Changing the Amount of Offspring an Animal has

[Methane]

A short disclaimer:

You should always create backup files of ANY game file before you edit it.
If you somehow mess up, it's not my fault. The directions here are acurate and valid.
I DO NOT have any expansion packs for ZT2. These directions were written for and from the origional ZT2, and things may have been changed around for expansions.
I am not advocating cheating on the game. This is merely a guide, and what you do with it is your own decison.
You need an archiver like WinRAR to edit your game files.
I use Windows XP. Some information/quick keys may be different for other systems.

In some animals, the amount of offspring cannot be changed. I have no idea why, but if you can't find the right bit of code, it is most likely because that animal cannot have it's offspring amount changed. One example is the Gazelle.

Wow. Five guides in two days (and I wrote four in the last half hour). I'm just a fountian of knowledge, aren't I?


I know this has been adressed in a previous thread on another forum, but I thought it would be nice to have all the information bundled up in one, easy-to-find guide instead of spread across a fourteen page thread.


Now, I'm sort of lazy. This time, I'm not going to tell you how to get to the ai file. But because there are several AI files, I will tell you which one you need to get.

You need to go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Zoo Tycoon 2. This is the MAIN ai file. It's full name is ai.z2f. Open it up with your archiver.

So, you want to go to

ai > tasks > animals.

Each animal has 2 files. One is a .tsk file, and one is a .beh file. You want the .beh file.

If the file opens in a browser window, you need to right-click on it and select 'open with...' then choose Notepad or another word processor.

Do a Ctrl + F search for 'Birth'. If the animal lays eggs (Penguin, Crocodile, Peafowl, and Ostrich), do a search for 'LayEgg' instead.

You will find something that looks like this:


     
         
     
     
         
           
               
               
           
         
     
   

The 'minPlays' and 'maxPlays' are the minimum and maximum amount of children an animal can have. For the Chimp, right now it can only have one baby at a time. All I have to do is change the maximum amount to something higher, like...

       

[COLOR="Red]NEVER make the minimum number higher then the maximum number! I do not sugest making the maximum number anything higher then 20!
[/COLOR]
So now each time a single Chimp gets pregnant, she will have 10-15 babies instead of one. Pretty cool, huh? If you recall, on the last page I had a guide written up on how to code animals so you can sell them. For me, 10 chimp babies means $150,000 worth of animals


You can also change the probability of getting a certian gender.

Just change these numbers to whatever you want, but they MUST add up to 100!



             
               

You could change to

             
               

instead.



If you want to update the amount of babies an animal has to a realistic number, this is a fantastic guide: http://zoo.ogresnet.com/articles/link.php?id=143

Just save and boot up ZT2.


PM me with any questions.

PLEASE NOTE: THESE GUIDES INVOLVE EDITING YOUR GAME FILES.  IF YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP THE ORIGINAL GAME FILES. WE ARE NOT HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS YOU MAY ENOUCONTER FROM FOLLOWING THESE GUIDES.  RND - FORUMS ADMIN

[wolfluver]

ummm, Ctrl - F makes the page added to your favourites.

[Bjrichards]

im sry if i sound stupid or their is an answer for this but i cant find my main ai folder please can someone help me cuz i want some of my animals to have more realistic amount of babies

[Methane]

wolfluver - If you are using Windows, Ctrl + F opens up a search window. I'm unsure of the quick keys for other operating systems. If all else fails, there will probably be a search task in the toolbar of Notepad (or whatever you are using to edit the page).

Bjrichards - I know this may be hard to understand, but people WILL reply to you if you use correct spelling and grammar. Zoo Admin is a somewhat civilized forum, and people will tend to be more patient with you if you type real words.

Now, your AI file will be in your main Zoo Tycoon 2 folder. If you use windows, the location will be here:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Zoo Tycoon 2

The file will be called simiply 'ai'. If you cannot open it you need to download WinRAR or WinZip.

[Bjrichards]

i know where the main zoo tycoon 2 folder is i just cant find the main ai folder i already have winzip and i have Xp and all the expansions


P.S i only mispell or make fake words when im tired and im sorry for any mispells

[RedNotDead]

if you have other expansions your AI will be in different z2f files - i cant remember which ones for each expansion but know that Penguinman has posted it somewhere in one of the guides.

and Methane not to be rude or anything but some people (like me) do have problems with spelling (dyslexia - funny how they make sure that is a hard word to spell) so we allow for some freedom with spelling we just dont like txt speech

EDIT found the files that penguinman posted
If you have expansion packs, follow her instructions the same except instead of looking in entities.z2f look in:

If you have ONLY ES:
x100_000.z2f for ANY animal including original ZT2 animals

If you have AA and ES or just AA:
x110_000.z2f for AA animals
x100_000.z2f for ES animals
x101_000.z2f for Original animals
 so there may be more AI folders in there

[mikaboshi]

Thanks for referencing my article, Methane

Also, for those using a macintosh (though, I don't know HOW to edit ZT2 files on a Mac) the quick-key for finding is Command (or the Apple Key, the little button with the swirly lines) F. Command is Mac's Ctrl. It's a safe bet that anything that you would do with Ctrl on a PC you would do with Command on a Mac.

[Bjrichards]

Thank you so much RND : :

[Methane]

Bleh, sorry Bj... I'm terrible at spelling myself, but my family frowns upon the chat speak so I always flip out when I see it.

Anyway, it seems that RND has answered your question... Just PM me or post again if you have anything else.

And Mika, your article is great! I use it all the time.

[wolfluver]

Thankyou for helping me, I figured it out: :