game's other dromaeosaurs again. The Concavenator looks far better than the JW:FK version. The Tabosaurus is not terribly exciting but it will be fun to add to Nemegt Formation or Asian dinosaur exhibits.

[Prehistory Resurrection]

Gigantoraptor Species Profile. The animation of it kicking the car is quite cool. They forgot to say that apart from  sharp claws and strong legs that it also has a powerful beak.

[Faelrin]

I like how the community already sort of collectively agrees and refers to this as the murder turkey, which fits right in alongside the tickle chicken (Therizinosaurus), and demon duck (Deinocheirus), or whatever else.

I'm probably going to do a free-for all battle with them. Can also do a free-for all with the big Nemegt trio now that Tarbosaurus (of sorts) is getting added as well. I haven't been in the mood/uninspired for this game for too long. It really needed this update, and surprisingly a few fan favorites to reinvigorate it for me. 

As much as I liked the marine pack species, the update was really weak and there just wasn't much to bring me back. Like the socials was a much needed thing (although Mosasaurus and Tylosaurus were excluded), but it would have been nice for there to be brushes and updated needs (only the Archelon and Nothosaurus got that in the form of the new rock) for lagoon creatures to be on par with those on land (including the pterosaurs), and while the coral decorations are nice, it is tedious to add them to fill in a lot of the boring empty space. Not as performance friendly to have a bunch of decorations, when compared to the brushes either.

[Faelrin]

Update and patch notes are out now:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/jurassic-world-evolution-2-cretaceous-predator-pack-and-update-8-out-now.621539/

Lots of good bug fixes, and some QoL stuff not mentioned before.

[Prehistory Resurrection]

Cretaceous Predator Pack Launch Trailer

[Prehistory Resurrection]

Mosasaurus and Tylosaurus now have social animations.

[Faelrin]

Can't believe they sneaked that in there. Wasn't even in the patch notes. But the same thing happened the last update, with the Spinosaurus rig and animations being improved.

[Prehistory Resurrection]

Official Announcement Trailer| Secret Species DLC
The hybrids are making their return. Ankylodocus, Spinoraptor, Stegoceratops, Indoraptor and surprise! Spinoceratops. Ankylodocus has an updated appearance and the hybrids all have a bioluminescent/ glow in the dark skins. Interesting...
One more canon species (hybrid this time) crossed off the list. So that leaves Microceratus and Smilodon  as the only missing canon species.

[Gwangi]

The first DLC I can easily pass on.

[DefinitelyNOTDilo]

Unfortunately there seems to be no free update coming with this dlc, which is sad. In the other hand, this definitely feels like a filler dlc while they work on something big, so fingers crossed!

[Faelrin]

I'm just gonna copy and paste my frontier forums post here:

Yeah I don't have good feelings about this. I get staff were laid off recently, so if I had to guess, could be part of why this was done, if not work being directed to something bigger (such as JWE3, considering the upcoming movie).

But to resell creatures that had been cut from the game at launch, that were available in a DLC for the previous game (when all other DLC creatures were brought into the game at launch) is scummy. I get some people wanted them, but this is like the Huayangosaurus being shoved into the Deluxe pack, when it was a base game creature in the previous game, but much worse, because now it's three creatures.

Sure there's been some work done, the social animations, the new bio-luminescent skins, and one new creature here (the Spinoceratops), and the reworked Ankylodocus (which thankfully the community reception about wanting a redesign of it was heard, and reception towards the redesign seems good so far), but I don't think it is right to have to pay for the same DLC creatures again (as a JWE vet), when they should been in the base game from the start.

I don't really use hybrids in my parks as is. The only one I might use is Spinoraptor as it is the closest option to Austroraptor, and it might be interesting to use with the bioluminescent skins, and if it has pack hunting like Velociraptor, etc. That said no way will I buy this at full price for one creature I might occasionally use. I may get it on sale in the distant future, and only a very steep sale.

The lack of content update and only a small bug fix update also has me worried about the future of the game, between the recent layoffs, if the potential for a new game coming out, because of the new upcoming film, as what happened with JWE. But I really hope if a new game is in the works, then when the last update comes out for JWE2 that there isn't just nothing but radio silence until the next game's trailer came out. Needs to be some communication that the game's support has (largely) ended (especially as far as no more new content).

This also feels like a complete U-turn from the previous DLC's, which consisted of fan favorite real animals, most of which were pretty scientifically rigorous, and all were highly received. These are all fictional mash ups. I'm already seeing a lot of people saying they won't buy this DLC for that reason.

[Faelrin]

Okay so Skeleton Crew did a 40 min video on this trailer. Gonna get dunked on no doubts. I'm starting it now:

I posted this on Evolution Square's recent showcase video:

Spoiler

The Spinoceratops appeals to me more then I thought it would. Looks much better then the base game one, and the hybrid nature feels like it gives a reason to the weird open fenestrae it has. Nice skins, particularly the lux. Nice to have Spinoraptor back as well, and it was always the closest to getting an Austroraptor (which honestly now with the Utahraptor model, and this back with a fish diet, that gives a chance for a proper one, even if as a mod). 

That said the recycled content (though touched up, particularly the Ankylodocus, should have been in the base game from the start like the rest of the JWE DLC creatures, not resold in yet another DLC down the road), unfinished kill animations for most of the creatures, lack of pack hunting for Spinoraptor, lack of a free content update (even a small QOL one would have been nice, such as something like multiple dig sites), along with the controversial subject matter that is the hybrids in the first place (after mostly well received species picks in the last few DLC's), doesn't bode well for this game's future. Even some of the past few DLC's and updates had shown evidence of slow down before the unfortunate lay offs (lack of Kelp brush/decorations for lagoon after being highly requested, the lack of hunting for the Gigantoraptor at launch, no gene editing for the remote batch feature at launch, loads of bugs like the floating underwater dome attraction, and the buggy wings on the Utahraptor from the last one, etc). 

I sincerely hope this isn't the last DLC (where is Microceratus still?), and that this is a temporary blip in the game's life cycle due to the staff being stretched thin. There's also the question of if there is a new game on the horizon with the new movie coming out. The recent survey has me wondering this as well. Sincerely hope there's more communication when the final DLC drops and support ends, unlike the last time, but I won't get my hopes up knowing how Frontier always has been with the lack of communication/transparency.

[close]

Again the Spinoceratops is really growing on me. Frontier knocked it out with the skins (and I'm a sucker for the bioluminescent lux ones), and it is nice to have another animal in the game with a diet like Deinocheirus (even if a fictional animal, but cool to see a fish eating ceratopsian or ornithischian at all in some way). It'll be a nice enclosure mate for the lux Parasaurolophus, which I still use quite frequently (when I'm not in the mood for the Dominion blue striped design). I will still hold my word and wait until the pack goes on sale, as there's still a lot of issues (especially below, or as noted above), such as unfinished combat animations, if not other things (like the weirdly colored Spinoraptor toe claw, but it is kind of funny too, like how Evolution Square made light of it). It's funny though. The Sinoceratops is quite possibly my least favorite Jurassic World design, and yet I find this one enjoyable. Who would have thought adding a colorful sail would draw me to it? That said I do find the toned down frill horns, and lack of wrinkly face a bit more appealing as well. As mentioned above, I think the hybrid nature gives a reason for those exposed fenestrae too.

The Ankylodocus redesign is really good (compared to JWE's), but it is such a shame they repeated the same mistakes as last time. It still cannot fight. The game has been out for two years now, and we still don't have the highly requested sauropod combat. This would have been a good time to introduce it. Maybe it will get attention afterwards as they did for the Gigantoraptor in a recent patch? I hope I'm not having hopium here.

As far as Spinoraptor goes, I've always enjoyed it the most of the JWE hybrids. I think now with the Utahraptor being a thing, and since this officially eats fish, a proper Austroraptor (through mods, or official) is possible for the game now. Tagging @DefinitelyNOTDilo in case something like this would be feasible.

I was never fond of the Stegoceratops, and not even the lux skins can save it for me. The lack of thagomizer kill or animations that it had in JWE is also disappointing, as that did give it some flair beyond the obnoxious design it had.