Christian Gerken wipes the sweat from his forehead. The zookeeper has just balanced taut haystacks on the concrete forecourt of the pachyderm house. Now Gerken sits in a small lounge in front of a laptop, drinks tap water from a cup and clicks through the video game "Planet Zoo".
We asked the employee of the zoological city garden from Karlsruhe to try out the animal park simulation just published for us. It comes from the British developers Frontier Developments, who had already launched the Dinopark simulation "Jurassic World Evolution" last year. For "Planet Zoo" it is said by developers that they have observed the behavior of the animals for two and a half years for the game.
Gerken can assess whether it was worth it. The 32-year-old takes care of elephants and hippos at the Karlsruhe Zoo. Therefore, he begins his game round also with a piggery enclosure: Gerken pulls a fence, places banana plants, builds a forest of bamboo plants, splashes muck pools on the meadow and throws behind giant football balls.
Timo Deible / Zoo Karlsruhe
Christian Gerken with elephant lady Jenny in the Karlsruhe Zoo: A circus had retired her
Feel-good bar on green
The experiment succeeds. The Indian elephant delivered in a box quickly settles down. In the menu, the feel-good bar changes to green. That means that feed mix, entertainment and plant selection are right. If there are problems, the virtual animals get sick or die.
"The developers did a lot of research and talked to zoo experts, you can tell," says Gerken. "When it comes to animal welfare, we pay attention to the same factors that are important in the game."
The selection of rolling food barrels, fruit ice blocks and wooden chimes from the "Planet Zoo" menu also makes sense, says Gerken. Something like that will also be used at the Karlsruhe Zoo. But then the professional discovers a few mistakes. "The plants would have to be fenced, otherwise the elephants would simply eat everything," he says. In the game, the elephants simply ignore the trees.
Criticism of price tags for animals
In addition, Gerken bothers at the trading center of the game. There are price tags for kaffir buffalo, spotted hyenas, Siberian tigers and more than 70 other species. The shop system is unhappy, says the zookeeper. "We do not buy elephants here." Take animals to care for and preserve their species. For example, the two elephant ladies in the Karlsruhe Zoo are retired circus animals who are retiring here. This has nothing to do with a stock market.
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Animal Park Simulation: This is "Planet Zoo"Then Gerken discovers the menu of the park staff - and first turns up the zoo keeper to the stop. "Nice to be able to respond to the staff," he says. Even trainers can send technicians, doctors and the cleaners who run with huge Kotsaugern through the park. Gerken would also like to have such an aid, he says. "We still do that with the shovel."
The animal sounds and hoof noises convince the professional. "The sounds are artificially generated, but very close to reality," he says. Disappointingly he finds that in the game birds and fish are largely missing.
But it is nice that you can invest a lot of time in the game in the care of animals. In his job, he also thinks long and hard about how he creates the best conditions for the animals, says Gerken.
Pulling fences is a cramp
The biggest weaknesses shows "Planet Zoo" anyway not in the animals. It is the flat story in career mode and the immature construction of fences and buildings. "From the scope there is nothing to moan, only the service is a bit hakelig," says Christian Gerken. The stone paths curve in all directions as he tries to make a path around his elephant enclosure. The fence elements can only string together piece by piece and again and again gaps are created. "My insider tip: A hole in the fence is very bad," says the zookeeper.
Gerken believes that the game will be well received by park simulation fans. Some of his colleagues have already started to replicate zoos from Germany to offer for download. Would he play "Planet Zoo" in his free time? In any case, says Gerken. His job is his passion. In addition to the animals in the zoo, he has pets and also like to play zoo simulations after work.
Only the high demands that the game puts on the PC hardware are deterring Gerken. "The graphics are great," he says, "but you could have made a few compromises." After all, the game is also suitable for children, and "they rarely have a high-end computer in their room".
"Planet Zoo" by Frontier Developments: for Windows PC on Steam, about 50 Euro