Welcome Park Managers,
We were so excited to reveal Jurassic World Evolution 3 on the 6th of June, giving you all your very first look at the latest entry in the acclaimed game series!
There’s still plenty more to discover and today we’ll be taking an even closer look at the stars of the show – the dinosaurs.
Dinosaur Breeding
Jurassic World Evolution 3 introduces the natural breeding of dinosaur families, which brings with it a variety of new systems and gameplay experiences.
Moving the creation of new dinosaurs out of the lab and into the nest requires more than the all-female dinosaurs featured in the series thus far, so for the first time both male and female animals can be synthesised or captured and brought into your park.
The distinction between male and female dinosaurs isn’t just limited to their ability to breed and includes fully represented dimorphism that results in differences in both their appearance and behaviour.
Parents will also pass their traits and markings down to their juveniles, creating a visually and behaviourally distinct family tree with offspring that inherit their parents’ habits and looks – both good and bad. Just like in any animal families, these genetic traits may even recede for a few generations before returning and affecting later descendants.
Each pair of dinosaurs has a level of compatibility which influences how likely and suited they are to breed together, including their individual fertility rating and traits. Compatibility isn’t only a numbers game – you’ll have to make sure any potential breeding partners are in a comfortable environment if you want to encourage the next generation of dinosaurs.
Once a compatible breeding pair has been identified and housed in a comfortable enclosure together, they can then begin the age-old process of having their own naturally born genetic offspring. However, when nature is taking too long to create results, you can tip the scales in your favour, using nests and your park’s scientists to create breeding programs.
Home Sweet Home
For a compatible breeding pair to start their prehistoric family, they’ll need a suitable nesting area to incubate and protect their eggs.
A variety of nests can be built in your park enclosures, using blueprints or by creating your own with modular building tools. There are suitable nests for all the different sizes and types of species in your park, whether they live on the ground, in the air or under the water. Clutches of eggs are laid and incubated in these nests, with the incubation time and clutch size varying from species to species.
Not all dinosaurs are the same and different species have specific preferences over the placement of their nests. Some, for example, will prefer their nests to be private and safely away from guests, while others may prefer building their nests in clusters to provide security.
If a suitable breeding pair have access to an appropriate nest that matches all their requirements and preferences, eventually the natural process may occur, and an egg will be discovered within the nest.
Just as with synthesis, eggs will require time to incubate and hatch within their nest. Once an egg’s incubation period in a nest is complete, a juvenile dinosaur will emerge, take its first tentative steps out into your park and join its new family unit.
Family Units
Adults and their offspring live side-by-side in your park enclosures, forming family units which vary from species to species.
Depending on the species and the behavioural traits of the individual dinosaurs, these family units can take on very different forms. Juvenile dinosaurs might stay within their immediate family, follow more of a herd mentality, or even be bold enough to follow any adult, no matter the species!
Juveniles will also exhibit the natural curiosity of all young animals, exploring and playing across their enclosures – inevitably this may even lead them into a spot of trouble.
Rearing their young comes naturally to a lot of species, but not all dinosaurs have the same parental instincts. While some parents will carefully protect their young and the young of other dinosaurs in their herd, others might show some less than parental behaviour.
As Park Manager part of your job will be filling in the gaps, helping life to find a way by ensuring that your juvenile dinosaurs receive the care and support they need to flourish.
Dinosaur Daycare
Dinosaur juveniles often have quite different needs from their parents. As with any species, the child's needs will impact the welfare of their parents', creating new comfort requirements and behaviours. Some dinosaurs may even put the interest of their juveniles before their own needs, becoming distressed when their young aren’t happy. While juveniles are smaller than their parents, they can be just as dangerous and will need to be treated with an equal amount of caution.
When preparing to introduce juveniles to an enclosure, make sure you know what to look out for and set a foundation for them to thrive. You may also need to alter your existing enclosures for juveniles to comfortably settle in – their little legs can only go so far before they get tired!
Dinosaur needs, including juveniles, come in a few different shapes. Paleo needs cover the environment and available food types within a dinosaur’s enclosure, setting a preference for different terrain or volumes of water. Social needs on the other hand are shaped by how the dinosaurs within an enclosure interact and can be as specific as how many male dinosaurs are inside the territory. Paying attention to these needs will pay off, as a happy dinosaur means happy guests and increased park appeal.
Carefully nurturing the next generation benefits you later down the line – when your thriving juveniles mature, they can gain bonuses as a result of their happy upbringing and continue the cycle of natural breeding.
Happy Families
Natural breeding, dimorphism and juvenile dinosaurs bring a new layer of gameplay to Jurassic World Evolution 3. Each dinosaur now has more of an individual story than ever before, which can stretch across generations in your parks.
There’s still more to uncover about Jurassic World Evolution 3, with more news and features coming soon. Keep up to date on the latest by following our social media channels.
Jurassic World Evolution 3 is available to pre-order now on Steam, Epic, Windows Store, Xbox X/S and PlayStation 5 and will launch on 21 October.